Bank for breakdowns?

If everything works out right I should be driving to and from work/school in a vr4 in about 2 weeks. '91 vr4 with 115k on it. Good condition but sat for about a year in a car port, needs the 120k soon. I was wondering, how much money should I set aside as a safety cushion for stuff that might break?

Also, with the 120k coming up soon I was wondering how much that could run? I've done a bit of work on cars in the past, mostly hondas and old bmw e30's, but I was wondering if there was anything I could do to cut down the cost of the 120k?

If you're a really good mechanic, you should be able to do everything that the 120K service requires. But you should probably also get your wheels aligned and tires adjusted etc. Other than that, spark plugs, oil, belts and hoses should all be accessible for a mechanic.

You can buy the parts online for like half the price. I think last time I added it up, my 60k on www.thepartsbin.com was only $300 something. Plus an oil pump for the 120k and your still under $500. Then do as much of it as you feel comfortable with. There are directions/links in teh FAQ to show you how to do everything. Even if you can't do it all, you can knock out some of the stuff, and that way the mechanic will only do the hard stuff and not waste $70 per hour changing your spark plugs...

You can buy the parts online for like half the price. I think last time I added it up, my 60k on www.thepartsbin.com was only $300 something. Plus an oil pump for the 120k and your still under $500. Then do as much of it as you feel comfortable with. There are directions/links in teh FAQ to show you how to do everything. Even if you can't do it all, you can knock out some of the stuff, and that way the mechanic will only do the hard stuff and not waste $70 per hour changing your spark plugs...


i haven't checked the parts bin, but i know some of the best prices i have ever seen for parts such as the 60K tune up has come from www.partsdinosaur.com

you can order parts from mentor mitsubishi and get free shipping if you are a member of 3si (not a paid member, just a member)

Thanks for the help! I figure I can probably do the spark plugs unless they are wildly different from a honda's/bmw's. I can do some belts but I've never had to do anything like a timing belt.

just make sure you don't get any coolant/water or especially grease on the timing belt, but aside from that I think you should be able to do it

alright then I'll give it a shot, worst comes to worse I destroy the belt and end up getting a new one :p

still one question though, about how much should I keep in the bank if things break down? Its going to be a daily with a really tiny commute (like 4 mi there). Basically I just want to make sure that all my finances are in order before I get the car.

Lets see you are driving it to school, well my gut would tell me that you should try to bank as much as possible.. but I would take it to a good mechanic and have it looked over so they can give you some possible trouble areas.

I'd say 2 grand is safe...

Defininitly taking it to a shop to get looked over. Unfortunatley, with christmas and new years coming up im probably going to have to wait till january before I get the car. After the purchase and insurance and paperwork I'll have enough money to look after the car for a bit, probably not 2k lol but still I figure it'll be enough unless the car is totally shot in some unexpected way.

It really depends, there have been times where I have needed a cheap repair, and simply havn't had the $150 necessary for the parts. Others, like Gateway, have had a hellish time with their car's trannys, t-cases, etc. and have had to shell out much more. The bottom line, is keep up with your maintainence and realize that even that isn't cheap. Premium gas, synthetic oil, expensive tune-up parts...it adds up.

If you do some searching, I think perhaps a year or 2 ago, there was a thread on how much everybody had spent on their cars, and I think I tried to itemize all my expenses...so perhaps that would help you get an idea. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is this car isn't exactly cheap, but it's worth it...it just can be difficult on a part-time worker or college student, especially if you have other financial responsibilities as well.