Car repair question

[Deleted]

I realize this isn't a car maintenance board, but it is a really expensive car repair, so I wanted to ask you all if I am being swindled...

My (fuel-efficient, paid-off) car overheated and stalled out on the expressway yesterday. I had never noticed the car running hot before and then it failed before I could make it to an exit in rush hour traffic. In a perfect world, I would never have to push my car off the expressway again.

According to the service guy, my radiator has a broken seam which allowed enough fluid to leak out that the car overheated.

That's fine - the car has 109k miles on it - pieces are going to need to be replaced. But when I had my oil changed at the same shop 2000 miles ago, they didn't tell me about any leaks or potential issues.

Could this have really failed so catastrophically so quickly? My car has never noticeably leaked fluid, but I park in a shared lot where every space has some sort of oil stain in it, so I could easily have missed a slow drip.

I think they should be discounting the cost of my last service visit, but the guy is insisting that there wasn't anything to see 2000 miles ago.

Do I suck it up and pay $600 for a new radiator? Do I push harder for a discount? Do I cut my losses given that the car is only worth about $1500?

[RoadToRiches]

Yes. Your radiator can go or any other cooling system component without previous leaks. It happened to me. Luckily, I noticed it because when I ran my AC, I noticed that it was blowing warmer air. I then looked at my temp gauge and it was almost in red zone.

So, the guy is right.

But there are more things to consider. If you drove your car on the freeway and you didn't notice it was overheating and the car stopped running, you possibly caused more damage to the engine and some of it could potentially be catastrophic.

As far as if you should fix it or not, well.. that is your decision. If you put 600 bucks into it, CONSIDERING there is no damage to the engine, will you drive it for another year? Don't look how much car is worth. Why do people always do that? Look at how much LONGER you can drive it after the repair. Does spending 600 bucks now on current car gives you better outcome than buying different car for lets say 20k?

[phil5185]

Most modern car radiators have a plastic tank at each end and an aluminum cross core between them. A tank can split - or the rubber o-ring can fail and cause a sudden leak.

The repair new tanks, the core is salvaged. They will probably use a rebuilt unit - ie, new tanks and a used core, and trade your core to the rebuild shop. About $150 to $200. Add 1.5 hours of shop time ($150), a cooling system flush, and maybe $40 for new antifreeze - $200 + $150 + $40, ie $400. Or maybe up to $600?

Hopefully, 'stalled' means that the computer sensed the overheat and shut down the engine for you? As opposed to having the engine seize and squeak to a halt?

[alabamagal]

There really shouldn't be any other damage to your car. We been through this several times with our older cars. I am assuming the car is at the shop, otherwise you should be able to put some water/radiator fluid in and see that it is leaking. If you can't do that, go ahead with the repair and ask to see the old radiator. They should be able to show you the broken seam, and it should be pretty obvious. You can ask about rebuilt radiators, may save you $200 bucks or so, but if you plan to keep the car for a while, might go ahead with a new one.

[floridayankee]

Sept 22, 2011 14:21:00 GMT -5 @craftysarah said:

Do I suck it up and pay $600 for a new radiator? Do I push harder for a discount? Do I cut my losses given that the car is only worth about $1500?

Holy carp! Last 4th of July weekend, I overheated....the water pump crapped out and enough pressure built in the radiator to blow a hole just to the left of the filler neck. I had the radiator, water pump and timing belt done for $750 (could have been $700, I forget). This was on a '99 Camry at 210k miles.

You do not mention what type of car you have, but you said fuel efficient so I'm assuming a smaller car. IMHO, it sounds like $600 is a bit pricey. My radiator was only $165 from NAPA and they're really not all that hard to replace. You need to price parts.

[RoadToRiches]

I paid *gulp*... 1400 for mine.. but I replaced everything while they were in there. Every hose, radiator, expension tank and also upgraded water pump. Now I am good for another 100k ;D

[Deleted]

I don't really mind replacing the radiator (well, I do, but I understand that part), I just really don't want to get stranded on the expressway again.

I missed an important meeting for work today and now I need to add $100+ to the cost of repair to get a rental car. I'm just frustrated that I really need my car to be reliable and everyone is telling me that it is basically a crapshoot.

(oh, and people have asked about the model - it is a 2005 Kia Rio)

[Deleted]

Sept 22, 2011 14:21:00 GMT -5 @craftysarah said:

Do I cut my losses given that the car is only worth about $1500?

I get a little surprised by questions phrased like this.

To my way of thinking the worth of your car doesn't mean anything in this equation, because it's money already spent, it's over. The only thing that matters now is the payments going forward.

The options are:

a. Pay to fix the car, $600, which hopefully solves things for hopefully a year or more.

or

b. Pay for a new or newer car and it's associated costs. (most likely $2000+, depending on whether there's a payment.)


Generally the cost of fixing a car is always less than buying a new car or a new used car.

The way I view it, it's time to buy a new/newer car when the current one breaks down often enough that it causes problems with work and the cost is high enough that's it's practically a car payment anyway.

If your car is generally reliable and repairs are generally normal, my advice would be to fix it and keep it for sure.

[Deleted]

I guess what I am trying to say by my car is only worth $1500 is - this is a high-mileage, 7-year old compact car. Over Christmas, I needed to replace the air intake sensor (?). I forget. It was something that made the car lose speed such that I could only make it go about 15 mph. Fortunately, this happened about 50 yards from the expressway exit that was a mile from my sister's house.

I was able to limp to somewhere safe. I had driven 400 miles from my home to where my family lives the day before. If it had happened in the middle of that trip I would have been screwed.

When the radiator went, it happened when the expressway was only creeping along about 5 mph when I was less than 10 miles from home. Two days earlier or one day later, and I would have been on the road for work 80 miles from home.

The cost of these repairs isn't my favorite thing in the world, but it is certainly less than the cost of a car payment. I'm just trying to get a sense of whether or not it is reasonable to expect my car to be reliable. I've had two breakdowns this year and was very lucky both times. I just don't know enough about cars to know if this is a fluke or if I'm presing my luck at this point.

I was hoping that you all would tell me that I couldn't trust my mechanic, so that I could go back to trusting my car. But it looks like that isn't going to fly.

[Deleted]

Because I have a low tolerance for future signs of trouble. I'm fixing the car - or at least, I have consented to have someone else fix the car and they have parts on order - but I'm very scared that next time I will get stuck someplace where I can't get help.

[Deleted]

Sept 23, 2011 9:41:48 GMT -5 @craftysarah said:

I guess what I am trying to say by my car is only worth $1500 is - this is a high-mileage, 7-year old compact car.

Our car is a tiny thing that was built in 1987. It's one year younger than I am. It's technically worth $0 according to insurance companies because it's a salvage car. We paid $300 for it.

Despite that, it's a marathoner that has never stranded us through the tens of thousands of miles and years that we've had it. To us it's easily worth several thousand of dollars.

I understand a low tolerance for risk, but at the age your car is, probably only brand new or close the that has higher odds of being more mechanically reliable. If you want to go for that premium reliability, you'll pay for it hard. Which is your choice, and you're free to make that decision if it's worth it to you.

Realistically though, as Rick says, cars just break down every once in a while. Even if they're mechanically sound, they get flats or overheat in bad conditions. Many things can and do go wrong when driving, even if maintenance is perfect. It's scary, but as I understand it, occasional breakdowns are just one of the inherent risks of driving.

This is your choice, but I'd be fine with the car, unless it had nasty recurring gremlins that never seem to get fixed

[Deleted]

Update because I don't like it when I don't know how a thread ends. I picked up the car yesterday after work - so kudos to the repair shop I wanted to bad mouth for turning the work around 4 days sooner than anticipated.

Before this happened, my plan was to keep driving the car for at least another 50k miles. In general, I'm going to stick with that plan and trust AAA to continue to bail me out of most things. But I am going to start renting a car when work sends me to rural Appalachia and other places 3+ hours from home that are unlikely to have a hotel or rental car place within 30 miles.

That seems to be my personal safety/willingness to impose on my friends threshold right now.

[Deleted]

Sept 24, 2011 8:02:32 GMT -5 @craftysarah said:

In general, I'm going to stick with that plan and trust AAA to continue to bail me out of most things. But I am going to start renting a car when work sends me to rural Appalachia and other places 3+ hours from home that are unlikely to have a hotel or rental car place within 30 miles.

Sounds like a great strategy