Overhaulin'

Mechanics/car experts: I need your opinions! Is this a good deal?

Well our '98 Lumina has finally bitten the dust, in that there are now too many things wrong with it to be worth fixing, since it has 260K miles on it. Our mechanic who is very honest and friendly says don't worry with it anymore. However, he has offered us another car and is willing to sell it to us for just the cost of repairs; it's a '95 Ford Taurus station wagon with approx. 160K miles on it; the customer who dropped it off at his garage simply didn't need the car, since he/she has three other cars. It needs $2100 worth of brake work but once this work is done, the car will be fully repaired and will also pass our state inspection, which means it won't need anything else until next year, unless something else goes wrong. My question is, what do we have to lose? If we instead were to buy a car off Craigslist, let's say we spend $1500...and then it has to be inspected (as per NH law) and for all we know, could need another $1000 worth of work to pass inspection. I think $2100 to fix this Taurus and have it be fully inspected is a pretty good deal, since basically our mechanic is giving us the car and only charging us the repairs. What do you think? We desperately need a better car; we are limping around right now on a '96 Geo Metro, 2-dr clown car (lol that's what it feels like!) and we have two children in carseats (one of whom is a newborn!) and it is very hard to get them in and out of the car and there is NO room for anything extra; we have a tiny "trunk" area since it's a hatchback but it's not much. Not to mention that the Metro has its own issues (we just had to have a transmission line replaced; the heat shield rattles; and the power steering is gone, to name a few). The station wagon would be a dream, with all its extra room, etc. Opinions please! I don't want my need for a nice roomy car to cloud my judgment and I don't know much about cars. Thanks for any help!

Public Comments

1. don't take the deal
2. A 95 Taurus wagon has a retail value of around $1500 in good condition. You would be paying $2100. The car has to be very very nice, or have a large bag of 10 and 20 dollar bills stuffed under the seat to be worth what he wants for it. I would pass on this "wonderful" deal.
3. make sure trans is serviced and engine oil is ok/the guy got the car for nothing so he is looking to make a profit on the repairs/check ac operation/ if all that happens to be include in the deal take the deal/ at least you know what you got/ at the price ranges you are dealing with knowing what you got is a plus/also everybody is entitled to a profit
4. Tell him you'ld love it but alls you can do is 500 bucks. Go trade that Lumina in on the cheapest Nissan, Toyota new model. You'l be better off with low payments as opposed to HIGH mechanical costs.