What can I do about a hole/crack in my engine block?

Question

Im a single mom living on very budgeted income, bad credit and my engine block on my car has a crack in it. I dont have any other form of transportation and money is tight. I know that the hole is practically unfixable unless I had about 10,000 to fix it, but is there any option to getting a new vehicle fast? Its hard for me to find rides and I work in stuart and live in PSL, plus having to drop off and pick up my son Mon thru Fri in mid PSL. Of course not to mention running regular errands and getting to the bank. What can I do?

The car is a 1995 Toyota Tercel with 160000 miles on it.

Answer 1

Not sure where PSL is but, if you look on Craigslist or explain your dilema on a local board, you may get an estimate that is much more do-able.

I could replace the engine with a running junkyard unit for pretty cheap. But I am in Chicago.

What most shops will do is charge you retail for a remanufactured engine which costs them about 700-1400 and then they charge you 70 dollars an hour to remove pieces off your old engine and put them on the new one. And sometimes things will break or they will recommend replacing certain components.

Just looked up availability with my usual supplier and they have 5 engines at 500 each and all come with a 100 day warranty, in that time you can tell if anything is wrong with it. I would probably charge 750. But your car may only be worth 1000 when done, 1500 at the most if it is really clean.

Answer 2

for the price to repair it, you'd be better off getting a used car for the same price. a beater would cost only $500..but of course with a vehicle selling for that price, expect repairs, and be happy when/if they don't come. i bought a vehicle for $500..didn't look too bad, and it's still running very well, especially for it's age. i was fortunate...perhaps you will be too!:) when you look at a new car, get some ideas from us at yahoo answers for opinions on it. and get a compression test done on whatever vehicle you get, unless it's new.

Answer 3

your better off looking for a used block or engine and replacing the one that you have or sell the car and what ever money you get you may have invest it on another vehicle, but unfortunately anyway you go you are looking at spending a good amount of money.