Paying for a hatemobile, what should I do?

[dpodblood]

If you can't DIY, those are still crazy prices.

You're probably right. Hopefully in the future I will be able to learn to do some jobs myself, and learn to avoid the jobs which don't need to be done at all. I won't make the mistake of buying a rusted out shit heap again though. I know what to look for when buying a car now.

Oh the reason for the control arm is that the ball joint and control arm are one piece so the whole thing needed to be replaced. Most of my parts I have researched and bought myself, so I'm not getting ripped off by the garage.

 

[CraigRT]

You're probably right. Hopefully in the future I will be able to learn to do some jobs myself, and learn to avoid the jobs which don't need to be done at all. I won't make the mistake of buying a rusted out shit heap again though. I know what to look for when buying a car now.

Oh the reason for the control arm is that the ball joint and control arm are one piece so the whole thing needed to be replaced. Most of my parts I have researched and bought myself, so I'm not getting ripped off by the garage.

As far as I know, the 2000/2001 Maxima uses the same control arms as the 2002/2003, and the ball joint is most defintely, 100% not part of the control arm. I had my ball joint replaced during the safety of my car, and the part, and labour to do it, was $160. Mine is a 2002. Same body style as yours.

BTW the car you bought is not bad, it's a very good car, especially ones with the 3L engine (yours) but you are getting murdered on repair fees, and probably doing things that don't need to be done.

 

[CraigRT]

Why would you have to replace calipers? That doesn't make sense.

They commonly seize on Maximas. My right rear was really bad, while the left side not as. I replaced them with remans instead of rebuilding. The core return is fairly good on these, because they are such a common replacement part.

It's so common infact, it was the only actual thing i've sorta HAD to replace on my car other than the drivers side ball joint. I replaced them on my dads 2000 Maxima about 2 years ago as well. (The rear calipers that is)

 

[dpodblood]

They commonly seize on Maximas. My right rear was really bad

Same one that went on my car..

 

[LTC8K6]

Did he say he put all those repairs on a credit card?

 

[PieIsAwesome]

Next time spend some of that money on lube.

 

[dpodblood]

Did he say he put all those repairs on a credit card?

Not all of them. But some I didn't have the cash to pay for. It's hard to save money when things on the car keep going.

 

[summit]

Not all of them. But some I didn't have the cash to pay for. It's hard to save money when things on the car keep going.

what do you do that requires you to commute so far? have you thought about working closer to home so you pay less for your commute?

 

[dpodblood]

what do you do that requires you to commute so far? have you thought about working closer to home so you pay less for your commute?

I moved to the city where I work, so I'm not commuting anymore.

 

[summit]

have you tried calling your auto loan company and asking for a lower int. rate?

 

[dpodblood]

have you tried calling your auto loan company and asking for a lower int. rate?

Not yet, but I am considering getting a line of credit to pay off the car and the repairs (currently on credit) to get a lower rate on all my debts.

 

[disappoint]

Wow. Just wow.

http://www.usurylaw.com/state/

 

[Squisher]

I'll bet without looking the calipers and rotors are ~$30US each, and all four pads the same. I could get a wisdom tooth pulled on the way to the auto parts store and come in at less that $800. My guess would be the parts cost $120-$150US. I can't imagine spending more than two hours doing it.

I'm not ragging on you. I know plenty of people pay this.

According to partsgeek, rear calipers are $77/ea, after $75 core return. Rear rotors are $57/ea, pads ~ $50/set.

According to Rockauto calipers start out at $61, rotors $17, and pads $10.

$61
$17
$17
$10+
$105

Now, I might not opt for the cheapest out there, though.

 

[CraigRT]

According to Rockauto calipers start out at $61, rotors $17, and pads $10.

$61
$17
$17
$10+
$105

Now, I might not opt for the cheapest out there, though.

I opt for the entire caliper, with new pre-greased slides complete with the bracket, etc.
"loaded" caliper.

I know just buying the bare caliper is a lot less, but for such a job, I don't recommend skimping, and getting the fresh slides as well, for a bit more. At least that's what I did.

 

[zCypher]

It's really easy to look at that and say "woah, WTF??" when you know a thing or two and have experience. Even without it though, you see that and think "wow, that seems like a lot of money for these things".

The best thing for you to do is to keep the vehicle as long as you can and absolutely avoid any further kind of credit or financing. If you have changed all these things on the Max, should it not last you a long time? What else is going wrong?

I might suggest that you search for other Maximas in junk yards that have parts you can salvage, if you are that concerned about things breaking. Definitely try to learn at least some basic maintenance. Some things you can do yourself for sure. other things, maybe ask someone who has experience to help you out a bit. research online. There are a lot of step by step instructions with pictures.

Generally the Max is supposed to be a pretty solid car. You just happen to have one which has a crapload of mileage, and of course things needed to be changed. I do think you got charged quite a lot for some things, but maybe it is true that certain things are a bigger job on this car and do cost more labor.

Unless one of the major components of the car are about to fail, you shouldn't be too worried. Put the most you can on the car loan to reduce interest. If you pay more, more of the principal amount is being reduced (and so less interest is being paid).

If you get rid of the car, you're taking a huge hit because of what you already put into the car. You can't trade it, because the balance of what you owe will be transferred to the new loan. Not good , not worth it.

Once the car is paid off, KEEP IT. If you sell it then, you'll just be throwing away all the overpaying you did. To help balance out the higher cost, stretch it out over as long as a period as you can.

Is the body rusted? If it's not too badly rusted out, get rust proofing. If you can manage to get on track with preventive maintenance instead of fixing when things break (this might seem impossible to you right now though), then you'll be a lot better off in the long run.

Best of luck to you!

 

[dpodblood]

Thanks zCypher, that seems like sound advice. I think this is what I will probably do:

1) Get a line of credit do reduce interest
2) Pay off the credit cards/car loan as quick as possible
3) Put minimal money into the car (other than oil changes, gas, undercoating)
4) Keep the car as long as I can until something else major breaks

As long as the car can last me until the payments are done I will be happy. Then I can move on with my life, and make a more informed decision next time. I will also start looking into doing some jobs myself. Up until now it has just been a problem of confidence, but as I've learned it's just too expensive to pay for labor on a car this old. I don't think the max or nissan's in general are considered to be unreliable. It's just the age of the car, and the miles. Unfortunately this being my first car I didn't realize how big of an impact that would have.

The dealer told me "that engine will last forever." Yes... absolutely true, but meanwhile the suspension will totally go to shit.

 

[lxskllr]

Undercoating? I wouldn't do that. That stuff ranges from doing nothing, to causing rust. Hose off the undercarriage after driving through salty conditions, and it'll be fine.

If you want to do oil changes yourself, you can use synthetic oil, and do the job cheaper than many quicky shops will using dino oil. You are stuck getting messy, and you have to dispose of the oil, but it's easy to do.

 

[amdhunter]

Got full coverage?

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

According to Rockauto calipers start out at $61, rotors $17, and pads $10.

$61
$17
$17
$10+
$105

Now, I might not opt for the cheapest out there, though.

Damn, I'm going to have to check these guys out. I usually buy local because I don't want to wait, but if the price is right...

 

[jlee]

Damn, I'm going to have to check these guys out. I usually buy local because I don't want to wait, but if the price is right...

Rockauto does have good prices, but they don't ship all their stuff from the same location (and last time I ordered, I believe you got charged for each separate shipment) so your shipping costs are most likely going to be significantly higher than you may expect.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Damn, I just did a Kelley Blue Book estimate for a 2000 Maxima GXE, 144k mi, auto, "fair" condition, and the estimated "private party value" is $2490. D:

Just for reference, my 2001 Nissan Sentra SE w/Performance Package, 145k mi, auto, "good" condition, has an estimated "private party value" of $3730.

 

[UncleWai]

dpodblood, might as well donate all your money now since you are gonna get ripped off sooner or later.

 

[StageLeft]

Maxima? Sell it to Skoorb

I sold my 2000 Maxima a couple of months ago. It sounds like he got an ok price on it if it was in good shape, but the payments and interest and all that, fvck me, how he is paying that who knows.

$7k in 2.5 years in maintenance I'd LOVE to know how the hell you can spend that on a Maxima.

The reason I'm in this situation is because this is the first car I have ever bought, and I had no idea what I was doing, or what to look for when I was shopping.

Actually, this sounds like the guy I sold my Maxima too. The thing had no outstanding issues but the guy was dirt poor, financed the thing, and I'm sure he won't be able to afford any major repairs. If he was smart he would have bought a rinky econobox. When you're hard up for cash you do not buy a brand's premier sedan with well over 100k miles on it!

Oil Change/Exhaust Patch $121.97
Battery + Installation $107.33
Rear Brakes $795.92
Spark Plugs $67.77
AC Compressor $1,385.05
Exaust Patch $169.19
Spark Plug Installation $99.61
CV Boots/Sway Bar Links $569.95
Left Lower Control Arm $142.26
Left Lower Control Arm Installation $189.44
Tokico HR2 Struts $513.83
Shock/Strut Install and Alignment $393.24
Brembo Blank Breaks $475.65
Rad support + Front Exhaust $2,311.47
Right Front Axel + Install $350.75
Tow + Starter motor & install $451.29

Oh damn. That is just bad luck, but those are quite expensive repairs. I replaced the Ac compressor in mine earlier this year for much less. A new OEM one is ~$700, so it looks like you paid $600 for the labor and it's like a two hour job.

The struts on mine were pretty weak, too. I partly got rid of it because although it had been very reliable there were a slight increase in issues and I was tired of working on two old cars.

BTW, replacing spark plugs on a 2000 Maxima is very easy. Apparently it's much harder for a 2002, but the 2000 they are all accessible. The only thing you remove, other than the ignition coils (one bolt each) are 1-2 bolts for the throttle cable (right in the middle of the engine bay). It's a fast, easy job. Oh, and a few obvious bolts to remove for the plastic engine cover.

I did rear calipers on my Max, not that hard but they are fairly pricey ($100 for el cheapos, I imagine OEM from Nissan at a lot more, but I'd not bother with that).

I did the CVs on my max once. Driver side was easy. passenger MAJOR fvcking hassle. That thing WOULD NOT come out. I had to get under and actually remove the bracket that it slides into and then hammer the bracket off the axle. It was quite a chore trying to do it the "proper" way, but only with hammering off the bracket could I finally get it. Didn't have thsi problem on a 97 passenger axle, though.

 

[Born2bwire]

One of the calipers was totally seized. I also replaced both of the rear rotors at the same time.

Had that happen to me too, but I paid around $350 USD for all of that at a freakin Midas. I just moved 3000 miles to a new town and the rotors failed the last 100 miles of my drive in. I needed the car ASAP and had no connections with any mechanics so I had to go to a Midas. But damn, I didn't get raped like you did on it. This was on a 2001 Nissan Altima.

 

[alkemyst]

That situation sounds so bad it's hard to believe.

the unemployment insurance was a good ass pounding for sure.