My Predicament.

[Joe Riley]

Hey FF. If anyone on here remembers me, you'll remember this. Original thread here.


WELL, my court date got pushed back until the 18th so I still don't know what the outcome of my tickets are.

Shortly after I got rear ended my stepdad offered to pay for a car in exchange for the check from total losses. We were hinted that the check would be between $3-4000 so I went car searching for a few good days and about a week later walked home with a '97 Honda Prelude. Since I was tight on money and the warranty didn't seem to cover anything that was likely to happen soon, I bought it as-is. Bad idea. A week later I heard some serious popping on the front passenger side. Inner and outer tie rods were bad along with the outer one on the driver side. My parents don't trust me enough to fix my own car, and without letting me speak my opinion, they sent it to the shop. $760 I have to pay them back now. Also, it has an oil leak and never had the timing belt replaced. FML.

I paid $3651 for a 1997 Honda Prelude Base w/ 117k on it. Automatic (bad idea, these are prone to fail). I rushed into buying it because I deliver pizza (hate it, but great money) and no car = no work. The gas mileage is ehh on these cars and they hog oil, I just really wasn't thinking practical at all when I bought it. I miss my focus, but if I get another I want a mk1.5 ZX3. What would you guys do.. Fix everything, or just sell it and run? Haha.

[Sponsor]

[matmatician]

SeIl it and run... When I got my focus, I noticed a weird rattling sound. my dad said " just ignore it, it's normal for cars to rattle as they get older." Well, yeah, maybe, but it turns out mine had a bad lifter and valve. Previous owner thrashed on it and probably didn't keep up on the oil. Had to replace the whole engine. Then the intake manifold. Then the PCV valve. Then the clutch. All said and done, I was out the price it would have cost to turbo my car. Also, doing anything with the transmission is pretty much guaranteed to be a grand or so, Just something to keep in mind.

Moral of the story is, If you have significant doubts, follow your instinct. Also, is there any way to claim the dealer sold you a lemon? I dont know much about lemon laws... good luck man, seriously. I know exactly how crummy these situations can be.

[Joe Riley]

NJ Lemon Laws don't cover cars that are more than seven years old, I already looked into that.. It's a shame, I don't know how much I'll be able to get for it on CL and I don't know if I'll be able to make enough to buy a new car IF it even sells.

All I wanted was a hatch with a sunroof, I settled for a coupe with a sunroof and got F'd

[Fattie]

looks like the car that hit you got the worst of it.

[Joe Riley]

He had his license for five days.. Ugh lol. And his parents are buying him an SRT-4, so he surely is not complaining.

[matmatician]

[QUOTE R57060]Had his license for five days.. Ugh lol. And his parents are buying him an SRT-4, so he surely is not complainingQUOTE]

Yeah, that makes total sense. Your son totals a car after 4 days of driving, buy him one of the fastest 4 bangers out there! Jesus... My parents wouldnt have even let me drive again. That seriously sucks. He doesn't deserve that car.

[Joe Riley]

Exactly what I said, your car crashes a 120hp Civic so you're gonna buy him the fastest car that has an MSRP of under $20k. Makes sense.
Although if I had a choice, there are other things I'd pick over an SRT-4 either way.

Back to my issue, I can't find a single mk1.5 Foci anywhere relatively local lol. Looks like I'll have to settle for a mk1. Anything newer is out of my price range ($3-4k). Just trying to find low miles, no luck.

[lyonsroar]

Originally Posted by Joe Riley

My parents don't trust me enough to fix my own car, and without letting me speak my opinion, they sent it to the shop. $760 I have to pay them back now.

Seems to me that you're blaming your parents. That's your first problem.

Secondly, fix it. You'll end up losing more money by flipping it.

[Drumr90]

that sucks for ur unfortinate luck and to add my 2cents about kid that hit u. id smack him silly for hittin u and gettin an srt 4.

[Joe Riley]

Originally Posted by lyonsroar

Seems to me that you're blaming your parents. That's your first problem.

Secondly, fix it. You'll end up losing more money by flipping it.

I don't get what makes you seem like that. I don't blame them for anything, they don't want me working on my own car which means I have to pay more out of pocket. They're my parents, that decision is up to them. Do I blame them? No. Do I understand why? Yes. Do I prefer it? Not really.

I'm sure it would bother anyone my age whose car is in their parents name was thrown into a shop without them being consulted first.