My buddy’s got 2 old cars. He’s going to replace one.
Car #1
1997 Civic DX
101k
Auto
CD Changer
No other options
No mods
32mpg
Burns a quart of oil every 3k
KBB - $4200
Car #2
1997 Olds Cutlass GLS
130k
Loaded
24mpg
Within the past year, new:
-brake lines
-fuel lines
-tires
-head gaskets
-intake manifold gasket
-front pads & rotors
KBB $2500
I know what I think, but what about you guys?
Which one does he sell and which does he keep as a DD?
:lol: Nevermind, I actually made some assumptions on repair costs and looked at the numbers. Here was my take:
Keep the Civic. Here’s what I would guess about the next 60k miles:
Cutlass
-$4500 Civic sale price
$2000 repairs (Cutlass at 197k!!! Yikes! CV joints, wheel bearings, johnson rods…)
$8750 gas (60k miles x 24mpg x $3.50/gal)$6250 spent on commuting
Civic
-$2500 Cutlass sale price
$1000 repairs (Civic at 163k, no problem. I bet you a case of Sam Adams it’s under $500 over the next 60k)
$6563 gas (60k x 32mpg x $3.50/gal)$5063 spent on commuting
If my shots in the dark are anywhere near accurate, the Civic will cost you less to get to work over the next 60k miles
Hell, even if the oil burning gets worse, how hard is it to swap a D16? They’re cheap right?
super cheap…you can get one pulled at M&M for like 200 bucks…its probably cheaper than that lol.
yea keep the civ… even if he wants to sell it down the road he’ll most likely get what hes asking for it.
i would get rid of that civic
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and sell it to me :snky:
Im a GM guy but, that Cutlass is going to need more work down the road. The trans ~might~ last but, the odds of it failing here on out are high. 2 head gaskets…unless you know who did them, you could be looking at them, or the intake manifold gaskets going again. Like I said, Im a GM guy and I would never buy a 93-95 GM car with high miles. Those cars transmissions suck, and the engine reliability is hit or miss (my 3100 got me 215k mi. on the odometer when I pulled it to replace with the SC’d 3800.
Both?
lol
keep the civic, much more reliable, will last much longer plus cutlass = :tdown:
civic should have timing belt and water pump replaced like now… then drive it for another 100K
true. i can vouch for my old civic having 250k on it when i sold it.
sell both, buy cheap dohc 5-speed neon, hack neon cat out and space out rear o2 with spark plug non foulers. 40mpg, more scoot than the civic and alot more cash in the wallet. even if you have to fix some small stuff, which is all most neons need, youll still come out financially ahead. 
Brian
:uhh: :shrug:
hack neon cat out and space out rear o2 with spark plug non foulers
Does that really work? I was going to remove a cat on a 98 Dodge Pick Up…
works for some cars. thats basically what some cat backs for the SRT do and it works great for them. they have a pipe that spaces the o2 away from the pipe and it keeps the ecm happy. im going to try it on the tracker.
Brian
I thought that modern cats don’t really create much restriction at all?