My friend has a 1994 Plymouth Voyager van with 86,000 miles. One fuel injector is bad. His mechanic says that if one goes bad the other 5 will probably go too. To replace one would be around $600, for all 6, $1500–$1600. Nothing else is wrong mechanically now, but he’s wondering whether it’s time to replace it. He’s more concerned about the age than the milage. He’d like to buy either a hybrid or an electric car, but is not quite ready yet. He definitely does not want another straight gas-powered vehicle. He’s retired on a fixed income and can’t make up his mind. He drives less than 10,000 miles a year. Can anyone give him some advice? Thank you.
Since he is considering trading the car in a year or so, I’d just fix the single injector. Others could go, but with the low mileage and use it could be a year of two before another one goes bad.
Just replace the bad one. There’s no real way of predicting if the others will go bad.
He should price shop at an independent garage too. That cost sounds like a dealer cost to me.
Thank you both for your advice. My friend Bill says it has helped him to make up his mind, and he’s going to follow your suggestions. We appreciate the help.