What would you do...*decided to fix it*

[Atty]

Have a '99 Camry, been alright to me. Before it was given to me, it sat for so long that it developed a lot of mechanical/cosmetic problems. It severely needs a paint job, a lot of body work (dents, dings, fading paint, rust spots, etc.) Mechanically its mostly sound, the transmissions seems to be taking longer and longer to shift gears and despite my best attempts at getting a proper alignment, the steering still shakes and rattles at anything over 45 and the car loves to go to the left.

The other day the drivers side door died. The inside door handle came off in my hand, the mechanism that opens and closes it (inside the door, whatever is responsible for doing that) snapped and now it doesn't open. Few months ago the outside door handle broke, so now its all fucked up. The window also doesn't roll up or down anymore, despite a new motor and frequent mechanics trying to fix it.

Car has 110,000 give or take some miles. D:

Decision: Decided to fix it. Realized just how little money I'd have month-month after a new car payment and the comprehensive insurance I'd have to carry on a car with a loan on it.

Went to Maaco, they are charging me around a thousand dollars to replace the outside door handle, inside door handle, window regulator, fix two major dents that the car was given to me with, and paint the entire thing. Painting it the stock color, white, with a clear coat. Doing their third option, which is the highest grade needed for that car. It was $400 cheaper because of a summer special. Dropping it off this afternoon.

Now I could have just gotten the door fixed (handles & window) and not worried about anything else but I am a college student and a narcissist so...yeah.

I also took it to Midas, who because the manager there is a friend of the guy I'm having do the work on my car at Maaco, gave me a good deal. They took care of the transmission, just drove it to class after picking it up this AM and it feels 1,000 times better. They also courtesy checked everything, only things they came across was the wires for the spark plugs are the stock ones and need to be replaced. I also need a minor alignment but I'm going to wait until I get new tires in a few months to get that done. Other than that he said everything is just fine on the car and to expect a lot of life out to the engine.

 

[exdeath]

Don't know much about the 99+, I'd automatically say it was worth keeping and fixing if it was 98 or older (I have a '95 manual that has never ever let me down).

Even with a new paint job and fixing everything, it's still not going to cost you $15,000+ or whatever you would be paying for a new car. Psychologically it seems like it's not worth it when you have to pull $3000 cash out of your pocket over such a short period of time on an old car, but keep in mind you'd be paying more than that for interest in the long run if you financed a new car.

Generally once you fix something that is wrong, provided it's done right, you never have to mess with it again. And you don't need to replace the entire door, sounds like you just need a new door handle and interior switch panel. If you have mechanics that can't fix that, it's time for new mechanics.

 

[Kaieye]

If $$ is a issue, fix it. It would be tons cheaper in the long run.

 

[PottedMeat]

I'd keep it, just fix the transmission, steering, and door mechanicals and not bother with the cosmetic stuff. But then again I don't really care how my (old) car looks.

 

[BUTCH1]

Why can't "frequent mechanics" fix a power window?? Anyhoo buy a Chiltons or Haynes manual and head to the local pick-apart for the door, as for the shaking are the tires in decent shape? last time balanced? could be a lot of thing though, wheel bearings, tie rod ends, ect. Look at it like this, you would gain a valuable life-long asset by learning to fix your own problems and save a ton of $$ many times over, good luck.

 

[thedarkwolf]

If you want a new car then get a new car but don't fool yourself into thinking that will be the cheaper way to go.

 

[MovingTarget]

Fix it. Unless body is in bad condition or the interior completely shot, then you are better off keeping what you have. New cars may be less hassle, but they are bigger money pits. As another poster said, as you gradually fix the car's problems (preventatively if possible), you won't have to deal with that problem again if done right. At 110k miles, that car has a lot of life left in it. It is barely broken in.

My '97 Cavalier has 220k miles on it currently, but you wouldn't suspect that. About 3 or so years ago, the car broke a valve spring. Most would've junked the whole car, but with a good mechanic friend we replaced the spring and rebuilt the head. I've many other small fixes and replacements since then (struts, fuel pump, fuel filter, AC compressor, rear wheel cylinders, CV axles, driver front wheel bearing, oxygen sensor, etc.) It sounds like a lot, but I fully expect it to make it to 300k without too much trouble.

 

[Vette73]

Worse case do soem basic fixs and drive it till it won;t run anymore.

Change the trans fluid and filter. Check tires for shake. replace window motor. etc...

Check out rockauto and make 1 large buy to fix everything you can. Good learning exp, saves money, and can;t make it much worse.

 

[T2urtle]

be patient and wait for a matching front door to show up. either on toyotanation.com or ebay... this way right off the bat you have a somewhat close to matching door in terms of color, you save $200 so you can bid a little more on the item.

Tires sound like your problem for wheels shaking. Try rotating front wheels to rear and see how much more or less it shakes at 45mph, it should be more or less.

Its worth it to keep it. Most likely older cars problems turn into problem and issues i can live with or work around. My father's 94 and my mother 96 camry were of that. small minor issues here and there, door lock switch dead, window slow going up. tires got old and had leaks but no nail or leak at stem. Leaks 1qt a month but the leak is at the rear main seal. So we just aired it up more and carried some bottles of oil in the trunk. Great cars to drive around the city but just dont take them for long long 500+ mile trips. Parents alway borrowed my 98 maxima or now my G35 for that.

We never put any money really into the carmy's both are well over 100k, actually knocking on 150k now. started up every day minus the time when they battery was dead and one time when i had the igniter coil die on the 94.

 

[CRXican]

110,000 miles isn't very high for that car. Sounds like you haven't taken very good care of it.

I agree with having the mechanical stuff fixed. Not sure WTF you did to the door either but I don't see how replacing the door will fix the parts attached to it.

And forget about paint and body, it's clearly a beater.

 

[Paperlantern]

110,000 miles isn't very high for that car. Sounds like you haven't taken very good care of it.

I agree with having the mechanical stuff fixed. Not sure WTF you did to the door either but I don't see how replacing the door will fix the parts attached to it.

And forget about paint and body, it's clearly a beater.

He said it sat for a long time before he got it. He didn't do anything to it. Did you read the thread?

I have a 99 Camry as well, has 205,000 miles on it, give or take a couple hundred. The engine light is on and has been for about 10,000 miles, but the car still runs fine, i'll get around to seeing what the code is eventually. The blower motor resistor hosed on me because my heater/AC fan stopped working on anything but High, replaced that for like $11, it gave me LOW back so now i have low and high at least. It also needs struts front and back (front more importantly), sway bar links and bushings, rear brakes (just replaced the front recently), and tires. I will be repairing the car despite it needing $1500+ in repairs, simply because, like MovingTarget, i have no doubt i'll get 300,000 out of this car. Those engines, both I4 and V6 are pretty much bulletproof, and when kept maintained with regular oil changes, will run forever.

Yours is barely getting broke in at 110,000 miles, man i WISH mine only had that many!

Fix it.

 

[alphatarget1]

Even with a new paint job and fixing everything, it's still not going to cost you $15,000+ or whatever you would be paying for a new car.

That assumes he gets a new car...

Where do you live OP? I guess the chances of finding a rust-free used car in the north is close to nil, but maybe you can look in places where they don't put salt on the roads and get a nice used car...

 

[StageLeft]

If you want a new car then get a new car but don't fool yourself into thinking that will be the cheaper way to go.

this

 

[Atty]

Why can't "frequent mechanics" fix a power window?? Anyhoo buy a Chiltons or Haynes manual and head to the local pick-apart for the door, as for the shaking are the tires in decent shape? last time balanced? could be a lot of thing though, wheel bearings, tie rod ends, ect. Look at it like this, you would gain a valuable life-long asset by learning to fix your own problems and save a ton of $$ many times over, good luck.

No idea, he was a good guy and close friend of my good friends family (that just sounds sketchy...) but I'm starting to think him and the others I've talked to are all idiots.

110,000 miles isn't very high for that car. Sounds like you haven't taken very good care of it.

I agree with having the mechanical stuff fixed. Not sure WTF you did to the door either but I don't see how replacing the door will fix the parts attached to it.

And forget about paint and body, it's clearly a beater.

If it weren't for me this car would still be sitting in the drive way my mother left it in, covered in algae and god-knows-what, waiting for the water pump to explode and timing belt to shred into tiny pieces, planning to explode when someone started since it had no oil. The door is likely two things: From what I hear from the guy who worked on my car the other day and from the guy at Maaco, Toyota door handles (maybe just my model/year/etc) are prone to breaking, and he's seen a lot broken. Or the fact that my family is rough on everything, either way, it broke. Nothing I can do about it.

That assumes he gets a new car...

Where do you live OP? I guess the chances of finding a rust-free used car in the north is close to nil, but maybe you can look in places where they don't put salt on the roads and get a nice used car...

I like in Central Florida, the only time we put salt on the roads is if we scrambled an egg on the sidewalk during our 110+ degree days. D:

Updated first post.

 

[AstroManLuca]

I've heard a lot of bad and not much good about Maaco. Hope everything works out.

 

[desy]

You did the right thing

 

[SearchMaster]

You did the right thing

Yep.

I've heard a lot of bad and not much good about Maaco. Hope everything works out.

I don't know about them as a repair shop, though the repairs listed seem relatively trivial. I had an el cheapo paint job done (not Maaco but still only $500) on my old Eclipse, and it was well worth it. There were some spots where they masked poorly but if you didn't take an upclose critical view, the before/after difference was remarkable and the paint held up for at least 3 or 4 more years before I sold it.

 

[Atty]

I've heard a lot of bad and not much good about Maaco. Hope everything works out.

My aunt and uncle had their horse trailer done by them and it turned out great, especially considering what they needed done. One of my friends had his Taurus worked on by them after someone merged into him and he scraped the concrete divider along the highway. His car looked great afterwords.

Should have it back by this time next week.