Let me ask you Folks a question. If you had a 1994 Ford Crown Victoria with 150,000+ miles on it, would you spend $5,000.00 to replace the engine in it?
Think about that question very carefully. There's no trick to it, I just want your honest opinion and I'm looking for as many responses today as I can possibly get. I know its Saturday afternoon but we're going to run with this question anyway.
The vehicle's Blue Book value is less than $650.00! So, you tell me. Would you put a brand new/rebuilt $5,000.00 motor in it?
This from Kelley Blue Book:
Condition Value
Excellent
$1,250
Good
$1,000
Fair
$650
The vehicle I'm speaking of would be less than "Fair Value". I'd personally rate in more toward "Poor Value" but Kelley Blue Book won't even give a price for a vehicle that age with those kind of miles on it in Poor Condition.
60 comments:
It shouldnt cost 5K.
Of course I would. But then again, I work for the state and we do it every firggin day. We put new engines in cars with 200K plus.
I don't remember the specific year or years but there was a problem with the Crown Vic around that time. There were a lot of crashes that happened and it had to do with how the vehicle handled or failed to handle at higher speeds. It was the main model most police depts used at the time.
Other than that I think it was a nice car but I'd rather drive something newer.
a new engine wouldn't cost that much but no, i wouldn't.
Yes, If I could trust the mechanic doing the work. At $400.00 a month for a new vehicle you would recoup the cost for the new engine in just one year vs buying a new vehicle. If WCSO replaces engines then it's probably a good idea!
If you love the car - and everything else is acceptable then it is worth it - but I agree with 2:22; 5K for a new engine seems high.
It should not cost 5K. But I would not consider fixing it unless it could be done for a few hundred.
No way. Once everything else starts going, you'd never get enough years out of the engine to make it worthwhile.
i agree, it shouldn't cost 5k.
No, i wouldn't spend that much on that car.You can find a nice used car for that price.
Yes, I would. I'd also shop around to make sure thats the best price.
I thought that was the car Danica was driving today,ha,ha. Somebody get that woman off the track.
Need more info....but I'll try.
MAYBE: As a personal veh. no, unless thats the max your budget would allow...as in cant buy new, even a good used is still a crap shoot.But a person could do some leg work and the price would really be less than 4thou.
YES: If it's a gov owned specific duty, yes {as in police or fire, typically its been well maintained and its not falling apart}
NO: If its gov owned non specific duty {just tooling around town to meetings}then no, fuel and lack of typical maintenance would make it high risk/poor investment.
Only an idiot would spend $5,000 on an old worn out car like that. That is ridiculous.
No, I wouldn't. I would invest that same 5k if I had it in a small new car for better gas mileage. Remember a Crown Vic is also a gas hog. If I could get a smaller car and not drive my own gas hog, I'd do it, but still can't afford to for now.
NO!
You can buy a decent used car with less miles on it for that much money. And a newer car at that.
It would depend on so much - the transmission, the chassis, the body, the electrical. If everything was in top notch shape, but the engine was blown; absolutely. If not, then no.
1. Wouldn't spend that much;
2. What's the condition of the rest of the drive-train - will it last a few more years?
3. How long will you keep and use the car after it's fixed?
If you spend less, there doesn't appear to have any other major drivability or structural issues, and plan to keep and use it then, if it's been a car you've known over a long time, the result would potentially save $$ vs buying another car.
you could probably got to auction and get a good used government car for less money and better shape
Replace the engine and get in the Taxi business with a full size car like that
Not a '94..now if it were 54 or 64 in a heartbeat. Most newer vehicles are not worth repairing. In my opinion.
i it were me an d there was a reason for keeping the car ie(sentimental value) then i would just drop a good used engine in it. Just something to keep it going for a good spare for when the good car has to go in the shop or for service. just to keep it around to get buy with. For 5k you can get a decent used car with a good engine in it.
this is not hard math.not!
Absolutely not! This would be considered stupid , crazy or
pure ignorant!
Absolutely not. It's 16 years old. It's a Ford. I'd put 5,000 towards something new 100 times before I put it into fixing a Ford that's almost two decades old.
Bet this is going to lead into a bashing of the fire dept. or police agency. Most would not replace the engine. I work for the Ocean City service center, we would not replace a transmission in a vehicle over 5 years old, much less a motor.
hell no
It would depend on the overall condition of the car.
What does the paint and interior look like? Does it have good tires and brakes?
I'm hoping the price you quoted was for a NEW engine installed and not for a rebuilt.
Depends also on what you intend to do with the car
OK, let me spell it out a little more clear, SINCE SO MANY OF YOU CAN'T SEEM TO READ!
I said the vehicle wasn't even in Fair Condision and fell more in the lines of POOR CONDITION.
Now, that being said AGAIN, that means the interior SUCKS. The transmission SUCKS. The tires SUCK. The paint SUCKS.
Are you getting the picture now.
Golly , that car must suck! no way!
Well the general consensus seems to be hell no even if it was in good condition...so therefore this shouldn't even be a question.
No one in their right mind would spend that kind of money on an old worn out car to replace the motor unless they were spending someone elses money.
So Kelly Blue book is stretching it saying that Crown Vic might be worth $650. So some intelligent moron invests $5,000 in a new motor and the car is still in "fair" condition. So with that said we now have a 1994 Ford Crown Victoria in fair condition with a new motor worth $650 and NOT $5,650.
Please don't tell me this is a government agency wasting our tax dollars.
4:44 AND if they were padding a family or friend with work.
The County has quite a few of these models.
to answer the survey question, NO!
I'm a mechanic with my own business and that price is double what it would actually cost a consumer to have a re-man engine installed in that vehicle including new belt(s), hoses, fluids etc. Not knowing the price of the engine but guessing it should be around $1000, - 1300.00 the labor would be between $400.00 - $750.00 depending on the rate. Then there's about $200.00 in miscellaneous, like new plugs, boots, water pump, thermostat, anti-freeze, oil, filters, and few parts that do not come on a re-man long block that shouldn't be reused.
The only time I see this kind of thing is when it's a fleet vehicle that a corporation will not replace because of "average age of fleet"
NO-NO Hell to the NO
No
Who pays $5k to have a motor installed in a '94 Vic? The engine compartment is easily accessible there are limited computer lines and no reason in the world it would cost that much! You can buy a used engine for way cheaper and have it installed for around $600 so no I would not pay $5k for an engine replacement.
No I would probably never replace an engine in a car.
Anyone who said yes , voted for obama , that's 2 stupid decisions.
lets see you can go down to eden auto salvage and buy a good used engine for $400 to $600 and have it installed for about the same or you can do it yourself and save lots of $$$$$ id say if you really like the car and its served you well through its life then go for a used engine its not like the car owes you anything .. you got alot of good use from its 16 years of its life .... so spending $1000 TO $1500 would be much better than buying something else for far more cash
Joe, I would suggest divesting of everything you have in Salisbury and Wicomico and invest the money in Delaware. Problem solved.
Sounds a lot like spending money on plastic surgery to make Nancy Pelosi look good;-)
No, but if I loved the car I may go the Eden Auto parts route.
if the rest of the car is junk why even ask the question... is this a city or county car? come on Joe let us in on the joke here.....
and if you are going to spend 5k on it it had better have wheel tubs, roll cage and NOS. and it should run at least 10 second 1/4 mile at Delaware int'l speedway.
No, not sorth it, pretty soon with that mileage on it everything else will start failing and it'll be nickel and dimeing you to death, better to take the $%K and put it into something more reliable!
Okay if the car is worn out then spending $5,000 on it would be stupid.
If this is a government owned car then the person who buys it in 1 month will be getting a new engine in a car he paid $650 for.
I get it, now give us the rest of the story
wow !sounds like the estimate came from car care. no, take the vic to salisbury steel and buy a good used 4 cylinder car for fuel mileage, looks as if 3 bucks a gallon is coming soon.
Doesn't seem cost effective to me.
YES
Anonymous said...
Bet this is going to lead into a bashing of the fire dept. or police agency.
3:51 PM
I don't think it is bashing the fire dept. or police agency, but it might be bashing poor leadership in those agencies.
Jasper re manufactured engines.
It comes with a warranty for 3 years or 100,000 miles when purchased with the install kit.
http://www.jasperengines.com/warranty.php
That's what I did.
At 10k miles per year, this is not a cruiser I'd venture to guess. This car doesn't really get a lot of miles on it, so there may be a reason to keep it in service.
I'd guess that this type of car would set you back around $450 per month over 5 years. So in one to one and a half year (factor in increased maintenance of older vehicles), you get your money back and are then spending less money. This might be a priority for some place like the city, who is spending all of their money on an illegal dump truck lease.
This assumes, of course, that it's a solid car. If there are numerous other problems with the vehicle it's probably time to get rid of it. If there is a bunch of specialized equipment on the vehicle, you're going to end up spending a lot more on a new vehicle, and some of these systems are far from cheap.
You've also got to realize that vehicles are depreciating assets. When you buy a new vehicle, you're throwing money away as the value of the car decreases over time.
Now if this vehicle were for non-emergency types of work, I'd drop the thing like a hot potato and get something that is much more fuel efficient. When I see city employees driving around in gas guzzlers I see that as a long-term irresponsible cost that we all must bear.
Regarding if this was my PERSONAL car, I would have found a reason to ditch a 16 year old Crown Vic well before this. They just aren't my style.
A crown vic that old needs to be sold for scrap.
NO JOE
You could drop a Jasper re-built engine in it for the $5000 and get a 3 yr. 100,000 mile warranty BUT everything else on the car is 16 years old. The transmission has 150,000 miles. What if 300 miles after the engine replacement the transmission fails? Are you prepared to put another $3000 into the car and have $8000 in it or would you eat the $5000 as a bad investment?
No such thing as new/rebuilt, it's either one or the other. I had a repair shop sell me a "new" transmission that was actually a rebuilt. I've since found a transmission mechanic I trust.
for 5 large i'll replace your engine, install a kick ass stereo with subwoofer and put a set of 24's on it. and still make $1,000 profit.
One man's trash is another man's treasure.
I really hope that this Crown Vic is not the one that city public works has or used to have.
Take that POS over to Delmarva Recycling and get a few hundred bucks for it and fageddaboudit.
If it is a city or county department then the mayor or county executive needs to fire the department head that authorized that expenditure. If not I would suggest this atrocity leads to impeachment.
I heard a rumor today and I hope it is just that a rumor.
I heard that Acting Chief Rick Hoppes hired back David Cox as a firefighter for the Salisbury Fire Department. This David Cox is the same person that got arrested for driving a fake police car and impersonating a police officer. Would this $5,000 be going into David Cox's fake police car so that he can make police stops on women again?
Does David Cox even have a valid drivers license? How many points does he have on his drivers license. I saw where he got caught speeding and had an FTA on him for failing to appear. I wonder if they did a background check on this guy. Will this guy even be able to drive a city vehicle? Is he covered by insurance? Are they going to allow this guy with a shady background to go into homes of innocent tax paying citizens of Salisbury? Does the Mayor and Council know about this person and his background. Will they post his schedule so that I will know when not to call 911 in the event of an emergency.
NOTE TO MAYOR AND COUNCIL: Hiring back David Cox is putting the City of Salisbury at risk for potential litigation. He is a LIABILITY that the city doesn't need.
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