I have a 2001 Monte Carlo; car is paid off, front left spring coil just snapped, check engine light has been on for years after I replaced the original engine once already, remaining suspension is shaky at best, has cosmetic damage, blinkers short out randomly, have to really jiggle the key to start it, rear defrosters don’t work. Is it worth it to fix the spring coil and still have it driveable or is it time to look elsewhere? I just don’t know what is going to fail next and I know this car in excellent condition is not worth that much money. Need help!
Sounds like you are well done. I would be too.
Have you checked into cost of repairing it?
In “excellent condition”?
Look elsewhere, Your car has some sreious safety issues. And until you find out what that Check Engine Lights is, you can assume your engine may be on borrowed time.
i’m checking into suspension prices right now…i’m leaning towards making it driveable and as presentable as possible to at least get some trade-in value…this car has been a total nightmare and i just can’t can’t cross my fingers anymore with it…only thing i’m not sure of yet is to buy used or new and what to buy…i’m looking for something that will last with good to average mpg.
and my car isn’t in excellent condition…i meant that “if” it was i still wouldn’t be getting much for it…
Your first purchase should be a Consumer Reports New Car Preview from the local bookstore. They’ll provide a wealth of information and compare all the choices.
I suspect the cost to fix it would be pretty high, but it’s hard to make a decision unless you have some estimates.
Without getting too personal, you have plenty of reason to get a new (er) car…if you can afford to.
You won’t really get anything in trade for it, try going to two different dealers and get a price quote from one with the trade and one without. Anything you can get fixed, the dealer can get fixed cheaper.
Where I live they are paying $300 for junk.
If you are going to fix anything, then sell it privately.
Fixing things to trade it in is a total waste of money. It won’t make a bit of difference in what they give you for it. It seems as though you want a reason to get rid of this car anyway, so if you are ready to move on, go for it. If you need to make it driveable as cheaply as possible to buy some time and/or get it to wherever you are going to unload it, get a used strut assembly from a salvage yard to put on there. They are easy to install, and finding a used one should be easy since these cars are incredibly common (same as Impala)
If just replacing the coil spring was the only repair issue, it would be worthwhile to spend the money.
However, the other issues that you mentioned certainly put this car into the category of a rolling wreck and a potential safety hazard. Others may differ, but I don’t think it is worth sinking any more money into this car.
The last decent Monte Carlo was made in 1974…Then they became smog slugs and after that they became junk…
As it sits, it is just scrap metal…Put a spring in it and it’s worth something more than that…But not much more…