Opinion on money pit

[ThirdeYe]

I think this would be the best forum for this, if it's considered off-topic please move it there.

I've just been really stressed out lately because I just purchased this '95 Integra 3 months ago, and it had a rust problem, the front fender was dented & chipping, and the splash guard had a hole in it and wasn't connected to the bumper, and yet I still paid $3700 for it (mistake number 1). I thought okay, I already paid that much for the car, I might as well spend some more and make it perfect, so I can justify paying so much for the car. I spent $800 getting a new front fender installed, and a new splash guard installed, along with one of the rear panels repainted because of a pin-sized rust spot on it (sanded then repainted). The new splash guard won't connect to the bumper because of the poor design of the bumper and the new one still rubs against the tire and will probably get another hole soon. I spent another $1047 (biggest mistake) on trying to repair the rust on the rear quarter panels, which is something that apparently on Hondas is almost unfixable. I bought some Rust Bullet inhibitor paint, and took it to the same body shop that did my front fender which held out good, and he sanded the area, removed the bumper, filled in the pits and used my rust bullet primer and repainted the quarter panel. He said before he did the work that he couldn't guarantee how long it would last, but it "should" hold up for a long time. A month later, the paint's already starting to bubble up. I noticed a lot of overspray on the side molding and on the rear tail lights, and on the rear window molding. I've also spent about $600 getting actual repairs done, such as a new thermostat, new cam plug, new fuel filter, new distributor (which I haven't installed yet), new PCV valve, tires rotated & balanced, etc. On top of all of this, I have another problem. One of my rear license plate lamp brackets rusted off, and when the bumper was removed to get the quarter panels repaired, the rusted hanging light got trapped behind the bumper and warped a spot behind the license plate. I had a different body shop remove the bumper, take out the light, and replace it with a new OEM light fixture, and when I got the call saying the work was done, they drilled a new hole in my bumper to put it up there, saying I didn't provide the right parts and were trying to save me money. The bumper is now pinched between the two screws they drilled and warping there, the paint is cracking there, and they drilled the screws too high up into the top of the bumper, causing two dings and cracking paint. I think I'm going to have to try to confront them and make them either repaint or repair my bumper, because that's ridiculous. They didn't tell me they were going to drill new holes and mess everything up. Should I just sell the car and cut my losses, or keep trying to dump money into keeping this car from falling apart? It still needs a valve adjustment as well. The engine and transmission are very strong and it has low mileage for the year, but the body itself is very rough regardless of how well I try to take care of it. Being in college, I can't afford all of this maintenance anymore, I've already wasted a good $4000 on this car, just to be back at square one. Sorry for the long rant, just stressed out. I don't know if I should just try to keep the car going through college and just get rid of it after I graduate and try to get a new car, or what.

 

[Doc8404]

If the body is rough, but it's mechanically sound, keep it! stop dumping money into it. I have a galant that's been eating me up....after $1k of new parts, i'm done...going to practice body work on it this summer before i start hitting the Civic's infamous rust issues.

 

[ThirdeYe]

Just a word for the wise, if your civic has the rubber weather strips on the rear fenders, TAKE THEM OFF! Those are what cause the rust on ALL Hondas. The water/salt/dirt gets trapped in them and eats away at the quarter panel.

 

[levi]

JMO.

If you sell/trade it now you will take a bath.

Stop spending money on any and all cosmetics immediately and forever.

Don't spend money on mechanical repairs that aren't ABSOLUTELY necessary.

Drive it 'til the wheels fall off, or you need an engine or tranny rebuild.

Then donate it to Goodwill, some other charity, or the local bone yard.

This is the only way you have a chance recoup what you've already sunk into it.

Again, JMO.

 

[PT1]

You are in college......you are required by Federal law to drive a beater......beaters are never supposed to be pretty. Get over it....all paint jobs on beaters are supposeed to be done with touch up cans or by Earl Scheib.(is Earl Scheib still out there?) Fix the mechanical stuff only. But all your tires from the closeout section at Tire Rack on the internet. Then drive it until you graduate and sell it to an underclassman who needs cheap wheels.

 

[ThirdeYe]

The sad thing is, you'd think $7000 wouldve gotten me more than a beater, eh?

 

[JHZR2]

Honda, for all the praise, does some pretty stupid stuff. The bodies and materials selections for their products (we have a 94 integra with 182k miles) is a great example. Never seen a worse setup quality-of-materials wise.

Ours has some rust building up. Bummer... and we need to get it fixed. But it just keeps running. otally rebuilt clutch still feels lousy - another thing that Honda screwed up royally on... but it works.

Chances are, if the meachanicals are half decent, youll be assured 60-100k more miles of use. Doesnt mean that you wont have morte problems, but a used car without meticulous maintenance and all reciepts = someone else's problems, almost 100% garanteed. Sometimes theyre easy, sometimes theyre $$$$$.

Id sink a bit of money in on the front end, after a lot of thought (if it is determined to be the smart thing to do), and use the car up. Chances are it is up for it. But, id attempt to recoup cash, even if dimes on the dollar, and then do a LOT of research and find a good shop that youre comfortable with, and try to do as much swap-in replacement with good used stuff as is economically reasonable.

My thinking is that the car does have a lot of good life onit (likely) if treated right. Getting it to a square-one that is a halfway acceptable baseline is what you want... not somethng that has parts falling off when youre on the highway - that starts to border on irresponsible.

So good enough, not necessarily pretty, but mechanically correct body-wise, functional, and drivetrain/suspension sound for your safety. Id then cut it off for all but mechanical repairs, which I would do 100% until I get rid of the car. Leaving things undone for CELs, PM, etc. again is irresponsible.

Milk the life out of it - this is how youll make the most of the situation. Its not a bad thing, and even when out of school and making money, your bottom line will thank you by using the car until ouve saved up enough $$$ to buy a new one cash.

Good luck,

JMH

 

[ThirdeYe]

Thanks for that advice, I agree that I think it's in my best interest to keep it, but stop trying to repair the rust/bumper because of the poor design. The car was actually really well maintained and the engine/transmission/everything under the hood is in amazing shape, that's the main reason why I loved the car and wanted it. Hopefully by time I get a new car (I'd like just a simple Corolla or Civic) but preferably newer (2000+) they won't have those stupid design problems. Hopefully I can get a decent job this summer after classes end and save up for the next couple of years, and by time I graduate, have enough to get me something decent.

 

[ShiningArcanine]

Quote:

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Thanks for that advice, I agree that I think it's in my best interest to keep it, but stop trying to repair the rust/bumper because of the poor design. The car was actually really well maintained and the engine/transmission/everything under the hood is in amazing shape, that's the main reason why I loved the car and wanted it. Hopefully by time I get a new car (I'd like just a simple Corolla or Civic) but preferably newer (2000+) they won't have those stupid design problems. Hopefully I can get a decent job this summer after classes end and save up for the next couple of years, and by time I graduate, have enough to get me something decent.

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If you want a new car, I suggest that you keep your current car until you can afford to buy a brand new one, as if you buy another used one, you will likely post on these forums again asking for advice on what to do with your new "money pit."

 

[eljefino]

Keep it. You're more meticulous than pretty much anyone else there and any used car you buy will be a disappointment.

It is always prudent to budget for repairs when buying a used vehicle, stuff that doesn't show up on the test drive. Sounds like you did. You should look back with pride on how much better than average your car is presently. If you attempted to dump it now, you'd be competing in the want ads against cars that are $1000s cheaper, lousier, and people will expect you to price match the rustbucket acura your neighbor has.

Salt, rust, and the "tin worm" do in cars up north. I imagine you'd be less frustrated if you did the rust repairs yourself. All the fun subcompact cars have incredibly thin gauge steel bodies... Saturns being the exception. But then you'd face the exasperation of a perfectly good body and lousy oil burning engine... pick your poison.

"The devil you know is better than the devil you don't"-- Be proud of your car, drive it into the ground as suggested above. If you buy new, will you be able to stomach the first parking lot ding? If you buy a $1000 clunker, will it satisfy you that it's issues are plain as day, but at least your funds aren't all tied up in it? These are phisosophical questions that must be answered from within.

 

[b-man]

Next time you're looking for good used Honda, take a nice little vacation trip to CA and buy one with a sound rust-free body.

The money spent flying out to CA and the gas money to drive your new puchase back to MI will look like nothing compared to the bucks you've poured into that locally-sourced rust-bucket.

Meanwhile, drive your current ride into the ground to recoup your investment as best you can.

 

[eljefino]

Quote:

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Next time you're looking for good used Honda, take a nice little vacation trip to CA and buy one with a sound rust-free body.

The money spent flying out to CA and the gas money to drive your new puchase back to MI will look like nothing compared to the bucks you've poured into that locally-sourced rust-bucket.

Meanwhile, drive your current ride into the ground to recoup your investment as best you can.

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I understand Michigan does not do state inspections for safety or pollution. If you can find a california car that fails smog for some silly reason but still runs fine, you can get a sweetheart deal.

 

[ThirdeYe]

I got lucky on my car before this. I had a '98 Altima from California with no rust, so I wasn't used to dealing with it. I shouldn't have sold that car, there wasn't anything wrong with it at all. Live and you learn eh? That's true about the failing emissions as well

 

[eljefino]

Admit it-- you consciously or subconsciously wanted drama if you went back a couple years from the nissan sedan.

We all do, actually. They could make cars simpler, more reliable, and more rustproof but they'd be slow boring tanks.

 

[ShiningArcanine]

Quote:

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I got lucky on my car before this. I had a '98 Altima from California with no rust, so I wasn't used to dealing with it. I shouldn't have sold that car, there wasn't anything wrong with it at all. Live and you learn eh? That's true about the failing emissions as well

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If you had a working car, why did you sell it and buy another one?

 

[ThirdeYe]

My best friend has an Integra and I just wanted a change of pace, didn't think I would be getting into anything this big. I also associated the white car with a lot of bad memories from my past and wanted to disassociate myself from them, by selling the car. Dumb mistake, but if anything, i've learned from the entire situation. I just called the body shop that did my quarter panel repairs and told him about the bubbling, and he said he'd take a look at it on Tuesday. I'm not expecting any miracles, but it's worth a shot.

 

[b-man]

Rust never sleeps.....

I'm not really even sure what that stuff looks like.

 

[mstrjon32]

Not to make you feel worse, but this should be a good warning to anyone considering buying an older Honda. IMO, old Honda's are just about the worst value on the market--Honda has this rediculous perceived quality image, so it lets drivers of rusted out, falling apart '92 Accords that have had no maintenance at all unload them to people for 3 or 4 grand, when the thing is really worth about $50 at the scrap yard. Worse still, is that like any car, things will still break, and then they'll cost more to fix than most. But, worst of all, at least from what I've noticed, is that people who typically buy Hondas take terrible care of them, expecting it to last forever with no maintenance, because, after all, it's a Honda. On the other end of the spectrum you've got the ricers who put the huge mufflers on cheap Civics and then proceed to beat the #@$%! out of it until it's blowing more smoke than a coal power plant. Not that this is true of all owners, but I seem to see it more with Honda than with any other brand.

Last time I bought an older used car, it was an '89 Buick Regal. I got it for $800, with a smooth-running engine and working, but slightly rough transmission. It only had a tiny touch of rust (on the trunk, oddly), but a $200 Maaco paint job and a good carpet shampooing and it would have looked 10 years newer. Parts were cheaper than dirt, and in the time I owned it all I ever did was replace the spark plugs, wires, and fuel filter. I put about 10K miles on it and then resold it for $650. It got almost 30mpg, to boot.

It's not that I think Honda is a bad car, it's just that I've found that people expect to get way too much when selling them, and buyers seem to expect it to be perfect. At the end of the day, its still a *used* car.

 

[SLM]

Hondas here in the PNW have the same problem with being over priced. People want 6 grand for a 94 accord and they'll get it too. People are willing to pay. I would stick with the car, your in school, worry about that first. Don't worry if it doesn't look great.

 

[obbop]

College dude?

Have things changed that much over the years?

That Honda was crying out for a bumper sticker party!!!!!

Invite countless friends. Tell them to bring as many different types of bumper stickers as possible.

Cover entire car... except glass, lights, etc.

Stand bac and revel at the creation!!!!!

Another option is either carpet, astroturf or shelf paper.

So much fun to be had and then think of the opportunity to post the pics here there and everywhere.

Ye would be a Coot-brand hero for customizing thine conveyance in a groovy manner.