Thread: 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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Originally Posted by MSL

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

You mean some stripping action lol

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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)

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.

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.

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.

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

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)

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 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)

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

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

Originally Posted by gonetropo

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

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....