Whelp, that didn't go so well

[Bignate603]

so you think insurance companies are leaving money on the table?

investing $2500 in a $2000 car does not make any financial sense, period. you will not get any of that $2500 investment back when it comes time to sell.

There is value in knowing the history of a car which the insurance company doesn't care about. For instance, if you own an older car with a low resale that is in good condition it could mean that it would be worth it to spend more on it than the replacement cost. It's worth it because when you run into that expensive problem you know that everything else on the car is ok and won't fail soon. If you turned around and bought the exact same vehicle from someone else you have no idea what could be wrong with the car.

A known problem is less risky (and probably less expensive) than possible unknown problems.

 

[Occ]

Update: Got the heads (and lifters, and radiator) replaced, ran much better, but was still running kind of rough (got an engine bogging sensation under load). Took it back in, shop looked at it for free. Turns out the oxygen sensors were out of whack. Of course, the ECU on old Rangers is only smart enough to know if the O2 sensors are not responding, so there was no check engine light or anything. Replaced them myself, truck runs great now. Much smoother, feels like more power. Turns out oxygen sensors are kind of important. Who knew?

I did find something else I need to look at, though. When I was replacing the O2 sensors, I bumped the hose that goes from the vacuum tree to the brake booster and jumped a little when it started hissing. It seems the grommet/seal around the brake booster that the hose connects to is maybe not holding a seal as well it should. Will have to see if a local store has something I can replace it with.