girl with engine problems, PLEASE help

[mbasheville]

I admit it, I am a girl with no car knowledge and I got screwed. Please don't hold that against me and help me make a decision.

About a month ago I bought a 94 delsol vtec. The car had 105,000 miles on it and seemed to be in good shape (like a dummy I trusted the salesman and didn't get the car checked) and I bought it with no warranty. The car seems to run great but in 500 miles it has used 1 quart of oil. I took it in to be checked and was told it need a motor rebuild (ring job) and would cost about $1900 (the service center I took it to has a great reputation so at this point I am assuming that this is accurate.) The car has the b16a3 motor in it.

I have since called and talked to many mechanics and each one has a different opinion. Some say replace the motor with a used one and others say rebuild. The estimates have run anywhere from $1700 all the way up to $5500. One option was to replace the current motor with a b16a1 used motor ($1030 for the motor, $500 to install) with about 50,000 miles on it and a 6 month unlimited mile warranty. Is this a good idea? Should I just rebuild and if I do, what is a fair price to pay because $1900 seems high to me?

To be honest, I don't care what kind of motor is in it. I am told that the b16a3 vtec is fast, high performance and so on but that doesn't matter to me. I just liked the way the car looked and I have had a crx and civic previously and have never had any problems. I want to keep this car long term but since I just bought it and paid a lot I really do not want to put a huge amount of money in it but at the same time I want to fix it right.

I brought the car home today from the shop without making any decisions. They told me I can drive it for awhile as long as I keep checking and putting oil in it but I am scared I will mess it up worse and will not be able to rebuild if that is what I decide to do. Is it OK to drive it for now? PLEASE, you guys know about these cars and the motors, what should I do? Rebuild or put in a used motor? Approx. how much should it cost either way? Can I drive it in the meantime without doing any more damage? The questions just go on and on. Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

[kris]

Please, only post your question in one forum. This one will be closed, and the one left in JDM engines, etc will be open.