Keep beater or upgrade?

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What does Broke mean? How quickly can you recover from a 4K purchase to get back to 4K in the bank? If you have no income and only 4K burning a hole in your pocket, I'd look really hard at the solara and see if you put a little more money into it would a last a lot longer.

If it breaks down on the road would you lose much (Job, life(bad neighborhood)) or just an inconvenience. Is rebuilding a transmission now while it is just grinding gears cheaper than waiting until it is spent?

Vibration could be rims, wheels, tires or suspension (brearings, CVs) Does it only vibrate at certain speeds and 10 MPH up or down make it get substantially less? that is usually a tire balance issue.

Does it only vibrate when pressing the brakes? If so it is the brake rotors.


If you do buy the new car, low ball then. Cut he price in half Start at a 2K offer price and slowly work up. Watch Gas Monkey garage for his techniques. Don't get emotional, its just a business transaction. Have your name and number on a card or paper and write your offer price, then leave if they don't accept your offer. Don't fall for "I got more in it than that". They don't. They probably picked that car up for 1-1.5K.

Oh and always negotiate the "out the door" price not the sale price. Don't fall into them justifying doc fees and your trying to keep up with their calculations. 3K out the door should be doable if they are hungry and would make since for you.

How many people are wanting a 2004 car nowadays?
 
Originally Posted By: danez_yoda


How many people are wanting a 2004 car nowadays?



Plenty of folks in the posters financial condition. If it is sitting on a dealer lot with a bunch of cars in this price range then the dealer is out to make money off these folks and won't bargain much or prefers to finance in house. I looked at a car for someone that was okay for purpose and showed up with $4500 cash for a $5000 Acura TSX. The owner did not even want $5000 cash as he explained he made money off in house financing. He nicely though referred me to someone who sold cars for cash in his yard and my niece ended up with a really nice 2004 $3500 Acura TL.
 
200K Miles, Possible transmission, already spent a good amount of money on the car. Forget it, get the Vibe I mean Toyota.
 
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Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Get one of these.
$8k Fiesta
Figure out a loan for the rest from the bank and drive worry free for 10+ years.


That is not a bad idea at all.
 
Lots of different suggestions here. This is a frustrating experience for me, believe me. My first ever car that I bought was flawless for the 6 years I owned it: A 1992 Mazda Miata. No vibrations and a terrific transmission. But I just couldn't stand how loud it was a freeway speed, so I sold it. With the Solara, my frustration is that I am not used to driving a car with problems, issues, etc. This car is testing my ability to control my spending because my fundamental personality type hates driving with problems that I am aware of. It's like a nagging devil, taunting me on the shoulder.

I have gone to 3 different mechanics for the vibration issue. First one said I needed tie-rods. I replaced those. No improvement. Second mechanic said I needed to balance the tires. No improvement. Third told me I had incompatible Buick rims on the Toyota. I got some junkyard Toyota rims, and had those balanced. That improved it a lot, but the vibration is still there. This issue has been testing my patience ever since I bought the car. And all of this has cost me money. I am just getting tired of the car, but is it the cold hard truth that fixing the car is the better financial decision? I am not sure how much longer my mental state can tolerate this car.

I am capable of pulling the transmission, but then I would be without a car... So that's not really an option. I guess the vibration issue is something I should tackle again... If I like a car, I am the type to keep it long term, but if I don't like a car, I am always looking for something better. Maybe if I can get this car to the point that I like it, then this whole wanting to upgrade issue wouldn't be a problem for me. I think I might just re-assess the vibration issue, and look at getting the transmission fixed after winter has passed. Because there are some good points about this Solara:

1) Engine is in excellent shape. Valvetrain had minimal varnish when the timing belt was done.
2) This was a Florida car until 2012, so it has minimal rust. That is a huge plus for a 19 year old car up here in the rust belt.
3) As I mentioned in the first post, it has $3000 worth of new OEM parts on it.

Truthfully if the vibration issue and Transmission were addressed, this car could probably last me another 5 years or so.

I think I can pull the transmission myself, and have a shop do the rebuild. I have replaced an engine on another car, so a transmission shouldn’t be out of my ability. I can borrow a friend’s car while I do the job.
 
You can drive yourself nuts trying to pinpoint the vibration issue. It could be bent drive shaft, internal transmission problems, suspension, engine mounts acting up at certain speeds.

I had this problem with my Ford Tempo and even went to a specialized alignment shop where they do it on sort of a dyno and check for how the car sits on the road type alignment. Got it all straightened out and then hit a deer and totaled the car months later.

Honestly with the miles and the fact that the Syncros are acting up I would use this time to find your next beater.
 
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Have you tried bleeding the slave cylinder? With a car as old and used as the Solara, unless you DIY then it could be a money pit. You need to fix this yourself or you will be at the mercy of profit motivated shops. I would jack up the front end and start looking for sloppy ball joints and funny wear pattern on the tires. Worn front end parts get dangerous when worn. If the front end is tight, thn drive easier to spare the transmission.
 
Originally Posted By: Kurtatron
Lots of different suggestions here. This is a frustrating experience for me, believe me. My first ever car that I bought was flawless for the 6 years I owned it: A 1992 Mazda Miata. No vibrations and a terrific transmission. But I just couldn't stand how loud it was a freeway speed, so I sold it. With the Solara, my frustration is that I am not used to driving a car with problems, issues, etc. This car is testing my ability to control my spending because my fundamental personality type hates driving with problems that I am aware of. It's like a nagging devil, taunting me on the shoulder.

I have gone to 3 different mechanics for the vibration issue. First one said I needed tie-rods. I replaced those. No improvement. Second mechanic said I needed to balance the tires. No improvement. Third told me I had incompatible Buick rims on the Toyota. I got some junkyard Toyota rims, and had those balanced. That improved it a lot, but the vibration is still there. This issue has been testing my patience ever since I bought the car. And all of this has cost me money. I am just getting tired of the car, but is it the cold hard truth that fixing the car is the better financial decision? I am not sure how much longer my mental state can tolerate this car.

I am capable of pulling the transmission, but then I would be without a car... So that's not really an option. I guess the vibration issue is something I should tackle again... If I like a car, I am the type to keep it long term, but if I don't like a car, I am always looking for something better. Maybe if I can get this car to the point that I like it, then this whole wanting to upgrade issue wouldn't be a problem for me. I think I might just re-assess the vibration issue, and look at getting the transmission fixed after winter has passed. Because there are some good points about this Solara:

1) Engine is in excellent shape. Valvetrain had minimal varnish when the timing belt was done.
2) This was a Florida car until 2012, so it has minimal rust. That is a huge plus for a 19 year old car up here in the rust belt.
3) As I mentioned in the first post, it has $3000 worth of new OEM parts on it.

Truthfully if the vibration issue and Transmission were addressed, this car could probably last me another 5 years or so.

I think I can pull the transmission myself, and have a shop do the rebuild. I have replaced an engine on another car, so a transmission shouldn’t be out of my ability. I can borrow a friend’s car while I do the job.


In general, vibrations can be caused by many things, aside from what you already mentioned. Motor mounts, wheel bearing, bent rims etc. Did you go to someone with a hunter road force balance machine? Maybe try and get it balanced there and make sure that your rims aren't bent. I have 18 inch rims on my car and have had to get them bent back.
 
Originally Posted By: Kurtatron
I already put redline in it. It helped significantly. It was grinding all the time before. Now it doesn’t grind unless I push hard.


Try some AC Delco FM (friction modified) MTF in it. Honda came out with a tsb to use in V6 Accord manuals that had a 1-2 grind. It worked and sure saved them a lot of money by not fixing the "real" issue. Just make sure it's the FM stuff.

Do you have a link for the Vibe? Maybe you can trade in the Solara and get a decent trade in value for it towards the end of the month. Just be careful with a low miler like that and make sure it's legit.
 
Originally Posted By: oilmutt
A 13 year old car that been 40k miles,that means it average 3k miles per year-no way-pass it up!


There's no set rule for how little a car has been driven. It really depends on how it was maintained and how those miles were put on. My current 2002 only had 22K miles when I bought it at 8 yrs old....2750 miles/yr...a fail per the above requirement.

The car was nearly flawless, totally rust free, and drove perfectly. It's possible it was a senior's car who only drove on long trips twice per year to go to Florida and back. My dad has a similar regimen. In any event I bought that "failure." And 8 years later at 78K miles, it's been a pretty darn reliable car for 16 years old. I'd do it again too. Unexpected repairs (1 front axle, radiator) has run me on average $105/yr. The other costs are routine (fluids, brakes, tires). There's no rule that says older, lower mileage cars are "trouble."
 
Also, make sure you're getting complete clutch release with the pedal pushed to the floor. With it to the floor, when you start letting the pedal out, there should be about an inch of space at the bottom of the pedal before it starts engaging. Do it really slow to test it; if it just instantly grabs, or if you're having trouble getting into reverse, you might need new clutch hydraulics. Is there a lot of slop at the top of the pedal, or does it feel spongy?
 
Ensure your clutch hydraulic fluid is fresh/clean. Dirty fluid can cause shifting issues. A simple syringe feed and bleed on the reservoir can clean it up in approx 2-6 cycles or 20-90 minutes.
 
Yeah that is the vibe there. It has 16 records on car fax, but I didn’t bother paying for the report. I was convinced here to drop the pursuit. I was thinking of asking the dealer to send me pictures of the undercarriage. I could go take a look at it, look under the oil fill cap, check the rust, and see how it drives, but I dunno. The wheels do look somewhat rusty to me.
 
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