what would you do?!?

Question

I have a 2000 toyota celica that is starting to have problems cause the person that had it before me must not have taking very good care of it......the catilitic converter is bad, the air conditioning stop working, and the starter doesnt like to start the car without a fight...taking care of these problems could cost a bit of money that i dont have on hand.......

would you pay a **** load of money to have these and possibly other future problems fixed or get a car loan for a car that you know will be reliable for a long time?!?.....im talking like $266 a monthly payments over 2 to 3 thousand up front.......

my dad says to fix it cause i would lose money getting a new car and my mom says get a new car cause i cant afford for my car to be in the shop every other month....i NEED it for school and work.......

any suggestions?!?

Answer 1

Imagine that a Toyota with problems hmmm, they always say those cars never break down....

Anyway usually I'd say junk it and get yourself a nice American car but I'll give you this to think about. If you dad can do the work then you'll only be out a few hundred bucks on the converter & starter. I don't know about the a/c, you could get an estimate and then decide to fix or just leave it alone.

Answer 2

You don't say how many miles is on the car. If it's over 200k, then you may want to consider getting another one. If it's under 100k, I'd say fix it, anywhere in between is a judgement call. Starter is minor, A/C could be anything from a simple recharge to a major overhaul, or just a vacuum leak or fuse blown. The cat will be the major pain. However, just because things start failing, DON'T blame the previous owner. THings DO break down over time, and it's not the owners fault. If your car is high mileage, or close to it, it's just the natural thing for items to wear out. If you only have 30,000 miles on it, then it's a problem, but again, not necessarily the previous owner.
Anyway, without further info, it's hard to call, but if you use the mileage guideline, you can make a decent decision on whether to plunk down more, or give up and take a payment. Depends on if security means more to you than money, basically. Good luck,
- The Gremlin Guy -

Answer 3

the amount of miles matters, if it is not a very high amount it could be well worth fixing. the first thing to do if its not high is contact your local toyota dealer and give them your vin number and see if that coverter is covered by an emmissions warranty. they are usually covered for more than the normal 3year 36,000 mile warranty.
if starter is bad you might be able to have it rebuilt( a good shop can do this very well and they last).
the ac could be many different things from a 3 dollar oring to a 400 dollar compressor. if its low on freon make sure they find out why,if its low there is a reason.
good luck

Answer 4

Toyota is reliable car.... a cat converter goes bad on all cars, AC could be an easy fix and the starter isn't that expensive.... I would fix the car and keep it.

Answer 5

starter and ur ac not working arent major problems and wont cost u tha much. ur catalytic converter is gonna be a lil pricey , ne where from 200-400 . i think you should jus get it fixed becuase its a toyota and it should last u a good long time after u fix it, ur dad is correct listen to him

Answer 6

Listen to your Mom. Spring for the new car, which will be covered by a warranty and will give you much better service. Good luck!

Answer 7

If you can afford the insurance on a new car, get one.

Answer 8

should have bought a warranty!!!!

Good luck