GangsterOfLove
New member
2000 Base model 2wd. 4 cyl. I've owned it 6 months, paid $3900 for it and have another $1K in to it so far. Seemed like a fair deal - paint ind interior look good, air works, 184K miles. Ran OK - not like the 6 in my old '99 Limited but not too bad for a little 4 with big tires. The truck had a recent valve job done before I bought it, which seemed like a plus at the time.
It wasn't. I just found out that whoever did the valve job botched the job and it needs another one along with will most likely be a new head. $2500 or thereabouts.
I'm not sure the truck is worth fixing. A truck like mine is not worth anything like $8k even with a spiffy new valve job. If it were 4WD 6 cyl maybe, but not a 2 WD 4 cyl. By the time I sort out the front end and suspension issues I'll have $10K in this thing and it's still a 16 year old 2 WD truck with a dicey radiator and holes in the carpet, and there is no guarantee the new valve job will last any longer then the one before.
But what to do with it? It's worth about a $grand as junk, or someone with skillz might want to buy it and do the engine work, but as it sits I see getting anything close to $2K for it as a stretch even if it a rust free CA car. I suppose I could trade it in somewhere on something else but I really don't want a car payment and I'd be lucky to get $2500 as a trade even on a new one. The idea behind buying it was to save $, not to spend it. Maybe I should donate it to public radio for the tax writeoff.
Maybe I should fix it and see if I can drive the value out of it. Lots of people get 300K miles out of their trucks, but those are all 6 cyls. The lack of a timing belt in the 4s does not offset the gawdawful head design, and the 300K drivers never tell us how much money and time they had to invest to get there.
But I like it. I like driving it even as it turns out I don't like working on it much, partly because everything is 2X s difficult as it should be and the parts cost a fortune. I wrench on my Ford trucks and it's no big deal, but this thing? Wow. I don't know how you guys do it.
So junk it? Fix it? Swap it on a 4x4? Cut the top off of it and park it in the yard as a flower box?
It wasn't. I just found out that whoever did the valve job botched the job and it needs another one along with will most likely be a new head. $2500 or thereabouts.
I'm not sure the truck is worth fixing. A truck like mine is not worth anything like $8k even with a spiffy new valve job. If it were 4WD 6 cyl maybe, but not a 2 WD 4 cyl. By the time I sort out the front end and suspension issues I'll have $10K in this thing and it's still a 16 year old 2 WD truck with a dicey radiator and holes in the carpet, and there is no guarantee the new valve job will last any longer then the one before.
But what to do with it? It's worth about a $grand as junk, or someone with skillz might want to buy it and do the engine work, but as it sits I see getting anything close to $2K for it as a stretch even if it a rust free CA car. I suppose I could trade it in somewhere on something else but I really don't want a car payment and I'd be lucky to get $2500 as a trade even on a new one. The idea behind buying it was to save $, not to spend it. Maybe I should donate it to public radio for the tax writeoff.
Maybe I should fix it and see if I can drive the value out of it. Lots of people get 300K miles out of their trucks, but those are all 6 cyls. The lack of a timing belt in the 4s does not offset the gawdawful head design, and the 300K drivers never tell us how much money and time they had to invest to get there.
But I like it. I like driving it even as it turns out I don't like working on it much, partly because everything is 2X s difficult as it should be and the parts cost a fortune. I wrench on my Ford trucks and it's no big deal, but this thing? Wow. I don't know how you guys do it.
So junk it? Fix it? Swap it on a 4x4? Cut the top off of it and park it in the yard as a flower box?
