Should I get the car fixed or junk it?

Question

1999 Toyota Camry Le was driven with no Oil and has a Terrible knock. So junk yard said they'll buy it from me for $250 or buy a Used engine for $350 then I'll have to pay another $600 to get it installed. Worth it or nah?
260k on her, but body is in Perfct condition.
Already have 2 cars but It would be nice to keep a Paid off car around ? Idk......

Answer 1

It would be best to spend the money and fix it, but then what.? You already have 2 other cars. You can not drive them all. If you do not drive it, it does not matter if it is fixed or not. If you fix it and sell it, you will have to get $1250 (at least) t break even. If it was your only car, I would say 'Fix it" but as you have more cars than you can drive, I say "Sell it." You might get a lot more if you sell it piece by piece like the auto wrecker will, but that will take time and effort

Answer 2

Maybe.

Answer 3

Go to carmax. They should give u more than $250.

Answer 4

i just bought a 92 Camry for $680. Runs great, ac even works! if it blows up i will by another....

Answer 5

Yes,keep it

Answer 6

Just keep paying off your other two cars and junk it. Too many miles on that thing and it will continue to have problems, having a paid off car is nice but that's too run down

Answer 7

If you replace the engine there's good chance that the transmission will go bad next.

Cut your losses - - if the junkyard is offering $250. it should be worth $500. to mechanic

Post it on Craigslist for $750/best offer and accept the first cash offer that comes along

Answer 8

With that many miles., the engine is probably not the only problem., Brakes , tires., AC U joints., upper and lower ball joints., shocks., just to name a new., Watch the Ads., and find yourself a late model with low miles for about 1/4 of the new car price.,

Answer 9

I've personally never had anything but Bad luck with used engines from salvage-yards, after all, they're in the 'Junk Yard for a reason,,, except for the one I picked myself from a car that was totaled before they could pull it & hide it away for themselves,,

Even though most salvage-yards will have a 90 day exchange warranty on used engines, considering the cost of Paying somebody to do the work for you & the odds of getting a $hi#ty engine on your first try, Unless your doing it yourself, I frankly don't think it's worth the potential Headaches,,as long as you've got other transportation I'd just bite the bullet & let it go Homey!,,

Answer 10

It depends on what you would be using it for.

A) Daily driver. In that case, YES...it would be worth it to put $850 to get it back on the road. Insurance will be fairly cheap, no car payment...should be good on gas...it's WORTH IT. Just have realistic expectations. Expect to get a few more years on it, at best. But even if you keep it until say, 2020... in daily driver use, then the $850 was a good investment

B) Spare car. Fix it for $850 and then keep it mostly parked. Ummmm...

NO. Junk it. You'll still have to maintain insurance on it, just to keep plates on it. Without plates, it's useless. Also, cars need to be driven regularly, or else they start falling apart quickly...

In other words, parking it in your driveway (or even in a garage) is the worst thing you could do with it. A few years from now when you decide you might have a use for it, it will have so many new problems that you will wish you had junked it back in 2017...



Fix it and DRIVE it. Or Sell it to the junk yard now....

Answer 11

Drive it like crazy

Answer 12

Mll

Answer 13

Fix it

Answer 14

Fix it and drive it. 1999 Camrys sell for between $1,500 and $2,000 here in So. California, depending on condition. So, putting a $1,000 into it sounds like it's worth it to me. The car made it this long and only died because of neglect. Shows you how durable that engine really is. Fix it and you will be able to get a few years out of it if you keep it, but you can also make money on it if you fix it and sell it, versus selling to a salvage yard. Believe me. They will throw another engine in it and sell it anyway.

Answer 15

Junk it . it is not worth the time and headaches.

You can use the $ on of the one car payments.

And you would have one less car on

1.your car insurance policy to pay for.

2. Property tax to pay the local /state government . Do you like to give the state government free money? .As you can only drive one car at a time.

3. tags to keep up.

Answer 16

Get the scrap value of the car. Too many miles even with a rebuilt engine.

Answer 17

Toyotas last a long time if they are cared for and have regular maintenance service. If you can get a good engine to replace the faulty one, it may be a good investment. Mileage alone means little on an older Toyota. Those things are built to go on and go on, unlike a lot of newer cars, which seem to be made to break, scrap, buy a new one, repeat cycle. So take everything under the hood into consideration before you sell it to the junkyard. Perfect body on a 99 is a rarity in itself

Answer 18

Junk it

Answer 19

It depends if you want to put the money and energy into it.

Answer 20

I dont know

Answer 21

$250 is a fair offer but if you like it keep it

Answer 22

Dude, what are you waiting for? Junk that piece of crap.

Answer 23

Here is my opinion - what mileage is on the replacement engine? Can it be traced ?

I drive an 03 Camry, 5 years ago it started leaking coolant. The dealer gave me a choice - get it fixed in a machine shop for 2500

or buy a 2nd. hand engine that supposedly had 147 000Km on it - rear end collision. So I opted for the engine with 147Km on it.

for $4000 Can. It gives me no trouble at all. A little blue smoke from the tail pipe on start up in the morning that's all.

The problem with my original engine was I have a small boat which I haul on the weekend to a lake . I didn't think I had to take the over drive off but that was a mistake. The cylinder head couldn't take the pressure.Other wise this car has given me very little trouble. Present Mileage - 358000 Km.

Answer 24

Get a new (to you) car--motor is not the total car.

Answer 25

Fixed.

Answer 26

I’ve bought a used 2003 Buick Century and I **** you not, I had every problem in the book wrong with that car to the point where I had went through to motors and one of the causes were a terrible knock. So my answer is to junk it...

Answer 27

Junk it.

Answer 28

Probably very much worth it. If you can hear the motor run and/or get an idea of the miles first.



I bought a used motor once but I got to see the car & the odometer and crank it up before I bought it.



I was confident the miles were correct (reasonably low) and it sounded great.



But only if you plan to keep it at least 12-18 months or longer.



This is assuming you know the transmission is good and no other big issues.



You cant expect to spend that $950 and it increase the cars value by $950. Its worth what its worth. If its $250 and you spend $950 on it, you will have $1200 in it and that's easily worth it if you believe it will last a year or two or longer.

Answer 29

Keep it, I think 260k on her would be a good choice.

Answer 30

If you don't know how to replace the engine yourself it's not worth it chances are other things are going to go wrong on somthing with that high miles plus you have no idea how they used engine was stored or ran. I certainly wouldn't pay 600$ to do somthing I could do with myself and a friend

Answer 31

It's up to you.

Answer 32

KEEP IT! Its a classic, going to be worth big bucks in a few years when all cars are computer controlled.

Answer 33

Junk it because mechanics charge a lot for labor these days but if can find a friend who can fix it than go for it

Answer 34

Sounds old, I wouldnt put anymore money into it just sell it and use the money to fix something on your other cars.

Answer 35

I'd say fix it. "body is in Perfct condition." You know your car better than anyone else and if it's worth spending that money on the car. Assuming all the other mechanicals are OK you get a running car for under a grand.

But why do you need three cars? Two of them not paid off? I'd lose one of those other cars.

Answer 36

junk it

Answer 37

Junk it because it’s not worth fixing. Plus, you have 2 other cars.

Answer 38

junk it save the money to fix up a car you already have save on insurance too. You never know when you will need something on another car even if it is new wiper blades.

Answer 39

Look at your local classified ads , awhile back i was able to help my dad find a rebuilt 302 V8 block for his OLD F150 since the original motor had nearly 300k miles and it died . dad kept the truck another 5 years and he sold it for $2000 and it still ran well. I recommend you do that get the motor in your toyota drive it a short time and sell it. You can easily get $1700 for that car But if your the original owner that car may have some fond memories with you so its a keeper for that

Answer 40

Keep it, I think 260k on her would be a good choice.

Answer 41

Junk it. late model used cars are really cheap right now.