Kandahar

I'm pretty much a novice when it comes to how cars work, so I have a question for those of you who are more familiar with them:

My 1999 Toyota Camry needs a new engine, because it's sludged. It only has 130K miles on it, but I guess the previous owner ****ed it up somehow. It's gonna cost me about $3,600 total to get it replaced. The car is valued at $5,700-$5,900.

I'm trying to decide if I should just junk the car entirely or get the engine replaced. Obviously I couldn't get as nice of a car for the cost of the engine, but on the other hand I don't want to sink a lot more money into this car later on.

What else - that is expensive to fix - can go wrong with a car, and how much does it typically cost? I know that replacing an alternator costs about $500 and replacing a transmission costs about $1,200. Are there any other major repairs that I should keep in mind?

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P/N

Two things, we're talking about a 9 year old car, but that 9 year old car is a Camry. If it only has 130,000 original miles on it, that means the rest of the equipment has the same wear and tear. Personally, I'd replace the engine. Toyota's are built to last. My fiancee's ex has a 99 Camry with over 240,000 miles on it and has not had a single major repair. If you replace the engine, you should be able to get a good 3-4 years out of it without any major issues. Toyota's are built to last a little longer than American cars. If you had a 1999 Cavalier or a 1999 Taurus, I wouldn't change the engine.

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Ethereal

Scrap it and move on. Shop savvy and you can get a car that runs fine for less than the cost the new engine - it just won't be a chick magnet.

Sergeant Stinger1

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There was a motor glitch for Toyota's in your year car and Toyota was paying up to $750-$1,000? towards the cost to repair the motors. They did NOT call it a recall but still paid the money to owners.
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Do you really want to spend almost $4,000 on a 1999 car?
I did on a 1986.
We have new cars and trucks but my mother-in-law stopped driving and gave us her '1986' Chevy Nova (Chevys twin to the Corolla) about 5 years ago with only about 60,000 miles on it. Everyone of us used almost every time we went bombing around and later the motor went. I spent around $3,000 for a new motor and its still running strong. So nice to bring it shopping and not have to worry about dings and scratches.
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Other repairs? What repairs? None that I know of. They just keep on running ands running.
Your call.

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Kandahar

Ya I know that Toyotas are built to last, which is why I bought it in the first place. I wasn't expecting the engine to go bad so soon, which makes me think that whoever owned it before me really abused the hell out of it.

If I was sure that there wouldn't be any other problems, I'd obviously replace the engine. But if someone screwed up the engine so soon, I'm wondering what else they might've screwed up. That's why I'm trying to get a sense for what the other most expensive repairs are that I might face later on.

P/N

Have the transmission fluid checked out. This will give you a good indication of what kind of shape the transmission is in. Change little things like the fuel filter, air filter and thermostat. Check out the belts and hoses to see if any of them need replaced. It sounds like if the engine went bad that many other things may have been neglected as well. The changing of fluids and filters at regular intervals go a long way towards prolonging the life of a car. If they didn't change the oil regularly or the fuel filter is shot, they probably didn't change the transmission fluid or even flush out the radiator either.

Sergeant Stinger1

If any vehicle has NOT had regular tranny fludid changes DO NOT change it because it may do more harm than good.

stevenb

Wait.. what?

There is sludge in the engine?

Please explain what the mechanic told you.

Then explain what the car is doing that made you take it to the mechanic.

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Reverend_Hellh0und

like the camry?

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Kandahar

The "Check Oil" light came on. It had been about 4 months since my last oil change, so I took it in to Valvoline and got the oil changed. All was well for a day or two, then the "Check Oil" light came on again. At first it was intermittent, then it stayed on more steadily.

I took it into the Toyota dealer, who informed me that the engine was completely sludged and had to be replaced.