No car, no job

February 19, 2009 11:45 AM

My car is about to die, but I'm in jeopardy of losing my job very soon. What do I do?

What really hurts is that I spent about $1800 on my car recently.

I have a 1998 dodge stratus with about 180,000 miles on it, so it has done a good job for me, but now is not a great time for it to go.

I thought I had at least another year out of it, but two different mechanics told me the transmission seems to be on its way out.

In October I replaced: fuel pump, water pump, serpentine belt, timing belt.
Total: ~$1600.

I also bought new tires shortly after that. ($300)

When I bought the new parts, the car was running fine. The mechanics said it was running strong, seemed ok (for its age) and didn't see any major repairs on the horizon.

Hmm.

So here we are about 4 months later and my car is taking much longer to shift. The same mechanics who, 4 months ago, said my car seemed ok, say my transmission is on its way out. They aren't suggesting I pay them to replace it, but telling me, sorry it's time to buy a new car. I trust these mechanics and I don't think they lied to me in the fall?

They say they don't know how much longer the transmission willl last. It could be a year, if I baby it, or it could go next week.

But, I may be about to lose my job. My company is doing furloughs currently, but I was close to the last hired and well....we know how that goes.

My car is paid off.

I don't want to be stuck with a car payment and then no job (but I also don't want to buy a Hyundai...) and I also want to try and recoup some of the money spent on my car if/when it dies.

What should I do?

A relative told me to sell the car before it dies, as is, but I'm not sure how I feel about that.

Is there a way for me to get money from the repairs I just did (and my new tires) to offset the cost of a newer car? I don't have all of the cash to pay for a used car outright (no plans to buy a new car).

Thanks for your advice :(

posted by PinkButterfly to Work & Money (19 answers total)

I would talk to your mechanic and see what can be done to get the most out of your existing transmission. Unless you don't tell prospective buyers about the transmission, you're not going to get much for resale anyway. And you're right, you could get a lot of time out of it before it goes, and there are tweaks that can be done to a transmission to get a few more months out of it (albeit at a reduced quality of driving experience). Save the money you would spend repairing the car, and use the remaining time that you have it to save cash toward another one. If you get laid off, you're going to need cash anyway.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 11:51 AM on February 19, 2009

Is it possible to take public transportation or carpool (or join a carpooling group) until you've saved up enough money to at least cover the transmission *or* another used car? That's got to be cheaper than spending gas money, even if it's not as convenient. You might also try a second opinion. Your mechanics probably aren't trying to stick you for it if they're telling you to get another car, but maybe someone else will have another opinion. Preferably someone recommended to you for their honesty as well.
posted by katillathehun at 11:54 AM on February 19, 2009

Look for a reputable shop that specializes in transmission repair/rebuilds and ask them what's wrong and how much it would cost to fix. Transmission shops know these things inside and out -- your local garage may not.
posted by zippy at 12:01 PM on February 19, 2009

Generally, if repairs are going to cost more than the car is worth, it's time to get a new car. A late 90s Corolla or Civic can be had for the amount you'll pay to have the tranny replaced. Don't throw good money after bad.

Also, you have a job now, so you're in a much better position to borrow money. Take advantage of that. You should be able to get a used car loan for a few thousand dollars, which would make your payments pretty low.
posted by electroboy at 12:13 PM on February 19, 2009

Seconding electroboy, it sounds like your vehicle is on the death spiral right now and you will be facing a steady diet of repair bills. I think it would definitely be better to trade it in on some sort of used vehicle. Get something cheap, in this market the used car salesmen are probably heavily motivated to make you a good deal. I also concur that a 90s Corolla or Civic with less than 150,000 miles is a good strategy as it seems that both models pretty consistently get 250,000 miles without needing too much repairs.
posted by vuron at 1:05 PM on February 19, 2009

I had a car with a trashed tranny that I took to CarMax - they gave me blue book (as in, blue book assuming the transmission worked!) for it, and no strings attached. YMMV, of course.
posted by restless_nomad at 1:40 PM on February 19, 2009

I'd have a tranny shop look at it first. If it's a really bad/costly repair, then restless_nomad's idea is a good one. Least amount of pain.

Nthing the Corolla or Civic idea - just make sure that if they're high-mileage models they've had the timing belt replaced around 100k mi or so.
posted by Thistledown at 1:44 PM on February 19, 2009

Thirding electroboy. You have a job, therefore you have credit. You are almost certainly going to pay more upfront for a new (used) transmission than you will for new (used) car payments over x months.
posted by desjardins at 2:06 PM on February 19, 2009

All I know is that if your transmission goes out....and I mean out...where it for 100% sure isn't going anywhere...you can put some sawdust in it, and it'll get another week out of it.
(I've never done this, but from what I've heard from used car dealers & hillbilly family members-I think there's something to it.)
posted by QueerAngel28 at 2:25 PM on February 19, 2009 [1 favorite]

Second restless_nomad's suggestion to take it to Carmax. I sold them a Camry for $3000 after having been quoted by my mechanic that it needed $3000 of repairs in the near future. They inspected it and wrote me a check that day.
posted by jaden at 3:28 PM on February 19, 2009

Your car is on it's last leg at near 200,000 miles. Go foreign, Honda or Toyota will last ~250,000 miles. A rebuild for what you have now will be $1500+.

FWIW you put 'sawdust' in your tranny; you clog the cooler, all the tranny lines, etc. And you will not get dollar one for a trade when the mechanic inspection inevitably discovers a bunch of 'sawdust' in the fluid.

Drive easy. Getting angry and leadfooted over a slow shift will just finish your tranny off faster. Of course, check your fluid levels too...
posted by buzzman at 4:17 PM on February 19, 2009

No offense but putting 2k worth of work in a car with 180k miles was your mistake, not your mechanics. Few cars with more than 150k miles are worth putting that kind of money into. Other than selling it as-is to someone you really dont have any options. The car still has worth as a sale or trade-in.

but I also don't want to buy a Hyundai...

The cheapest new or slightly used Hyundai is lightyears ahead of your 180k American beater. The Hyundai brand is a lot better than it was. You could do a lot worse than trying to get 2k or so for your beater and putting the rest towards a nice Korean car. Even a Hyundai with 30-40k miles is a great investment. A 2005 Elantra floats around 6 or 7k. Thats a good deal. If thats too rich for your blood you can shave off 2k of that price and go with the 2-door entry-level Accent.
posted by damn dirty ape at 4:53 PM on February 19, 2009

Thirding electroboy. You have a job, therefore you have credit.

But do you have good credit? A family member thought this was the way to go until they ended up with 29.9% APR on a new Elantra a few years ago. Don't let that kind of situation happen to you. If you have decent credit, though, really do consider looking at an off-lease Civic or Corolla because you'll easily be able to drive one of those until late next decade.
posted by thisjax at 7:54 PM on February 19, 2009

You paid $1600 for a fuel pump, water pump, serpentine belt, timing belt? That was way too much. Don't go back to this mechanic.

Get the transmission fluid changed. Could be as simple as that.

There's really no way to tell if an automatic transmission is about to fail, other than by reading the symptoms and making an educated guess. The mechanics don't know for a fact. Talking to many mechanics with my car problems I've often found they're very wrong on a number of things. I had the dealer tell me, just yesterday, that a common problem reported extensively in online forums, was not common at all on my car. So just know that they are making, at best, an educated guess.

Also, FYI, Fords are now as reliable as Hondas and Toyotas. This demographic seems to favor the Japanese cars for some reason (inexperience?) but if we're talking strictly numbers, buy a Ford. I can't really see a way for you to recoup the money spent on the Stratus, other than by making sure it keeps running for a while.
posted by luckypozzo at 9:25 PM on February 19, 2009

I once bought a car for $400 that I drove for around 5 years and it had well over 250k miles when I gave it to my ex, who continued to drive it. My point is, a super cheap car may not look great, but it can get you where you need to go.

My advice? Start saving some money and keep driving your car as gently as you can. Then, if you're still employed when it shits the bed, feel free to trade it or sell it for scrap or to carmax, and get a loan for a nice, used car. But if you're unemployed at that point, buy a beater for whatever money you have saved up, just enough to get you around to job interviews.

The last thing you want to do is buy a car right now with a loan, just because you have credit available to you, because how are you going to make that payment if you do in fact lose your job? I'm a firm believer in better safe than sorry.
posted by kattyann at 9:55 PM on February 19, 2009

Response by poster: Thanks for the advice.

I am going to get a third opinion on the transmission in the morning from AAMCO (good? bad?)

I probably overspent based on the age of the car, but I was banking on the car lasting for at least another year. I figured I'd rather be out of a thousand dollars or so than on the hook for several grand and have no job...

I'm going to look into a later model Civic. I'm currently looking at a 2003 civic with 85k. The mileage is a bit high, to me. Asking price is $10k.

Also, I drive around for my job so taking the bus isn't an option right now.
posted by PinkButterfly at 12:37 AM on February 20, 2009

As a slight aside: Unless you know for a fact that your company has a last-in-first-out policy, it doesn't mean you're on the chopping block. My sister recently got transferred to another department within her company rather than fired despite having only worked there for 4 months. If you're a good worker and they know it, it really doesn't matter how short of a time you've been there, they'll want to keep you.
posted by explosion at 4:23 AM on February 20, 2009

Then, if you're still employed when it shits the bed, feel free to trade it or sell it for scrap or to carmax

The problem with that is your car is worth essentially $0 when the transmission goes. Currently, the OP might still be able to get $1000 from Carmax or something similar in trade. It's certainly possible to drive a $400 car for years, but it's also very likely that you'll put a lot of money into it. So, given a new transmission will likely run you $1500, you'd spend more than the car is worth to have a functioning vehicle.

Also, Hyundai upped the ante on their purchase program. If you lose your job and can't make payments, they'll give you a 90 day grace period while you're looking for a new job. Given that the Hyundai Accent is currently the cheapest car you can buy new, it might not be a bad option.
posted by electroboy at 3:06 PM on February 20, 2009

To clarify, my transmission still worked (mostly, until it got too hot.) I dunno what they'd do if you had to tow it there.
posted by restless_nomad at 8:24 AM on February 21, 2009