So I had the winter service special done and hears what the car needs.
"requires- left front marker bulb, alternator charging a little low 13.3 volts, both accessory belts, coolant fluch oh livel is high, rear way bar linnks, radiator leaks, thermostat housing leadks, right front wheel bearing, front struts, rear wheel bearings, major rust holes in the floor and on frame rails, right rear control arm bushing, rear pads and rotors, right front flex hose starting to crack, all three park brake cables, and new tires."
What do you guys thinks?

 

you have a little work to do but nothing time and tools with a little know how cant take care of

 

Wouldn't hurt to replace all that stuff. I would focus mainly on the tires, belts, and coolant issues first (all those leaks are not good). And the marker bulb too I guess, its like $.50 so you might as well.

 

If you can't that that work yourself, sell the car.

 

Rust? ditch it...

 

replace yourself easily: left front marker bulb, accessory belts, coolant change, rear sway bar links, radiator, thermostat housing (get at junkyard or parted out car), right front wheel bearing (might as well do left one too, before it wears out), rear pads (buy a piston compressing wrench attachment, looks like a cube, $2-$3), rear rotors (junkyard or parted out car probably). Buy a Haynes manual and go to town.

alternator: wait until it blows, replace yourself. Or earlier if you need to avoid being stranded. W/o an alt the battery will last about 30-60+ minutes assuming it's at 12V before you start the car. Try a specialty alternator shop or another place that you get recommended too. Cheap alternators abound.

pay to replace (harder to do): struts, rear wheel bearing, rust holes (or remove rust and then primer yourself, if that's all they're gonna do), right rear control arm bushing, parking brake cables, tires

Add up the cost before you start. Check prices on items in first list at auto parts store, write down. Ask a mechanic for a quote on the bottom items. See if you can afford that total; don't run out of money half way through.

 

sounds so nice on paper until you get to doin it and run into 50 more problems

 

Heh yeah, that's another thing to check. How long it'll take and if there's anything else at all that needs doing. I'd say half a day per item if you're a noob like me. That's how long the first time might take anyway. Check carefully to make sure you get every part, and make sure you have access to other transportation for the parts you forget.

 

Rusted frame? Run away, unless you have the know-how and welding skills for some major surgery.

 

Your car has just been diagnosed as a "parts car".

Unless it is historically significant ("Jimmy Hoffa is buried in the passenger bin!"), a rare model (GTUs) or has extreme sentimental value ("The first time I ever heard Free Bird was in this car..."), "major rust" is a death knell.

 

sentimaental value is right....this is the first car i've ownd...the first car i've....u know with a woman in and trust me not to easy in one of these....pluse how hard could a rusted floor be......don't you just need to replace the floor. I'm sure with a little know how skill and luck I can fix the bottom of my baby. She looks so good on the top.

 

Lots of terminal patients still have a full head of hair.

You're planning on executing the repair?
I suppose this will depend on the definition of "major rust" then.

 

i've always liked the rust=cancer comparison, unless you catch it early before it spreads it's too late.

if your floor and fram rails has "major rust" i'd say its too late..

everything besides the rust is easily fixable, just gonna require time and a
handful of cash

i'm sorry but no amount of sentiment is gonna change the condition of that car, basically your car is junk. for the price of fixing all those things you can just go get another one and hopefully have alittle better luck.

 

If that's the case, then why are you even asking?

Most of the problems mentioned in the list are small. Bearings and hoses are a weekend project. Marker lights are a joke really. Leaking thermostat housing is just a small crack or failing gasket. Really simple stuff.

The rust, however, is an issue. Once you start digging into it then you are going to find more and more that needs to be cut out and replaced. All the sheetmetal is available from Mazda but then were is the limit? Are you really going to replace 50% of the underside of the car and spend $5,000 doing it? How are you at welding? Or are you going to be paying a body shop $80 an hour to do the work?

Some pictures of the underside would be helpful...