To restore beloved 99 se?
 

I want to remanufacture the engine in my 99 SE. My father-in-law was the original owner. I bought it from him about five years ago. Cost to remanufacture the engine is almost 4 grand including a new timing belt water pump etc. I have check engine light on and instead of spending $400 plus to fix emissions problems I would rather have the car run like new for another 15 years. I cannot pass inspection unless I fix the emissions. Car is worth $800. It also will need a paint job and a new interior. Trying to get insurance to cover costs of fixing up the car. Any suggestions should I forget the whole thing and get rid of the car or should I go forward? What about the transmission and the suspension with 200,000 miles those things could be an issue soon.

The question to ask is do you really wanna spend that much? 4k to rebuild the motor is ridiculous, hit the paper an find a used one with under 100k miles an under 1k an enjoy the next 15 years.

How are you going to get the insurance to pay for wear an tear on the car? If anything they'll laugh at you an total it out. I've never heard of insurance paying to fix up a car, if you kno a secret to this im all ears. I could use a new paint job lol.

Good luck with your project tho, I love both of mine.

Unless you love the 4th gen ALOT, sell it.

I love my 4th gen.
I restore it and upgrade it every chance I get, but the money I put into it I know I will never see back..That being said, still worth it IMO.

Your check engine light problem can likely be diagnosed here on the org, then you can fix it and drive it as-is until the wheels fall off or you decide to fix or sell.

Think of it this way... do a simple cost analysis.

Is the alternative a new car or a used one?

What will you spend on either?

How much will it cost in order to bring the car into a condition wherein you'll be pleased.

A new car payment is gonna be right around $600.00/month - $7200.00/year. Unless you lease of course. What can you get accomplished with $7200.00.

I, personally, am not even a little concerned with resale value on my 15 year old car. it's mostly about the value of keeping the car in shape.

I also agree that a $4000.00 rebuild is ridiculous. You need to do some shopping if that's the route you really wanna go.

FYI. I just did nationwide salvage parts search for complete engines. VQ30s and VQ30DEs with less than 30,000 miles are selling for less than $1000.00 ($850 to $950 to be exact).