Vehicle: 2003 Subaru Outback with 163,000 miles.
Car is my wife's daily driver. It is needing a goodly amount of repairs due to age/miles/issues from being in the rust belt for 12 years before escaping. Car is paid off, my wife likes it, and want to keep it as long as we can.
Issues and needs:
-Exhaust leaks all over the place as the entire system is rusting apart. Eventually needs replaced from engine to exhaust tip. Mostly patched together currently with hose clamps and exhaust tape.
-Drivers side headgasket has let go, leaking oil and coolant externally. Not planning on repairing this, just keeping fluids topped up.
-All suspension parts are factory and could stand to be replaced eventually. No clunking or grinding, but bumps are getting more notable and one strut is starting to leak, along with front ball joints boots split, both control arm bushings leaking.
-Electrical short in passenger door affecting lock and speaker. Haven't been able to figure this one out yet, it's intermittent.
-New front bumper support needed, my fog lights are cracked and the bumper support is too badly rusted to mount new ones. Repair cost: $100ish at a junkyard.
MOST of these are age/miles/rust related. Frame is in acceptable shape, body shop estimates I have maybe 5 years before the subframe lets go which will scrap the car. The suspension is where I'm trying to figure out what I want to do. Replacing EVERYTHING will run close to $2000 in parts and labor, which is not much less that the value of the car. I want my wife's ride as safe and functional as possible and she wants to keep the car until it is no longer fixable, but I also don't want to set money on fire (see ignoring the HG and exhaust until they become critical).
Wait until suspension gets bad and noisy? Just replace some parts but not all, if so which ones?
Car is my wife's daily driver. It is needing a goodly amount of repairs due to age/miles/issues from being in the rust belt for 12 years before escaping. Car is paid off, my wife likes it, and want to keep it as long as we can.
Issues and needs:
-Exhaust leaks all over the place as the entire system is rusting apart. Eventually needs replaced from engine to exhaust tip. Mostly patched together currently with hose clamps and exhaust tape.
-Drivers side headgasket has let go, leaking oil and coolant externally. Not planning on repairing this, just keeping fluids topped up.
-All suspension parts are factory and could stand to be replaced eventually. No clunking or grinding, but bumps are getting more notable and one strut is starting to leak, along with front ball joints boots split, both control arm bushings leaking.
-Electrical short in passenger door affecting lock and speaker. Haven't been able to figure this one out yet, it's intermittent.
-New front bumper support needed, my fog lights are cracked and the bumper support is too badly rusted to mount new ones. Repair cost: $100ish at a junkyard.
MOST of these are age/miles/rust related. Frame is in acceptable shape, body shop estimates I have maybe 5 years before the subframe lets go which will scrap the car. The suspension is where I'm trying to figure out what I want to do. Replacing EVERYTHING will run close to $2000 in parts and labor, which is not much less that the value of the car. I want my wife's ride as safe and functional as possible and she wants to keep the car until it is no longer fixable, but I also don't want to set money on fire (see ignoring the HG and exhaust until they become critical).
Wait until suspension gets bad and noisy? Just replace some parts but not all, if so which ones?