What is the most money you paid for service on your vehicle?

[Yander]

I'm convinced you can't win with cars. When you put 25-30k a year on them, like I used to, it's just a real expense, new or used.

I tried buying used for many years. Sometimes I did okay but often got burned by people who didn't maintain their cars.

Now I buy slightly used where I can see a Carfax that has oil change records. It's the only way I will buy a car that costs over five grand.

Here in the last two or three years I've been burned by cars that I paid cash for for under five grand.

I bought an old truck for myself and a older Toyota Avalon for my son's girlfriend. Both sellers lied or didn't disclose everything.

But I also bought two brand new Subarus, a 2012 Forester and 2013 legacy, both of which had the oil consumption issues. I change my own oil so I figured it out before having any issues. There was a big class action suit.

Can't win. People that don't drive their car as much would say why do you switch cars so much.

 

[oosik]

Most of my young adult life was spent living in Alaska. This IS NOT an area where you want troubles with any vehicle. I have always bought new and rotate out prior to any major problems. I know this might be a costly way to go but I simply do not want vehicle problems. Especially in the remote areas where I travel.

Folks frequently die of exposure in Alaska due to faulty vehicles.

 

[Sigarms]

Most of my young adult life was spent living in Alaska. This IS NOT an area where you want troubles with any vehicle. I have always bought new and rotate out prior to any major problems. I know this might be a costly way to go but I simply do not want vehicle problems. Especially in the remote areas where I travel.

Folks frequently die of exposure in Alaska due to faulty vehicles.

Your line of reasoning makes complete sense.

 

[Yander]

Off topic, but you haven't moved to a "rust free zone" yet?

I'm still trying to figure out how my T100 has rust. It was a one person vehicle per the title, and the person lived in NC, Florida and then moved back to NC. 1998 model, bought around 2004, and I still have it.

When I took my son up to the finger lakes last year, he finally noticed what my wife and I talked about how cars take a beating up North per rust.

Ahhh yes, the rust belt.....

I bought a 2004 Ford F-150 from up near Cleveland Ohio. Yes big mistake because of the rust belt. I went up to look at it at night I did get underneath with a flashlight but it was hard to see things clearly.

Gave the guy $4,500 and drove it home.

Took it to have some work done on it the next day they called me and said they couldn't even lift it because the frame was so rusted out.

I took a bath on that when I sold it but I told the guy the truth and he was okay with buying at the way it was.

said he wasn't going to pull anything much with it and didn't worry about it.

I know the other guy that sold it to me knew about the rust because the shop that called me had me come look at it. You could see where somebody else had tried to put it on a rack and couldn't because it was crushing the frame.

 

[Sigarms]

I'm convinced you can't win with cars. When you put 25-30k a year on them, like I used to, it's just a real expense, new or used.

I tried buying used for many years. Sometimes I did okay but often got burned by people who didn't maintain their cars.

Agreed on not winning with cars, new or used.

Generally most of our used vehicles came from a dealer lot. Having dealt with a lot of scam artitst on Armslist a long time ago, in general it's pretty easy for me to get a bad vibe from the person looking to sell whatever they have online.

That worked for the Avalon (buying from local dealer). Second day out with the car, took it back in as their was sludge in the oil. They replaced the entire transmission at no cost.

When my son was looking for his car online, some general guidelines I gave him was to be able to take any car to a mechanic to get checked out before you buy. Look at the person and the history of the car and see if it "makes sense". When he bought his car, we had to drive to Fort Brag. The german woman was the wife of an officer who had since died. Since we couldn't drive the car to a mechanic I knew to have it checked out, given the history or the car and the woman, my son rolled the dice because it's what he wanted and everything else seemed "OK".

Whenever I sell something, I tell the person both the good and the bad with my experiences on what I'm selling and why I'm selling it. Have a A+ rating with a bunch of transactions on Gunbroker LOL With the avalon at 399K on the odemeter, wouldn't sell it to anyone expecting a reliable car.

Don't genearlly sell cars. The accord will be a tough cookie. We have over a total of over 8k into it, but it's fine now, and makes for a good "spare". Before my son bought his car, he updated the stereo system so I like that as well LOL

 

[oosik]

Generally speaking - vehicles do not rust out in this part of the world. Too cold in the winter and much too dry in the summer.

However - live in the "beeg city" - Spokane/Seattle - they liberally use de-icing materials. For years it was salt mixed in with the sand. Now they have gone hi-tech. Some type of liquid - sprayed on the asphalt.

I live way out in the boondocks and avoid the beeg cities - like the plague. Both summer and winter. City folks simply live a different life style - and their driving shows it.

 

[Tomtint]

Off topic, but you haven't moved to a "rust free zone" yet?

I'm still trying to figure out how my T100 has rust. It was a one person vehicle per the title, and the person lived in NC, Florida and then moved back to NC. 1998 model, bought around 2004, and I still have it.

When I took my son up to the finger lakes last year, he finally noticed what my wife and I talked about how cars take a beating up North per rust.

Haven't moved yet, Going to Fla for Jan/Feb and March this year. Plan to spend a fair amount of time looking around to find a place. ..Fla is a strange place.. neighbourhoods change by the foot.

 

[alexpops]

Just over $10K after hitting a deer on I-10 with my 2011 Silverado 2500HD in 2019. Had to replace whole front end/hood/windshield/AC condenser/oil coolers/radiator/& both air bags. All work paid for by insurance & done at a dealership in San Antonio, TX (who I'll never use for anything again ever). Long story short ... the body work was good, the mechanical, not so much. Had electrical, tranny & AC issues after their repairs that cost me another $5K over two years. When the evaporator blew out (they never replaced the dryer after the condenser was off/open for 3 months -- remember the GM parts shortage back in 2019?) & I was looking at another 2K for the full dash removal & replacement, I said screw it. Between the ongoing costs, general lack of reliability & the fact the CP4 was 11 years old (& destined to fail catastrophically at some point) I traded it in on a '22 3500HD. Before the deer, only issues with that truck in 140K mile were EPA sensor related & under warranty and a soft seat on the driver's side. After ... truck sat waiting on parts more than it was driven.

 

[alexpops]

Haven't moved yet, Going to Fla for Jan/Feb and March this year. Plan to spend a fair amount of time looking around to find a place. ..Fla is a strange place.. neighbourhoods change by the foot.

FL isn't necessarily rust free. Lot of salt air, humidity & ground moisture. Not as bad as NE or Midwest, but nowhere near CA/AZ/NM/or TX as far as rust. Good luck on your search in FL. Prices have gotten stupid over the last 2 years, & insurance costs are ridiculous. My homeowners tripled between 2015 and 2022.

 

[ponytug]

Most of my young adult life was spent living in Alaska. This IS NOT an area where you want troubles with any vehicle. I have always bought new and rotate out prior to any major problems. I know this might be a costly way to go but I simply do not want vehicle problems. Especially in the remote areas where I travel.

Folks frequently die of exposure in Alaska due to faulty vehicles.

X2! Not that I drive in anything like Alaskan backcountry these days, but I used to get into some pretty remote areas.

I had an old Saab that we took everywhere. Driving out of a remote area, I heard a massive clunk from underneath, and I knew that I hadn't hit anything. I crawled under the car, poked around, and discovered that one of the shock absorber mounts had broken completely off near the axle due to metal fatigue.(!) I hated to see the car go, but knew that I couldn't reliably rely on it in the backcountry if I was having metal fatigue issues. I mean it only had 250k miles on it. Sheesh. Great car, bought used from a lady who used it for a forty mile commute everyday, and I put another 175k on it. Zero issues. I saw the car around town for another couple of years (I sold it to some cash strapped students.)

All the best,

Peter

 

[Tomtint]

FL isn't necessarily rust free. Lot of salt air, humidity & ground moisture. Not as bad as NE or Midwest, but nowhere near CA/AZ/NM/or TX as far as rust. Good luck on your search in FL. Prices have gotten stupid over the last 2 years, & insurance costs are ridiculous. My homeowners tripled between 2015 and 2022.

My 1999 F150 came up from the Boca area.. Fortunately not a spot of rust anywhere when it got here.. Im aware of the insurance issues in Fl, Lots of companies leaving the state due to massive losses and risk of more due to storm damage... Insurance companies love taking money from you... Hate, hate, hate, paying claims when they come in.. But that's another thread all together.

 

[paulsharvey]

My 1999 F150 came up from the Boca area.. Fortunately not a spot of rust anywhere when it got here.. Im aware of the insurance issues in Fl, Lots of companies leaving the state due to massive losses and risk of more due to storm damage... Insurance companies love taking money from you... Hate, hate, hate, paying claims when they come in.. But that's another thread all together.

One of the big problems in Florida with insurance, the Massive fraud. Insurance isn't ment to cover entire roof when it's only minor wind damage, and could be repaired for $1500 vs $15,000. The people putting coffee on ceilings to show water damage, and of coarse the insane prices people throw at shadey contractors after a storm. Someone was telling me about $20,000 quote to remove a few large dead trees blocking a driveway recently, after this last storm. I would bet that quote didn't even include hauling off the debris; probably just pushing to the road, for the state to remove over the next few weeks as part of the road clearing. Heard a lot of stories of people getting $5k for 3 or 4 blown off shingles...

Now, (some)insurance is requiring inspection of any roof over 15 years old annually, or total replacement, just to keep coverage. I had to replace mine (it did have some problems, but i would have patched and milked it for 5 more years), but ending up re-shingling it myself, think total, including nail gun, and 2 pieces of 7/16 OSB was like $1600. Had to pull a permit to keep the insurance off my back; and guess what? Got canceled anyways. Had to find another provider for 75% more.

 

[JasperFrank]

Vehicles don't rust out in the PNW like they do in the rust belt, it isn't uncommon to replace an engine with a junk yard motor, cause everything else is still sound. In today's money most spent was 2,700 dollars for a 302 ford motor out of a rear ended, totaled, low mile car. To replace the 302 in my '74 Ford Econoline Van that had 320,000 miles on it. Got another 200,000 out of that engine, which was still running strong when I sold the Van cause my right knee couldn't do a manual trans anymore. My cut off point is '93. Anything after that, it is too complicated and expensive to consider putting major money into it.

 

[ultrarunner]

It use to be like this in California but having to be emissions inspected from 1976 and newer really sent a lot of perfect rust free and damage free cars to the scrap yards.

One official said cars last too long so we need to keep up the smog inspections.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

I just spent $7000 to put a new engine in my 2003 Mazda B3000, replace ball joints, and several minor repairs.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

It use to be like this in California but having to be emissions inspected from 1976 and newer really sent a lot of perfect rust free and damage free cars to the scrap yards.

One official said cars last too long so we need to keep up the smog inspections.

Lots of nice rigs on car haulers heading north. We don't transfer the title until they get to Oregon to dodge the California sales tax.

 

[ultrarunner]

Lots of nice rigs on car haulers heading north. We don't transfer the title until they get to Oregon to dodge the California sales tax.

And they must be delivered... either commercial carrier or contracted by Dealer...

I made a couple of runs to the boarder delivering cars to Oregon residents.

 

[rangerfredbob]

The only real thing I pay labor for is tire balancing, some alignments and windshields... I drove 30k or so miles on some tires I got for $60 at an auction that I mounted myself without balancing so I'll skip out on that here and there

I specifically bought my '97 Ranger because it was totaled in a way that was an easy fix (no brand on title from their ditch incident), bought it for $450, $100 in junkyard parts and a few other things maintenance wise and so far I've put 60k miles on it... sure I rear ended someone that cost me $300 in parts and I've put $500 in tires on it recently, spent like $70 in labor balancing those...

Heck, just this year I've rebuilt two manual transmissions for my vehicles and one engine and one more engine to go for the winter... a few years ago I put like $1300 in parts into a transmission for my '00 Explorer, that thing was screwed... I need to put about $3k in parts in my F350 for new injectors, high pressure oil pump and tuner to work with the injectors...

I like to stay in the years of vehicles before all the stupid electrical junk which starts getting bad in the early '00's... my newest is the wife's '03 Camry which is the next to get an engine, those things are known for having bad rings apparently...

 

[Dftodd]

I've spent around $5000 between front end work and new tires on a truck we used to have.

At work.... I've spent quite a bit more than that.

 

[Jstpssng]

I am constantly hearing people talk about how much money you lose driving it off the lot... anyone who buys a car, then turns around and sells it deserves to get burned.
I bought my 2018 Colorado in 2020 with 26k miles on it. I was looking for new but couldn't find what I wanted. The only thing this was missing is a rear sliding window. The Carfax showed something had been done to the passenger side but the salesman denied it. In 2020 vehicles were hard to find, and I had paperwork showing nothing had been done to it so I took a chance.

Between repair bills I love the truck.

Just after the warranty ran out it started shuddering between gears. I thought it might be a u-joint. It turned out it was a known problem as they had put the wrong transmission fluid in at the factory. Rather than coming good on it they put out a TSB... it cost me about $400.
8 months later I was tripping codes again.
It turns out there was another TSB out... all GM 8 speeds of that era had a problem with the wiring harness in the tyranny.
That one cost me a grand... which included new fluid to replace what I had just paid for earlier this year.

I bought the truck knowing that GM transmissions are junk but expected it to fail at 130k so planned to start saving for that $5000 repair bill when I paid the truck off. Instead I've dropped $1400 into the tranny, along with other bills from normal wear and tear. This was supposed to be my last truck... tomorrow I am applying for a part time job so that I can make payments on a new Toyota.

It won't be a ******* GM product... they may be "too big to fail" yet I don't appreciate them wasting my tax dollars to keep it from happening.