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  2 0 What kind of car? How old? What's the condition of the engine and the rest of the car? And what is wrong with the transmission? elenchos answered in Finance/Insure/Legal over 2 years ago | Report 3 comments by schyphozoa, elenchos, and elenchos… 0 0 A Toyota Matrix from 2003, with no other problems I'm aware of. The clutch was replaced a few months ago. Two different mechanics say the transmission needs to be replaced, but I don't know exactly what is wrong with it. schyphozoa commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 OK, you don't need to know the technical details of what's wrong with it, but does it go? Is it a doorstop now? Or does it drive now, and if so how well does it drive? Did the mechanics say it will become a doorstop after X much time or Y miles? My general answer would be that if you have a comfortable amount of money in the bank and can afford to take a risk with a few thousand dollars, go ahead and have it fixed. It's good karma to fix things instead of throwing them away, and the odds of breaking even or better are pretty good if it is a nice looking car. If money is tight, you should probably sell it for what you can get, rather than sink more money into it and risk not getting it back when you sell it. elenchos commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 By the way, tragically flawed book that, among other things, makes a good argument to fix your car instead of running away from it is Shop Class as Soulcraft. It's just the kind of thing that goes right over Constant's head. Go to http://www.matthewbcrawford.com/ elenchos commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 0 I say no, not worth it. If you don't need the money, I would suggest donating it to a reputable charity and they can auction it off and you can get the price as a tax credit. Kristin Bell answered in Finance/Insure/Legal over 2 years ago | Report 9 comments by elenchos, Kristin Bell, and elenchos… 0 0 How is it that it's a financial albatross for the current owner but not an albatross to a charity? I don't really see how if it's a waste to put your money into it, isn't also a waste for a charity to put their money into it. Unless you just want to pull a tax dodge and don't care if the charity gets stuck with a useless car. But if it IS worth it for the charity to fix it, then why not the car owner? elenchos commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 Usually the charity doesn't fix it either. They auction it off as is and they tell people the condition of the car, so they know what they are getting. Some people want to buy at the auctions, even if the cars don't run for whatever reason. The charity gets the money from the auction and the old car owner gets the tax credit for the value of the auction. There is also no guarantee that the car will get much money in the auction. Kristin Bell commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 And how much do you think a tax credit of a few thousand dollars, at most, is going to net for a person at this income level? I mean maybe you think this person with an '03 Matrix with a bad tranny makes $150k a year, but I'm guessing they're more in the $20k to $40k bracket, where a little income tax credit is going to do them fuck all good. Tax credits are mostly helpful to the well off (it's why the Republicans love tax credits so). Seems like they'd gain the most by putting the car on Craigslist and selling it rather than some Rube Goldberg process of Charity -> Auction -> Tax Credit -> ??? -> Profit! elenchos commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 If you were paying attention, you would notice that I said this might be something to do if you don't really need the money from the car. It is difficult to sell a car with a bad transmission to anyone. At least if it was donated, someone would get something out of it. Sometimes it is better to cut your losses rather than pour a bunch of money into a car that you won't get much from anyway. Kristin Bell commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 If the car is junk, no charity wants it. I've actually looked into this; I'm not just talking about stuff I heard third hand. If the car doesn't run, they have no use for it. Obviously; they're a freaking charity, not a wrecking yard. Unless you think you can name a charity that will accept a car with a bum transmission. And do you have any idea how much money a tax filer needs to make in order to make it worth while to itemize deductions and claim the value of the donated car? Care to guess? elenchos commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 Is there some reason you are being an ass about this? I have donated a car that was pretty much junk, and they took it. In fact, the organization towed it away for me, because it didn't run. No, I don't really care to guess how much a person needs for itemization. I am quite sure I am not in that tax bracket, but I was just suggesting an idea...again, for someone who doesn't really need the money from the car. Jeez, you are being a tool. Kristin Bell commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 Habitat for Humanity does take non-running vehicles. They usually have a wrecker come out and assess the vehicle first; if they think they can get more than it'll cost to tow it from your house to a wrecker, then they have deals with the yards to get the money. If the wrecker thinks it's repairable and can be sold for more money, they advise them of such, and they have it towed somewhere where it can be fixed. We've actually donated 3 cars to Habitat for Humanity, and in all cases, they were happy to get them. We weren't just emptying our garbage on their yard. Geni commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 OK fine, donate it to Habitat to Humanity. Because even thought it's a waste of money for the owner to fix it, it is somehow not a waste of money for Habitat for Humanity to fix it. Maybe if you're a charity you can defy gravity because some unexplained laws of economics apply. That makes brilliant sense. elenchos commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 I would add that the tax deduction will only do you good if you can scrounge up enough deductions to itemize rather than take the default personal deduction--regardless of tax bracket. Another Andrew commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  2 1 Agh - fucking transmissions. The bane of car sellers and buyers since the dawn of the Hydramatic. Whose idea was it to include a device as complicated as a goddam Swiss watch to make a car move back and forth? Well, let's just get right out and say it: you're screwed. Screwed, screwed, screwed, screwed, screwed. If you sell this dead, syphilitic albatross for Blue Book (not likely) after dealing with the transmission, you are only going to break even after spending all this time and effort to get this fucker fixed. More likely, you're going to sell it for less than Blue Book and get soaked for the difference. Get ahead of this loser's game: donate this thing to your favorite charity and get a tax break. If you're one of those anal-retentives that itemize, you could come out ahead (yes, not as arousing as cash in hand) and actually get some feel-good out of this shitball. You tax mavens can correct me, but I think if you do this soon, you can still include this on your 2009 returns. The last alternative is to keep it until you're ready to move, go to Schuck's, find and use some of that "Transmission Fix-In-A-Can", and then sell the car to some stupid kid for a bargain price. Then, skip the country. Not only did you make a profit, you've taught one of our future leaders valuable lessons about trust, test driving a car, caveat emptor, and all sorts of other bullshit! MacBastard answered in Finance/Insure/Legal over 2 years ago | Report 4 comments by Basil, MacBastard, and Basil… 0 0 I know you're not totally serious on that last paragraph, but man, that is horrible. Plus, caveat emptor is not gonna cover that when it is willful deception. You can, and will, get seriously busted for that. Basil commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 First off, if you know I'm not serious on that last one, why bust my balls? Second, skipping the country is a crucial step: it severely reduces the likelihood of getting your ass in trouble with Johnny Law. I mean, who's gonna extradite for selling a shitty car? MacBastard commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 I'm pretty sure even if you skipped the country you would just get a default judgment made against you, and would have it tacked onto your license plus fee's for not showing up. So basically, you would have to pay even more when you came back to the U.S. But I didn't mean to bust your balls, you just never know who will read something online and take it as the gospel. Wanted to make it clear that kinda thing is pretty fucked up, and that if anyone did read it and consider doing it, they probably would not get away with it. More a comment on the people that actually do that kind of thing, than you in particular. Basil commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 OK, point taken - I must remember the readers with atrophied sarcasm glands. I keep forgetting, quite literally, the literal sub-literate. MacBastard commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 0 Here is what I did for an ex of mine. First, get some estimates for repair from a couple of average mechanics. Then look at the bluebook and subtract what the average cost would be and then go to craigslist and sell it for the left over price. We sold an old car that had the entire engine blown out for about 800 dollars to a couple that was willing to pay the lower price because they had a friend who could fix it for less than the average repair cost. It got my girlfriend some cash for a car that we would have normally gotten nothing for, or had to sink a ton of cash into that neither of us had at the time. They key though is that you need to be VERY upfront on what you are doing. Be very honest about the problems and the price it will cost to fix it. Start at the asking price of blue book minus the cost of repairs, but be prepared to go a bit lower than that if necessary. Hope that helps. : ) Basil answered in Finance/Insure/Legal over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  0 0 I'd fix it. The transmission is the one notorious weak point on most Toyotas, and if you repair that, the vehicle will run forever. You'll probably at least break even on the deal if you can find someone other than a dealer to do the clutch for you (dealers charge top dollar for that type of repair). See if you can get a rebuilt clutch put in; that'd be a whole hell of a lot cheaper. Geni answered in Finance/Insure/Legal over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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