Hi gang,
I picked up a car on ebay a couple weeks back, the company selling the car had a good ebay rating, and at first, other than some minor things, the car seemed fine.
Last week I noticed the Low Coolant light coming on again when I drove it (it had flashed once previously when I first got it but I topped off and actually replaced the resevoir because it was a little dirty). I've only driven it a few times around the neighborhood, so I filled the resevoir up with the required coolant again (Dex Cool). I noticed some black bits and sludge as well in there as well so cleaned it out as best I could. I then drove it to work the next day and the car stalled on the way home, and then would not start, or even crank over. I had to have a tow truck tow it to the local Chevrolet dealership since it's a GM car.
The first thing they found was a clip for the wiring harness was missing, causing the wire to rub and cut through the engine harness and blow a fuse. The more worrying thing though is, they found coolant in the oil. They told me they'd have to see what else is going on, take a look at the amount of coolant and see if it's going to require a new head gasket or an entire new motor. Due to the holidays, they wouldn't know more until Tuesday (today). That was late last week.
Well I just got a call from the dealership. There was a few more things wrong that I didn't see. I'll just try and summarize. For the engine wiring harness replacement, the oil cooler, motor mounts, a couple hoses, and a cracked serpentine belt, plus recommending a new engine due to the amount of coolant in the oil, it's going to cost over 12 grand to repair.
I found a new engine online for under 3 grand (ZZP - LDK) and using the LNF head that should be a direct fit replacement. However even if I go that route and have it shipped to the Chevrolet dealer and then they replace that plus the other items mentioned above, they said it would be about 9 thousand dollars, which is more than I paid for the car (I paid 8 grand plus 500 shipped).
What should I do at this point?
Should I just eat the $8500 (ouch) (plus the little bits and parts I've spent fixing it up)? Or put another 9 grand into it (ouch)? I'd have to put that on some credit cards.
What do you guys recommend?
Here's a pic of it:
I picked up a car on ebay a couple weeks back, the company selling the car had a good ebay rating, and at first, other than some minor things, the car seemed fine.
Last week I noticed the Low Coolant light coming on again when I drove it (it had flashed once previously when I first got it but I topped off and actually replaced the resevoir because it was a little dirty). I've only driven it a few times around the neighborhood, so I filled the resevoir up with the required coolant again (Dex Cool). I noticed some black bits and sludge as well in there as well so cleaned it out as best I could. I then drove it to work the next day and the car stalled on the way home, and then would not start, or even crank over. I had to have a tow truck tow it to the local Chevrolet dealership since it's a GM car.
The first thing they found was a clip for the wiring harness was missing, causing the wire to rub and cut through the engine harness and blow a fuse. The more worrying thing though is, they found coolant in the oil. They told me they'd have to see what else is going on, take a look at the amount of coolant and see if it's going to require a new head gasket or an entire new motor. Due to the holidays, they wouldn't know more until Tuesday (today). That was late last week.
Well I just got a call from the dealership. There was a few more things wrong that I didn't see. I'll just try and summarize. For the engine wiring harness replacement, the oil cooler, motor mounts, a couple hoses, and a cracked serpentine belt, plus recommending a new engine due to the amount of coolant in the oil, it's going to cost over 12 grand to repair.
I found a new engine online for under 3 grand (ZZP - LDK) and using the LNF head that should be a direct fit replacement. However even if I go that route and have it shipped to the Chevrolet dealer and then they replace that plus the other items mentioned above, they said it would be about 9 thousand dollars, which is more than I paid for the car (I paid 8 grand plus 500 shipped).
What should I do at this point?
Should I just eat the $8500 (ouch) (plus the little bits and parts I've spent fixing it up)? Or put another 9 grand into it (ouch)? I'd have to put that on some credit cards.
What do you guys recommend?
Here's a pic of it: