What would you do? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

hippie_elmo · #1 06-24-2002, 10:27 PM

My brother came back from Los Angeles,CA last week with my 1994 Plymouth Grand Voyager. He told me that it was burning oil. So I took it to the local Chyrsler repair shop. They came and said that there was low compression on #5 cylinder. They told that I would need a new engine at $4,000.00. And if I didn't fix it, it wouldn't pass the smog check. I think that car isn't worth that much to even fix it, and I don't have that kind of money.

I have a loan for the car for about $4,000.00. I also bought a mint condition 1972 Mercedes 250 with only 15,000 on rebuilt engine. And the car has a total of 90,000 miles on. I was thinking of saleing the Mercedes on ebay for $3,500.00 is this a good price to set on this? And they use this money to help pay off the loan and then donate the car to some place. Is this a good idea? Or what should I do?

Thanks guys for your help

Rackne · #2 06-25-2002, 12:24 AM

First prioritize, Guilt trip Brother,(it won't do any good but the "Oh yea, remember the time you killed my car?" could be priceless at family gatherings for ten or twenty years.) The compression is low because? Stuck or burned valve, blown head gasket,or rings are shot? If its top end stuff it shouldn't too expensive. A salvage yard motor would be a bargain compared to a $4000 new one. Keep the Mercedes, you just got it.

ctaylor738 · #3 06-25-2002, 08:31 AM

I would be amazed if you got $3500 for your 250, it would probably be more like $2500.

I agree that you can find a cheaper repair than $4000 on the minvan. You might also consider trading it in and rolling the loan balance into the new car's financing. That's kind of ugly because you owe more than the car is worth from the beginning, I say this only because there are some great low interest deals out there. DO NOT do this on a typical car loan.

Good luck.

cth350 · #4 06-25-2002, 04:32 PM

Shea,

Chrysler minivans have a habit of killing motors or transmissions in my family. Why my various relative keep buying them is beyond me.

Drop a used motor in. Since it's a frontwheel drive vehicle, it's impossible to do it in a driveway. This is a job to farm out to a small shop that has the time and low overhead to do it. Agree on a price up front and pay in cash in 3 payments. (One up front, one when the old motor is out and the new one is in the shop, last & largest payment when the car is running again).

-CTH

hippie_elmo · #5 06-25-2002, 05:23 PM

I have put in 3 transmission into this van. Good thing about this is that they were under warranty. Chrylser makes junk! I have never had a car that needed this much work before. There is also allot more work on top of just putting in the motor. I asked my brother about when I had the last smog check, I might have another year before I need a another. If this is the case I'm safe, becuase I would have paid it off.

If this is the case, I will save up my money to buy a used diesel Mercedes in good shape. I sold my 240D becuase it would be too much work.

cth350 · #6 06-25-2002, 05:46 PM

They are simply giving you what you pay for, which is to say a basic steel box with wheels and a rubber band hooked to a clutch.

The crysler ones are dirt cheap because that's what their customers buy. The dodge ones were cheaper still, if you can believe that.

Their high end stuff isn't anywhere near as bad. (especially as of today with the rollout, literally, of the maybach).

-CTH

ctaylor738 · #7 06-25-2002, 07:53 PM

When the kids were young and we were hauling soccer and swim teams around, we had a 1990 Dodge Carvan. Maybe its nostalgia, but that was a great car. Needed a transmission (under warranty), and a radiator in the six years that we had it. It was really comfortable on long trips and great to run errands with.

Ken300D · #8 06-25-2002, 08:37 PM

How well does it run?

Does it visibly put out blue smoke?

If not, I'd say people routinely trade this type of vehicle in......

Ken300D

hippie_elmo · #9 06-25-2002, 08:43 PM

It fires right up! There is no blue smoke. I'm just going to park it and wait tell I pay it off or found the money to pay it off.

I was thinking of trading it in for something new. Man, the new cars are not made as good as the oldies. And I don't want to own anyone money for car. Since I started driving I have had some sort of car note. I just want a car to go to and from work.

I should of kept my 1977 Buick Regal that I traded in for this piece of junk!

Ken300D · #10 06-25-2002, 09:06 PM

Just to throw in another comment, if your knee ached and the doctor told you he wanted to amputate your leg for $5000, would you get a second opinion?

I think you are telling us your brother ran it for awhile low on oil. If so, this might not be a disaster (although certainly not good). If not too awfully low and not for too long, it may not have destroyed anything. At a minimum get a good quality oil in it.

If it were mine I'd probably keep running it and watching the oil level carefully. Running rough and spewing blue smoke would mean you have to fix it or park it - but if not it may still be usable.

As far as the emissions goes, that could be a problem passing in CA if you are indeed burning a little oil.

Hopefully a second opinion on the car - maybe a "trial" emissions test after running it a bit - and you'd be OK. Good luck!

Ken300D

hippie_elmo · #11 09-19-2002, 08:46 AM

Thanks for your help! Yesterday I took in for the smog check, it passed. I still don't see any smoke at all, even runing hard when they were testing it. Would could be the problem? I do have one problem with the car stalling when in park.

Ken300D · #12 09-22-2002, 09:40 PM

How much mileage have you put on the vehicle since the "event" last June? If you are getting regular usage out of it and it passes smog, doesn't burn or lose a lot of oil, I'd say you are in good shape.

As far as stalling in Park, does it also stall when sitting still in Drive? Usually still in Drive is even harder.

First thing I'd suggest if you haven't done it in a while is a heavy dosage of fuel injector/carb cleaner. STP makes a good one. It's amazing the number of people this helps with rough running at idle - and it costs so little and is so easy to use.

Ken300D

Catrinus · #13 09-23-2002, 11:17 PM

I had a '89 Voyager that developed a problem similar to what you described. I took it to the local dealer who said, "$1800" to replace the valve guides. It was just out of warranty. I asked if it were a common problem, and the service writer looked me right in the eye and said it was unusual, that he had seldom seen this problem before.

I thought the price was too high, so I checked around and found an independent repair shop that specialized in Chrysler mini-vans (the fact that he ONLY needed to fix one kind of car should tell you something about the "quality" of those products!!). He told me "$800" for the same job. I asked HIM if it were a common problem, and he threw back his head, laughed a real deep laugh, and said, "I'm putting my kids through college with this one repair. EVERY Chrysler minivan built from 87-90 WILL have this problem at about 70,000 miles. It's a manufacturing flaw in that the valve guides were put in by machine instead of by hand and they just didn't get them right, so they wear quickly."

After 2 transmissions, 3 transmission controllers, 5 sets of brake rotors (in 100,000 miles!) and 2 heads, (oh, and one dead air conditioner) I finally gave up and donated the car to the local community college where I figured they could teach their students in the automotive technology program A LOT with this piece of junk.

Needless to say, my new minivan is NOT a Chrysler product and I don't think I'll EVER buy one again. I bought a Nissan Quest and it has been flawless.

Catrinus
Portland, OR