One of my friends has a Pontiac G6 that his son has been driving. He said cosmetically the car is OK with no real rust but some dings since a young driver has been using it.
Anyway, it failed inspection and now needs an entire new front end, struts, etc. There are other problems with the steering and the valve cover leaking enough that you have to keep an eye on the oil level. At least his young son was good about keeping up on that. He has the 4 cylinder basic 4 door if that matters.
He was asking me if though he should fix or sell. I use this site on cars I am not familiar with and based on this alone, I figure selling is the best bet.
He also asked the mechanic where it was inspected and he said to sell it for what it is worth and use that to replace the car. He was leaning towards selling as well but these two bits helped with the decision.
What is something like this worth? $1500 or so? I know the used car market is crazy and that something like this would have once maybe been a $500-800 car but figure it might be worth more now. The car is now parked but he wants to sell it so he doesn’t have to pay insurance on a car that isn’t being used.
It is not even a desirable vehicle and wasn’t when new . Just tell him to put it on Craigslist as a mechanics vehicle at a price that would let him sleep at night . If he gets it great or he might see what it would really sell for.
With all the work required, highly unlikely getting anything above scrap value.
On the other hand, if he has a place to keep it and appropriate tools, he could attempt to repair it himself.
This kit is about $375
12 Piece
Kit Includes:
(2) Front Outer Tie Rods
(2) Front Lower Control Arms with Ball Joints
(2) Front Sway Bar Links
(2) Front Steering Rack & Pinion Bellows
(2) Front Strut & Spring Assemblies
(2) Front Inner Tie Rods
Then valve cover gasket.
How about the steering rack?
Brakes?
Electronic steering is acting up as well. I see that is one of the biggest problems with these. Somehow this model escaped recall unlike other basically identical GM cars.
I assume this is the steering rack, yet likely another costly repair. As you said, this is a “mechanics special” or something for parts to keep another one running.
It looks like fair or poor condition is somewhere in the $1200-2000 range according to the internet. I think he would like to try and get $1500 if that is possible but it might not be.
The other big problem is dealing with the type of person who will consider buying something like this. I used to try and sell cheap used cars like this after fixing some minor problem and the headaches were simply not worth the trouble. I had to call the police dealing with one and then called a scrap guy to come get the last one and I have never bothered with this again. My business took off and that is a lot easier and better money than doing this.
It seems scrap price for most cars around here is $250-300 if the battery, converter, etc. are intact. I am guessing this doesn’t have alloy wheels but those seem to add a few $25-50 to scrap value.
The guy isn’t made of money and his son did pay for the car although it is in his name. I think he would like the get as much as he can get from this one so might be willing to deal with some nonsense.
Seems a little overly optimistic, would require finding motivated buyer imo. hmmm … so what to do? Presuming owner otherwise likes the car, other than the possible steering issue, needed repairs seem pretty routine. I’d guess best bet is to pay for an assessment of the steering system, if nothing major, then I’d probably go the repair-route.
Front end part can be replaced easy enough but several parts were not listed. I’d be surprised if all the parts could be had for $1000 for diy. But the steering is a bigger issue and likely another $1000. So bye bye for whatever you can get. Also the rockers are a very week point to check.
If he does the work himself or can convince you to help maybe he should keep it. The parts listed above aren’t all that expensive, it’s the labor that will cost a lot.
Strut/coil spring assemblies are $80 each, lower control arms are $50 each. With $260 all he needs is a friend with 3 hours of time to donate replacing these parts.
My last used car purchase had leaking struts and torn lower control arm bushings, this did not discourage the purchase, the car was 12 years old and this is expected. I began the repair at 6 PM after work, at 8:30 the wheel alignment was complete, and I was on my way home.
If you are going to the work of replacing the struts and control arms, you should add tie rod ends and stabilizer links. Ya gotta do an alignment anyway and likely you have to cut off the links… just do everything once.
My interpretation of fair condition means no major repairs required. Fair would be minor dings on the body, dull paint, worn upholstery. The described G6 does not qualify for a fair rating.
Some pretty crappy cars were selling for way more than this lately. He pretty much doesn’t want to spend the money on it so I guess he will see what he can get.
Another friend is dealing with this as well on a totaled car. The insurance wants to give him blue book but all comparable models of the same age and mileage are selling for close to double the price. The car markets are all messed up right now so getting an accurate value is hard.
What are you, some kind of flat-rate technician?
Over the years I too have been lucky enough to rehab several cars that retail customers didn’t want to spend money on. But now that I’m looking for a first car for a teen driver, I can’t seem to find any!
