Car repair advice needed

QA2008 · 2008-03-08T08:36:25+00:00

Hello, I do not know much about cars and need advice. I purchased a 1995 Chevy Lumina 3 years ago. I paid $2500 for it. Since then, I have put about $3000 into it for various repairs. In January, it would not start. I had it towed to the garage. The mechanic said it is leaking oil and transmission fluid. He said it also needed a new starter. He charged me $550 to clean the fluid off the engine and to put in a new starter. I went to pick it up in the evening, after it had been sitting in the icy cold all day, and it would not start. It was in the same condition as before I had paid the $550! The next day, he told me that he would need to put in some kind of new wires for $220. I paid for him to do that, and the car now starts. However, it runs just as poorly as before once it starts. Sometimes, I have to start it 5-10 times to back it out of my driveway. For the first 10-20 minutes, it will stall out when I idle at a red light, and the brakes to not work properly. When I try to push on the break pedal it is like there is an object in the way, and I have to push down with quite a bit of force. Once the car has been running 10-20 minutes it runs fine (for now?!??!). .... Now, the muffler is suddenly making a tremendous amount of noise. It sounds like a lawn mower, or louder. I never had the two leaks fixed that the mechanic told me about. He said that it will cost about $600 to have the leaks fixed. Right now, according to him, the car is leaking oil and transmission fluid and it is getting all over the engine. What I am wondering is this. At what point would a person who is knowledgeable about cars decide that enough money has been put into a vehicle and that another used car should be purchased? I presently cannot afford to buy a new car. If I buy a car it will have to be another car in the $2500 price range. This Chevy is now in need of the $600 repair for the leaks, the muffler needs to be fixed, and soon I will need new tires and brakes. It...

Mar 08, 2008 24 Replies

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Scott Dorsey 18 years ago

I hate to say it, but the Metro is the same way. They are like the K-Cars of the 21st century. The interior is cheap plastic and feels like crap, the handling and acceleration are doubful at best, but they just keep running and running even when badly abused. The whole drive train is really quite solid.

With any used car you are at the mercy of whoever had it before you. If at all possible, get a car with a maintenance log. That doesn't mean all that much, but it does mean the owner has at least taken the time to keep a log.

--scott

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mr.som ting wong 18 years ago

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mr.som ting wong 18 years ago

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scott21230 18 years ago

You have a crappy mechanic. Go find a good one, or better yet, do it yourself (and use good parts, not crap from Autozone/Advance Auto/Pep Boys/Kraken, etc.).

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formaggie9 18 years ago

driving a car is never free. either you spend more at the beginning and then spend less for repairs, or you spend less first and then pay much more in repairs, but either way you have to spend money on your car:) personally I don't think it's worth to keep an old car unless you can repair it by yourself. (I've been there... every time I went to the mechanic I spent a few hundreds $$$, every time... , I sold it finally, it wasn't worth it). and if your mechanic is really crappy go to

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, search by your zip, and then by positive reviews. maybe you will find a better one. but you can't win with them anyway..

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