To Fix Or Buy New

[Khyber53]

1 hour ago, hepcat said:

AC works fine, problem is the climate control knob that changes temperatures doesn’t work. Shop thinks it’s the Actuator that controls the hot/cold air mix into the car. 

Go to youtube and look for a fix for this.  Here's one: 

Even if you can't do it yourself, you'll at least have an idea of what amount of work it takes to do and if it is expensive. The best bet is to find a Toyota certified mechanic in your area that has a small shop and just a couple of cars out front (too many cars means a lot of bad things, no cars means a few things, some bad). Get a quote. Go to another Toyota certified mechanic and get a second quote. Never, ever, ever take it to a dealership.

Get it fixed, ride it out until the bonus checks come in and use those to buy a new(er) car. And dump that credit card debt as fast as you can. Cash is king and the debtor is always slave to the lender. Avoid credit like the plague.

 

Edit to add: Avoid used Hyundais. You won't be happy.

[hepcat]

Just now, Khyber53 said:

Go to youtube and look for a fix for this.  Here's one: 

Even if you can't do it yourself, you'll at least have an idea of what amount of work it takes to do and if it is expensive. The best bet is to find a Toyota certified mechanic in your area that has a small shop and just a couple of cars out front (too many cars means a lot of bad things, no cars means a few things, some bad). Get a quote. Go to another Toyota certified mechanic and get a second quote. Never, ever, ever take it to a dealership.

Get it fixed, ride it out until the bonus checks come in and use those to buy a new(er) car. And dump that credit card debt as fast as you can. Cash is king and the debtor is always slave to the lender. Avoid credit like the plague.

 

 

Yep I saw that video before I even took it into the shop and told them I think that's the issue. They "said" there were no cold solder problems. I'm still skeptical because for at least a year, I could tap on the knob and fiddle with it and the A/C would start working. I think finally the ribbon disconnected and it's not a fix they perform. So I'm not sure how they plan to swap out the actuator and repair it if the ribbon is still disconnected. Just waiting to hear back from the shop now with a final price. If it's too high I'm going to go to another shop. Can't wait too long because I can't deal with no A/C on my commute home in 100 degree Texas heat. What also sucks is I need 2 new tires - I had a nail go into the side wall on one so I have the spare on it right now which is a full size original tire from when the car was bought (used). Throw on another 300$....

[LinvilleGorge]

2 hours ago, hepcat said:

I’m not too worried about paying off the card - both my wife and I receive bonuses at the end of the year which would cover most of the card, and instead of using it for a down payment I’d use that stock I was talking about for the card too. Only negative I see to buying a car now is not being able to put much down on it aside from my trade in 

[Khyber53]

55 minutes ago, hepcat said:

Yep I saw that video before I even took it into the shop and told them I think that's the issue. They "said" there were no cold solder problems. I'm still skeptical because for at least a year, I could tap on the knob and fiddle with it and the A/C would start working. I think finally the ribbon disconnected and it's not a fix they perform. So I'm not sure how they plan to swap out the actuator and repair it if the ribbon is still disconnected. Just waiting to hear back from the shop now with a final price. If it's too high I'm going to go to another shop. Can't wait too long because I can't deal with no A/C on my commute home in 100 degree Texas heat. What also sucks is I need 2 new tires - I had a nail go into the side wall on one so I have the spare on it right now which is a full size original tire from when the car was bought (used). Throw on another 300$....

Good luck, man. Sometimes when it rains, it pours. 

[blackcat]

Sounds like you have your mind made up.  Just shop around.

[Zaximus]

Even if you pay that much to get it fixed, are you comfortable getting as many months out of it as what a "new/used" car would cost you monthly?    I mean if you're paying $300-400 a month for a new car (and probably more insurance since you need full coverage) then sometimes paying a repair isn't so bad if it'll last you another 6 months or something.    Any months you get extra past what you paid you could save up for when you do get a car/need one.

[hepcat]

33 minutes ago, Zaximus said:

Even if you pay that much to get it fixed, are you comfortable getting as many months out of it as what a "new/used" car would cost you monthly?    I mean if you're paying $300-400 a month for a new car (and probably more insurance since you need full coverage) then sometimes paying a repair isn't so bad if it'll last you another 6 months or something.    Any months you get extra past what you paid you could save up for when you do get a car/need one.

I definitely hear you there. I've been leaning to get it fixed all along, but I'd planned on getting a new car next year anyway (15 years seems like long enough for 1 vehicle) but this is just kind of forcing my hand. Dropping $1000-1200 on repairs for a car I might keep another 6-9 months just seemed like a bad idea, and now I'm thinking if I get it fixed I'm going to need to keep the car even longer to justify spending that money, and more issues might start popping up. The oil leak is something I've kept a close eye on that hasn't become a major problem yet, but something that could easily be another $800-1000+ to replace the seals for. Brakes will need service in the next 7k miles or so. I had it all planned out to kind of let everything go to poo by next March. Tires, brakes, spark plugs, filters, etc, everything is due for service or replacement early next year. 

 

[Bronn]

It sounds like an actuator to me. I bought and replaced one in one of our older Honda Odysseys.

Is it dual zone climate control? IE. Can the driver and passenger set different temps/AC settings?

If so (or maybe even if not) you should be able to access the actuator from underneath the dash without having to remove too many (or any) body/trim panel pieces.

IIRC you're a skinnier dude, and I'm not that skinny. The actuator for our Odyssey was less than $100, and I was able to get my big butt up under there enough to reach it.

You could probably even rig up the busted one to hold in the open position so that you get only AC, lol. I did that while waiting on our part to ship.

What happens is the cheap plastic gears chew through their teeth over the years and strip out, meaning it can't grab the door to open or close it.

If it were me, and I was in that much debt already, I'd look into getting my hands dirty to fix it myself, if possible.

[CRA]

well, $1200 is a lot to be putting into an old car that you already have voiced you are getting rid of in the next year.   So I feel you on that.  I'd pull the trigger and get new a to me car in ideal scenarios. 

but the 10k you got sitting on the credit card would take priority for me.  

so I would probably either try to fix it myself or be miserable and roll them windows down.  

my wife and I have a pretty set belief on bonuses.  A bonus is a bonus.  I use to get them in my old job, she still does at her job.  But we never factor them in as a given into our financial planning.  Because we both have had windows despite them being like clockwork where they simply didn't come and it had nothing to do w/ our personal work. 

but when the time comes I definitely agree on the new to me car vs actual new.  I have had one actual new car in my life and it was horrible decision IMO.  Just wasted money.  Almost instantly regretted it after the first couple days in it. 

[LinvilleGorge]

34 minutes ago, CRA said:

my wife and I have a pretty set belief on bonuses.  A bonus is a bonus.  I use to get them in my old job, she still does at her job.  But we never factor them in as a given into our financial planning.  Because we both have had windows despite them being like clockwork where they simply didn't come and it had nothing to do w/ our personal work. 

Agreed. I've worked in sales for most of my career. I base all my financial decisions off of my base pay and treat all commissions and bonuses as extra money.

[hepcat]

Eventful day at the auto shop. I asked the shop to remove the console and show it to me before proceeding with the $900 actuator repair. Turns out it was actually the problem in the video. The ribbon that connects the knob to the main circuit board came disconnected and needed to be re-soldered. They couldn’t do it at the shop. So I took the console back to my desk at the office and I’m going to make an attempt to solder it with a coworker tomorrow.

The eventful part of the visit was, I went ahead and got two new tires on the car, replacing my spare and the tire with the puncture. But when I got back to the shop I noticed they had put a GIANT dent in my front bumper. They at first denied it and said because it was muddy, that it existed there before. Bullshit. Looked like they had dropped the car on top of a tire. Ended up getting them to comp the two tires and they were able to pop out the dent enough where it wasn’t *that* noticeable.

Ended up paying $89 for labor for two tires out the door and that’s it.

[frash.exe]

wow

find a new shop asap

idk exactly your financial situation but i do know that a lot of ppl that are my age buy certified pre owned. just don’t rush to bring one home...have them find something that is exactly what you’re looking for in a car. i also know that dealerships are absolute fuging rackets when it comes to maintenance. my last two cars i financed new and the last time i brought mine for an oil change they wanted to flush the transmission...at 15k miles. the owner’s manual says the infotainment on the car is calculated to tell you when it’s time to flush the trans, and in general you should do it every 50k miles, maybe closer to 30k if it’s a high mileage vehicle. it was a $280 job and they also wanted to replace the cabin air filter for another 80 dollars between parts/labor. literally a 3 minute install through the glove box that i was able to do myself. idk if i should even get into the story about paul miller honda and the 900 dollar windshield they quoted me. 900 just for the fuging part just bc a jeep in front of me kicked up a stone on the road and cracked my windshield while i was driving in orange county NY. i went to an autoglass specialist that replaced part for $250. with labor it came out to $370.

the other car i had before this one was a hyundai. they have that 10 yr/100k mile warranty (if it’s new) but the dealership tried to shyste me into buying a new quote 200 dollar unquote tire even though i opted into the “free tires for life” program when i financed. bc they did their 30 point inspection or whatever and discovered that the tire was prematurely failing at 19k miles and there was a tiny hole leaking air for no reason. bc hyundai puts the shittiest tires on their passenger cars when they manufacture them and they fail with regular use. they’re also harder than the hulk’s flexed ass cheeks and you slip on every road surface bc hard tires have no grip and while that’s good for fuel economy it makes you approach even loose gravel like it’s a pile of banana peels. please avoid any car between 18-24k with hankook tires. they are absolute trash.

 

idk what it is about all these car manufacturers going really cheap on tires in the north american market when tires are one of the most important aspects of ride quality and safety. even BMWs come off the lot new with fuging continental tires that aren’t rated to go over 115mph lol.

[raz]

let us know how the solder goes. 

[Bronn]

9 hours ago, frash.exe said:

wow

 

yeah dude

The whole auto industry, from dealerships to mechanical shops, to insurance is all a racket. We don't buy new, but I've gotten almost new things over the years that have absolute garbage flaws that aren't user-end flaws.

Our daily driver now is a '16 Chevy Equinox. It only has like 39,000 miles on it, and it just started stalling out one day for no apparent reason. It turns out that Chevy, in these 'noxes especially, has had a known oil consumption/excessive use problem for years. Yet they still continue to put the same engines in these vehicles every year. I diagnosed the stalling issue online, it seemed like it was the VVT solenoids (Variable Valve Timing) which are located on top of the engine block. I made sure I could find them and access them, and went and bought two new ones for just over $100. I got them switched out no problem in like 10 mins and everything runs fine now. I guarantee you your average shop or dealer would charge in excess of $500 for that repair, lol.

The kicker is that we've now discovered we'll have to change our oil more frequently than originally thought/recommended by Chevy. We were going for 7,500 mile intervals because we run full synthetic, but it looks like we're back down to around 5,000 or even less now because of this oil issue that is found in 99% of these vehicles. I'm pretty pissed about it, but capitalism.

At least I feel comfortable enough to work on my own vehicles, I guess. But there are tons of people out there who go to the shop or even dealer for work that are getting robbed.