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Login to post Forums » Off-topic discussion » I'm now thinking I should drive my integra until it completely dies.

April 26, 2011 8:02 a.m. digdug18 Dork

My '94 integra LS needs an auto transmission, I can get a used JDM one for $80, thinking about going that route. Me and wife were thinking about trading it in and buying a newer car, both of us do not want a car payment. Only thing I need help with is should I spend $3k+ on a car only worth $3K at most?

I have recently replaced both front axles, had the timing belt, water pump, pre-tensioner done. Car needs tires, front brakes, struts, and a possibly a transmission rebuild.

Your thoughts? I've found a certified pre-owned 2008 accord for $14k, which would work about to about $330 for 36 months if bought.
April 26, 2011 8:13 a.m. mndsm SuperDork

Car payments suck. Think about the total amount of interest you'd pay over the life of the loan, combined with potential repair costs of the car you'd purchase once it was out of warranty (Which has to be in the next year or so i'm guessing on the Accord) and I bet repairing the Integra is cheaper. With the transmission only costing you 80 (typo? Should it be 800?) I see well under 1000$ in parts in that pile you mentioned. if the trans is 800$, then you're still out under 2k, and that's barely a down payment in car terms these days. Plus, once you're done, you have a car that runs just as well as that accord, and you still don't have a payment.
April 26, 2011 8:18 a.m. 92CelicaHalfTrac SuperDork

Keep the Teg.
April 26, 2011 8:32 a.m. gamby SuperDork

I'd probably ditch the teg, but since I'm cheap, I'd replace it with something sub-$5k.
April 26, 2011 9:03 a.m. poopshovel SuperDork

Funny, wifey and I had the same conversation about our 91 last night. The only killer with yours is that it's an auto. They're notoriously bad. Bottom line, though, is that the cheapest car is the one you already own.
April 26, 2011 9:07 a.m. N Sperlo Reader

I'm keeping the escort until it dies for the same reason. Plus you can play auto-soccer with beaters.
April 26, 2011 9:39 a.m. AngryCorvair SuperDork

digdug18 wrote:

Me and wife were thinking about trading it in and buying a newer car, both of us do not want a car payment. Only thing I need help with is should I spend $3k+ on a car only worth $3K at most?

I have recently replaced both front axles, had the timing belt, water pump, pre-tensioner done. Car needs tires, front brakes, struts, and a possibly a transmission rebuild.

build a spreadsheet with a reasonable list of the expected failure modes over the next three years in column A, parts cost to repair those failures in column B, labor cost to repair those failures (if not DIY) in column C.

tires / brakes / struts are wear items, not failure items, but they should be included because they represent costs you may not have to incur in the same time window if you bought a newer car. use the data to drive your decision.

then, and this is the key, take the amount of money you'd be willing to allocate to a car payment, and put it in a money market account every month. withdraw from this account only to make required repairs / maintenance. when the 'teg finally has a failure that makes repair not economically viable, buy a used car for less than or equal to the balance in the money market. pay cash for the car, and continue to make the monthly payment to your money market. repeat this cycle for the rest of your life.
April 26, 2011 11:28 a.m. mad_machine SuperDork

as long as I can still twirl wrenches.. I will not be buying a new car for myself.. at least not in the near future.
April 26, 2011 11:33 a.m. digdug18 Dork

I'm expecting nothing after the transmission for the next 3-5 years, a completely rebuilt transmission from jasper will run me $2500, don't really want to go that route if I can manage it though.

MNDSM, no $80 is correct for a used JDM auto transmission, from jdmenginedepot.com, in kerney, nj. They tell me that they just throw them onto the container because they have room in it from japan, so anything that will fill the rest of the container after the front clips, sought after engines, etc goes on, basically they look whatever else they have lying around and just drop it in the shipping container. They tell me they pay by the container, not by weight. They only have to pay weight when it gets trucked from the dock to their building, and that every time they've done it over the past 10 years they've never been over weight. Its the same place I got a toyota 1999 al-trac engine for basically free, $250 picked up. I've never had an al-trac celica, but heard a good deal and jumped on it.
April 26, 2011 11:37 a.m. digdug18 Dork

gamby wrote:

I'd probably ditch the teg, but since I'm cheap, I'd replace it with something sub-$5k.

Sorry to say I've been on the look out for something under $5k for some time now, everything looks beat, I'm thinking its due to the economy, people driving things into the ground. I'm finding cars with 20k less miles then my integra priced at $4,500 that don't have routine maintenance done to them(timing belt, tires, etc). And there is that factor of I know already what is wrong with my car, so why go buy something with unknown problems when I can continue to drive what I already know is wrong with my car?
April 26, 2011 11:49 a.m. madmallard Reader

on gas alone, you're probably making the right choice.
April 26, 2011 11:50 a.m. poopshovel SuperDork

digdug18 wrote:

gamby wrote:

I'd probably ditch the teg, but since I'm cheap, I'd replace it with something sub-$5k.

And there is that factor of I know already what is wrong with my car, so why go buy something with unknown problems when I can continue to drive what I already know is wrong with my car?

Exactly. That's what it came down to on the teg. While the AADD in me says "Go get something different!" The cheap c*nt in me says stick with the program.

OR

Knock your wife up, quit smoking, and use the cash you would've spent on smokes to buy something "safer."

But seriously, the teg makes sense, at least for the next 10 or 15 years...that's when the Japanese importer will say "Nooo, dat too old" when you call up looking for a B18; or at least that's what I'm running into with 1st gen rex/3g civic stuff. Parts are drying up!
April 26, 2011 11:54 a.m. mndsm SuperDork

digdug18 wrote:

I'm expecting nothing after the transmission for the next 3-5 years, a completely rebuilt transmission from jasper will run me $2500, don't really want to go that route if I can manage it though.

MNDSM, no $80 is correct for a used JDM auto transmission, from jdmenginedepot.com, in kerney, nj. They tell me that they just throw them onto the container because they have room in it from japan, so anything that will fill the rest of the container after the front clips, sought after engines, etc goes on, basically they look whatever else they have lying around and just drop it in the shipping container. They tell me they pay by the container, not by weight. They only have to pay weight when it gets trucked from the dock to their building, and that every time they've done it over the past 10 years they've never been over weight. Its the same place I got a toyota 1999 al-trac engine for basically free, $250 picked up. I've never had an al-trac celica, but heard a good deal and jumped on it.

Wow, I never knew they did stuff like that. That's awesome.
April 26, 2011 12:04 p.m. Duke SuperDork

With me the question boils down to rust:

Fix a straight solid car. Ditch a rusty one. If the 'teg is non-ventilated, I'd buy the used replacement trans.

Tires can be reasonable (even for decent rubber); brakes for a car that common can't be too expensive (and DIY). Look for decent takeoff struts on a Honda/Integra board and replace those while you have the front end half apart for the brakes. If you have skills/help you will already have the axles out again to do the trans so just drop the front struts while it is already apart.

You're already halfway there. The annoying crap - all the stuff on the "front" of the engine - is done! Everything else (except the trans drop) is more or less cake. Unless it is rusty, spruce it up and drive it.

What you do after THAT is take the amount of the car payment for that $14k Accord and put it in a separate savings account every month for 3 years while you keep rolling in the Integra. At the end of 3 years (or whenever the Integra really bites the big one) you've got a pre-saved chunk of change for the replacement.
April 26, 2011 12:49 p.m. integraguy Dork

Having owned a '92 for a couple of years, and yes, it had the (dreaded?) automatic, this question also boils down to how many miles do you have on the engine? The automatic in my Integra, I'm assuming was the original, and it last nearly 200K miles. It probably would have gone farther but I blew up the engine and like you, I didn't want to invest the cost of a new / rebuilt engine in a 16-17 year old car....even though everything else (including the A/C) was working fine. I was also just getting tired of this poor, little car.

If replacing the transmission will only cost a few hundred dollars, I'd keep that sucker for another year or two. As others have said, some of the parts that you listed as being in need of replacement are wear items.
April 26, 2011 1:00 p.m. 92CelicaHalfTrac SuperDork

digdug18 wrote:

I'm expecting nothing after the transmission for the next 3-5 years, a completely rebuilt transmission from jasper will run me $2500, don't really want to go that route if I can manage it though.

MNDSM, no $80 is correct for a used JDM auto transmission, from jdmenginedepot.com, in kerney, nj. They tell me that they just throw them onto the container because they have room in it from japan, so anything that will fill the rest of the container after the front clips, sought after engines, etc goes on, basically they look whatever else they have lying around and just drop it in the shipping container. They tell me they pay by the container, not by weight. They only have to pay weight when it gets trucked from the dock to their building, and that every time they've done it over the past 10 years they've never been over weight. Its the same place I got a toyota 1999 al-trac engine for basically free, $250 picked up. I've never had an al-trac celica, but heard a good deal and jumped on it.

Soooooooooo buddy.....

You wanna double your investment on that thing?
April 26, 2011 1:32 p.m. Brett_Murphy Reader

The value in a car is getting you from point A to point B in a reliable fashion.

As others have said, it is always cheaper to fix what you have than to buy new. Likewise, fixing the car you know is sometimes smarter than buying another used car with an unknown set of problems.

If you replace the transmission and rebuilt the engine, you're probably good for another 75k miles at least. That's 5 years if you drive 15k miles a year, or about as long as the average loan term on a new car.
April 26, 2011 5:34 p.m. Twin_Cam SuperDork

The rule: As soon as it costs more per month to fix it than a payment on a new car would be, it's time for a new one. Unless you factor in sentimental value or other 'x' factor. And seeing how this is a car board, there probably is. Good luck.
April 26, 2011 8:35 p.m. clownkiller Reader

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote:

Keep the Teg.

+1 keep it!
April 26, 2011 8:58 p.m. PHeller Dork

I've always thought "buy new off the lot or buy as cheap as you can".

If you buy something thats used, middle age mileage, you'll just discover all the problems the first owner avoided.

If you buy new, you can have that warranty cover all those problems for years, and if your lucky you'll get a car thats reliable like a Civic.

Like a Fiesta!
April 26, 2011 9:31 p.m. friedgreencorrado SuperDork

digdug18 wrote:

My '94 integra LS needs an auto transmission, I can get a used JDM one for $80, thinking about going that route. Me and wife were thinking about trading it in and buying a newer car, both of us do not want a car payment. Only thing I need help with is should I spend $3k+ on a car only worth $3K at most?

I have recently replaced both front axles, had the timing belt, water pump, pre-tensioner done. Car needs tires, front brakes, struts, and a possibly a transmission rebuild.

Your thoughts? I've found a certified pre-owned 2008 accord for $14k, which would work about to about $330 for 36 months if bought.

$330 for 12mos is $3,960. Do it, and you'd have almost $1K (even if the tranny R&R is $3K) in the bank to spend on anything else you might have to do to it this year. And considering everything else you've done to the car, it might not break again for a couple of years.

Poop's right. Nuthin' cheaper than the one you own.

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