Need advice on a potential buy vs lease situation

[Hans Gruber]

Two things. The tires are probably out of alignment and the tires need to be balanced. Shaking is always caused by tires being improperly balanced. Steering wheel vibration is the first sign. A car with bad alignment will pull either left or right. You need a new mechanic and a tire shop that knows what they are doing. Having a mechanic come to you is never good when they need the tools of trade in the shop to diagnose and repair your problems.

 

[z1ggy]

Rear shocks makes sense. IMHO probably best to replace shocks at 80-100k. They may not be blown but you'll definitely notice the improvement with new ones.

Anytime you have emissions codes I'd check for worn hoses. It could be something as simple as a cracked hose causing that code. An OEM evap canister is nearly $200. Seems like an expensive gamble. Might consider a junkyard part if it isn't too hard to change. Aftermarket canister is $100 on RockAuto. Point is, given you are nursing the car along anyway not sure I'd splurge on OEM parts at this point.

Well I had the smoke test run and no leaks were detected... so whatever it is, it's an extremely small leak. My new mechanic is pricing out all the parts so today when he gets back to me, if the canister material is more than $100, I'll ask him to find a cheaper non OEM version.

 

[NutBucket]

There will be a markup of some sort. They guy is running a business after all.

 

[rstrohkirch]

Don't replace only 2 struts when they have 150K on all of them. If you're going to put money into the car then do all 4. A pair of fronts are only $100-150 plus labor.

 

[NutBucket]

Sounds like this mechanic isn't cheap. Mine only charged $360 to replace 4. I was happy to pay that. But now I need to replace another set on a different car. Saving the $360 this time around LOL.

 

[z1ggy]

$1800 later my car works now. Weeeeeeeee. (I also got a few other things done, like replacing the serp. belt and tensioner)

Oh well, better than a new car payment, plus he said the engine looks fine, no leaks so... Here's to hoping I get another 2-3 yrs out of it. I just wish the radio and door locks worked...

 

[NutBucket]

For the radio check eBay. An OEM one should be under $100 and take 20 minutes to swap out.

Glad the car is working well. I'm sure you'll get a few more good years out of it.

 

[z1ggy]

I can't recall if the stock radio had BT or not (don't think it does based on pics) which is all I use for music anyway. I listen to music via the Tidal app on my phone and use BT to push that music to a speaker in my car.

If anything, I'd buy another after market one... but because I have really nice Focal speakers in there, I need something pretty nice to drive them.

 

[NutBucket]

But you had Focal speakers on the stock hu? Amplifier is almost more important than the hu. I just want something without a stupid eq curve (which every stock hu has basically)

 

[rstrohkirch]

You can pickup an aftermarket unit with BT and then the wiring harness/face plate for around $200. However, if you're happy with just using your app and don't care about actual radio stations then you'd be better off buying one of the newer BT amplifiers. You can pickup a 50x4 amp with BT and a wiring harness for $200 or less and get a much better result.

 

[mindless1]

We could speculate all kinds of things but nothing beats having the vehicle in front of you and being able to drive it, observe tire wear and vibration, etc. In other words you need a better mechanic, though if you have the means to do some of the repairs yourself, that makes owning an aging vehicle much less costly... if you have the space to do it in and the will to do it, buying tools, even a floor jack and stands is still cheaper than labor from a good mechanic when spread out over multiple repairs.

As far as buy vs lease vs best value, the best value would be looking to buy a used sedan with under 100K mi, but right now the used car market has higher than usual pricing due to some pandemic thing so it could make sense to keep what you have running a while longer.

 

[Torn Mind]

This should be the last batch of money you should pour into a car with Ford genes. In the next couple years, there will be more gremlins and other inconveniences popping up. The rust might devour the car anyway.

Struts are inevitable repairs after 100k, but the rest of the stuff is why people don't like Ford cars.

 

[thecoolnessrune]

Unless there's a structural issue, it almost always makes more financial sense to keep saving and replacing parts on an old car, than buying a new car. I kept my old Tracer until the subframe cracked under the Engine. I was probably putting $500-$600 a year into extra repairs to keep it on the road, but that's still only a couple of car payments.

On the opposite end, I probably spent upwards of around $1,500 a year keeping my Oldsmobile on the road over the years (mainly around gasket failures, radiator leaks, dash failures, all those things that can affect a 20+ year old car.

Eventually, I got rid of the Oldsmobile when the Transmission was going to need replaced, and bought a Tesla. That's not because it "made financial sense". I just wanted to enjoy a (much) better car. I could have replaced the transmission in the car and probably driven it another couple of years before it too succumbed to rust, and while it would have cost quite a sum, it still would have been less than a Tesla!

So do what makes sense to you. At only 1500 miles a year, I wouldn't invest a lot in a car. If I were in your shoes, I'd probably get an old Nissan Leaf. They're relatively affordable, and they don't go far in their original variants, but it's super convenient in the new COVID era to just plug in my car and know that it's sitting there perfectly fine. Not worrying about how old the fluids are, or how old the gas is getting, or any of that stuff is really nice.

 

[Torn Mind]

Unless there's a structural issue, it almost always makes more financial sense to keep saving and replacing parts on an old car, than buying a new car. I kept my old Tracer until the subframe cracked under the Engine. I was probably putting $500-$600 a year into extra repairs to keep it on the road, but that's still only a couple of car payments.

On the opposite end, I probably spent upwards of around $1,500 a year keeping my Oldsmobile on the road over the years (mainly around gasket failures, radiator leaks, dash failures, all those things that can affect a 20+ year old car.

Eventually, I got rid of the Oldsmobile when the Transmission was going to need replaced, and bought a Tesla. That's not because it "made financial sense". I just wanted to enjoy a (much) better car. I could have replaced the transmission in the car and probably driven it another couple of years before it too succumbed to rust, and while it would have cost quite a sum, it still would have been less than a Tesla!

So do what makes sense to you. At only 1500 miles a year, I wouldn't invest a lot in a car. If I were in your shoes, I'd probably get an old Nissan Leaf. They're relatively affordable, and they don't go far in their original variants, but it's super convenient in the new COVID era to just plug in my car and know that it's sitting there perfectly fine. Not worrying about how old the fluids are, or how old the gas is getting, or any of that stuff is really nice.

I'm not sure that his use is suitable for a low-range vehicle like a used Leaf. Yes, Covid is cutting on travel, but his Mazda had 133k as of April last year and now 151k.

Trying to preserve a GM passenger car is the equivalent of feeding a tapeworm. A OEM-spec coolant that can destroy like Dexcool can sounds unfathomable, but they made it happen. The ignition key debacle is another monstrous gaffe..

 

[z1ggy]

So the CEL came back on XD lol. Mechanic came out, said still showing minor Evap leak. I've now replaced the actual canister, the gas cap, $ the front solenoid valve. Guess I'll try another gas cap??? At this point if it comes back, I won't pass the emissions this month.. Luckily I don't drive a ton anymore so the risk of getting a ticket is low but jfc this is annoying.

I'm not sure that his use is suitable for a low-range vehicle like a used Leaf. Yes, Covid is cutting on travel, but his Mazda had 133k as of April last year and now 151k.

Trying to preserve a GM passenger car is the equivalent of feeding a tapeworm. A OEM-spec coolant that can destroy like Dexcool can sounds unfathomable, but they made it happen. The ignition key debacle is another monstrous gaffe..

Also, last April I had a job where I was driving 72 miles a day, plus random trips. Now with Covid... I'm driving <30 miles a week because I have a new job. I just had a meeting with my bosses boss the other day and he thinks even after Covid, work from home will stay, maybe "required" to go into the office once a week, and maybe I'll have to show my face at the HQ once every month or two (300 mile round trip if I use my own car but usually I say F 'em, and do a rental).

I could see myself keeping the Mazda, as annoying as it is, until we have a 2nd kid and/or my daughter is big enough where I need more room in the back seat area. Depending on the situation, buying a used Tesla sounds "reasonable" as a commuter car at that point, especially with the outlook on future tech (self driving, having it used as a 'taxi' to earn money or pay off loan on the side, etc).