Death of the Camry (UPDATED)
Beth laying flowers on the Camry's grave. RIP
Yesterday I made a post about how Beth and I have cut our costs and are living simply. In what can only be described as cruel irony, that same day we got word back that our Camry’s engine was blown and would require $1,200+ to put a new one in. [UPDATE: Because Cash for Clunkers intentionally ruined so many working engines, the cost has gone up substantially. The cheapest engine we could find is $1,900 with a total cost of $2,300. Equally disappointing is the fact that we would only get between $100-200 if we tried to scrap it] While we are certainly disappointed (read: pissed) it hasn’t been overly stressful because we have some options. The problem is, no option clearly seems to make the most sense.
Last month my parents gave me an old Chevy S-10 they had not been using. It has low miles (for a ’95) and is great for moving things around. We can fit the whole family in it if we need to, but it is super tight. Also, it is a stick shift, which Beth hates driving.
We also have my Saturn (which 2 weeks ago I was trying to sell and then informally abandoned that idea after the interior somehow became filled with junk after a road trip to Chicago). This car is also a stick shift and is beat to crap. It runs great (with 153K on it) but doesn’t have A/C and the interior is all torn up. Again, the whole family can fit in there but no one is happy.
And then there is the Camry. Camries are supposed to be good cars… what happened? (In case you are wondering… Yes… Beth had made sure there was oil in it). It also has 153K on it and the tranny has some quirks. Oh… and the engine doesn’t work. But, it was a great traveling car, got good gas mileage and the A/C worked.
So what do we do? Here are the options we see:
- Scrap out the Camry and go with what we have – Let’s face it, we are extremely fortunately to have an extra car. Beth can drive the Saturn and I can drive the truck and we pocket the few hundred dollars that the junk yard would give us. By far the cheapest option, but Beth hates driving a stick and then we have no car good for traveling.
- Scrap out the Camry and buy something else – We could take what little money the Camry brings and perhaps sell the Saturn too and then buy Beth a new car. We save the repair costs, but selling both cars will probably bring in less than $1,500 and then we have to find a reliable vehicle for a decent price. Sometimes the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t know.
- Bite the bullet and fix the Camry – We sink $1,200 into a car that is 11 years old and has a quirky tranny. We could sell the Saturn to help pay these costs. We like the Camry and it meets our needs, but I am hesitant to put this much money into a car that is so old. At some point it costs more to upkeep a cheap car than to buy an expensive car. If we do this and then the tranny goes, we are up the creek.
Any of these options would work and we don’t need a long term solution. We are planning on getting rid of all of our vehicles in 2 years when we move to Swaziland. All we need is something to get us up to that time without being a money pit.
So, we need your help. What would you do in this situation? Is it worth fixing the Camry or should we count our blessings and move on?
Dear Ben,
Sink the 1200.00. Our Ford Focus has 176,000 on it and runs beautifully because we still put the 1000.00 in every third year for a major tune-up. Yuo’ll be gone in two years. Why go through the headaches of selling and buying? Just my opinion.
By the way, you all make the BEST dang gin in the universe! We can’t keep it in the house because we go through it too quickly.
All the best,
CK-S
Is that a used motor? I would think you could get one (and get it put in) for [hopefully] what you could get out of the Saturn. That’s what I’d do; let me know if I can help..
We were in a similar situation last year. I broke down in our 93 Camry on the side of the road with no cell phone reception, 7 months pregnant and a dog in the car. I had to have it towed back to Bowling Green and found out our engine was blown (per Barry I blew up the engine). We looked into buying another car instead of replacing the engine but we would be taking on two car payments and we really didn’t want to do that. But with a baby on the way we couldn’t live with just one car anymore, Barry works in Glasgow. Our transmission was good in the Camry so that was a plus, no future car repair for that at least. About the same time the Government was issuing those $600 rebates so we used all of that a drained our savings and put an engine in it we got from a local junk yard. A year later it’s still going strong, just needs four new tires. It to has no A/C and has no radio reception but hey I don’t have to drive it so who cares 🙂
About four years ago, our 1997 Pontiac Sunfire’s enginge blew. It cost us about, in total, 1300 to fix it. We chose to go ahead and fix it, basically because we didn’t want a car payment. I was worried that everything would just start failing after that.
Fast foward four years, and we just passed the Sunfire onto a family member for them to use, since we bought the new Tribute. It has run great ever since we rebuilt the engine, and we have only had minor issues with the car since then.
Going ahead and rebuilding the engine was the good choice for us. I think you just have to make sure you know the person that will be rebuilding the vehicle, if you choose to rebuild the engine. As it were 4 years ago, my car died in front of Reuben’s Garage in Plano, right across the street from our house. He actually did a great job.
If you plan on getting rid of everything in 2 years anyway, and Camry’s *should* hold up, rebuilding it might be a good choice for you.
I guess the big question would be: Do you have the cash available to pay for the repairs now?
We are very fortunate because we have the money to pay for repairs (even without selling the Saturn, but we hate the idea of having 3 cars).
Personally, I am leaning towards either getting rid of the camry, saving the money, and going with what we have…. or… selling the saturn and fixing the camry. I am not at all into shopping for a new vehicle.
In that case, if it were me (and of course its not, but just my opinion), I would drive the 2 cars that work until you can sell the Saturn, then use the money from the Saturn sell to fix up the Camry 🙂
i am not sure where you guys get your cars fixed, but we go to b&b on campbell lane. they are really good at being honest with us and telling us how it is. i would ask your person if they think there will be any more major problems within two years. if they say no, fix the camry and pray it gets you through two years.
[UPDATE: Because Cash for Clunkers intentionally ruined so many working engines, the cost has gone up substantially. The cheapest engine we could find is $1,900 with a total cost of $2,300. Equally disappointing is the fact that we would only get between $100-200 if we tried to scrap it]
Don’t fix the Camry! Your transmission is right behind the engine. I think you’ll be in the same spot in two months.
My 2 cents say to sell the Camry and S-10 and get a ’90s civic hatchback for $2500. Take the rear seats out when you want a truck and leave them in when you want a car.
BTW, I love that Beth is smiling in the picture. That kind of sums up your positive outlook on life.
Thanks Michael.
The picture of Beth is actually from when we were coming home from the hospital with Mikayla. It was the only picture I could find of the Camry and I thought it was fitting there were flowers 🙂
The cost to fix is way out of the price range we wanted to pay. When it comes to selling it, there is no clear option either. The scrap yards only pay by the ton which would get us between $200-300. I could part it out for much more, but that would be a hassle and I don’t think Beth wants Camry pieces all over the garage.
With the increased costs, I really am leaning against getting it fixed, but I don’t know the best way to sell it.
Well, I’d take the airbags and alternator out (both pretty easy) and let the scrap yard take it. You’d have the most valuable parts and be rid of the car.