When does a car become hassle than its worth?

Hi all.

I have found myself in a spot of bother.

I bought a Subaru Impreza off my brother as he was going to London and all was well.

The right hand CV joint was clicking so fixed that. And now a whole raft of issues has arisen. Essentially between the mechanical stuff and some surface rust it'll cost more than the car is worth to fix. I know I should probably just flick it off for what I can get and replace it.

First car too so I am torn between the devil I know and the one I don't.

I have seen a daihatsu 4 wheel drive for 2000 dollars on TradeMe. Seems good.

Any advice?

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Well.

It depends on low long you want to keep it/How long its expected life span is vrs the cost of the repairs.If its just nuts and bolty work you will likely figure it out yourself with the help of a manual.Surface panel rust can be done pretty easily yourself.Even painting it can be done well at home if you listen to Mr Paintshop man and follow his instructions.Grab an old panel from a wreckers and have a practice.

90% of the shit I know was because I wanted to do it,the other 10% was learned at School.

I

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Originally Posted by berg243

first thing is once all that is wrong is fixed will it be what you want and the other thing do you have money to buy another vehicle .I go by the rule if a vehicle costs less than $2500 a year in repairs it is cheaper than paying off a new vehicle and you know what is good on your original vehicle .

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Well... It is good in the sense that it is ok on gas. 550 kilometres from 40 litres. And I have no issues leaving it at a road end as it only cost me 1000 bucks off my bro.

I can afford another vehicle. The only issue is that I ride my motorbike everywhere else because of crap Auckland traffic. So I don't use it all very much.

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Originally Posted by norsk

Well.

It depends on low long you want to keep it/How long its expected life span is vrs the cost of the repairs.If its just nuts and bolty work you will likely figure it out yourself with the help of a manual.Surface panel rust can be done pretty easily yourself.Even painting it can be done well at home if you listen to Mr Paintshop man and follow his instructions.Grab an old panel from a wreckers and have a practice.

90% of the shit I know was because I wanted to do it,the other 10% was learned at School.

I

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I was hoping to get another 2 years out if it. The things wrong are cam belt. Spark plugs and wiper blade linkages. And radiators full of brown goo.

I was planning on doing the rust and then cam belt left to a mechanic.

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Originally Posted by muzza

All the young guys will disagree but - dont ever buy an older , high mileage Subaru , and dont ever buy a used turbo one.

Have a non-runner 300,000km 1999 Suby on my lawn at present that has been a steep learning curve for the son-and-heir. Lucky I still had my Escudo for him to use ......

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The turbo ones are normally thrashed and abused. Mines a 1.5 litre auto :(

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Finish your apprenticeship and you will have free wheels for life.
I know it won’t help in the short term but hopefully it gives you something to look forward to.

The things you listed are cheap and easy to sort yourself.
Run it in to the ground, wouldn't even bother with the rust if it's not stopping a wof.
Once it's almost dead $1 reserve or money from the scrap man or use it for a racecar in the 24hr lemons race.

Do a radiator and trans flush when you do the cambelt and continue with routine maintenance and you should be sweet for the next couple years.

I agree with @Nibblet

If you don't need it everyday to get you from A to B then you're not under the pump to fix it overnight. Spend an evening on youtube and figure out what you need, order the parts and buy the tools. Remember that almost everything on an old vehicle is bolting and unbolting things and it's easy. Righty loosey, lefty tighty.

The main expense will probably be the tools and the time spent getting the knowledge but if you invest in them, instead of paying someone to do the work for you, they'll last your lifetime.

If it's only worth $1k then I wouldn't even bother replacing the cambelt if you can't do it yourself, flush the radiator and run it into the ground then buy something else.

if its got a manual box then keep it and keep it tidy, the prices of older subbys are going up if they are manual as impossible to get one unless its a brz or wrx.
the mew ones are all cvt so thats the end of me updating my legacy

On the other wide, my partner has a daihatsu terios and they are an amazing little car, can fit 18banana boxes in it or 2ppl, 3border collies in the boot and he backseat free for gear. Goes 90% of the places I'd take my landcruiser, really lights and just skip over any mud, small enough to ft up forestry tracks without scratching.... CeCenthe diff works and 1St is pretty low on them (no low box)

why do you need 18 boxes of bananas ?
is it some weird stewart island fetish ?

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Originally Posted by kiwijames

Finish your apprenticeship and you will have free wheels for life.
I know it won’t help in the short term but hopefully it gives you something to look forward to.

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Originally Posted by Lore

I agree with @Nibblet

If you don't need it everyday to get you from A to B then you're not under the pump to fix it overnight. Spend an evening on youtube and figure out what you need, order the parts and buy the tools. Remember that almost everything on an old vehicle is bolting and unbolting things and it's easy. Righty loosey, lefty tighty.

The main expense will probably be the tools and the time spent getting the knowledge but if you invest in them, instead of paying someone to do the work for you, they'll last your lifetime.

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I'm with these guys. I like the old mid 90`s stuff and earlier stuff. Easy to work on and you have to 'drive' them. I have couple of old subbies at home and just love maintaining them. Give everything a good cooling system flush and full lube and check over. After that the just run, and run, and run. 400,000km is nothing for those engines if looked after. Everything is fairly easy. If you don't know how to do it when you start you know when you're finished.

Determining whether you should keep a vehicle is entirely dependent upon the noises you can hear; over the vroom noises it becomes normal to hear a low grumbling (gearbox) or intermittent whine (bearings) noise.

If either of these sounds become louder, almost to becoming unbearable, the source is highly likely to have become she-who-controls-the-joint-bank-account. The noise she-who-controls-the-joint-bank-account makes is inversely proportional to their need for shoes, make-up or in rare cases, a poo for free rifle.

Be aware that if the grumbling sound she-who-controls-the-joint-bank-account is making can be heard by others, particularly in cafes or hair salons, the life expectancy of your vehicle is significantly reduced.



And, before any hormone-crazed person seeks my whereabouts so that they can squeeze my mysoginistic testicles into items the size of Suzanne Paul’s glowing spheres of luminescence, they needn’t ask for my address; just join the queue, there’ll be one nearby.

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Originally Posted by gonetropo

why do you need 18 boxes of bananas ?
is it some weird stewart island fetish ?

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Cheapest easiest way to move stuff and then burn the boxes once you move in! And it's a size everyone knows, guess it equates to 1.5 24packs....

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Originally Posted by muzza

dont ever buy an older , high mileage Subaru , and dont ever buy a used turbo one.

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Wrong.

I bought a used twin turbo Legacy about 9 years ago... still have it, still goes well, bugger all work has been needed except expected maintenance.

But do buy smart / careful with them, there are definitely plenty of thrashed and/or badly maintained examples around. Its generally worth paying a bit more for a good one that has been looked after.

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Originally Posted by Nibblet

The things you listed are cheap and easy to sort yourself.
Run it in to the ground, wouldn't even bother with the rust if it's not stopping a wof.
Once it's almost dead $1 reserve or money from the scrap man or use it for a racecar in the 24hr lemons race.

Do a radiator and trans flush when you do the cambelt and continue with routine maintenance and you should be sweet for the next couple years.

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My brothers work has a hydraulic hoist I think.... I think.

I've done a bit of work on old Subaru's so will see if I could use it one weekend.

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Originally Posted by Lore

I agree with @Nibblet

If you don't need it everyday to get you from A to B then you're not under the pump to fix it overnight. Spend an evening on youtube and figure out what you need, order the parts and buy the tools. Remember that almost everything on an old vehicle is bolting and unbolting things and it's easy. Righty loosey, lefty tighty.

The main expense will probably be the tools and the time spent getting the knowledge but if you invest in them, instead of paying someone to do the work for you, they'll last your lifetime.

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That's a good point. I need some new tools for my job.

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Originally Posted by 223nut

On the other wide, my partner has a daihatsu terios and they are an amazing little car, can fit 18banana boxes in it or 2ppl, 3border collies in the boot and he backseat free for gear. Goes 90% of the places I'd take my landcruiser, really lights and just skip over any mud, small enough to ft up forestry tracks without scratching.... CeCenthe diff works and 1St is pretty low on them (no low box)

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Hmm..... Maybe I will get one in the future. Hard to say. Car might be ok and then the new one a pup.

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Originally Posted by Lore

I agree with @Nibblet

If you don't need it everyday to get you from A to B then you're not under the pump to fix it overnight. Spend an evening on youtube and figure out what you need, order the parts and buy the tools. Remember that almost everything on an old vehicle is bolting and unbolting things and it's easy. Righty loosey, lefty tighty.

The main expense will probably be the tools and the time spent getting the knowledge but if you invest in them, instead of paying someone to do the work for you, they'll last your lifetime.

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I’m keen to see some righty loosey action on a suby

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Originally Posted by MSL

I’m keen to see some righty loosey action on a suby

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You mean some stripping action lol

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ok heres my take on it...Im 45 and drive a truck for a living...that said Im not really the spanner spinning type,I change oil,can do spark plugs and other simple stuff but have got to stage where if I dont KNOW I can do it....I just say faark it and pay someone to do it properly the first time rather than pay more to fix my stuff ups.
radiator flush piece of piss,take off bottom hos and keep garden hose running in top till its clear....play with othe hoses to flush them too,put it back together,refill radiator,go for drive then rinse and repete..... then fill with good anti freeze and you good to go.
our 90s terrano costs us about $500 per wof
the toyota sprinter car diddly squat...touch wood it stays that way
the son however buys lemon after lemon,thrashes them then sells at huge loss and cant work out why has no money and no good car!!!!!!
finding a tame mechanic who does back yarders in spare time is a great thing (once you find a good one) autoo wreckers sometimes have one too..... food for thought.

If you decide to hang on to it, keep in the back of your mind how much it is worth so when something goes wrong and the mechanic says it'll be $3000 to fix, you know you will never get that money back. Whilst cars/vehicles 99% of the time are not an investment, you do need to invest in one to get you from A to B and to participate in your hobbies/interests.

Don't be that guy on Trademe who has has spent $10,000 on a $1000 car and is trying to make their money back, because it wont happen.

Agree with the earlier comment if you can't do the cam belt yourself just leave it, get your moneys worth without spending much on it.
Oh and don't worry about it being your first car, I was glad to get rid of my first car, it was crap and I made my money back on it, never looked back.

it becomes more hassle than its worth after any of the following is installed:

abs, traction control, air bags, neon lights, electric mirrors, electric seats, stability control, seat belt pretensioner, reversing camera, automatic steering of some description, a t.v., two t.v.'s, three t.v.'s, self closing or opening doors, a European badge, is often called a "TRUCK" when it is actually just a large ute, is not a hiace.

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Originally Posted by 223nut

On the other wide, my partner has a daihatsu terios and they are an amazing little car, can fit 18banana boxes in it or 2ppl, 3border collies in the boot and he backseat free for gear. Goes 90% of the places I'd take my landcruiser, really lights and just skip over any mud, small enough to ft up forestry tracks without scratching.... CeCenthe diff works and 1St is pretty low on them (no low box)

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Yeah, my Mrs had one and she didn't have a problem racing around town with the oil light on.

Most bits under a car are consumables. They wear out. Once you've made peace with reality you'll be happy to maintain and replace to keep your chosen car going. And eventually your banger is eligible for classic car road tax discount.

How mechanically minded are you make sure your fully confident before attempting the cambelt had to do quiet a few that have turned into fuk ups from a customer who thought they knew better starts getting expensive if the head has to come off

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

ok heres my take on it...Im 45 and drive a truck for a living...that said Im not really the spanner spinning type,I change oil,can do spark plugs and other simple stuff but have got to stage where if I dont KNOW I can do it....I just say faark it and pay someone to do it properly the first time rather than pay more to fix my stuff ups.
radiator flush piece of piss,take off bottom hos and keep garden hose running in top till its clear....play with othe hoses to flush them too,put it back together,refill radiator,go for drive then rinse and repete..... then fill with good anti freeze and you good to go.
our 90s terrano costs us about $500 per wof
the toyota sprinter car diddly squat...touch wood it stays that way
the son however buys lemon after lemon,thrashes them then sells at huge loss and cant work out why has no money and no good car!!!!!!
finding a tame mechanic who does back yarders in spare time is a great thing (once you find a good one) autoo wreckers sometimes have one too..... food for thought.

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My brothers done a cambely with his boss recently so should be all goods.

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Originally Posted by Beetroot

If you decide to hang on to it, keep in the back of your mind how much it is worth so when something goes wrong and the mechanic says it'll be $3000 to fix, you know you will never get that money back. Whilst cars/vehicles 99% of the time are not an investment, you do need to invest in one to get you from A to B and to participate in your hobbies/interests.

Don't be that guy on Trademe who has has spent $10,000 on a $1000 car and is trying to make their money back, because it wont happen.

Agree with the earlier comment if you can't do the cam belt yourself just leave it, get your moneys worth without spending much on it.
Oh and don't worry about it being your first car, I was glad to get rid of my first car, it was crap and I made my money back on it, never looked back.

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Thanks. I hope to get another 2 years of use out of it.

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Originally Posted by northdude

How mechanically minded are you make sure your fully confident before attempting the cambelt had to do quiet a few that have turned into fuk ups from a customer who thought they knew better starts getting expensive if the head has to come off

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Reasonably. Done a Subaru clutch which was a ball ache. Not much room underneath with super cheap auto axle stands.

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Originally Posted by berg243

if you flush the radiator make sure its not one that is lower than the head as they can airlock as my wife found out trying to change water in a Toyota diesel corona , $1200 dollars later car was back on the road.

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If I raise it up with the tire jack and then flush it. Then run it while it's using the air conditioning it should get rid of all of the bubbles?

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squeezing hoses both bottom and top moves a lot of water around and "burps " things rather well.....never had an issue myself.

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Originally Posted by Cordite

Most bits under a car are consumables. They wear out. Once you've made peace with reality you'll be happy to maintain and replace to keep your chosen car going. And eventually your banger is eligible for classic car road tax discount.

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iv been told that diesel is not eligible for classic car rego... do you know if that is true?

I had an some air trapped in my old Mazda's rad. Used to moo when I shut it down. Burped the system every which way but could not get that last little bubble out so just lived with a mooing ute. It adds character.

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Originally Posted by Lore

I had an some air trapped in my old Mazda's rad. Used to moo when I shut it down. Burped the system every which way but could not get that last little bubble out so just lived with a mooing ute. It adds character.

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you dont know airlock till you owned a british leyland vehicle

So, yes, the wiper linkages are totally fucked, but the cambelt doesn't look thaaaat old, and neither does the water pump. I reckon you just run with it and give the thing a bloody good flush. Did you find some linkages?

Edit: Whoever did it used a genuine belt

Attachment 86195

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Originally Posted by Tommy

So, yes, the wiper linkages are totally fucked, but the cambelt doesn't look thaaaat old, and neither does the water pump. I reckon you just run with it and give the thing a bloody good flush. Did you find some linkages?

Edit: Whoever did it used a genuine belt

Attachment 86195

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Yeah. I picked up them after work. I'll put them in the car tomorrow if its not locked inside a gate :)

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Originally Posted by Russian 22.

Yeah. I picked up them after work. I'll put them in the car tomorrow if its not locked inside a gate :)

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I'll be doing a wof on the old mans car at some stage

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Originally Posted by Tommy

I'll be doing a wof on the old mans car at some stage

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Sweet as

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