250savage Posted August 11, 2010 Report Share Posted August 11, 2010 Well my car went in for inspection today.. its going to take $700-800 just to make it LEGAL to drive on the roads.. it's a '95 ford contour with 230,000+ miles on it. well technically not on the engine, the engine is the 2nd one actually in the car. but anyway my problem is, i don't have a lot of extra money laying around to purchase a vehicle.. (poor college student) my parents are willing to help me out a little bit but i still can't afford a whole lot. I'm pretty sure i'm done with anything 2-wheel drive and would LOVE to get a jeep wrangler.. but i'll take what i can get. we're going to try to sell my car for parts but that probably won't amount to very much extra spending cash. any advice on where to look to shop, or what vehicles are a good value or anything to help me decide what to do would be great! thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92xj Posted August 11, 2010 Report Share Posted August 11, 2010 Well my car went in for inspection today.. its going to take $700-800 just to make it LEGAL to drive on the roads.. it's a '95 ford contour with 230,000+ miles on it. well technically not on the engine, the engine is the 2nd one actually in the car. but anyway my problem is, i don't have a lot of extra money laying around to purchase a vehicle.. (poor college student) my parents are willing to help me out a little bit but i still can't afford a whole lot. I'm pretty sure i'm done with anything 2-wheel drive and would LOVE to get a jeep wrangler.. but i'll take what i can get. we're going to try to sell my car for parts but that probably won't amount to very much extra spending cash. any advice on where to look to shop, or what vehicles are a good value or anything to help me decide what to do would be great! thanks in advance What failed on inspection? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mach1 Posted August 11, 2010 Report Share Posted August 11, 2010 Why does your car need inspected to determine if it's legal to drive? I've never heard of that around where I live. Can somebody fill me in on this reasoning? Thanks. I feel for you. That would be tough to swallow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
250savage Posted August 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 11, 2010 Well just about everything failed on inspection. Here's the list we got from the mechanic: -licence plate light -rocker panels have holes -front brakes and rotors -rear brakes and rotors -rear sway bar links -right rear coil spring broken -left rear e-brake cable broken -front sway bar bushing will not hold sway bar in place Mach1: i was quoting my dad when i posted that and i'm pretty sure what he meant was just that the inspection runs out at the end of the month.. so it's just not legal to be on the road if it has an expired inspection. i hope that cleared that up for you. unfortunately i'm not very auto-savvy so i feel just a little overwhelmed, probably more than i should. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun_300 Posted August 12, 2010 Report Share Posted August 12, 2010 Man that sucks! PA must be a state that you have to have an annual safety inspection in order to renew the licence. There's a couple provinces in Canada that do that, most don't though. I think there's two options here, you get the car fixed and hopefully it gets you by for another year or so, if your financial situation is better then, you could comfortably upgrade to a used or even a new vehicle. You could put the money into it and it will do you for another year or so. Or you may put the money into it and two weeks later the transmission blows or something. It's a gamble. The other is get rid of the car now, if you can afford to upgrade now, and get a newer vehicle. A 4x4 may not be the best option for you right now, they're more expensive to run, and insure. You could find a good used car that's good on gas and reliable for a good price, and payments would be very reasonable. You could always upgrade to a 4x4 later on when you can afford it. For example when I bought my truck it was $7000, I was just an apprentice then making half or even less than what I'm making now, so of course I didn't have any money to put down on it so I got a 3 year bank loan, at 15% interest because it was my first loan, the payments were $245/month. Lay down your options and work it out, you don't want to jump into a new car and then realize it's more than you can afford. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
250savage Posted August 12, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2010 thanks Shaun. that actually really helped and was what i needed to hear (..or read). i'm going into my senior year of college this year and i definitely wouldn't be able to afford very high payments. i think getting a cheap, fuel efficient car will be the best choice at the moment. Thanks again Shaun! that really helped Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92xj Posted August 12, 2010 Report Share Posted August 12, 2010 Surely you know someone, a friend, relative, boss, professor, roommate that knows someone that works at an autoshop that could hook you up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkneck Posted August 12, 2010 Report Share Posted August 12, 2010 I agree with Shaun, lay out your options and make a sound decision. You can pick up a corolla or something cheap enough that will get you through school, then upgrade later (I'm driving a beater I bought from a friend I paid about a grand for that's saving me big time on gas). IF you do want to fix your car, most of those repairs aren't that bad and you can do it yourself or get a friend to help. Brakes and rotors are expensive to get done, but a simple DIY if you got some time and patience. Like Ben said, get a buddy to hook you up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mach1 Posted August 12, 2010 Report Share Posted August 12, 2010 Gotcha. Hadn't ever heard of that type of thing. Here where I am as long as we send our renewal money in, the state sends us a new sticker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun_300 Posted August 12, 2010 Report Share Posted August 12, 2010 Yeah I failed to mention the DIY stuff. If you have a relative or friend that knows some basics when it comes to cars, you guys could do the brake work, that'd pretty much cut at least half out of the $800. The coil springs, sway bar bushing and links would be better done at the shop. Not only is it easier up on the hoist, but usually you need to do some heating/cutting to get them links off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
250savage Posted August 14, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2010 thanks for the advice everybody. i think our best option is going to be to get a cheap, fuel efficient car to get me through the next couple of years. hopefully shortly after graduating i'll be able to find a full-time job and upgrade to a vehicle i really want and can afford. i do have some family and friends that could probably help me out with some of the repairs: but they are not reliable and probably "don't have time." that would have been a nice option but it's just not likely. anyway i greatly appreciate all the advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
92xj Posted August 14, 2010 Report Share Posted August 14, 2010 thanks for the advice everybody. i think our best option is going to be to get a cheap, fuel efficient car to get me through the next couple of years. hopefully shortly after graduating i'll be able to find a full-time job and upgrade to a vehicle i really want and can afford. i do have some family and friends that could probably help me out with some of the repairs: but they are not reliable and probably "don't have time." that would have been a nice option but it's just not likely. anyway i greatly appreciate all the advice! I wasn't talking about friends or family to help with the repair, I was talking about a buddy or contact to get you the inspection sticker. Or drive to a small town, backwoods shop and have them inspect it. If they fail it, talk to them about your problems. They might help you out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
250savage Posted August 15, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2010 I wasn't talking about friends or family to help with the repair, I was talking about a buddy or contact to get you the inspection sticker. Or drive to a small town, backwoods shop and have them inspect it. If they fail it, talk to them about your problems. They might help you out. Sorry i didn't understand what you meant. but unfortunately i don't have anyone that could get me the sticker. also the shop i took it to WAS a backwoods small town shop, so thats out too. BUT! we actually just had a junk yard come in and buy it! they said they were going to turn it into a demo car! XD and i guess it's also going to be in some kind of stunt show at the Dayton Fair (just the local fair) so i'm going to go and watch them just beat the crap out of it. ha! i can't wait. but now the only thing we have to do now is find me a vehicle to get me through the next few years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun_300 Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 Well you got rid of the problem! Now just to find another vehicle. You could find something in the $5K range that'll last you a few years. A Cavalier, Civic, Corolla, something along those lines. If you happen to go for a Cavalier try for a 03-05 since they have the Ecotec engines in them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flintlock1776 Posted August 17, 2010 Report Share Posted August 17, 2010 Personally, if they repair could give you reliable performance beyond 1-3 months you would be ahead of any car payment. However, at a point it will be time to get a new ride. Hopefully you can swing a good deal. dealers are real hungry right now in this crummy economy. So if you fix it, start shopping for a new ride now. Good luck and keep us posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
250savage Posted August 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 19, 2010 well it's gone! they put it in a "stunt show" at the fair and demolished it pretty well. a guy hopped in it and they announcer says: "let's see how many times we can roll this car over" and they drove it up this ramp (just wide enough for one tire) and rolled it over a couple of times. then they rammed another car into it and then finally jumped over it. So it was a satisfying ending i guess. i was excited to see it go at first but then i got pretty bummed after i realized that its GONE. but anyway we're moving on to better things. going Saturday to look at a couple of different cars. possibly a 5-speed cobalt. just hope we can find the right car for the right price Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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