Caddy update - Repairs

About two weeks ago I blogged about getting a great deal on a 1997 Seville (last entry on this page). It took me a few days to get plates for it, and then get it to my mechanic about 10 miles from my house. He has had the car for over a week now, so today I gave him a call to ask for a quick update.

Nothing catastrophic, but the car needs work on a bunch of maintenance items - a complete tune-up, front and rear brake pads and rotors, one new injector, two new tires, etc. The rear brake lines look kind of rusty so he said that replacing them is optional, but recommended. He also said that upon inspecting the exhaust system, there are new-ish clamps sloppily installed over the housing for the catalytic converter, which could mean that it's been removed. If that's the case, add hundreds more dollars to my total just to pass inspection.

I called the guy who sold me the car and asked if he removed it. He said he didn't (I'm not sure what reason he would have to lie to me since I already bought the car as-is), and the owner before him couldn't have removed it because it passed inspection last year.

So I did some math. Scott, the owner of the repair shop is my cousin's husband, and we've been friends for as long as I've lived in New Hampshire. He is honest and thorough, plus he is willing to help out friends/family wherever possible. Keeping that in mind, I'm up to about $1500. This assumes that the car does NOT need the catalytic converter. If the seller lied to me, and the car needs one, I can pull some strings and get one for a couple hundred. So worst case scenario, we're a bit shy of $2000 to get the car to run well and pass inspection. In addition to the $850 I paid for the car, that's still less than Blue Book private party value and about the same as dealer trade-in.

I wanted to be in and out for under $2000 total (probably a bad budget point if I want something decent). Scott is going to look a bit deeper into the catalytic converter, and also do some price shopping to see where he can save me money on parts. For the next couple days I'll continue to play the waiting game. I'd really like to get it fixed up and inspected at a reasonable price and that is still a possiblity. But, worst case scenario, if the repairs are going to be out of my price range I'll just put it back on craigslist, get back the $850 for the car and $200 I spent on registration, and hopefully make a couple bucks in the meantime.