Tired of cars

So up until recently, I have been driving old cars. Following a series of unfortunate events (a 1981 Mitsubishi Sigma that couldn't keep a head gasket followed by a 1995 Toyota Camry that collapsed in magnificent style resulting in the need for a complete overhaul) I decided to finally fork out some decent cash and buy a newer model car. I went with a 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer ES. The thing was immaculate. 185,000kms on the clock, serviced on time every time, absolutely nothing of concern. Even the interior was perfect! We got it at what I felt was a steal at $4,500.

Three months later, it appears that I am destined for failed cars. I left work last week and got a few kms down the road, only to be greeted with a loud, LOUD knocking noise. Naturally, I pulled over immediately to inspect. Being a manual transmission, I figured it would be nothing with the gearbox (as the sound rose and fell with the pitch of the engine). My first thought was a blown exhaust gasket or a cracked manifold. Nope. Maybe shoddy timing? Nope.

Called the NRMA, waited an hour to be told that it was the rockers. Great, I thought, a pain in the ass, but not an overly horrible repair. I waited another hour for a tow and took it to the mechanic a few days later.

This is where the fun really begins. The mechanic tells me that the rockers are fine, but that the low end bearing may be shot. Upon further inspection, they turned out to be fine. He then checked the torque converter. It, too, was fine. We are currently deciding whether or not the pistons, con rod, or valves are bad, and what my options are.

A rebuild? $2,600 plus labour? No.
A second hand motor? $1,200 plus labour? Better, but still unaffordable.

I'm starting to hate cars and seriously considering buying a horse. At least when they break down, you know what's wrong with them.

Sigh. I'll be on my way now.

reply to post by Scaleru


Good luck with it mate.

I would change mechanics though. You mentioned the vehicle has a manual transmission

Your mechanic checked the torque converter - only autos have a torque converter.

Ed: See if you can't get a free diagnosis at a local Mitsubishi dealer, it could save both time and money.

reply to post by Scaleru


Plus, if the horse breaks down you can eat it

horsies it sounded funnier in my head, sorry timely

reply to post by Timely


That... Is a very disturbing horse... And a very good point... I must question him on this this afternoon... Thanks for pointing that out!

reply to post by greencmp


Mate, one of the most delicious meals I've ever had contained smoked horse!

Scaleru
So up until recently, I have been driving old cars. Following a series of unfortunate events (a 1981 Mitsubishi Sigma that couldn't keep a head gasket followed by a 1995 Toyota Camry that collapsed in magnificent style resulting in the need for a complete overhaul) I decided to finally fork out some decent cash and buy a newer model car. I went with a 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer ES. The thing was immaculate. 185,000kms on the clock, serviced on time every time, absolutely nothing of concern. Even the interior was perfect! We got it at what I felt was a steal at $4,500.

Three months later, it appears that I am destined for failed cars. I left work last week and got a few kms down the road, only to be greeted with a loud, LOUD knocking noise. Naturally, I pulled over immediately to inspect. Being a manual transmission, I figured it would be nothing with the gearbox (as the sound rose and fell with the pitch of the engine). My first thought was a blown exhaust gasket or a cracked manifold. Nope. Maybe shoddy timing? Nope.

Called the NRMA, waited an hour to be told that it was the rockers. Great, I thought, a pain in the ass, but not an overly horrible repair. I waited another hour for a tow and took it to the mechanic a few days later.

This is where the fun really begins. The mechanic tells me that the rockers are fine, but that the low end bearing may be shot. Upon further inspection, they turned out to be fine. He then checked the torque converter. It, too, was fine. We are currently deciding whether or not the pistons, con rod, or valves are bad, and what my options are.

A rebuild? $2,600 plus labour? No.
A second hand motor? $1,200 plus labour? Better, but still unaffordable.

I'm starting to hate cars and seriously considering buying a horse. At least when they break down, you know what's wrong with them.

Sigh. I'll be on my way now.

search for and join up with the australian lancer clubs, they will put you onto a decent mechanic, often the clubs themselves have a mechanic thatd oes mates rates.

in australia too, i have an imported japanese mitsubishi FTO. never sold here. every part that says FTO costs like 500% more.

by being in the club i have saved thousands over the last few years.

never trust a mechanic until you have spoken to club members.

hell if worst comes to worst come join ftoaustralia.com there are few mechanics there who might be able to help with your lancer.

tell them okamitengu sent you (:

Timely
reply to post by Scaleru

 

Good luck with it mate.

I would change mechanics though. You mentioned the vehicle has a manual transmission

Your mechanic checked the torque converter - only autos have a torque converter.

Ed: See if you can't get a free diagnosis at a local Mitsubishi dealer, it could save both time and money.

edit on 10-9-2013 by Timely because: (no reason given)

I was going to say that
I think this is one of those "Dont buy used, buy new" threads.

Scaleru
reply to post by greencmp

 

Mate, one of the most delicious meals I've ever had contained smoked horse!

Shhh... I think timely can understand us

Thanks for the tips guys. If I could have afforded new, I would have gone new. Unfortunately, getting this car alone has already put me in debt. Sad to say, I'm not exactly "rich" in any form of the word.

Due to my monetary issues outlined above, getting a second opinion on the job is proving quite difficult. I don't want to drive the vehicle in case the issue is repairable, which means I need to tow it to another mechanic, which means money that could be spent on getting a second hand engine. I believe this is what they call a "catch 22" or, in my terms, a right pain in the... cake.

greencmp

Scaleru
reply to post by greencmp

 

Mate, one of the most delicious meals I've ever had contained smoked horse!

Shhh... I think timely can understand us

edit on 10-9-2013 by greencmp because: (no reason given)

Indeed !!

Think 'Mr.Ed' ...

reply to post by Scaleru


Sorry to hear about your car troubles. Been there.
My first car was a 1982 Chevy Blazer with 350k miles it had more bondo than metal. The summer after I turned 16 I got a job at burger king and walked to work for 2 weeks got my check an I bought it for 300$ quit and got a better job. I sold that Blazer a few months later for 500$. I bought a 94 Eclipse the transmission blew out after 3 weeks. I gave it back and lost my down payment .
The Lady I sold the Blazer to died shortly after that and never transferred the title. That Bondo machine came back to me. I sold it again for 500$ and bought. My friends Nissan for $1000. Great car. Bought a few Hondas after that great cars. Bought a Dodge truck again transmission failed engine failed. Lost 4k on that.
Worked in the car business for awhile and I learned a lot about cars buying selling negotiating and a lot of great life skills. There's little chance I will ever make a bad buying decision on anything.

reply to post by Scaleru


You should probable learn how to pick out a good car but anything can happen . Even to a new car . But yeah like someone else already said . Only Automatics have a convertor on them . Maybe the problem is you are drive an auto like a standard . Or maybe for whatever strange reason you made this whole story up .

reply to post by Scaleru


Not to be too rude, but perhaps the way you drive them might be the fault rather than the cars?

I say this because I have spent many, many wasted hours fixing cars for people with VERY explicit instructions to take it easy on them until they are broken in, and having them returned along with a very angry owner when they break them a week later. Nine times out of ten it's because they didn't listen, thrashed the arse out of it and of course it broke.

I had an N13 ET Pulsar for about 4 years, drove it to Melbourne four times, Brisbane twice (from Adelaide), and the most that went wrong with it was the battery died on me. I sell said car to a young hotshot 18 yo who proceeds to crack the head within 4 weeks, then spits the gearbox out. Why? All because he got in it and drove the thing like a Formula 1 racer. Most people don't realise that cars don't last too long if you thrash the guts out of them.

If you listen to the knock it will generally tell you what is wrong inside. A loud rapping knock (like a gunshot) is usually piston/top end related, bent, broken, etc, a low thudding knock is usually bottom end. Not always, but pretty much.

reply to post by 74Templar


Normally I would agree with you, and that is the case for the first head gasket on the Sigma. Unfortunately, that combined with an exhaust gasket that wouldn't stop blowing (due to an aftermarket exhaust from the manifold back not fitting correctly) the car became undrivable. I admit the first issue was my fault, but after that, it was that the engine just couldn't keep up anymore. Oh, and a bad timing chain was the nail in the coffin there.

The camry was a bomb. Falling apart, terrible paint work, it was a time bomb waiting to go off. It was my parents that bought this, stupidly, from a friend who said it was well taken care of. They spent $1,800 on a car that was to last perhaps 2 years. I'd topped up oil and water about 3 days prior to the overheat that caused its eventual death.

Coming to the lancer, I'd checked everything religiously and not driven hard (I rarely top 3500 revs). It was just one of those issues that probably came undeclared from the previous owner. Pain in the ass, but live and learn.

Presently it is being towed to a new mechanic that believes he can solve the issue for a fraction of the cost. At least there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Still. Rant.

Oh, and that '81 Sigma? It lasted me 6 years. Not bad for a $1,500 purchase I'll admit.

I am with you brother! I hate cars! They should not be that complex, they don't need to be and be built to easily fix! They could be more modular and encourage DIY! But they do that to generate money!

That really sucks!

I feel your pain!

I have always bought used cars and never had one problem til recently. I had bought a car in January because I was pregnant and couldn't drive a baby around in my Mustang. I bought a PT Cruiser and it had all the bells and whistles, leather, suede, sun roof and so on. It was used but in immaculate condition. I called my Uncle, who is a mechanic and asked him what he thought. He said he didn't really like them because they were not easy to work on but they weren't bad cars however there were certain years that were bad. I then went online and did my research but couldn't find which ones had the problems. I asked some people on ATS and some said they hated PT's and I should have listened but the car really had no issues that I saw or could find based on the model and year.

Well fast forward to this July, MOVING day. My mom has the PT with my son, 6wks at the time and my dog in the car. I am driving the Mustang with my cat. She leaves before me and I leave shortly after. Well I'm going down the highway and see her pulled over under an overpass. I was like wth is she doing. I thought maybe she pulled over to feed the baby. I kept going and got this feeling i needed to turn around but the closest place to turn around was 10miles up the road still. I floored it at this point worried something was wrong, my mom does not have a cell phone so I couldn't call her. I finally get to the car and it friggin over heated. I thought ok that isn't so bad. BOY was I wrong!! Long story short we had to put a new damn engine in the thing. $2500 dollars later and 3wks in the shop it runs like new now.

Turns out the model we got has some sort of defect where it burns through 1 litre of oil every 1000 miles or so. I had little to no oil apparently in the car which to me didn't seem right since we had just bought the car and it wasn't due for an oil change for months. The oil light never came on either. I didn't drive much before the move because I was pregnant and on bed rest so the car barely got used. I was so upset when they said I needed an engine I physically got sick. I spent all the money I had, literally, on this car. At that moment it felt like i flushed $6000 down the drain.

I was mad on one end at the car place because I felt they should have known this but on the other end I couldn't because they probably didn't know. I met the previous owner of the car who told me the place I bought it from had no intention of selling it on their lot but were putting it up for auction. I am still not sure how to take that, did they know something was wrong? I guess I'll never know.

So now we just monitor the oil in it and with a new engine it will now go a heck a lot further than we expected. Sure we winded up paying more than we wanted for it but I guess we have a better car now. All the other major things on the car had been replaced when the engine was replaced and my mechanic saved me a TON of money. I really loved my mechanic there and will miss him for sure. He was an honest man who didn't want to take you for all your money. I even offered my Mustang, my BELOVED Mustang as payment and he said he couldn't take it. He said he knew I loved that car and to keep it and never sell it. I will take that advice lol

I have to say that in my 17 yrs of car buying and never having one problem til now that those odds aren't too bad. When you buy used you just never know what could happen. You take the sellers word for it and in some states there are lemon laws so you are protected even more but in my state, FL you are basically screwed if sold a "lemon." Lemon laws in FL only apply to brand new cars and well how many brand new cars do you know are lemons! I have had cars from all the major American companies and I must say Ford has been the best I've ever owned. I had an Escort last almost 300k miles and my Mustang is 15yrs old and in 5yrs has only cost me a new clutch and tires. We are going to keep the PT and then sell it next year for something like a CRV or similar mini SUV crossover.

I do love the PT still even though it gave me slight heart failure and cost us even more money. It is a good little car and had we known about it's issue prior we would have monitored it. Now we know so we can make sure it never happens again!

I will always buy used. I really don't see the point in brand new cars. They cost too much. Sure you get warranties but who wants a car payment?! I know many will say then pay cash well not everyone has the option to pay for a brand new car upfront. I hate car payments and I'd rather let someone else buy the car new and pay for all the extras and then I buy it when they are done. A car to me has one purpose, get from point A to point B. I am not into cars as a status symbol nor do I care to show off a car. I'd rather spend that money on something I need.

Scaleru
Thanks for the tips guys. If I could have afforded new, I would have gone new. Unfortunately, getting this car alone has already put me in debt. Sad to say, I'm not exactly "rich" in any form of the word.

Due to my monetary issues outlined above, getting a second opinion on the job is proving quite difficult. I don't want to drive the vehicle in case the issue is repairable, which means I need to tow it to another mechanic, which means money that could be spent on getting a second hand engine. I believe this is what they call a "catch 22" or, in my terms, a right pain in the... cake.

Do you have any kind of road side assistance there? Does your insurance cover towing?

I know here in the states you can get road side assistance and with some you get free towing. I had my PT towed 30miles for free. I even had a free tow after it was out of the shop if I wanted it towed to my house which was 69 miles away.

I don't know how insurance works in Australia so sorry if this doesn't help. Good luck though. I do feel your pain. It really sucks and it is a total catch 22. See if you can work out payments when you do get a mechanic to fix it. Explain your situation., I know i've encountered some awesome mechanics who will let people make payments when they have a huge job that needs to be done.

Scaleru
reply to post by 74Templar

 

Oh, and that '81 Sigma? It lasted me 6 years. Not bad for a $1,500 purchase I'll admit.

I swear older cars lasted longer!! Today's cars are meant to break just like everything else. They don't want you to have it for 20+yrs! They want it to break in a few so you have to buy another one.

My 87 Escort cost me 400 bucks and lasted 5 yrs. It had just shy of 300,000 miles.

reply to post by Scaleru


Checks are always worth it if you are spending even a few grand on a car to see if anything like that is or could be coming up. From a family of mechanics so I have a bit of an inside track, but there are things that can be done to shut cars up for knocks and other noises for a bit, but if you know what to look for, it can be beneficial.

Bottom line is newer cars just aren't made to last, part of the throw away society I guess. My housemate had an LS Lancer, my god what a drama queen of a car. There's a thing called bridge effect, where you fix one thing and the next weakest link always breaks. This car had it in spades. We traded it in about 3 months ago, and the car she has now is solid as a rock.

My first car was a 1977 LX Torana Hatchback, the thing was bulletproof. Even the guy that bought it wrote the car off into a tree, and he reckons it was still trying to live smashed up beyond repair.

I just always find it's how you drive cars depends on how well they go, but you are right, sometimes you just get a lemon and there's little you can do but learn from the experience and try not to make the same mistake twice.

reply to post by 74Templar


We had this car checked out and everything came up good, so it's just one of those things. At the moment, it's been towed to a second mechanic for a second opinion. Haven't heard anything yet, but the latest diagnoses have been just as bad. Valves, pistons or con rod. All invasive repairs and probably not worth it over a second hand engine (which may end up needing extensive work in itself, who knows).

But I agree about older cars. A mate of mine, another Sigma lover, sold his with a cracked head (the buyer knew of course). They drove it from Sydney to Wollongong, only stopping to top up the oil. Determined little cars, the Sigmas. Regret scrapping mine.

I've never heard a bad word about Lancers though to be honest. Well, aside from Evo's being a noisy bunch of so and so's. Anything you could warn me about for the future?