Timing Belt Change???

I had my timing belt & water pump changed in 1998 at 95,000 miles. I now have 148,000 miles on a car I barely use. Am I still good intil I hit

180,000 miles to get it changed???
Reply to
piperspost
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IN addition to mileage, there is also a time factor. Your belt is 8 years old. Time for a change. These things deteriorate with time.

Reply to
Seth

snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net wrote in news:18359-457DFCCD-1182@storefull-

3331.bay.webtv.net:

Nope. 105K or seven years, whichever comes first.

Reply to
Tegger

ok, so this what I am looking at:

Radiator repair timing belt & possible water pump oil pan repair

Is this all worth it? The car is a 1993 Civic with 148,000 miles on it...what do you think....junk it??

Reply to
piperspost

Assuming the rest of the car is in great condition, you'd be a nutter to junk that car. A new rad and oil pan are relatively affordable and just as easily replaced.

Reply to
MAT

snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net wrote in news:17097-457E164F-1141@storefull-

3337.bay.webtv.net:

Loaded questions, my friend.

My replies: What does the car *look* like? How much do YOU like it? Are you happy driving it, or do you feel like you'd like something newer, nicer? Could you afford to acquire a vehicle with a known history as good or better as your current car?

Lotsa questions here. You need to mount the summit and commune with nature to determine your ultimate answer.

Reply to
Tegger

I love the car & fought hard to get ownership from my ex-wife. I have put lots of new parts into the car already, including an alternator, spark plugs, distributor, battery, etc... I love the car, I would just like to know what I would be looking at dollar wise to get these parts for the car? I am living paycheck to paycheck & I am not sure if it's worth it anymore for a 1993 car. Cxan I afford something newer..no I can not

Reply to
piperspost

i'll do you a favor and take it off your hands for free!...

seriously dude, a well cared for honda will do double that mileage. repairs are /way/ cheaper than a new car payment. keep driving and enjoy.

Reply to
jim beam

How does the car look? Does it run OK otherwise? Any suspension issues?

When the timing belt is replaced, it is a given that you should replace the water pump. The part is cheap, and everything else is already apart. Just simple common sense to get it done...

If the car looks good, and runs well, then yeah, I would have it fixed. A Honda with good maintenance can easily reach 300k. And since you don't drive it much, you could get several more years out of it...

Reply to
Joe LaVigne

Well, then, you have answered your own question...

All of the stuff you listed as already replaced are pretty much normal maintenance, as is the timing belt and water pump. Oil Pans and radiators do go, over time, too.

With a reasonable shop, all of those repairs will likely be a little north of a grand, but much cheaper than trying to replace the car.

Really, if it looks nice, and you decide to junk it, let people here know first. I am sure there are plenty that will give you the $50-100 you'll get from a scrapyard to take it off your hands...

Reply to
Joe LaVigne

Well thanks for all the good feedback, I decided to take it to my mecahnic who deals with Honda's & have everything looked at and get a price for all the damage that needs to be replaced or fixed. With only

148,000 original miles, I guess this car has the potential to go another 148,000 with the propper upkeep
Reply to
piperspost

Annual depreciation and maintenance on a three year civic is about $1200 a year. A 1993 is almost fully depreciated. So this would be my repair threshhold for replacement.

Reply to
rick++

The Blue Book value on it is still about $2,000 for fair condition.

But that shouldn't really matter, since he is not trying to sell it. He can fix it for reasonable amount, and reasonably expect to have it last a good long time more, so what does the car's value have to do with anything? Especially since he already stated that he can't really afford to get something newer...

Reply to
Joe LaVigne

A mechanic who has (had?) a radio show in Phoenix had an interesting way of appraising whether a car was worth repair. The method was to determine how much it would cost to lease a car in the same size class, a purely functional equivalent. For example, say it would cost $250 per month for an equivalent car. If you are facing a $2500 repair bill, after ten months the cost is the same as if you had leased a car for that time. When the aggregate and expected repair costs are more than you would pay for a replacement, it's time to replace the car. Of course, a really good crystal ball helps. ;-)

Mike

Mike

Reply to
Michael Pardee

The repairs that I am gonna need should not exceed anymore than $800.00....I can do the trunk myself. I am gonna get a good deal from a very reliable mechanic

Reply to
piperspost

snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net wrote in news:17437-457E2B95-930@storefull-

3333.bay.webtv.net:

A timing belt and water pump change (with OEM parts) will run you somewhere in the region of $400 or so. If you do it yourself, it's around $150 for the parts.

The oil pan is about $200 for the part alone. Maybe 2 hours labor to change it. If it just has a stripped drain plug hole, there is a Heli-Coil fix available that is a lot cheaper than that.

Reply to
Tegger

So bacically it's worth fixing it for now than starting with another car payment

Reply to
piperspost

"Michael Pardee" wrote in news:NNydnWrpcZa00OLYnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@sedona.net:

That's my approach. Last year, my car cost me $300Cdn ($260US) per month. That's everything from maintenance to repairs to tires, excluding gas. And I did a *lot* of elective stuff (the rear bushings were a thousand on their own). Absent the elective stuff, I would have spent less than half that. Try carrying a new car for less than $150 per month.

The biggest problem with dumping lots of money into an old car is insurance. The insurance company doesn't care whether your car is mechanically brand-new or a worn-out deathtrap, so if you had to claim, you would have to fight to get anything for all the mechanical work you might have done. Basically, you will not be covered for money spent on mechanical condition.

The strange thing is that they WILL pay you a portion of your expenses if you spend your money on something stupid and useless, like fancy wheels or a stereo, or a snazzy paint job.

And it is impossible to find an insurance company that will sell you an "agreed-value" policy (at ANY price) unless you have a classic car.

Reply to
Tegger

Hmmmmmmm?

Short of cash. You have a car you love, have invested parts in, it's just about broken in and seemingly your only option is to go out and buy a USED "pig in a poke" about which you know nothing _OR_ throw some more money at a known entity.

Uh, what was the question again?

Reply to
Unquestionably Confused

This may be a case of "YMMV" - when my eight-year-old Prelude was totalled in 1990, a couple of months after I'd spent over $1000 on an engine rebuild, I successfully argued to my insurance company that they needed to factor in the cost of that work in determining the amount of the check they were going to cut. Once I supplied receipts, they agreed to do so, and IIRC the upward adjustment they finally settled on was a significant percentage of the amount incurred for the rebuild.

Of course, it's entirely possible that insurance companies have gotten considerably more hard-ass about this in the intervening years, and since I haven't had a total loss claim since then, I (thankfully) haven't had the opportunity to find out.

Dave

Reply to
Dave Garrett

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