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Repair estimate almost equal to value of car

DT4K

DT4K

Diamond Member
Just got the bad news that my 04 Kia Sedona needs a new engine.
Estimate is $3200.
Blue book private party value is $4600.

Considering that the transmission has been acting a little funny and it's got over 100k miles, I'm hesitant to put any money into this car.

Any advice?
Should I try to sell it as is on craigslist or somewhere else?
 
Get a used engine from the junkyard they are usually priced from $400-750 might be able to get the engine tranny combo for a good price.

Pete
 
^

Yea what happened?

But unless you can find a good used motor/trans (might as well get the trans if they have to remove the motor) for cheap. If not then sell for what you can get and move on.
 
What did they say was wrong with the motor...seems crazy to need a new motor after only 100K and 6 years. Would love to hear what the problem is.

I would recommend just trading it in on something newer.
 
AMCRambler said:
It's an '04 and it needs a new motor?!? What did you do to it? Run it without oil?
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Unintentionally, yeah.
I was driving home one day and it started making some knocking sounds. Got gradually worse on the way, but wasn't too bad. Next day, I started it up because I was going to go get some oil and it sounded horrible. Turned it off, borrowed a quart of oil from a friend, poured it in and it poured out on the ground. Turns out the oil filter had come loose. So I tightened it up, added 2 more quarts because that's all I had and I thought it would be ok to get me to the oil change place.

It sounded fine at first, but after driving a few miles, it started sounding worse and worse. I pulled over into a grocery store parking lot and noticed that the temp was almost up to high. I bought more oil and added it until it showed full, then I tried to start it and it still sounded horrible, so I had it towed to the shop.

So yeah, I probably caused the damage.
I think it actually has about 120k on it.
 
Finances are tough right now, so I'm not sure I can come up with the cash, even for a used engine. That's why I was considering just trying to sell it as is. It's our second car and the wife isn't working at the moment, so we can get by without it for awhile if we need to.
 
Ouch! Sorry to hear that. I'd just keep it in the driveway until you save enough cash to buy a wrecking yard engine/trans, then do the swap. You really don't have to worry about plugging the wiring harness in wrong because each connection on the harness will only plug into the proper one. One other thing, make sure your wife's car has oil in it.

Who did your previous oil/filter change? If it wasn't you and you have your receipt, I'd try and take them to small claims court for the damages.
 
You should have had an oil pressure light / buzzer on the whole time. I hate to rub salt in the wound, but you've learned an expensive lesson - trying to run an engine without oil is like trying to walk (or sit... or breathe...) without blood. If your check engine light comes on, 9 times out of 10 you're fine to drive the vehicle until you can get it diagnosed / repaired, unless it's making a funny noise or obviously unsafe. When the oil pressure light comes on, get it over to the side of the road and shut it off ASAP.

Additionally, if you found that the oil filter was loose and you were running without oil, it's NOT a good idea to tighten it, add two quarts, and drive it to a shop. You should have immediately driven your other vehicle (or asked for a ride), bought the correct amount / weight of oil (check the manual) and a new filter. Doing an oil change yourself is extremely easy, and pretty much required in a situation like this, unless you feel like having it towed. It was probably a moot point by then anyway, since the damage had already been done.

At this point I'd suggest letting the vehicle sit until you can either find a buyer for $2000 or so (unlikely), or find an engine to swap in and someone to do the work for you for a reasonable price.
 
DT4K said:
Finances are tough right now, so I'm not sure I can come up with the cash, even for a used engine. That's why I was considering just trying to sell it as is. It's our second car and the wife isn't working at the moment, so we can get by without it for awhile if we need to.
Click to expand...

then i would post it up on craigslist and see what kind of offers you get....

posting it up doesn't mean your going to sell it. There are a lot of low ballers and tire kickers. even if you want to keep it and put a engine in it, post it up and see what you can get.
 
Post it on Craigslist for a low price with full disclosure. If you're lucky some mechanic will buy it so he can do a cheap engine swap.
 
Yea OP you did the damage lol. Without oil engines will get ruined quickly. within minuets and you ran it with no oil and low oil and then finally you put the correct amount when it was too late.
 
I never had a check engine light or any other warning lights come on.
Probably no recourse with the oil change company because even if I could find the receipt, I probably let it go too long between oil changes.

I certainly realize now that it was a mistake to drive it with only 2 quarts of oil. I'm a fucking idiot when it comes to cars and thought it would be fine to get to the shop. Obviously not.

So yeah, I'll take the blame.

Finances should be better in a couple months, so I guess I'll either leave it in the driveway until I can afford to fix it and find a used engine, or I'll see what I can get for it on Craigslist and put the cash away for a down payment on a new (used) car. Probably the latter. I've been thinking about getting rid of it and buying something that gets better mileage since I drive about 80 miles a day.

Too bad I didn't do that last week, when it was still worth 4 to 5k. 🙂
 
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DT4K said:
I never had a check engine light or any other warning lights come on.
Probably no recourse with the oil change company because even if I could find the receipt, I probably let it go too long between oil changes.

I certainly realize now that it was a mistake to drive it with only 2 quarts of oil. I'm a fucking idiot when it comes to cars and thought it would be fine to get to the shop. Obviously not.

So yeah, I'll take the blame.

Finances should be better in a couple months, so I guess I'll either leave it in the driveway until I can afford to fix it and find a used engine, or I'll see what I can get for it on Craigslist and put the cash away for a down payment on a new (used) car. Probably the latter. I've been thinking about getting rid of it and buying something that gets better mileage since I drive about 80 miles a day.

Too bad I didn't do that last week, when it was still worth 4 to 5k. 🙂
Click to expand...

Well, you definitely have a good outlook on the situation, all things considered. Hats off to ya. 🙂
 
amdhunter said:
lol, I'd just keep driving it if it moves well enough.
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It would be a time bomb anyway. There's no point in something that's guaranteed to break in the very near future, leaving you stranded...

Loud engine knock + knowingly ran out of oil = it's dead Jim.
 
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