Can you just buy a car with 160k miles on it and keep fixing it every time it breaks and end up spending less than you would on a car with 80k miles?
I'm really not sure what ends up making cars with this sort of mileage so cheap. It seems like you could just buy one and get a new engine put in and still not pay as much as one with half the miles. What are the downsides to this I'm not seeing? Like, if I buy a car with 160k miles, what is likely to happen that wouldn't happen to one with 80k miles?
Depends on the car model, climate the car was in, and the owner. My ranger runs almost like new at 150,000 miles, and it's not terribly rusty as it was washed frequently in winter. My brother's now dead outback was a total rustbucket despite being 3 years newer, and needed its engine rebuilt after it shat its head gaskets at 140,000 miles.
Luke Thomas
Can you? Yes. But like anything else it's a gamble and you have to decide when to hold 'em, when to show 'em, and when to fold 'em.
I recommend that if you are going to try to drive a car into the ground that you work on it yourself. Initial investment in tools and dumb mistakes aside, that will usually add up to a yuge savings for longer.
Nicholas Wright
Well the entire car has an extra 80k miles of wear. The engine isn't the only thing that ends up giving out over time. What specific parts need the most attention vary because cars all have their own gremlins, but in general the suspension in particular takes a TON of abuse and isn't necessarily cheap to replace.
Noah Nelson
What happens when something in the suspension breaks? I've never had that happen before. I thought the ride just got worse and it wasn't a problem.
Hunter Sanders
A poorly maintained car with 80k miles will be worse off than a well maintained 160k mile car.
Angel Cook
To add, perhaps why you should understand is the concept of "old car problems." This is best learned from experience, such as by having some old busted shitbox as your first car.
Eventually things just go wrong or get wonky for no reason. Maybe it's something livable like your power locks stop working and it's not worth figuring out why not and replacing whatever needs replaced. Or maybe your wheel bearing starts getting loud and you wonder if you should get around to replacing it or just let it be loud. Or maybe one of the diodes in the rectifier in you alternator craps out, so you don't notice that it's not recharging the battery until it has a hard time starting or the headlights dim out when you're driving to drive somewhere. Or maybe it's something more severe like a ball joint goes south and now you have to get it replaced if you don't want it to come undone and send you off a cliff or into a truck.
Matthew Cooper
A broken shock absorber for example will be "okay" at city speeds as long as you don't have to stop or turn suddenly, but totally unsafe and hard to control at highway speeds. In fact, anything breaking down in your suspension will generally just make the car unresponsive to steering input.
>story of my life >DD is 1999 Toyota camry LE with ALL the dealership options
Luis Brooks
Why is it exactly that most cars never make it past 200k? What becomes too expensive to fix when it breaks? If a car that many miles needs just the same repairs as a car would with half the miles, then the prices should be pretty much the same, right?
Grayson Morris
Yeah usually something shits the bed and just isn't worth it anymore. That something could even be it's rusted out or the electronics are such a mess and the interior is shot and it stinks from that time somebody spilled milk and it's all covered in dog hair and cigarette burns anyway, or some other such thing where you'd basically have to tear the whole thing apart and replace half the car to get it back into shape. And at that point, wouldn't you rather just spend that money and time on a nice newer hassle-free car?
Or if you ever have to access the heater core. God forbid it leaks or the mold smell gets too bad or the ductwork becomes misaligned. Once the heater core goes, you generally just set it on fire or push it in a lake because the only thing worse than taking the door cards apart is taking the dash apart.
Matthew Jones
Only poor people buy 150k+ cars or people who are buying something they really want and will take good care of it. Id put away at least $1000 for suspension refresh which it will undoubtedly need sometime and another $300 for some unexpected maintenance.
This is always true. Ive had volvos with 130k miles on them that were in way worse shape than my old 350k mile one.
>$40 part >an hour of your time >burn it
Hmm I guess Veeky Forums is a bungood condition turbo or some problem of the sort. ch of normies who cant wrench. I guess it probably is a big deal for someone over 200lb though.
Benjamin Ross
If you have a sensible car, the heater core might not be a big deal. But for most cars, they start with a heater core on the assembly line and then build the rest of the car around it.
You just about have to tear down the engine and rebuild the transmission to get to the heater core.
Ian Bailey
>buy civic for 3k >put 3k into it over 3 years to fix it and keep it mint and practically free insurance/tax
>buy newer civic for 10k >maybe 1500-2k worth of work over the same period plus higher property tax and insurance.
a cheaper car (to a point) in decent shape is always cheaper in the long run.
Gavin Roberts
sure.
i bought my truck with 120k miles on it and have ran it up to 227k miles doing oil changes, brake pads, and spark plugs. just get a car that has a reputation for reliability/durability
Zachary Cox
Condition and maintenance always trumps mileage
Ryder Cruz
This was my suspicion. I think I'll try to find a well maintained car with a few more miles on it for half the cost of a low mileage version.
Cameron Wood
This is almost exactly my situation.
Jaxon Jackson
>buy a car with 160k miles >keep fixing it every time it breaks >end up spending less
Wrong mentality. Preventative maintenance is #1, fix it when it breaks is #2. Then yes
Christian Hall
>heater core >not a big deal
Not likely
Andrew Martin
>even the wiring harness spills its spaghetti on the way to the heater core FINAL DESTINATION: HEATER CORE THIS IS IT BOYS WE'RE NOT COMING BACK
Matthew Hill
>XJ
Glad mine doesn't leak. I'd just plug the hoses and call it good.
Adrian Gutierrez
the vast majority of people do not have the required infrastructure, knowledge, time, skill, or wearwithal to fix a car.
do you have a garage? no? well a couple of the more complicated repairs just became that much more of a pain in the ass. also good luck working at night.
do you have a full set of tools? well, get ready to shell out around 500$ on top of parts.
work more than 40 hrs a week? enjoy spending long nights on a repair because some of them do take literal hours to get done by yourself even if you do have all of the above.
the 100k mile mark is when you start to see serious mechanical wear beyond swapping out the designated wear parts like a starter, radiator, alternator, etc. i'm talking about wheel bearings, bushings, suspension items, and internal engine components like head gaskets and infamous timing chains/belts.
it doesn't help that the learning curve is steep as shit nowadays with the gorillion sensors and miles of wire that is ran through cars built after 1995.
there is also the fact that if you fuck something up, you are going to be paying a pro double to fix it. not to mention how fearful people are of actually crawling around on the ground to get underneath a 3000 lb piece of metal.
Landon Bailey
I have 2 fox bodies. Both heater cores are bypassed. No thank you to pic related.
Juan Torres
I feel you user. My car is consuming coolant (at a slow rate) and im afraid it has a leak in the head gasket it has 156k miles
Levi Baker
It's not that cheap to replace an engine. Unless you get one from a junkyard, but then it'll probably be no better than the one you replaced.
Also it's not just the engine you gotta worry about. All the rubber shit (hoses, cv boots, belts) are gonna wear out.
If the car is reliable for something it's age. Then yes, it's cheap to get it and work on it yourself. But don't go buying a bmw with 150k and expect it to be cheap.
Lincoln Collins
>the only thing worse than taking the door cards apart is taking the dash apart ...but taking door cards apart is not at all difficult on 80% of cars?
Justin Clark
Yeah, I just bypass that shit and get an electric heater. Warms up faster anyways.
Alexander Barnes
The fuck is a heater core? Is this a meme, like blinker fluid?
Parker Jenkins
it exists Got a washer caught in one while it was in the car and spent three hours getting it out
Luis Brown
I cut an access panel in the firewall for mine when I ripped out the AC. Did the same thing over the fuel pump wiring. Makes life a lot easier.
Ayden Cox
It's what heats cabin air. It acts as a tiny radiator and is routed into your cooling system. You'll usually find it in your cabin and is absolute ass, as seen in some of the examples.
