Repair or Buy a New Truck

[UT Spring Branch]

I have a 2002 Nissan Frontier with 78,000 miles

It has two problems:

1) overheating in traffic (its OK on the highway) - I have replaced thermostat,water pump (timing belt/chain), and clutch fan but second repair shop says it is now the radiator that needs replacing (at least another $500).

2) Fuel sending unit is malfuntioning and will cost $500 to replace. It is either that or another $250 repair the the circuit board (or whatever it is called) in the dash.

At this point I have no confidence that these items will make the car all well. I am not impressed by auto mechanics - they don't seem to have a clue - they just replace parts willy nilly until they find the right one.

I have two questions:

1) Considering I need a bigger truck for tailgating for UT football games - should I get rid of this truck instead of fixing it?

2) Should I go back to the repair place and ask for my money back?

 

[Seamus McBundy]

If you decide to repair you could save up to $300. Advance Auto has a radiator for $250 at the high end and $140 and the low (depending on size of engine/brand). You might want to call up a friend who may be able to assist or guide you through the installation. Shouldn't be too hard.

Did they tell you what the problem was with the radiator? It just may need to be flushed ...if there aren't any leaks. Just some ideas. Im not mechanic.

 

[accuratehorn]

My shop replaces those radiators all the time, and most models the parts, labor and antifreeze comes to between $300-$350.
The plastic radiator top or bottom tanks will crack due to the high heat we have here in Texas, not uncommon after a few years.
However, you need to know what is really wrong with your vehicle-maybe the water pump went bad, and the engine overheated and your head gasket is leaking. That would be a much more expensive repair.
With 78,000 miles, unless something bad is wrong (like blown head gasket), it probably will last a lot longer, so would be well worth repairing.
You could live with the fuel gauge problem by resetting the trip odometer every time you get gas and refilling after 250 miles, or whatever amount would be safe before getting too low. Some models do have the fuel gauge float as part of the fuel pump assembly inside the gas tank, which is expensive to replace just to get the gas gauge working.
A shop with a good data stream scanner (which we now have) should be able to figure out whether the sending unit or the dash is at fault if you really must have it working.
But if you really feel the truck is inadequate for your needs, you might want to replace it rather than spending more on it.

 

[UT Spring Branch]

Oh and I have oil leaks too

 

[accuratehorn]

Oil leaks-can be relatively cheap, can be very expensive. Can be hard to find, or easy to find one or two, then you fix them, then discover there are one or two more that weren't as obvious.

 

[UT Spring Branch]

They just gave me an estimate of $1,860 (leaks are in 4 different places)

So their estimate is nearly $3,000 for all the work - this decision is a whole lot easier now

What kind of truck should I get?

Other than Nissan

 

[accuratehorn]

You could park it at the bottom of the ship channel.

 

[Bernard]

Just make sure you buy a good used truck. Otherwise deprciation is going to make that repair bill look like chump change.

Bernard

 

[Steel Shank]

I bet you can get really good deals on full sized trucks right now. Be a man and get a 3/4 ton.

 

[Smurfette]

Damn-- that's scarey on any car so new w/ so few miles.

You should be able to get a good deal on a slightly used truck since so many people are getting rid of them right now.

If you go through an independant seller, have Auto PI check the car out-- they're totally worth the 150 bucks. Hell, I'd even consider having them check out a car at a dealership.

My dad had diesel fords and has for years now. No major trouble, except that he keeps trading them in for bigger and bigger trucks. He pulls a camper- -a big one-- and ATVs all over the country, and drives a ton anyway since he lives in BFE New Mexico.

So, on that front, look at ford.

 

[orangecat]

For a new truck, check out the ads on Saturday. I'm in the Dallas area, so it might be different, but here is how I found it.

I was playing around on autotrader a couple of months ago, and I found a quad cab Dodge Ram 1500, new 2008, 6 speed manual transmission, for $13k. It wasn't located in Texas, it was in Louisiana I think, but then I started watching the ads.
(The autotrader ad said the dealer was trying to get rid of his fleet)

Here we are a couple of months later and now in the Dallas paper, two weeks in a row, they have the same type of vehicle, for $10,990, after CFC discount, which is probably Chrysler Financial Company.

Granted, this is a sucker price, I'm guessing they have one at that price, but negotiate, they might have more.

Then I checked out edmunds, it turns out the Ram is being totally redesigned for '09, so that would explain the big reduction in price.

Also, the gas mileage will be pretty bad also(mid teens), but if you can really get one close to that price, your overall cost
of ownership should be lower than any other vehicle that can hold 6 passengers.

Let us know what you decide.