1992 ford taurus Question

[escort lx]

I can buy a 92 taurus for $500 but it needs a uv joint on the drivers side and a power steering pump and a ac charge. How much will it cost me for these repairs? Or should I not buy this car. But I really need a car and this is what I can afford. So any help would be great. Thanks

[shorod]

Are you planning to do the work yourself? How confident are you that these are REALLY the only things the car needs? Is the car driveable so you can take it for a spin and make sure it doesn't make any noises or waddle over bumps? If the excuse is "Those noises are due to the CV joint" or "You can't drive it right now because of the bad CV joint" I'd suggest you walk away. If the Constant Velocity (CV) joint (assuming that's what you meant rather than UV joint) is so far gone that it makes noise or renders the car unusable, you need to assume that's not the only maintenance that's been neglected.

I suspect even if you do the work yourself, by the time you replace the halfshaft, power steering pump, and get the A/C working, and fix the other little things you're likely to find wrong while you're working on it, you'll be deeper in the hole than if you bought a 1992 Taurus will all that working for $1500.

-Rod

[escort lx]

Originally Posted by escort lx

I can buy a 92 taurus for $500 but it needs a uv joint on the drivers side and a power steering pump and a ac charge. How much will it cost me for these repairs? Or should I not buy this car. But I really need a car and this is what I can afford. So any help would be great. Thanks

I am only trying to get a year or two out of the car. The seller said I should get a tune up.

[shorod]

Keep in mind though the seller is exactly that, trying to sell a car. Considering how much more the car would be worth if the power steering pump were working, the A/C were working, and the CV joint were fixed, why wouldn't they make that investment so they could get at least that much more for the car? Probably because they know it's not likely to be as simple as they want you to believe it will be. The bottom line is this car NEEDS immediate repairs to be safe to drive. I'd suggest you take that repair money, add it to the $500 you plan to spend on this car, and shop around a bit more to get a car that doesn't have obvious problems and will maybe allow you to get a couple years out of it before needing more of an investment.

-Rod