I drive a 1990 subaru loyale wagon. I bought two of them for 500 bucks fixed them both up, and sold the manual transmission version for 1495. After Licence and Registration, repair bills and new tires the thing cost me about 15 bucks. that was 18000 miles ago. I now need new tires, a transmission flush (although I wonder if it’s the sludge holding it together), there’s air in the brake lines, holes in the muffler, a funny smell when you turn on the AC (which doesn’t work), rust eating through the dents leftover from college pranks, If brave the highway in it it shakes pretty bad over 50 mph, it doesn’t always accelerate immediately on demand so I drive like a paranoid 80 year old woman, it pulls to the right, leaks oil, the coolant boils and gurgles when I turn it off, it smokes, steams, and vents exhaust into the cabin if driven longer than 10 minutes, and when the kids down the street took a can of red spray paint to it it was an improvement. My father has been pulled aside by my mechanic and politely told that the pan of brownies was no longer sufficient incentive to work on “that unholy abomination” and to take it outside and shoot it.
To my question then, what if anything, do I fix, who do I ask and how much do I spend?
You would need to fix all above and 20 more things.
Turn it into a mud buggie and go out and hit some trees and have some fun then junk it.
You could fix it up, but with all the problems you’re into serious money. Since you don’t want to spend big bucks - I’d vote to send it to the crusher.
I wouldn’t drive it 'til it dies because it is too dangerous and might take you and another innocent with it.
1990 Subaru Loyale Wagon? Those things are such an eye-sore compared to the brand new 2010 Legacy sedan or the Legacy Outback. Why dont you see if you can drive that thing to your nearest Subaru dealer and see if you can get 10 bucks for a trade-in and get yourself a new car. I happen to work for a Subaru dealer here in Northern Maine and I drive these things on a daily basis. Trust me, if you take one for a ride you wont be able to help yourself. You wont have a choice but to buy one. Theyre cheaper than the 2009 and older Legacys and theyre much better looking. Go take a look. http://www.subaru.com/vehicles/legacy/index.html
Kudos to the car salesman. Good attempt. he paid 500 dollars for two cars, he probably does not want another.
Drive it till it dies, fix that and drive it some more until it is not roadworthy. It sounds like it may be pretty close to un-roadworthy. Safety first. You done good suburu owner.
This vehicle is a MAJOR safety hazard in its present condition, and repairing all of the things that need repair would cost several times the book value of the car.
I have to seriously question the judgment of a person who continues to drive a car that “vents exhaust into the cabin”, needs tires, brake work, and front-end work. If the OP continues to drive this vehicle, he/she will wind up incurring brain damage from the CO level in the cabin, but may kill some innocent motorists before the CO poisoning sets in.
The only responsible thing to do is to send this 19 year old, worthless car to the crusher.
A general rule is that if repairs will be more than HALF of the Blue Book value, call it a loss, and look for a different vehicle. (And definitely if the repairs are MORE than the BB value.)
I can’t imagine this Loyale being worth anywhere near what the repairs would be, so it might be time to start shopping! Good luck!
If it were my car I would bring the safety items to spec . . . you sound like you know what you’re doing . . . how much could that cost? I think that you could get tires on the cheap . . . bleed the brakes for nothing . . . disconnect the A/C . . . fix the exhaust on the cheap (you know how to do this, everybody who ever turned as wrench does) . . . patch the rust holes with sheet metal and pop rivets . . . get the front end aligned for a couple of bucks . . . drain and re-fill the tranny for the price of ATF . . . and so forth. I got an old '79 Dodge pickup for $100 a few years back, same condition more or less, but the slant ran so well that I figured I’d play around with it. Fixed stuff like you talk about and went over safety stuff, then bought a few body parts from whitney, and made it a "gopher"truck. It may look a little funky when I park it next to a $40k pickup at Home Depot, but it still hauls lumber/paving blocks/stone/sand and starts with three pumps of gas and one crank. Have fun with it but stay safe. Rocketman
Keep it on the road…you make me look good. I have the 1989 Honda Accord.
Seriously, this sounds like a death trap and ask yourself if it is fair or moral to EVER get an on expressway…or really anywhere. What if you couldn’t stop for kid in road?
Not worth it.
Nah, not a sales person actually. Assistant parts manager. I dont even sell cars and I recommend buying one. Good speach tho huh?
Yeah but remember that I said to bring the safety items to spec first . . . . I personally would never risk my life or the life of someone else with an unsafe vehicle. Sounded to me like the OP had a working knowledge of what cars are about. Rocketman
the general consensus seems to be that it is already dead. And the Utah State troopers agree with you. they impounded it for being a hazard on the road last night. Anyone have a new suggestion?
Can you let them keep it? Seriously, if you have to pay to get it out of impound and then still fix it (and they’ll make you tow it, they surely won’t let you drive it home). Blow it a kiss goodbye through the impound lot fence and walk away. They’ll send it off to the crusher, but make sure you can walk away without them charging you with storage fees, etc. At this point you just want to minimize your cost to get away from this rolling junk box.
I am glad that the troopers saw how dangerous this vehicle is, and I will repeat my earlier statement:
[b]"This vehicle is a MAJOR safety hazard in its present condition, and repairing all of the things that need repair would cost several times the book value of the car.
I have to seriously question the judgment of a person who continues to drive a car that “vents exhaust into the cabin”, needs tires, brake work, and front-end work. If the OP continues to drive this vehicle, he/she will wind up incurring brain damage from the CO level in the cabin, but may kill some innocent motorists before the CO poisoning sets in."[/b]
You need to forget about this moneypit, and you should buy a replacement vehicle.