Ever have one of those cars?

[Ramie]

Ever have one of those cars where everything seems to go wrong?  My 30 something son who was never interested in anything mechanical bought one, a 2007 Toyota Corolla with 200k + miles one it for a really decient price.  When he took it out for his first spin the clutch went out and I had to tow it to his home for him.

He dug into youtube and started pulling the transmission and texted me a few times every day with questions.  If your not familar with front wheel drive you have to pull axels and all kinds of crap out of the engine compartment including reaching in where the human had wasn't ment to go to remove the rear motor mount bracket from the transission.

Well before he finished pulling it he ended up away from home for around 40 days so I volunteered to finish the job for him.  After all his work I had no problem dropping the transmission, replacing the clutch and slipping it back in.  I didn't take into account his inexperience and spent more time searching for bolts and brackets then actually working on it.

Fast forward, I got everything back together and it ran great.  Fast forward two months, he pulled the hood to paint it and left it outside with the cover on the engine and it rained.  When he started it the next morning it missfired probably from one or more of the coil packs getting wet then it wouldn't start, starter wouldn't even engage and he got an engine light error.

He called me the next day and I ran over with my scan tool and found a Crankshaft cam out of alignment error.  Apperently the engine is smart enough not to start if it senses a missalignment.  I told him he probably jumpped the timing chain when it missfired.

He tore into to front end removed everthing and I help him install new timing chain, guides and tensioner and align everything.  He called me a few day telling now the starter just spins and the engine won't start.  I stopped by and the engine spun like every spark plug was out.  I immeadiately though bent valves.  It was then I learned that he and a buddy had tried push starting the car after the starter wouldn't engage.

He found a used head $150 bucks later after instructing him on how to remove and retork the new head it would start and quickly die.  I stopped over and he was getting a throttle body error.  I took a closer look and he had never thighted the ground wire for the sensor on the throttle body.  Tighten it up and it stays running but runs like crap and we're getting a mass air sensor error.  Well, he had put one of those open air filters on the beast and took out the original.  Half hour latter original air box on, start it up, runs great.

Two days latter I get a call, seems the battery got a little low and he jumped it but reversed the jumper cables now had no power to anything.  Told him find the main fuse, sure enough 100amp fusible link burnt out but still could'nt get it to start.  Told him to check all the fuses, he said he checked them and still nothing.  I stopped over to check a few things then dug out the service manual I had bought for him when I was putting the transmission back in.  Dug through the schmetaics to find the starting circuit.  I asked him again, "you check all the fuses?"  he insisted he did.  I found the fuse location and told him pull that 15 amp fuse for me, I want to see it.  Blown 15 amp starter fuse. 

He's still putting things back together, he got the car to run with the new air filter by disconnecting the mass air flow sensor. 

Hopeufully that will be the end of this story.

[Patrick]

We [ this board] just kinda went thru something similar, and, it concerned those damn Toyotas.

[scooperhsd]

No - We have always bought either Hondas/Acuras or our 2 VW TDIs.

[J.Mencalice]

Your first few words of "200+ K miles" was a big red flag in purchasing a car.  Also please, I'd like to ask if he bought it at auction?  You used the term "one" did you mean to say that he won it at a bid for what he thought was a good price?

Sorry for his troubles (and yours); hope it fairs better with all the work you've put into it.
Maybe if it runs decent he could sell it and recoup some of his investment, but I'd get rid of it asap if I were you folks.
Just a thought.

[scooperhsd]

I have PUT over 200K miles on every car me and my wife have purchased except for the 2015 Golf (haven't owned it long enough - however it IS at 110K miles right now - purchased new).

[Jess from VA]

Two viable solutions:

Factor in all the time you spend fixing his car, then add that much money to his next car purchase.

Move, with no forwarding address.  

When I was 17, I just had to buy an Austin Healey Sprite.  My dad worked for National Steel and did not like any foreign cars (like just about every person I knew or lived within a hundred miles of).  I could only afford an old beater with predictable results.  Dad was not one for swearing, but he made an exception for my car (as it sat out by our garage where everyone could see it, in various states of disrepair). The final insult was when he towed me 60 miles to a shop that actually worked on them, with an 8 foot chain.

Whatever you do DO NOT rear end me at stops.  YOU have to do the braking for both of us.  The brakes on the Sprite were not good, and especially not good at stopping the Sprite AND a brand new Chevy Impala.  To his great joy, the cost of repairs was over double what I paid for it, I could not afford it, so I mailed the signed title to the shop.  He celebrated.  I had to look for an even cheaper car.  

Dad, what about a Triumph Spitfire?    

How about you go live in a tent somewhere?    

[cookiedough]

sounds like the kid should have gotten that Corolla for around 1500 bucks or so I hope since by the time you threw in at least another 500 bucks, give or take,  not much worth than that even if you get it up and running good for the next 50K miles or so.

My kids 2004 Vibe is still running pretty sure same 1.8L engine, could be wrong, made by Toyota (same as Matrix but cheaper to purchase).   Bought 5 years ago for 4K with only 104K miles on it.  Spent about 300 bucks on it like new battery, front rotors/pads, and few misc. smaller items.  I think it needs new motor mounts but not sure I want to tackle that job seen utube video and 4 of them a few easy to do vs. others a pain to get at.  Also for sure needs a new belt tensioner which I should do makes noise only upon starting it up when you put it into drive or reverse the first few minutes, put back in park or neutral noise goes away.   Now has 166K miles on it so for 60K miles at 4 grand still probably worth 2K or so not a bad deal?

[3W-lonerider]

sorry for his troubles. but i don't think 90% of his problems were the car. sounds self inflicted to me.  kinda like i did to my first car. had all kinds of problems because of me.

[old2soon]

       When Dad traded his 54 Ford for a 61 Rambler American I bought the Ford for $100.00. And it needed Work but I Knew that goin in. Dad kibitzed but I ponied up fer All repairs. And made most of said repairs with the help of Dad Ross and myself. It Was a learning experience for Ross and i both. Yeah-took a Lot of work to git it road worthy again but also MY First Car!  RIDE SAFE.

[Cyclejohn]

I'm sorry,

Was the original question 'ever have one of those cars?' or 'ever have one of those kids?'.

And YES, I have both of them  .

John

[Moonshot_1]

Car is lucky it is not a horse.

[Ramie]

He paid $1200 for it and ya, with 200k+ you expect things to go wrong.   I'm really surprised by how much he's learning to do, never thought he had it in him. 

Yup, a lot of it is self inflicted but It's usually that way when your learning how to do things.  I grew up doing it, he didn't.  My youngest daughter is actually the one that was always interested in that kind of thing. 

I had a Hyundai once that every time I turned around something on it was breaking or fall off, last Hyundai I ever looked at because of it. 

[old2soon]

      Been around some. Pick a brand any brand of car pickup. Some good some bad some excellent. LOT depends on prior maint. Or like my 2nd ex fil. add oil and water once in awhile then curse it when it fails. Bought fil a tire pressure guage and when he died couple years later that tire pressure guage was Still in the original packaging Never Opened. New old check fluid levels and tire pressures. Even today an oil and filter change ain't That Much. IF your used vehicle has the owners manual they generally have a wealth of knowledge in those pages. Specific repair manuals are nice to have. Keeping records helps. Having a Mechanic you Know and Trust helps a lot too. RIDE SAFE.

[pais]

Car is lucky it is not a horse.

 

[Cyclejohn]

Ramie,

Sounds like you have a good relationship with your son. That's all that matters  .

And yes, in the last couple of years I have developed a flinch whenever my daughter utters the sentence "I found us a project vehicle, it needs a little work".

John

[Patrick]

Sprite ! You mentioned Sprite !

First year in college our body shop foreman bought a totaled Bug-Eye saying he knew this was the car for me. I paid him the $175 and went to work on it. It had a cracked front case which was not known when he bought it. So rather than mess with another Austin engine I had a 225HP 289 with a C4 transmitter that slid right in. One thing I really liked about those thin-wall Fords is they were so skinny they would fit in any engine compartment. After welding the side gears I couldn't get the rear end to hold up so I shortened an 8.75 Chrysler limited slip and stuck it under it. It was pretty quick and still went around a corner.

Even being 18 yrs old but over 6ft tall it was a PITA getting in and out of that thing.

[Mooskee]

A couple thousand dollars is a cheap price for the education he is getting. And the time you are spending together, is priceless. I wish I could spend time working on old cars with my dad again. I can hear him bitchin now. I learned so much. He has been gone for 16 years now. These days some of my favorite times are working out Valkyrie problems on various bikes with my sons. One of them is one of the best Valkyrie mechanics around. The other is still learning.

I'd say if your son gets this car working, you should buy him another project car for you to "suffer" together on while fixing it. 

Ride safe.

[Hook#3287]

Car is lucky it is not a horse.

That's a classic 
 

[Jess from VA]

Sprite ! You mentioned Sprite !

First year in college our body shop foreman bought a totaled Bug-Eye saying he knew this was the car for me. I paid him the $175 and went to work on it. It had a cracked front case which was not known when he bought it. So rather than mess with another Austin engine I had a 225HP 289 with a C4 transmitter that slid right in. One thing I really liked about those thin-wall Fords is they were so skinny they would fit in any engine compartment. After welding the side gears I couldn't get the rear end to hold up so I shortened an 8.75 Chrysler limited slip and stuck it under it. It was pretty quick and still went around a corner.

Even being 18 yrs old but over 6ft tall it was a PITA getting in and out of that thing.

The other thing I remember about my Sprite was that the rag top did not fold down and store in the back.  It would just flop around in the wind, and since it was just secured by two sliding posts, there was a chance it could pop out and get left on the road.  So I'd just take it off and leave it at home.  So when it rained it was just like a motorcycle (without the helmet).

Notice it has the top clear off. (No door handles either, you had to reach in and pull a wire.)


Also, the plastic sliding side curtain windows in my car let light through, but were so hazed you could not see through them at all.  They bolted to the top of the doors, so I'd leave them at home too.  


The Bugeye was a little cooler looking.


It took me 3 (old) foreign sports cars to get over them, but it took me 6 (leaking) convertibles to get over them.

[Patrick]

Sprite ! You mentioned Sprite !

First year in college our body shop foreman bought a totaled Bug-Eye saying he knew this was the car for me. I paid him the $175 and went to work on it. It had a cracked front case which was not known when he bought it. So rather than mess with another Austin engine I had a 225HP 289 with a C4 transmitter that slid right in. One thing I really liked about those thin-wall Fords is they were so skinny they would fit in any engine compartment. After welding the side gears I couldn't get the rear end to hold up so I shortened an 8.75 Chrysler limited slip and stuck it under it. It was pretty quick and still went around a corner.

Even being 18 yrs old but over 6ft tall it was a PITA getting in and out of that thing.

The other thing I remember about my Sprite was that the rag top did not fold down and store in the back.  It would just flop around in the wind, and since it was just secured by two sliding posts, there was a chance it could pop out and get left on the road.  So I'd just take it off and leave it at home.  So when it rained it was just like a motorcycle (without the helmet).

Notice it has the top clear off. (No door handles either, you had to reach in and pull a wire.)


Also, the plastic sliding side curtain windows in my car let light through, but were so hazed you could not see through them at all.  They bolted to the top of the doors, so I'd leave them at home too.  


The Bugeye was a little cooler looking.


It took me 3 (old) foreign sports cars to get over them, but it took me 6 (leaking) convertibles to get over them.

You still have pics ! Wow!

I don't think mine ever had the top, so, yep it was a fair weather car.  I think mine was a '60. I didn't have it long. After that I got a Volvo 1800 and stuck another 289 in it.
The one I really liked and kept the longest was a Mini. 1967 I think it was. Converted it to a 1340 Cooper. I remember when I finished the engine it had 230-240 # compression, the starter would argue with me every time I started it. It was the local Corvette killer from stop light to stop light. It was a great 1/16 mile drag car 

[Jess from VA]

Patrick, every pic I post I just find on line and copy paste here.  I cannot post any of my own pics.  And unfortunately I have almost no pics of my old cars and bikes.  Maybe one or two old black and whites in a cardboard box somewhere.

[Patrick]

Patrick, every pic I post I just find on line and copy paste here.  I cannot post any of my own pics.  And unfortunately I have almost no pics of my old cars and bikes.  Maybe one or two old black and whites in a cardboard box somewhere.

OK, I understand. I don't have many pics either and don't know how to post them either. I'm trying to sell some stuff on marketplace and am having a heck of a time. Computers and I are not friends. I'm an old Swap Sheet kinda guy and apparently no one uses them anymore.

[Ramie]

Ramie,

Sounds like you have a good relationship with your son. That's all that matters  .

And yes, in the last couple of years I have developed a flinch whenever my daughter utters the sentence "I found us a project vehicle, it needs a little work".

John

I think he's finally learning that his old man knows a thing or two which is progress.  In the past I knew nothing and  most things suggested where stupid.  He takes after his mother's side of the family, quick to temper and pessimistic.  I grew up learning patience and an optimistic outlook on life.  Every time I worked with my FIL I had to look out for flying tools when something didn't go exactly right and listen to a constant stream of swear words.  It's lucky I learned patience from my father.

[Ramie]

Update.  He pulled into my driveway last night and leaked oil all over my freshly treated driveway.  Oil pressure sensor spewing out oil.  $15 later no more leaking.

[cookiedough]

at over 200K anything can go wrong and usually does.  not looking forward to any repairs with my kids 2004 pontiac vibe 1.8L toyota engine having 166K on it now just hope it lasts 200K miles then he is on his own should be age 24 or 25 by then OUT of college with a job.    Needs a few minor repairs now like new belt tensioner I can do but the engine/tranny mounts not sure I want to or can do all 4 of them 2 look to be in hard to get at places taking lots off. 

does that 2007 corolla have the 1.8L engine also? 

[Ramie]

Yup, 1.8 L engine.  The only hard motor mount was the rear mount or one closest to the firewall, the others where fairly easy after taking a few things out of the way.