Is It Worth Fixing My Corolla

[Olbert]

I have a 2005 Corolla Ascent (base model, no modifications) with 260,000km on the clock. I've had it since km one and it's had an ok life - not much city driving, a lot of country km's. It's had logbook servicing for 200,000km then fairly regular servicing since then. It's had it's gearbox replaced at 215,000km. The front bumper is quite dodge but still works. It's got a few dints and scratches, as well as a cosmetic rust patch underneath the door handle on the drivers door (bloody roo!). It was just registered in Canberra in February.

 

Aside from the gearbox, it's been quite cheap and very reliable and good on the petrol.

 

I just got quoted $2000 to fix up the following issues: (I'm not a car person, so forgive me if I don't quite get the terminology right)

• crap windscreen wipers (they are currently pretty bad at wiping) $45
  
• cracked serpentine bolt in the drive train $195
  
• front shock absorber is dodge $844 (+wheel alignment $77)
  
• left inner cv clamp has a slow leak $118
  
• coolant flush $118
  
• both rear shocks $580
  
• its going to need two new rear tyres next 10,000km (cos of uneven ware from the shocks) ~ $200
  

I've been to this mechanic a couple of times and he hasn't tried to bull$#!t me thus far, so I trust that all this actually needs doing. It's the mechanics opinion that the shock issues are because it's so old and that once I do that and get the other stuff fixed, the car will be good to go. He reckons that because it's a Corolla, it will last pretty much forever and if I spend this money now, nothing else is likely to go wrong for a while.

 

This seems a lot to spend on my car. It's had a good life so far but I don't want to start throwing good money after bad.

 

Should I get it fixed?

How much (ballpark figure) is it worth to sell right now?

How much (ballpark figure) is it worth to fix and sell?

Should I attempt to fix some of it by myself by getting parts from Repco?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[parrot]

Realistically you might get $2000 if you fixed it and sold it. $500 to $1000 if you traded it in on a new car.

 

I would say the prices are reasonable except for the front and rear dampers. A quick look on ebay tells me you can get a pair of rears for $150 and fronts for $200.

 

They should be easy enough to replace with a moderate amount of mechanical know how and a day of your time.

 

The bolt may be difficult or easy depending on how much is proud of the engine. The clamp can be replaced easily assuming the boot isn't split.

 

But if your not interested in changing your own wiper blades, I would question your motivation. That's meant nicely. Realistically if you need the car on the road, don't have tools, skill or time - then your stuck.

[Olbert]

Realistically you might get $2000 if you fixed it and sold it. $500 to $1000 if you traded it in on a new car.

 

So definitely not worth fixing and selling, but it might be worth a trade in pre-fix.

 

I would say the prices are reasonable except for the front and rear dampers. A quick look on ebay tells me you can get a pair of rears for $150 and fronts for $200.

 

They should be easy enough to replace with a moderate amount of mechanical know how and a day of your time.

 

The bolt may be difficult or easy depending on how much is proud of the engine. The clamp can be replaced easily assuming the boot isn't split.

 

But if your not interested in changing your own wiper blades, I would question your motivation. That's meant nicely. Realistically if you need the car on the road, don't have tools, skill or time - then your stuck.

 

I am not adverse to doing these things myself - I've already replaced the O2 Sensor and a couple of other things. I just hadn't thought about it yet and when I wrote the above list, I'd just had the conversation and was listing the mechanics quotes.

 

As I said, I'm not into cars - so I'm not sure without advice what can and can't be fixed by a non-mechanic.

 

 

All that said, thanks for the advice! I'll look into shocks. I've also been advised by a collegue that coolant is $20 from Repco and not hard to fix.

Edited February 26, 2015 by Olbert

[lexsmaz]

I assume the prices you mention include labour too ..

 

The wiper blades can be done a lot cheaper obviously by yourself ..

 

You mention cracked serpentine Bolt, but I think you mean Belt, not sure how hard they are to change on this model corolla, maybe its a bit dear ?

 

The front shocks are pretty dear was that one or Both ? & is he supposedly using Genuine or after market shocks etc ..

 

The weeping CV boot clamp is dear if he is just going to put a New clamp on it different story if he is changing over the boot ..

 

Your call at the end of the day as the car is Not going to last forever but hopefully it will have quite a bit of life left in it & what else are you going to buy for a couple of Grand, do you want to keep it for a while still ??

 

You mention coolant is cheap & it can be depending on what you use, if he is using Genuine Toyota coolant that is about 40 - $50 on it own plus labour & Some cars can be hard to bleed well & there is a technique which your Mechanic will know how to do ..

Edited February 26, 2015 by lexsmaz

[parrot]

I had to google the serpentine bolt. I gather it's the bolt that locates the plate which adjusts the power steering, alternator etc belts. Edit: there was a video on youtube showing how to change it on a 2005 Corolla.......

 

It goes without saying that you change dampers in pairs by the way.

 

Really it depends on how much you are prepared to do, if you can have the car off the road whilst you sort it out, and what you intend doing with the car in the medium term.

 

You should be able to sort the majority of the issues fairly cheaply, especially if you can do the dampers yourself. And then the car may last for years yet. If you were thinking of turning it over sometime soonish, well maybe now is the time. If you keep it, it's cheap to run and if you get a small ding or car park scrape, well it doesn't really matter.

Edited February 26, 2015 by parrot

[ke70dave]

Generally if you arent willing to diy, cars will always be a massive money pit. 2000 doesnt get you much labour amd parts on a 10yr old car with 270,000kms. But after you do all that you should get some more years out of it, and 2000 is cheaper than a new car....

[altezzaclub]

The biggest savings would be to buy a pair of spring clamps and do the shocks yourself. The coolant flush can't be hard, and I don't understand what the serpentine bolt does...

 

The biggest thing is the replacement car. The money they would give you as a trade-in is built into the price of the car you are buying, so yours is worthless really. If you put up less than $10,000 you will be buying another older, well-used car that will need just as much work on it soon anyway. Its all a big gamble, and fixing cars yourself is the only way to save money.

[rian]

To give you an idea, I bought a 2004 Corolla (200 000kms) for $4000 with a slipping clutch one year ago, and at the time all the other Corollas of the same age were around $6000 to $7000. I'd say you could get close to $4000 for your car if you fixed all the problems. But you almost always lose money fixing stuff just to sell it, I find it's better to just sell stuff as is than it is to sink money into it and try and sell it.

 

 

But if I were you and I were planning on keeping the car, I'd fix what I could myself then pay the mechanic to do the rest. Like what Parrot said, the dampers are not hard to change with a decent tool kit and some spare time, and they are pretty cheap from Repco/Autobahn/Supercheap Auto.

I just looked it up and a pair of aftermarket KYB dampers will cost you $380 for the fronts and $250 for the rears from Supercheap Auto.

Wipers are like $15.

Coolant flush is super easy - just remember to bleed the system afterwards.

Then pay the mechanic to change the serpentine belt and the inner CV boot and be glad you don't own a Volkswagon.

 

Or if you're not planning on keeping the car, just sell it as is.