Does my older car warrant a major repair
Hey folks, I need some perspective.
I don't drive a whole lot as I have been a remote worker since 2010. Maybe 100 miles on a busy week but normal weeks would be between 10 and 50.
I have a 2005 Subaru Outback Legacy with a 5 speed manual transmission. Car has about 190K miles on it and we have owned it since 2010 or so. Body has some knocks and scratches but is in serviceable shape. I like the car. Drives fine. The transmission seems like it's fine. I'm definitely not in the market for something new so would be looking used, but with prices these days the used market is crazy.
Recently I took it to a local shop for an oil change. The shop also found the front-right CV joint needed replacing badly (I figured this was the case) and the power steering pump was leaking. I had them do all three pieces.
Then my wife noticed spotting in the driveway a couple weeks later. So I took it to the dealership for an inspection.
The problems:
- CV Joint seal was damaged on installation and leaking oil.
- I ended up getting the other shop to refund me for the CV portion of the work and had the dealership repair it. It evened out.
- Both drivers side doors need new actuators for the remote lock/unlock
- Est $500ish per door - I tried to do one myself and omfg these are a giant pain in the ass!!
- I obviously knew about these.
- The engine (rebuilt 10ish years ago) needs a full reseal
- Est $5500, the engine is leaking oil from most of the seals.
- According to the mechanic there are several months of oil buildup on the plates, so this cannot be the fault of the other shop.
I am not a gearhead. I know how to change my oil, check tire pressure, fluids, and basic maintenance. I just don't enjoy doing it and I make enough to pay someone else.
Currently I drive our other car when I can (wife works in an office), but do occasionally need this car. I check the oil weekly and so far it hasn't needed a top up. It's been a little under a month and I've driven it maybe 100 miles since then.
So my quandary is, should I invest another almost 7K into this vehicle?