Most likely, we will end up driving the Durango "into the ground". I've got every single repair invoice for the Durango since we bought it in Dec. 2005. Just like our boat, have definitely put money into the Durango. But, not everyone, young and old/older, can afford a new/newer vehicle. Down payment, monthly payments and insurance rule, as well as registration fees. There are those that will, if at all possible, keep their new/newer vehicle registered with the state they moved from to avoid the high registration transfer fee that a new state would charge them. Our 2005 Durango cost us under $100 to do that.
What was my fate? In fact, I wasn't asking too much from a seller who was interested in selling a new car. Trading an old one in is usual. Though it was old I knew that it was at least worth $1,500 and that it would be sold to Russia as millions of other cars. So it was a deal after all even more so because I hadn't even bothered to clean it inside and outside. The mechanic taking it on a test drive must have been shocked.
Stay away from any stop leak products. When I was young I put some in a leaky vehicle. It made the oil so thick, the engine would not turn over on a very cold day. Had to have it towed and have regular oil put in again.
I'm facing that situation with a 1996 F-150, approx 150K miles. But in my case dozens of little things have gone bad (ABS, air bags, windows, odometer, heater, seats, rear door, etc, etc...) more due to age, than miles, but each still very expensive to repair. Finally the transmission started acting 'funny." That was the last straw. Will trade for a new one if they'll take it, rather than repair. Just want to get rid of it easily. Question:. Has anyone tried trading in 2 vehicles for 1 at a car dealership? I inherited the F-150, and sold my 1986 Ranger privately. I call trade-in deals "Funny Money" anyway. . Suspect they often used trade-ins to declare losses for tax purposes. From U.S. News... It Adds Confusion to the Deal "There are three major components of a car deal: The price of the vehicle, any trade-in allowance, and the terms of the financing or lease. Most car salespeople will want to mix them all in one big, confusing pot and sell you on a monthly car payment. That’s a great way to sell a car, but it’s a horrible way to buy one. Instead, you want to keep all of those components as separate as possible. Adding a trade-in to the mix allows the dealer to make the price of the car look spectacular by low-balling your trade-in value. On the flip-side, they can offer you a great price on your trade-in by marking up the price of the car or the cost of financing it. Making a car deal becomes a shell game, where numbers can be moved from one box to another." SOURCE
Yes, we have traded in two vehicles to buy one new, but that was back in the 1990's. I can't imagine why they wouldn't make that deal today. In Texas you only pay sales tax on the difference of the new purchase MINUS the trade value, so you want the salesman to make the sale paperwork reflect value to the trade instead of simply discounting the new vehicle. (Or calculate both and see which works out best. Not sure how GA calculates taxes, though.)
Fixed the oil leaks we were told about. Total: $911, and that is much better than the Dealer would've charged. We will take the Durango back next week to check for any other oil leaks. We didn't have the oil pan gasket or rear main seal replaced, because the mechanic figured the leaking oil was coming from the valve covers and the other two places. But, will find out next week. Neither the oil pan gasket, due to the location of the oil pan (front axle has to come down), or the rear main seal, are cheap to replace. Next will be our front/rear brakes. If new rotors are needed, the brake job could cost us around $700 parts/labor. But, another problem cropped up, but can't do anything about. Have a relay, run by the onboard computer, that is now "clicking" intermittently. Not hurting the battery though (thank God). The relay isn't shutting off immediately when the engine is turned off. Bought, and put in a new relay, but the "clicking" noise is still there. Mechanic checked it out and told us that the computer, on the other side of the engine, isn't shutting down the relay, like it's suppose to. Only place, checked by me at home and Service Advisor at Shop online, is thru e-Bay. It costs $1,500. No parts stores or even the Dealer has the computer anymore. So, will have to put up with the "clicking" noise. Just can't afford a new/newer vehicle!
Update: Found a company that does remanufactured ECM's (main computer). They had ours and it cost us $221. Definitely better than $1500! It was fully tested, programmed and has a Lifetime Warranty. Got in the mail last Saturday and took Durango and ECM to repair shop on Monday. It was installed, but, unfortunately didn't stop the clicking. So, we have a new (remanufactured) ECM, which is nice, but have to put up with the clicking noise. Doesn't hurt the battery at all and Durango starts every time. But, also found out, from same repair shop, that we have an oil leak in rear main seal and oil pan gasket. Cost to repair rear main seal is $1,075 and around $300 for the oil pan gasket change. Have bought a bottle of Blue Devil Rear Main Sealer to put in oil to see if that will stop the leak. Not much of a leak since our oil check stick still shows "Safe/Full". If the Sealer doesn't work, then will have to pay out the money for the two repairs. Then, later, will come either a partial or full front/rear brake service. Depends on what condition our brake rotors are in.
I think if you shop aroundyou will be able to do much much better the 700 bucks for the brakes. Brakes are very simple system, rotors should be less than 50 bucks a corner and pads less than that. I would suggest that you find a back street shop with signs in Spanish and Mexican music blasting from cheap speakers.
LOL...….."back street shop with signs in Spanish and Mexican music blasting from cheap speakers". Perhaps drive the Durango to East L.A. in So California. LOL, again. Got a some nice in-store credit from local National tire, brakes, alignment store to take care of the entire brake job. We went "cheap" with our old 1997 Dodge RAM 1500 repairs, but not with our 2005 Durango.