The time has come... I want to keep my car... (1993 Ford Probe). I like my car oddly enough. ... Oddly enough I was never into the ford probe many years ago because I was more into HP/TQ. Now I'm more into handling. Not to say the ford probe doesn't have power. It has a decent amount for a car it's size.
However, this car now has 205,000 km's on it. It's in need of a water pump and a timing belt change. If I had my own place, then sure I would attempt this myself as a weekend job, but I don't. If I don't change it, the car will soon seize as the timing skips... if I don't, I run the risk of it happening to me at the most inopportune time.
Thus comes the bigger picture. Changing and installation of both parts involves MAJOR work on the car because the parts are difficult to get to. One quote estimated the job at about 800$ without replacing the water pump. Thus, roughly 1k for a timing belt job with new water pump.
Oh and I never calculated the cost of changing seals because I'm burning oil.
A new motor for this car is roughly 800$, and with installation comes to 1400$. Thus for 4-500$ more, I could have a new engine with only roughly 80k on it. The engine would have 40 more hp at the wheels and would have newer parts. Ideally this would offset the cost of the maintenance required on the engine itself from other possible problems. Note that this also includes an alternator and other parts... A total that would make the difference of the 400-500 more.
That said, this Friday is when this car gets a new engine! I thought about it over and over and over again and I firmly believe it's the best choice. Combine that with 250$ a year insurance and pretty good gas mileage on a V6 engine, and I simply cannot think of a better option. Buying a new Yaris for example would still put me in debt for 15k, while this one time fee would be roughly 1500 over 3 years (expected duration of car's life).
What do you think? Let me know!
However, this car now has 205,000 km's on it. It's in need of a water pump and a timing belt change. If I had my own place, then sure I would attempt this myself as a weekend job, but I don't. If I don't change it, the car will soon seize as the timing skips... if I don't, I run the risk of it happening to me at the most inopportune time.
Thus comes the bigger picture. Changing and installation of both parts involves MAJOR work on the car because the parts are difficult to get to. One quote estimated the job at about 800$ without replacing the water pump. Thus, roughly 1k for a timing belt job with new water pump.
Oh and I never calculated the cost of changing seals because I'm burning oil.
A new motor for this car is roughly 800$, and with installation comes to 1400$. Thus for 4-500$ more, I could have a new engine with only roughly 80k on it. The engine would have 40 more hp at the wheels and would have newer parts. Ideally this would offset the cost of the maintenance required on the engine itself from other possible problems. Note that this also includes an alternator and other parts... A total that would make the difference of the 400-500 more.
That said, this Friday is when this car gets a new engine! I thought about it over and over and over again and I firmly believe it's the best choice. Combine that with 250$ a year insurance and pretty good gas mileage on a V6 engine, and I simply cannot think of a better option. Buying a new Yaris for example would still put me in debt for 15k, while this one time fee would be roughly 1500 over 3 years (expected duration of car's life).
What do you think? Let me know!
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