Should I spend $1500 to repair my '90 Honda Civic?

If money is your number 1 thing, repair the car and drive it another couple of years.

hatchback wrote:

I just took my '90 Civic into the shop: there are a variety of things wrong, and I knew it. Valve covers need to be replaced. Catalytic converter. Front axle. It hasn't had a tune up in, well, ever, so this is basically the first money that I've spent on repairs besides a fuel pump a couple years ago.

173,000 miles.

Engine and transmission are in great shape.

Whatcha think?

How is the body and interior? If the frame is rusting out and will drop in the near future, it's a waste. That's a pretty inexpensive repair compared to the cost of a replacement.

I have a '96 Ford Contour with 124k miles. Got it for under $3k when I was 16. It generally gets about 37mpg, but I've gotten as high as 39.6mpg. It's in great shape. About a year ago I had to put about $1000 into it thanks to some idiot mechanics (there was no way I could prove problems were their fault, so I couldn't get them to pay the expenses). Anyway, my options were 1) put a grand into this car with a ton of miles that runs well, gets good gas mileage, and does everything I need it to, or 2) spend 3-10X as much on another vehicle that likely won't get as good gas mileage and may have problems. For me it was a no-brainer. Been driving it since and haven't had any problems.

If this is the first time you've had to put any significant money into it and it still runs well, I would say go for it. Based on the vehicle purchases of my family members in recent years, it appears there are a lot of cars with a lot of problems. If what you have is working great, hold onto it as long as you can.

I live in the south, so rusting is not an issue. The frame is good. The interior is good enough for me. I like the car.

The only issue with it is there are no airbags, so I try to stay off the interstate.

I can use my wife's car for out of town trips.

Thanks for those thoughts. Seems like the consensus is to go ahead with the repairs.

Any counter-arguments?

For one thing, the price on that service seems high. I've had axels repaired for $70 each side on my 91 subaru, so even for both fronts, you shouldn't spend over $200.

My gf had issues with her catalytic converter on her '96 civic and I seem to remember there being some rule about a certain age of car (15 or 20 yrs old ???) not having to have one. I would check into that, but if you do need it, that's something you could get done cheap by a low-ball shop.

I know the valves are a ripoff... make sure you actually need it. I had the same type of repair quoted on my subaru, and the mechanic admitted that i could still drive it for a long time, it would just leak a bit of oil and might not be quite as economical.

Just some thoughts... Personally, I wouldn't spend more than $500-700 on a car worth ~$1000. I'm not saying you need to upgrade much, but I'd put the money towards something a little newer (mid-late 90's similar commuter car).

That's a lot to spend on a 20 year old car where many other things are likely to happen after the repair, and I say this having gone ahead with 1200 in repairs (brakes, clutch) fifteen months ago for what was a 8 year old car with nearly as high mileage and harder driving history in the north. It couldn't pass inspection up north. In my case, I decided that if I did the fixes (but not the 3k catalytic converter fix required by the engine light problem) and just attended to the leak in the radiator, it would be a lot cheaper to continue to drive the thing. And it has worked out very well so far.

Where the hell do you guys live where you can get major transmission work for under $1000 and drive a car that 20 years old.....Poland?

No wonder this site has gone to crap, it has guys like you posting, who are cheap and have no worry about having your car fail on you while driving in traffic, I guess. Boy, I sure like where I live, no junk cars within 50 miles of me....

If you are too poor to spend some money on a good safe car, maybe you are spending too much time running and or posting on LetsRun...Get a decent job and get a decent car...

you can buy a decent car on craigslist for $1500. Take a look at some mid-90's volvos

bonds wrote:

For one thing, the price on that service seems high. I've had axels repaired for $70 each side on my 91 subaru, so even for both fronts, you shouldn't spend over $200.

In general, a replacement front axle for a Civic will be in the ballpark of $100, and it's potentially a couple hours of labor, so 200-300 dollars seems reasonable.

All-in-all, the total price for all of that work seems reasonable. I won't say it's cheap, but it doesn't sound like he's getting ripped off.

Axle: $100 parts + $250 in labor

Valve Cover Gasket: $100 parts + $150 in labor

Cat: $500 parts + $150 labor

I just got ~1200 total, plus some misc carp, shop fees, and maybe a bit more labor, seems in the right ballpark.

Get a couple more quotes to get things fixed, get the car fixed, and take better care of it - the car should last you another 100,000 miles. The car is probably not worth more than a few $100 as a trade, less with everything that is wrong with it. If you got something else for around $2000 it would probably be a similar car to what you have or worse. At least now you know what you have.

I took a 1990 Accord to about 260k miles. The only reason I had to get rid of it was because it got t-boned. And those 260k miles were all in the north, with plenty of snow and salt eating up the car. I bet it could have gone over 300k.

If you by a used car for $1500, you might end up having to make $1500 in repairs within months. If you buy a new car or anything used that is in good shape, you will spend thousands more.

Fix up the Civic. The 1990s hondas can go the distance in a big way. They don't have a bunch of electronics, so repairs are usually reasonable and simple.

You're MARRIED?!?

There are other small things, fwiw: the gear position switch stopped working, the rear exhaust had come unattached and was almost dragging the ground. The driver's side window was sticking when rolled up (unnecessary to fix, but a pain!), the power steering was leaking fluid (I didn't even know it had power steering!)

Thanks for the feedback.

sociologically inclined wrote:

You're MARRIED?!?

I know, right?!

Hard to believe myself. 10 years this year.

No major repairs is my rule. If the front axle needs replacement, sell the car and buy another used Honda or Toyota. My 1995 4-Runner has 450,000 miles and has never had a major repair. When it does, I will sell it and buy a 5-year old 4-Runner.

If $1500 will get you through another couple years then great.

But here's what could happen:

A few months later another $500 repair comes up. You're gonna do it because you just invested $1500 in it.

Then something else happens and you feel you have to fix that as well.

It becomes an obligation to keep it on the road once you have sunk this much into it which is more than the value of the car even if you fixed it and tried to sell it.

Cowboy Bob wrote:

Boy, I sure like where I live, no junk cars within 50 miles of me....

If you are too poor to spend some money on a good safe car, maybe you are spending too much time running and or posting on LetsRun...Get a decent job and get a decent car...

No more jobs, especially decent ones. The soup kitchens are seeing lots of people just like you now, pulling up in BMWs and other decent cars, which they are living out of. Obama, Obama, Obama.

Cash For Clunkers wrote:

No more jobs, especially decent ones. The soup kitchens are seeing lots of people just like you now, pulling up in BMWs and other decent cars, which they are living out of. Obama, Obama, Obama.

Oh really? Since when does 90% employment mean there are no more jobs? Give me a break. As I said, stop being so damn cheap and get a job so you can drive a safe car. Each additional post indicates the car is on the disabled list. It is obvious you didn't take very good care of the car, since you admitted you did very little maintenance in the past.