single owner of this car without any history of accidents,180,000 miles; within last 24 months replaced distributer cap and electric wires to qualify for smog certification .7 months later replaced srs control unit total fee at dealer in excess of 8500.00. my son drove car from so calif to seattle and finds that after it runs for a while it loses power and barely runs, we spent 200.00$ with a mechanic who can find nothing to fix. took it to dealer in seattle who said they need to drive it for a while to figure it out but wont do it until window is fixed which will cost 350.00. current blue book is 3,000.00 and car is in seattle while i live in so calif. ? any ideas like car guys had ? also fyi transmission was replaced at 130,000 miles
did I read correctly that you spent 8500 dollars to repair a 20 yr old car, with a blue book value of 3 grand?
Here’s a cheap to test guess - have your son take it for a drive, once it starts losing power have him pull over somewhere safe an loosen the gas cap. If he hears a big vacuum release sound, have him tighten it and start driving again. If it then drives ok for a while it could be a bad gas cap, cheap to replace (factory only, from a dealer).
If my arithmetic is correct, and there are no typos, you’ve spent over $8700 getting this beast repaired. And now you’re looking at hundreds more.
In my opinion it’s time to cut your losses and move on. A car’s recent history can be a good predictor of its future.