breanna_17

So I bought my first car, a 2001 Honda Civic Coupe LX, back in march of this year. I went with my mom, neither of us knowing enough about cars to go out a buy one (our first mistake). Car cosmetically was in great shape: spotless interior, no dents or scratches, new radio, automatic locks and windows, clean title, only 130k miles for $4500. Car drove great but check engine light was on. The girl selling it stated it was the torque converter, she had taken it to a mechanic about a year earlier and said it didn't need attention until it started causing problems. Sounded good to two clueless girls so we bought it right there. Wrong move.

Tried getting the car through Oregon DEQ and it wouldn't pass unless the check engine light was off. So we took it to the dealer ship to quote how much a new torque converter would be and while they were in there they tallied up everything else that was wrong with the car. HOLY ****. This is the service recommendations I walked out with.

Reseal Oil pump and replace the gaskets $1,795.00
Replace camshaft end plug $579.95
Replace compliance bushings $897.00
Alignment $89.95
Replace left front CV axle assembly $867.00
Timing Belt $1,195.95
Torque Converter $1,746.50
and a few other small maintenance services all totaling $7,931.20!

Since then, my A/C has went out, driver window stopped working, and dome light and auto locks haven't worked since the day I bought it.

Went to get AC fixed, mechanic forgot to put power steering back into place, so the hose was cut and power steering fluid was leaking everywhere. Car made awful moaning/grinding noise as soon as I went to steer it taking it out of the parking lot. He replaced the hose, lasted 2 days and noise returned. Took it back, and was told the new hose kinked and that they were putting my old hose back in with a stint in it. That one lasted me about 2 weeks and has now blown as well. Every ounce of power steering fluid is in a puddle under my car and it won't even start. All these problems caused by a simple AC pipe replacement that ended up not even fixing the AC issue.

I have already put so much money into this car and would take a MAJOR loss if I were to sell it. But I also don't have the money to take it to a mechanic to get all of the problems fixed. Located near Portland, OR, in case any of you have shop suggestions.

Bottom line what can I do with this car? I'm screwed no matter what I do.
Thank you, and I apologize for the lengthy read.

TiggerDX

iTrader: (1)

Those prices are crazy. There is a Honda Specialist in Beaverton. He did some work on mine. Pretty reasonable.
http://www.brockautomotive.com/ (there is another one on Cornelious Pass but I can't remember his name)
To give you an idea, CV shaft should be less than $300, Timing belt, appx $600 (do water pump at same time)

What to do all depends on how much you like the car. You will have to put money into it. How much is up to you. If you don't want to spend it, then dump the car. You will have to fix the minimum to clear the check engine light and getting it running good then sell on CL to get most of your money back. Dealer won't give you much of anything for it.

Find out what the minimum repair cost will be, then determine if you can sell it for enough to recoup enough or if it's better to cut your losses now. Either way, consider it a cost for a life lesson.

Or have Ezone give you a step by step tutorial on how to fix it all yourself. He has great rates

(How did you end up buying the car without it passing smog? I thought that was the seller's responsibility in OR.)

mikey1

your first step should be to get this sorted out,

the power steering issue should be fixed one way or another by that mechanic, it is his F up and he should be fixing that free of charge,

you need to take it elsewhere for another opinion,

Replace camshaft end plug $579.95

huh?....if thats the part im thinking it is, its only worth 5 or 10 bucks and takes about 15 mins to replace

Timing Belt $1,195.95

huh?.....the belt costs about 30 bucks and about 4 hours labor, are their rates $275 per hour?

Reseal Oil pump and replace the gaskets $1,795.00

this can be done while the timing belt is already off, so should only be an additional couple hours,

these prices are whacked

ezone

The alignment quote is the only number that sounds remotely reasonable to me.

RIPSAW

Sorry if this sounds like Trump talking. Get rid of it. You are getting taken advantage of but that is typical at a dealer. However, it would probably be right with quality OEM parts. That would have been a good car for a good backyard mechanic. You two are neither and it's probably too late to start. Giving someone over $1000 for a car with a light on in the dash also proves it. Starting with the stupid AC repair on a worn out junker leaves no room for argument..

Half the repairs have nothing to do with light.

This is what a good backyard mechanic could do. So there is hope for recouping $1000 on Craig's list. Be honest by simple listing light is on and needs a good backyard mechanic. Do not provide dealer quote simple since it's probably not true.

This is what a good backyard mechanic could do. Priced for quality OEM parts. Even a junker deserves that. Aftermarket gets you nowhere.

Reseal Oil pump and replace the gaskets $0.0 unless the engine had no oil pressure and was dumping oil.

Replace camshaft end plug $7.00
Replace compliance bushings $80 (borrow press tool from AutoZone)
Alignment $0.0 (I have a home made tramel but scribed lines and a pull tape will work with two people.)
Replace left front CV axle assembly $250.. but probably $50 for boots and grease depending if dirt has damaged it..(they are tough as nails except for the rubber boot)
Timing Belt $20 ,waterpump $80, tensioner pulley $80, thermostat $25, antifreeze $20 . $250
Torque Converter If bad, I would even sale it since the $5000 whole transmission is probably real close.

And a few other small maintenance services all totaling $600

Good luck.

(PS, I got the Z28 Camaro you see for a $1000..had 105K and a water leak into one cylinder. The starter was also broke from the engine locking up. New head gasket, starter and a detailing...but I did the work. Think the GM dealer had quoted the owner close to $8000.

GotSiR

This sound like a devil's car from some movie.


When you take any car to an mechanic shop (e.g., dealer or local shop) for repairs you can refuse to pay for the work if the issue is not fixed, except for trouble shooting and/or labor work. You don't need to know anything about cars, that's what mechanic shop is there for.


At this time I would recommend you either find a reliable shop (search in yelp.com)or sell it as-is.