When do you stop putting money into a car?

[MattforState]

Alright, I picked up my car and here are some added details for you all:

a. The mechanic said I could get by with just replacing one of the ball joints. He said it was extremely loose. The other ball joint is just loose and not dangerous. Everything else can be done later.

b. The OP definitely doesn't know how to change brakes. He knows how to change oil, but doesn't have any of the tools for it and lives in an apartment so doesn't have a great place for it.

c. I should mention that in the winter, my car sounds like an old tractor.

d. Ideally, this car needs to last us 2+ years to make it to my graduation and becoming a physical therapist. Mrs. MattforState's job covers all of our day to day living, but the budget is close to maxed out on that salary.

e. We both have a couple of temporary part time jobs though making us a little extra money that can be put away plus savings we already have. So, this car atleast needs to last trips going up to 40 mph til September when we could buy a $3000-$5000 car.

[MattforState]

Thanks for all the input everyone. Between your advice and talking on the phone with friends and family who know more about cars than me. I'm going to get the extremely loose ball joint fixed and wait on everything else.

[CycloneErik]

I am always torn at this point.

There's something to keeping a car running as long as you can, but at some point, you could be spending the same money that you spend to keep a beater running to drive something better that might be more dependable.

I end up deciding based on how much the repairs are vs. the cost of something new that I don't have to fix.

[Psyclone Brian]

I suppose that when the parts are costing me more than the value of the car. (I would look for a new car, or owner, or a cliff) ...often times I save a lot of money buy getting the quote from the repair shop and then finding the parts on eBay. Then after saving "Big", I'll just take the parts (the shop) asked for and have them install, and just pay the labor.

[CykoAGR]

I know others have stated this but dont be afraid to get a second opinion. We took our car to Tuffy's one time and they wanted 1200 bucks to basically replace the entire suspension and wouldnt just balance the tires like I asked. I took the car to Schottenkirks, they balanced the tires and it cost me $50 bucks and totally fixed the problem.

I'm not saying this place is trying to screw you but with that much repair needed it couldnt hurt to get a second opinion.

Good luck

[Cyclonesrule91]

Thanks for all the input everyone. Between your advice and talking on the phone with friends and family who know more about cars than me. I'm going to get the extremely loose ball joint fixed and wait on everything else.

Brake jobs are the biggest scam going right now in the mechanic industry. Are your brakes squealing as you drive down the road? If not, you don't need to change brake pads yet unless you are leaking brake fluid that affects your braking. I've heard the "you need to replace the rotors because they are rusty" BS story and that pisses me off. They are usually referring the outer edge of the rotor that is steel/cast iron, non painted, subject to extreme temp differences and is out in the elements as you drive. All rotors are going to rust there. I would have to see the grooves in the rotors but what most garages say needs replaced is a lot different on what actually needs replaced. YOu can buy lifetime pads at Autozone for $39.95 and have it done in 30 minutes if you stop and take a pop break between wheels. They will charge you $500 to change rotors, change brake fluid(Total ripoff most of the time), change pads and whatever other bs they come up with.

I live in Waukee and this is a serious offer. You bring it to me and I'll walk you through doing the brakes and it won't cost you more then the pads and rotors(if you even need them) and you will know what to do when it happens again....and you will save $400-600 from what the shops want to charge. I have showed many people how to do their own brakes and I am sure I have shown people less mechanical then you.

the ABS lights have nothing to do with the condition of your rotors and pads either by the way. It is probably a dirty sensor or other electrical problem causing the light to show up. All that light means is you have brakes that are not ABS brakes, not that pending brake failure is going to happen.

The ball joint can be more tricky and that is the one thing on your list that should be done. Tearing things down and putting it all back together is the reason why they want to do an alignment. I would do that because it either costs you now or you'll pay for it by buying tires a lot sooner because they'll wear out faster/ start cupping and making noise etc, etc, etc........

[Cyclonesrule91]

I know others have stated this but dont be afraid to get a second opinion. We took our car to Tuffy's one time and they wanted 1200 bucks to basically replace the entire suspension and wouldnt just balance the tires like I asked. I took the car to Schottenkirks, they balanced the tires and it cost me $50 bucks and totally fixed the problem.

I'm not saying this place is trying to screw you but with that much repair needed it couldnt hurt to get a second opinion.

Good luck

Tuffy's is the biggest scam artists I have come across to date. They quoted a friend of mine $900 to fix her brakes. Her hubby asked me to check them out. Less then a year old van, less then 20K miles and the only thing wrong was dust on the pads that caused the wheels to make a slight squealing noise. They wanted to replace rotors, pads, brake fluid. Rotors still looked brand new. Pads still had 3/4 of the pad on them and as said above brake fluid did not need replacing. I told him to take the van to a car wash and pressure wash the wheels getting the dust off. He did that and sound his wife didn't like went away.

STAY THE HECK AWAY FROM TUFFY's!!

[Naughtius]

If you have that kind of cash on hand, perhaps I could interest you in a game-worn hip pad? Let me know.

Sincerely,

T. Pryor

[stateofmind]

Regarding Drake Garage, I'm a little biased as it's my father-in-law's business. They have won the BBB under 50 employees category and have won the CityView award year after year. Gus is the business manager and Jeff works up front as well. Their mechanics are good, quality guys. Like any business they want to sell as much as they can, but they also pride themselves on quality work and will stand behind it.

All that said, I got tired of spending money on my 150k vehicle last fall. Just kept taking it in, and even with my family discount it wasn't worth the hassle anymore. But because of the price and my personal feelings, I always had him fix everything wrong.

You sound like you are doing the right thing, fixing what NEEDS to be done. They won't be offended, they just want you to know what they noticed. It's always a good idea to get a second opinion, and you may save some money elsewhere, I don't know. But I know you will get the job done right and the work will be honored. You know the old saying, you get what you pay for. The problem is affording what you can get.

[jdoggivjc]

I know others have stated this but dont be afraid to get a second opinion. We took our car to Tuffy's one time and they wanted 1200 bucks to basically replace the entire suspension and wouldnt just balance the tires like I asked. I took the car to Schottenkirks, they balanced the tires and it cost me $50 bucks and totally fixed the problem.

I'm not saying this place is trying to screw you but with that much repair needed it couldnt hurt to get a second opinion.

Good luck

Tuffy's is the biggest scam artists I have come across to date. They quoted a friend of mine $900 to fix her brakes. He asked me to check them out. Less then a year old van, less then 20K miles and the only thing wrong was dust on the pads that caused the wheels to make a slight squealing noise. They wanted to replace rotors, pads, brake fluid. Rotors still looked brand new. Pads still had 3/4 of the pad on them and as said above brake fluid did not need replacing. I told him to take the van to a car wash and pressure wash the wheels getting the dust off. He did that and sound his wife didn't like went away.

STAY THE HECK AWAY FROM TUFFY's!!

It's too bad you can't emphasize that point any more given the constraints on this site.

I will never do business with Tuffy's ever again. They replaced the distributor on my wife's car. A year or two later the distributor failed again and they "voided the warranty" and tried to make us buy a brand new distributor. We brought the car to her parents' mechanic, who found the distributor's manufacturer's warranty and replaced the distributor at cost of labor, which was a hell of a lot less expensive than what Tuffy's wanted to charge us.

And while I don't think Tuffy's ever pulled the "headlight fluid" scam on my wife, they have tried pulling other scams, which, fortunately enough, my wife is intelligent enough to see through.

[rbrook]

The ABS light could be just a broken wire to the sensor. I have had this happen twice where the wife ran over something and severed the wire/s. Just spliced them back together and the light went out and I had ABS brakes again. Happened both times in the winter, so I am assuming she hit something in a snow drift.

[vortex]

My "99" Pontiac has 297,000 miles on it and I drive it for work every day. The 3.8 GM motor is an Iron Horse!

[jaretac]

If you buy a $3k-$4k used car you're just as likely to have something major happen. I would fix and enjoy the fact that I'm not making car payments.

I know. My wife and I have been discussing this lately. We got a 6 grand used SUV last year. It had some bad electrical connections that have left her stranded and it eats gas (not more than normal for that model but still). She wants to do a straight across trade for a 3 grand car for her to drive and I'm more than a little reluctant because a car like that could be even worse and then we end up eating remaining 3000. I wish she didn't have to drive it, but I think we are stuck with it.

[FDCy83]

If I take my car to a shop for an oil change and they give me a list of $1000-1500 worth of repairs, I take it somewhere else to get an opinion. I took my daughter's van to a tire store to check tires as I thought she had 1 or 2 bad tires causing a shudder. They told me both outer and inner tie rod ends and alignment, plus a ball joint. Gave me over $1000 estimate for a van I bought her 2 years ago for $1800. I took it to my regular mechanic, and he said yes, 1 outer tie rod end needed replace and then needed alignment. He fixed the tie rod end, and told me to go to a different tire shop that he trusts, and get an alignment (he does not have the rack) and then get 1 new tire. He even told me which one was bad. Total cost was about $200. Imagine how ****** I would have been at the first tire shop if they did $1000 worth of work, after telling me my tires were not the problem, then they had to tell me I needed a new tire as well? Not a pretty scene.

[Cyclonesrule91]

You know the old saying, you get what you pay for. The problem is affording what you can get.

I doubt it applies to your father in law's garage because there are honest mechanic shops around. But garages like Tuffy's and a lot of car dealer service departments don't mind jabbing it to a clueless public.

Ya you might get what you pay for, but why should I pay $600 for new pads, new rotors, replacing brake fluid and whatever other crap fix charge they come up with when all I needed was a new set of pads that I can get for $40 for top of the line pads at an Napa store and spend 1/2 hour doing the job. Ya I got what I paid for but the stuff I paid for was replacing parts that there was no problem with in the first place.