And now I'm sad

Kinja'd!!! "CB" (jrcb)
10/31/2016 at 12:27 • Filed to: Bummer, I hardly knew 'er

Kinja'd!!!0 Kinja'd!!! 6
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Had the winter tires put on the Maxima and a look-around done. The oil pan is rusted and cracked, the two front backing plates are rusted and should be replaced, a bearing is going and the wheel hub assembly should be replaced, one litre of antifreeze apparently vanished, and there’s a lot of body rust. Ballparking $1k to fix the stuff mentioned, but who knows what will go next.

The car, according to Auto Trader, is probably only worth about $4k, and things will continue to break and fall apart, as an old car does. And with the body rust, things will only get worse. Talked with my mum, she’s thinking that it might be time for the Maxima to go and replace it with something in better shape. Which is a bummer, because it’s such an amazing car when everything is going well.


DISCUSSION (6)


Kinja'd!!! traitor joe > CB
10/31/2016 at 12:51

Kinja'd!!!0

Even a newer used car is going to need maintenance items replaced, so you should decide whether investing in a different car will be a net positive or negative. The only one of those problems that signals something deeper is the missing coolant, but many cars burn a bit of that.

If you are feeling adventurous and not entirely dependent on your car for day to day life, you could probably get away with just replacing the oil pan. Rusty backing plates are hardly a problem, missing coolant is easily topped up, and a failing bearing can be ridden for many miles.


Kinja'd!!! vicali > CB
10/31/2016 at 13:04

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No Stem lube?

Is the oil pan leaking? are you losing oil? if not disregard :)

Wheel bearings go, you will know it before it goes bad. If you can’t hear it or feel it in the wheel I would forget about it until you can.

Cars use oil and coolant = older use more.. but it’s cheap..

If it’s a winter car then don’t worry about it.


Kinja'd!!! shop-teacher > CB
10/31/2016 at 13:10

Kinja'd!!!0

Ditch it as fast as you can, but don’t expect to get $4k for it.


Kinja'd!!! CB > shop-teacher
10/31/2016 at 13:21

Kinja'd!!!1

Probably not. The replacement we’re looking at is only $13k, so not getting $4k on trade in is fine.


Kinja'd!!! CB > vicali
10/31/2016 at 13:23

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It’s losing oil slowly. Bearing isn’t too bad at the moment. It’s just with the rust and everything, it might be a better idea to offload it now than to hold onto it until everything else goes.


Kinja'd!!! CB > traitor joe
10/31/2016 at 13:24

Kinja'd!!!0

Yeah, I know they’re wear items. But it is a 13 year old car with a lot of body rust. Replacing the pan is a must, I’m not terribly worried about the bearing, but it might be wiser to offload it now before things get worse.