Questioning my decision - the full rundown.

Here's the thing. You're too obsessed with this car. I feel like even if they gave you an engine and transmission for free, you'd continue on this path of never ending messing with it. Constantly replacing parts, constantly fixing something, constantly tinkering with another thing. To an extent that's what us car guys do. But sometimes you just need to stop me drive the darn car and leave it alone.

I feel you have 2 options. Buy a new car, so hopefully you'd stop messing with this one. Or quit fixing this one and just drive it.

Quit reconditioning things and replacing parts that haven't failed.

I just bought an '07 Sonata. It could use a re-tint. Was quoted $320 to have the old stuff scraped off and new tint put on. I was about to pull the plug, but you know what? Screw that. I put a cheap Apple CarPlay radio in it. Almost bought some cheap new speakers. But you know what? Screw that. The old ones still work.

I agree with your decision to buy a house and hopefully have a forever car. But that won't happen if you keep throwing money at this thing.

This is BITOG, he'll obsess even more over a new car.
 
Not replacing light housings and calipers for the heck of it.
Honestly, the light housings were needed for safety and visual appearance and the calipers one was stuck so I replaced both of them.

But the oxygen sensors I did because they were “old and original” the speakers weren’t needed, but are a very nice upgrade and other miscellaneous parts that I have put into this vehicle, such as thermostat which was still operable, but I don’t think at 100%
 
So many days later and I decided to follow through.

To some…. this might be the “wrong decision”

To me though I honestly believe it’s the “right decision”


All emotion aside, looking at it from a financial and logical perspective…
Yeah, I’m gonna invest the value of the car into fixing the car…

But I really believe at the end of the day I will have many years of trouble free use and even “enjoyment”

I will absolutely keep this thread updated. good bad or otherwise you guys will know.

I am just waiting for the breakdown of the work they are going to be performing from the dealer. They’re going to email me and I will also post that here.

🙏
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Consider a used transmission too. Manual transmissions are typically lifelong pieces, you may have just got a dud. A used one is probably fine for life.
 
Consider a used transmission too. Manual transmissions are typically lifelong pieces, you may have just got a dud. A used one is probably fine for life.
I think the "transmission" is OK ... .it's everything else like the clutch, fork ,slave, flywheel ,ect. that need attention.

I had no pop outs or any other issues ever with the transmission until a few days ago.

One last note, it's definitely the slave cylinder I moved the car to drive up on the flatbed and there was a legit trail of clutch fluid on ground, and even pumping the clutch. I could barely get it into first.
 
Well since you asked, I think you’ve thrown a lot of good money at bad money with this vehicle. Why on earth anyone would want to restore a run of the mill budget friendly car is beyond me. Do what makes you happy, but you asking us makes me believe you’re second guessing yourself. If it were me, I’d just drive it until it dies and make the necessary repairs as they come.

Also, I don’t think your 2.4 is included in the lifetime warranty, so how exactly is the dealer going to find something wrong with it and warranty it for you?
 
Looks like the Hyundai/Kia haters are flexing here today. My 06 Sonata was still running strong when I sold it with nearly 300,000 miles.
The 2006-2010 Sonata was arguably the most reliable Hyundai ever made. A close second is the 2001-2006 Santa Fe.

They’ve built two reliable cars and the rest have been mediocre. There’s a reason why they have their haters.
 
In 2007 I bought a 1993 Toyota Tercel (14 years old) that had 170,000km. It had been neglected….I drove it 10k and then spent to rebuild the engine and transmission. I did the engine myself and had a shop do the transmission.
The vehicle is still on the road and the work I put into it at that time is pocket change compared to what I would have spent on vehicles over the ensuing 15 years. Other than tire changes it has been in the shop one time since then - I’ve done everything else myself. It’s just now at the point where I’m 99% done with it and it’ll be time to go shortly, though it still runs and drives nicely at over 360k.

There are a couple of differences in these situations. First, I have done almost everything myself over the years and the extensive preventative maintenance I have done has been dirt cheap. Even a recent distributor replacement was about $60 for a used OEM and no labour because I did the work myself. Going to a shop could get up to $700 or more for the same job.

Second, this has been a very reliable vehicle with cheap and easy to obtain parts. Only now are they drying up a bit at the 30 year mark.

I know you’ve already made you decision and I hope it works out for you but the differences are that you will be paying high shop rates (which makes your plan uneconomical) and the vehicle isn’t a brand that would be considered reliable…and parts are not going to be cheap and readily available over time.
 
There is an old prairie saying that applies here, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

It sounds like you're spending serious money fixing things that are still working on an (objectively speaking) old econobox. That doesn't make any financial sense.

Drive it. If something breaks fix it. But otherwise leave it alone.
 
1SX, if you want that house stop spending money on what’s not broke!

If the dealer is going to warranty a new engine into the car the fit a new clutch and slave cylinder at the same time. This should be a parts only job cost wise so no where near 5k. Replace the bad rear wheel bearing and start changing your engine oil and filters at 5k minimum.

Only spend further if it’s a due maintenance item or a part has failed.

Think house!

If you think oh I will do this on the car, think house!
 
Update: Its been about 8 days without kia... but it should be ready today. The dealer also did a very thorough engine test and does hear the sound I am talking about - they believe it's something with the flex pipe or exhaust / mount or something that is vibrating at a certain frequency, as the engine "is one of the healthier ones"

And then I thought about the gamble on the "new" engine they would install and I did not push the issue any further..

I am obsessive with oil changes, and I do let the engine warm up 3 minutes on cold every start up.. The "tapping" at certain frequencies, I even thought of this but dismissed it because "2.4L" that maybe it was like an accessory component or the belt tensioner. Apparently the copper colored oil that I'm seeing is just used oil... :unsure:

The "damage" for the whole job was bad, but not 6K bad. I was worried something fierce because I thought they were going to find a dozen other issues on top of what im asking to have done.. but this whole experience was not awful, me obsessing over it made it bad. If I just relaxed and let everything "go" this would've been a walk in the park lol.

But at the end of the day, I'll be about $4500 lighter w/ tax plus rental car. And I talked to the dealer a few times to ask if there was any other "issues" I should have addressed and they stated "the car is in fine mechanical condition" multiple times...

the wheel bearing I'm gonna do myself. That was more convenience than anything else.

But... everyone has a different concept of reality..
Me, I can "think" myself into issues esp with the car, and really believe them.

I will update once I receive it back and will post the parts list break down.
 
I know you'll have people telling you you're crazy for fixing your Kia.. But with the way things are going out there, parts shortages, manufacturers scrambling to make production changes due to the same shortages.. all of a sudden repairing something that wasn't designed during a "panic" production schedule seems like a MUCH better idea! Things are not normal no matter what people say, not when it comes to auto production. I think that if you have a "good one" in the sense of not that much wrong with it, I think it's better to repair it and keep it.. feel blessed that you have something that is fixed and works well! That's how I'm taking it..

I know that years ago the restoration of the 96 Civic began, here I thought I was doing it for cheap transportation, which it is (insurance is crazy low for an old car!) But now with everything going on, I'm glad this restoration happened.. that's where I'm coming from with your Kia.. I know the price shocks, been there when the front sub-frame rotted out!

Anyway.. hope it's all good when you get it back! (y)
 
I think it's an insane amount of money for what is just a clutch change.

I DIY'd the clutch on my Wifes Dacia Logan a few months ago. Clutch plate, pressure plate and slave cylinder came to £250 in parts.

I'd estimate if I took it to a good independent labour would have been the same again, bringing the total to £500.

How does a clutch change, even with a flywheel replacement end up being $4000??
 
I think it's an insane amount of money for what is just a clutch change.

I DIY'd the clutch on my Wifes Dacia Logan a few months ago. Clutch plate, pressure plate and slave cylinder came to £250 in parts.

I'd estimate if I took it to a good independent labour would have been the same again, bringing the total to £500.

How does a clutch change, even with a flywheel replacement end up being $4000??
It was a "full complete" replacement of every component besides the transmission itself, so flex plate/flywheel, clutch, throw out bearing, slave cylinder, fork, and many other wear parts.
I also asked for motor mounts and the exhaust flex pipe, which added a cool 800 ish bucks there. So the full clutch job was around 3350 and 11.5 hours labor with the additional 800 bucks for the motor mounts and flex pipe plus tax it's will be 4500 ish out the door.
Shop labor rate at the dealer is over 105 a hour last time I was in there.
 
I think it's an insane amount of money for what is just a clutch change.

I DIY'd the clutch on my Wifes Dacia Logan a few months ago. Clutch plate, pressure plate and slave cylinder came to £250 in parts.

I'd estimate if I took it to a good independent labour would have been the same again, bringing the total to £500.

How does a clutch change, even with a flywheel replacement end up being $4000??
I'm assuming you haven't priced any car repairs lately. I've had several family members report shops wanting $1000+ for front pads and rotors on pretty average cars (Civic, Jetta, Escape).
 
It was a "full complete" replacement of every component besides the transmission itself, so flex plate/flywheel, clutch, throw out bearing, slave cylinder, fork, and many other wear parts.
I also asked for motor mounts and the exhaust flex pipe, which added a cool 800 ish bucks there. So the full clutch job was around 3350 and 11.5 hours labor with the additional 800 bucks for the motor mounts and flex pipe plus tax it's will be 4500 ish out the door.

Unless you have a dual mass flywheel, they never usually need replacing. Sometimes they need to be resurfaced but it's rare.

$3350 is ridiculous.
 
It was a "full complete" replacement of every component besides the transmission itself, so flex plate/flywheel, clutch, throw out bearing, slave cylinder, fork, and many other wear parts.
I also asked for motor mounts and the exhaust flex pipe, which added a cool 800 ish bucks there. So the full clutch job was around 3350 and 11.5 hours labor with the additional 800 bucks for the motor mounts and flex pipe plus tax it's will be 4500 ish out the door.
Shop labor rate at the dealer is over 105 a hour last time I was in there.
That actually isn't bad. The local Jeep dealer near me is $145/hour and I think BMW was $195/hour. Maybe if I just pull up my bootstraps those prices will change though. :LOL:. Being able to DIY has certainly become more of an advantage everyday and I'm thankful for that.
 
Unless you have a dual mass flywheel, they never usually need replacing. Sometimes they need to be resurfaced but it's rare.

$3350 is ridiculous.
Thinking of buying a 200K mile Ford Taurus Sho for 7300 was ridiculous :LOL:

I think it's very fair for the amount of work / labor and the use of oem parts ect.

If It got almost 10 years 130 K out of OEM parts I'm hoping to now see 250k or better(125K more miles) and a few years without another transmission repair.

By that time I'll get rid of the car for 1000 bucks and I will move on.
 
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