Am I ready?

mark2000

Member
I came on here to post a question as to whether or not I should keep my P5. Interestingly, there are about 3 threads within the last 2 months about people asking or stating the same thing.

Is it worth sinking another $1000 (CDN) into this to get it through the winter to fix various routine issues: an oil pan leak, brakes all around, squealing belts and patching tires? Only 160k KMs (100k miles) on the car.

I am trying to balance the reality that Ill need a new car sometime vs. being economical. I could do the repairs and hope for a winter out of it, but at this point am I only kicking the can down the road?

Is it time to utter those words of finality: Im ready, warden?
 
Also, if I do get rid of this thing, I was just gonna donate it to a junkyard through charity for a tax receipt.

Would anyone on the forum want it for about the same cost, for parts? Tons of good working equipment on this thing that could go to good use instead of to scrap.

I am not sure if this is something people do in this forum, but I thought Id ask as you guys have helped me immensely over the years. I am in Toronto.
 
Being in Canada, you have to weigh the rustiness of the car vs. cost of maintenance items. If $1000 will get you to next March or April, then it might be worth it. $1000 over 8 months works out to ~$125 per month. Could you get a newer car for that little?
 
that all depends how rusty your car is, and your financial situation. If you can put $1000 into it and have it be good to go for another few years, i'd say it's worth it. If you need to put $1k into it just to make it driveable to make it through winter, and underneath it's just a rusty POS waiting to crumble as you drive down the road then I'd say it's time for a new car.

Down here rust really isn't an issue so it changes that game quite a bit.


I also have to question who is charging you $1000 to fix an oil leak, replace a couple belts, and patch some nails in the tires? That seems pretty excessive...

Belts you can do yourself for $20 in about a half hour with basic tools.

You could get all brand new tires for cheap. I got the tires for my car at Walmart for less than $40 each. After tax and installation it cost me under $200. out the door and I was driving down the road. I had 60k miles on them when I sold the car, and they still had at least half tread left.

Brakes are easy. You can get pads and rotors on Amazon or Rock auto and replace all 4 corners for under $100 in an afternoon with only basic tools.

And depending on how bad of an oil leak you have, you could always just "let it leak". As long as you keep an eye on the oil level regularly and don't let the oil get low, it can leak all it wants. It just saves you from having to worry about oil changes LOL. Just replace the filter every 5k miles or so :)
 
Next time they hoist the car, what should I look out for underneath to determine whether the rust is just old and noisy vs being a danger risk?

The parts, locally, were $360. Rockauto shipping costs were not feasible.

Labour, I was told, was about 90 min per axle and 90 for the pan. Unfortunately I do believe it because there will be a lot of torching and grinding needed to get the bolts off. The calipers will also need to be removed and cleaned for proper operation. (I saw the mechanic doing this to a car while I was at the garage - and it did look like time-consuming). The tires also take a bit of time to plug. If I skip the belts, I can probably keep the total labour and parts cost slightly under $1000. Unfortunately because of rust and Ive got no place to work on the car, its not DIYable.
 
Next time they hoist the car, what should I look out for underneath to determine whether the rust is just old and noisy vs being a danger risk?

Check the frame rails and subframe with a hammer and listen to the sound.

You can tell if you're hitting solid metal or crusty rust.
It should sound solid.

I remember a guy that took his car to a mechanic and they could push a screwdriver right through the frame rails.

The car was scrapped.
 
PCB were you "that guy"? Lol

Unfortunately nobody but you can tell you if a new car is in the cards or not. With the exception of tires and AC, I do my own work. Mostly because I dont trust anyone else to work on my cars. But you'll have to be the judge. I sold my car for $2000. It ran great, drove great, had cold AC and hot heat. Everything in and on the car worked like it should. The only issue it had was a noise from the rear suspension over bumps, but since it didnt affect how the car rode/handled/drove I didnt care enough to fix it. Up to th day i sold it i still would have hoped in exactly as it was and drove a 1000 mile road trip. It had absolutely no rust at all anywhere on the car. And with 5k miles on the timing belt, it should be Good for another 100k

That's a $2k car. My personal thoughts, if it needed $500 into it I would have gotten rid of it. They're just not worth sinking a lot of money into becauae ultimately they just arent worth much. But if you dont have the money for a new car, then it would be cheaper to fix it than spend on a new car. And unless you buy a BRAND new car, you can plan on putting money into ANY used car you buy. I usually plan to spend around $1000 on any used car I buy. Even my explorer. It runs and drives like a dream. But I had to replace the intake manifold for a coolant leak (common on 4.6 and 5.4l ford V8's) so that was a couple hundred bucks for the part (I did it myself, but shop.labor add another $400-500). And it still has a wheel bearing I need to replace. I already have the bearing, just havent been motivated enough to change it yet. That cost me $50. Add $300-400 shop labor if you dont do it yourself.

I just bought my wife a newer navigator. It had a window regulator fail about 3 weeks after we got it home, sounded crunchy so I knew it was coming. $150 for the part (add $150 shop labor). One of the power running boards didnt work, got a new motor and did it myself for $100 (retail on the motor from ford is almost $1k plus labor). And it will need tires soon but they're okay for now.

Plus other misc little things. Many times you look at a used car and things dont pop.out immediately. Like my intake manifold. You couldnt see a leak. But coolant level slowly kept dropping. And it has a new transmission, tires, completely rebuilt front end/suspension/steering, etc. They must have gotten an estimate on the coolant leak and said enough is enough.

But enough rambling, bottom line, even buying a used car, therea gonna be stuff that needs to be fixed to make it 100% where it should be. So I'd plan on that in addition to the price whether it's a fancy newer navigator, or a $3000 ford explorer.
 
Ha you guys are silly have your undercarriage sprayed, I just use water at the do-it-yourself car wash. And I have zero rust.
Hahaha silly people, just don't drive in the snow with it .
 
You guys in Arizona don't have -20 C -40 C winters with the salty brine sprayed all over the roads. lol

I'm not crawling under my car to hose it down when it's -20 out.

When you really need a car is when it sucks outside. lol



 
I just noticed this.

He looks kinda spooky.
Like maybe an undertaker?





I'm gonna try to raise my car out of the grave and keep it going for five more years.

That's my goal.
 
Having read this and have some questions that concern me.

First off, 100K miles and you think it might be time to sell? These cars, if taken care of and not abused, no salt/rust issues to deal with can, and do last to at LEAST 180K US miles in good health, I know as my 2003 P5 is still a choochin' at 188+K US miles on the clock, though right now I'm dealing with random misfires, very poor hot idle but runs fine otherwise and even have a thread about it and will be getting out there to see if a vacuum leak and check to see if one, or both coils are to spec (producing the proper voltages) and part of the problem was the MAF sensor that was just replaced yesterday and the codes associated with it are now gone, just the random misfire code (P0300) remains so far.

However, I DO live on the west coast in Washington State here in the States so rust is not an issue here and a lot of these cars are still chuggin' a long nicely around here as I write.

Patching tires? When was the LAST time you changed them? Yes, plugging them is fine, but if you are too close to the sidewalls, then you need to replace for safety's sake and Discount Tire won't plug if that's the case and I just pay the $20 and have the tire replaced under the replacement program they offer, saves my ass countless times over the years.

I hope you are not one of those tightwads that simply avoids spending on things when you really should, like tires. I had cheap low brand tires on the car when I bought it in early 2012 but by the fall of 2013, bought new tires, Continental Extreme Contacts and they've been awesome, yes, I've had to replace them several times due to damage, mostly due to being low profile tires on the factory rims but still have decent tread left.

As to when to replace, that is only for you to decide, but I agree, if you live in the rust belt, then you need to factor in the rust and to what extent it's at NOW because there will come a time when critical frame parts are rusting through and the cost to replace often outweighs what the car is nominally worth now.

Good luck!
 
Having read this and have some questions that concern me.

First off, 100K miles and you think it might be time to sell? These cars, if taken care of and not abused, no salt/rust issues to deal with can, and do last to at LEAST 180K US miles in good health,

Mine had 270k when I sold it, and still ran like new. I checked compression at 260k when I changed the spark plugs "just because" and had 200-210psi on all 4 cylinders. Didn't leak or burn a drop of oil.
 
Hey all. Its been a stressful week with this car. After chasing around cheap, flaky and unreliable mechanics on kijiji, I have decided that tonight was probably her last drive.

The rust on the bottom edges of the car is coming off in clumps.

In a new twist, The power steering died on me today, theres a leak which keeps eating all the fluid within a 30 min drive.

Theres an oil leak and a coolant leak as well now.

Front brakes are metal on metal.

Belts squeak under full load.

The good:
Engine and transmission all run like clockwork. Interior is almost immaculate. Sound system still kickin. Front control arms are like new. A/C blows cold.

Unfortunately all those other issues represent too much to turn around. Even if I did put the money into it - its an 03, it cant last forever with the rust.

Sadly, its time. But Ill say bye before I go, and send my thank yous to everyone and let you know what I ended up with. Ill be calling for a tow as soon as I buy something new.
 
Understood completely. You can't fight rust!

You could probably get a decent bit of coin if you part it out on here. Lot of these guys on here can use good parts; clean interior parts and a good running engine/transmission are coming hard to find. Then send the rusty shell to the scrapper.
 
Ok. I posted it in the general for sale section of this website and Ill see if I get any bites. Thanks for the idea.
 
Ok. I posted it in the general for sale section of this website and I*ll see if I get any bites. Thanks for the idea.

Keep in mind that you're probably going to have to ship anything you sell to the USA.

There's probably not a rust-free P5 left in Canada so you're gonna have to deal with international shipping and duty, taxes, customs etc.
 
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