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Thread: Rebuilt Engines

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    Default Rebuilt Engines

    I have a rebuilt engine in my car. They put it in last year in Jan 04. I want to sell my car once it paid off. Did I mention its a 95 Ford Escort POS? If I can afford it I would love to get rid of it.

    Should I just keep my car until the rebuilt engine dies or buy a new car?

    How good is a rebuilt engine anyway?
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    Default Re: Rebuilt Engines

    In my experience, rebuilts are pretty good. I had a Ford Escort once. I say that you should just keep the car...unless it's got a lot of other costly problems with it...and in the meantime, save a car payment every month to a savings account. When the car dies, you'll have a reserve for a down payment and emergency payments, etc.



    That's what I did when I had my escort. Used the saved money for a down payment of my Avenger. Worked well for me.

    The clincher is how well the car is running and whether it needs more, costly work on it. If it does, just get rid of it...if it doesn't then keep it for as long as you can. (this is assuming that your car is paid off...)

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    Default Re: Rebuilt Engines

    My car is almost paid off in just a few months. I have to get the rack n pinion steering fixed on it
    you live like an ivy vine
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    Default Re: Rebuilt Engines

    VG is right.

    Cars are terrible investments. If you need your car, and you drive a lot, it's worth it to maintain a car that you own outright. Money you'd spend on a nicer car could be better invested in a property or investment fund until you start generating serious amounts of cash, and even then, it's still nice not having a car payment.
    Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive.

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    Default Re: Rebuilt Engines

    Quote Originally Posted by TigersMilk
    My car is almost paid off in just a few months. I have to get the rack n pinion steering fixed on it
    Maybe take your car to several different garages and get estimates on it. See what they say needs to be done...if the car is otherwise in good condition, etc. If all that is left needed is the rack and pinon...then maybe it would be worth it to shell out the money and then actively save, save, save.

    I am by no means an expert on cars. I just know that I hate shelling out $30,000+ for a piece of tin on rubber...and I really hate the $500+ monthly payments. If you can avoid that...do what you can.

    Good luck!!

    Let us know what happens!

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    Default Re: Rebuilt Engines

    Ultimately, the economics of cars come down to the time value of money (loan interest or lost opportunity cost), resale value depreciation of the car, and actual total cost per mile driven for necessary maintenance.

    Since your vehicle is a '95 it is essentially fully depreciated, meaning that it's not going to lose much resale value keeping the car till next year compared to trading it in this year. Therefore the "cost" of keeping the car another year in terms of depreciation is essentially zero.

    Your overall cost per mile is therefore almost entirely a function of repair costs versus miles driven. Since you have already sprung for a rebuilt engine, about the only really major expensive areas which could fail are the transmission and the differentials. The cost of a new steering rack, ball joints etc to tighten your steering back up are probably less than one month's payment on a new car.

    I say if the rest of the vehicle is in reasonably good shape it's worth investing a few hundred bucks in the steering rack, keeping the car for another year, and saving up money for a new car in the meantime. If the transmission or something else expensive does s#!t the bed in the meantime, you certainly have the option of simply throwing the car at a scrap dealer rather than investing any more money in repairs.

    I went through this scenario myself recently in regard to a '98 Eagle Talon AWD which I loved to drive but which had 100k miles on it, that decided to blow the transaxle. Given the depreciation factor, and the otherwise generally good condition of the car, I decided to pony up the 3 grand for a rebuilt transaxle and trying to get another couple of years out of the vehicle rather than trading in the car. However, I also recently bought a leftover '04 Subaru WRX (no auto loan) just to cover my butt LOL (thank God for business expense tax writeoffs).

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    Featured Member scorpio's Avatar
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    Default Re: Rebuilt Engines

    A rebuilt engine can be a good option, just remeber though that a new engine adds absolutely ZERO value to a car unless you sell it privately and can convince a buyer of its value. having the engine recipt will be a plus. A dealer wont care about the engine, just the milage.

    PS- a '95 escort has a cash value of about $1000, less if its got miles near 100K.

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