Help..I bought a used truck for 3,000 dollars and blew the engine in 2 weeks. Fix and sell it? or scrap it?

Question

It is a 98 dodge durango/SLT. It would cost me 1,500 dollars to replace the engine. I would probably end up selling it if I did fix it. Is it worth it or should I just give it to the junk yard and get whatever.

Answer 1

If you are going to put the money into fixing it, then keep it. That's a great amount of money with little return. At least try to get your money's worth out of the vehicle.
The alternative is to accept the loss. You probably won't be out as much money by doing so.
One last point, if you believe that you can sell for an exceptional price, then disregard. I just believe that it's worth more in your hands than the tiny amount of money you get. 3000+1500= $4500.00 in the truck. How much can you sell it for? How many miles/years can you get out of it?

Answer 2

I bought my 97 Dodge Dakota used in 2004, and a year later the engine had to be replaced.

I still have the truck (put in a used engine, with fewer miles than my original had), and it runs great now. There have been no other things go wrong with it, and its still a blast to drive, although it doesn't do quite as good on gas mileage as it used to (but its a v8 hemi so it doesn't do the greatest on gas anyways... lol).

I would say find a reputable mechanic with great references, have the engine replaced, and keep it. At least you will know that the engine is good, and hopefully you will have no other problems.

If you really want to get rid of it, then check the kelly blue book value. If you can't get your money back out of it by fixing it, just sell it to someone as is so they can fix it.

Answer 3

$1500.00 is a little high for an engine. Have you scoured the junkyards and body shops for a wrecked durango or dakota. They use the same engine, ya know. If you were to install it yourself and save a few bucks, it would also give you a sense of ownership with the vehicle. The Junkyard will give you next to nothing and make a large profit on the parts. The best idea is to put in an engine, if ya want to sell, sell, but do so with the peace of mind that someone will use it.
Jeffrey

Answer 4

don't send it to the junkyard. they will give you less than $100 and make a few thousand parting it out. try to find an engine. ram, durango, ram van, and dakota are the same. if you find one yourself, then you can bring it or have it delivered to whoever will put it in and save a ton of money. a shop will buy an engine for less than you can, and mark it way up. the labor will be in the neighborhood of 8-10 hours. if you try to do it yourself, its really not that bad. the worst part is the motor mount brackets that wrap around and bolt to the front differential.

Answer 5

you at the instant are not likely to get extra advantageous than a pair of hundred from a wrecking backyard for the truck. in case you intend on advertising the ingredient besides i think of the suited ingredient to do is to place an advert interior the community paper and notice what you will get for it, there is probable somebody available who's keen to return up with 4 hundred or so for the truck.

Answer 6

i wouldn't sell it to a junk yard,they wont give you no where near what its worth,id fix it if it was mine and probably drive it some,that's a lot to pay for something and not get much driving from it,id just get a good used engine and put in it,and take it easy on it,it should last you a long time if you drive it right,good luck with it.

Answer 7

call and get blue book value first then decide. i bought a 98 dakota and put a trans in it and i am still ahead ican still sell it for more than i paid for it(trans was used) and depending on engine size 318 or 360 (5.2 or5.9) they usually last forever i have a 318 1500 with over 250k and still going strong