Maximus90

Alright well I got my car a few months back, she's a 1990 and she's around 98k miles on her. I got her for around $3,700 and so far I've dropped $350 for rear struts and just recently her starter went and that costed me another $300 and soon I have to get the front struts done for around the same price. Not to mention little things here and there that i'm trying to fix myself to save money. But are all these things worth the money? Should I keep her or maybe think about getting something newer that wont hit the wallet so hard??? Any suggestions on what to do? I do love her, but she's being a b*tch lately, I think I need a divorce, any words of wisdom to maybe save this relationship??

DA-MAX

iTrader: (10)

these are the things that happen with any car...and the repairs you've done aren't anything out of the normal! starter and strut replacement on a 10 year old car is a given.

D-sta

iTrader: (6)

Exaclty what DA-MAX said, you can't expect things to last forever on a 13 year old car, everything you have done is considered maintenance.

jbar

keep it. a '90 with 98k on it....thats low I got a '92 with 135k on it, running like a charm.

like everyones been sayin, the little things here and there are to be expected....just give it time.

subs1000w

well i would say maybe but if you do work yourself its definitly worth it if not it can get expensive i had a camry before this and i was stupid and did no mantanace buy myself but my parents paid for the repairs they payed 2700 for the car 89 camry v6 5spd with 139k miles and probobly 2500 in matanace in 1.5 years and then it through a rod very poor investment, my max ive spent maybe 1k in mantanace but if i didnt do it myself it estimated could have cost 3k it includes like trany work, all struts and alot of other little things that add up fast but i drive my cars very hard so i know that has everything to do with it but i have to expect that my car had 96k when i got it now it has 110k so alot has gone wrong in 16k but to me it beyond worth the money but if i didnt do it myself it probobly wouldnt i could go buy a hunday with 100k 10year warrenty and forget about it but who wants to drive a hunday

Tom

Keep it. I have a 151K miles on my '92. The car has been pretty reasonable on the wallet (my Camry even costed more to maintain). There were only two things were fairly expensize on my car to replace. Exhaust studs - very common problem on 3rd gens and fuel injectors (about $124 at the dealer for one). Though, if you buy remanufactured injectors and repair yourself, you can save some $$.

Maximus90

So overall everyone thinks I should keep her. Thats the reassurance I was looking for thanks guys, I'm just a poor college student struggling w/ cash things are just getting expensive and I needed the inspiration to keep my baby.

Dark Lord Bunny

iTrader: (5)

I have an 89 SE with 260,000+ miles on it, and I've had less problems with it than my friends' cars. My friends '01 Saturn sees the shop more than I do. Another one of my friends has a late 80s Stang that looks like it'd fall apart if you sneezed on it. Definitely keep the car. The lack of payments plus the low insurance will help out a lot. Plus if anything needs replacing, you always have a reason to go aftermarket.

lophix

iTrader: (3)

i say you keep it too. One thing though: are you an auto or manual? In any case maintain your transmission as best you can. No neutral drops and all that or else you'll be shelling out at least 1.5g pretty soon. Replace the tranny fluid if you havent. To keep expenses down, try and learn as much as you can about the car off this site, and do most maintain yourself. Like the starter you replaced for instance couldve been done for less thatn half that price with a lifetime warranty. It only takes about 15mins to swap the starter out anyways. Anybody can do it. I'm a college student too and even though I dont earn money, I am still careful of how I spend it.
Goodluck.

Maximus90

I have an auto and dont worry I dont beat on her too hard so no neutral drops. This is also my first car so i'm learning about all the aspects of cars right now luckily I found this site cuz its been great help and I'm still learning. How would I have gotten a lifetime warranty?? The guy I took the car to is a friend of the family so he said the starter had to be ordered and cost just under $200 and he fixed up a few little things for me thats why labor was another $100, is that still too much? As far as engine work goes i'm still wet behind the ears so replacing a starter myself would have been a scary task.

lophix

iTrader: (3)

yeah i was too when i got my car. But reading a lot and experimenting on the small stuff helps you build up confidence to attempt bigger stuff. But if you can use a socket wrench, you can change the starter. I got my starter from oreillys and it came with a lifetime warranty. But at least in your case, its a family friend so if it goes bad again, he should be able to do it for you for little or nothing.

Dark Lord Bunny

iTrader: (5)

I needed some encouragement like this a while ago myself.


http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....hreadid=187935


Go there if you need a little more, plus there's a very touching story that I think everyone should check out.

99SEL4ME

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

Hmmm, well I've got over $11k in mods and repairs to mine and I'm still going. I think a few hundred spent on regular maintenance isn't bad... then again, I just spent $1000 on seats...

D-sta

iTrader: (6)

Did you buy rims?

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

Possibly.....

nupe500

iTrader: (13)

possibly....

Maximan190

iTrader: (8)

couple of nice baldies in that stack

91maxi

hey dude - keep ure car - believe me - i mean i have 4 maxima'z
i have a 90 - a 91- and two 96's. i mean these cars run great- my 90 maxima has about 190,000 miles on now, and um if i aint go to this party the car woulda been in great condition, some ******* at the party broke my back window, i got it replaced but the de-fog dont work anymore, and jus recently my bro reversed into a high curb and f***** up the muf. pipe., now it sound like a dam civic. LOL
anyway other then that - all my cars work great- repairs are gona come to u no matta wut - cars arent made perfect on purpose - just to keep mechanics in biz.

D-sta

iTrader: (6)

c'mon Matt what did u get???? I'm just making a guess are they the sub-zeros'?

Maximan190

iTrader: (8)

maybe matt got dubZ

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

nope... I bought some cheap rims that another guy was getting rid of because he bought sub zeros.

Pervis Anathema

iTrader: (8)

You can save hundreds if you learn to do some repairs yourself. I did my starter for $102.50, and installed brand new Tokicos for $348.00. Of course, you will need repair manuals and tools, but they will more than pay for themselves in the long haul. I have easily saved over $1k the past few years.

N34JZ

iTrader: (1)

Ive put almost $20,000 into my car not counting maintenance, and I still need about 15-20k more to finish it.

Maximan190

iTrader: (8)

jesus...nice; yea i just saw your updated cardomain page; your gonna be the "Keving of 3rd gens"

im not gonna go that crazy, i wanna save up eventually for my camaro

N34JZ

iTrader: (1)

no Kevin can be the JasonZ of 5th gens because the 3rd gen came first

Chris91SE

iTrader: (1)

didn't you recently say you were gonna sell your car for 10k and make out on it?

N34JZ

iTrader: (1)

well I wont make out on it if I sell it, but I was thinking of selling it like 2-3 months ago, but now I think im gonna keep it.

PrinzII

iTrader: (2)

Considering my '94 GXE had 72,440 when I bought it and it had 123,851 when I traded it on my '02, it still ran like a top. However, after I bought my '94, I had the 60,000 mile maintenance done on it and followed a very strict maintenance schedule.

BTW, my '02 is around 39,000 miles and is still running like a top.
I am about to get the 30k maintenance on it and have a few upgrades done to it.