What do you think I should do?

[Rexo]

I have a 94 T-Bird LX with the 4.6 V8 and 110,000 miles.

One of the fuel injectors and the computer mod for it went
out and it will cost me $1,000 to replace them.

Sometimes when it is really cold or really hot & humid my
car doesn't like to shift out of 1st gear. A dealership checked
it out a year ago and the computer couldn't find anything wrong
with the electronics of the tranny and the mechanic thought
the problem was in the valve body. They suggested taking the
valve body off, cleaning it out and replacing the tranny fluid.
I am guessing that would cost $100-200.

Also in the winter time when it is cold out there is a heavy knocking
under the dash. Dealership checked it out last winter and the
blend door which controls the flow of hot and cold air in the car is going bad. As I understand the part doesn't cost a lot,
but they have to take the whole dash apart to get at it and so
it's something that takes almost a whole day to fix and with all the labor
it will cost me $600 to fix that.

The ignition is also loosey-goosey and that will cost $100 and
I need a new windshield which would be another $100.

So if I keep my T-Bird I will be paying at least $1,000 just to get
it back running and another $1,000 in the next 6 months to fix the
other problems.

Should I put 2 grand in the vehicle or do you think I should use
that money to put a $1,000 down on a year old car with 20,000 miles
and the other thousand to pay for taxes/registration?

I know there are some big time T-bird ethusaints on this board.
I like my car, the body is in good shape, no rust, handful of dents
from hail, a little scratch here or their, but I wouldn't call myself
I diehard T-bird owner. The upholstery is a little faded, but no tears or
stains. I am the 2nd owner of the car and have had it for the last 9 years.

My big worry is putting 2 grand into it and then somemore big things going
wrong with it in the next year or two.

 

[Quickdraw]

My opinion only: I think I'd go with putting the $1,000 down on a newer car if you can make the payments OK. I traded in a 1994 Tbird 4.6 with 95,000 miles on it a little over a year ago. I too liked the car and it was pretty peppy. In the six months before I traded it I put about $2,500 into it for the front end for broken springs, broken ball joints, then radiator, exhaust, brakes, etc. Plus when the ball joint went and the wheel caved in it crinkled the fender. They replaced the broken springs just two months before the ball joint broke so I think they should have noticed it. In any case I got Kelly Blue book value of $1,200 on trade-in. You might be able to get another $1,000 or maybe more for yours to put towards a newer car.

 

[Rexo]

Thanks for posting Quickdraw.

Yeah I haven't any springs or joints replaced in the front end or had
anything done on the exhaust. So I am worried about things like that
wearing out on my car in the near future.

I am also a little worried about the problem with the car not wanting
to shift out of 1st gear now and then. If the mechanic is right and
it's just the valve body needing cleaning then that wouldn't be a big
deal, but I have come across several posts on this board talking about
how the trannys on 94 T-Bird's have a tendency to go bad around
100,000 miles.

The dealer has some year old Taurus' with 15-20,000 miles on them.
They are Ford Certified so the warranty on them already goes up
to 6 years or 75,000 miles on the engine and drive train. I know
that most likely that equipment won't have problems in that time range,
but it is already included in the price they are selling them at which
is $12,500.

I know the biggest thing I would miss about the T-Bird is the 4.8 V8.
It has nice power off the start and the Taurus with the V6 is fine
once you get going, but from the start especially going up hill they
don't have a lot. It would get better gas mileage though.

The Blue Book on my T-Bird if I sell it is $2500. Not sure what it
said I should expect from a dealer.

Thanks again for replying!

 

[Quickdraw]

Just for kicks, go to a new car dealer and see how much a brand new Taurus goes for. I'd heard you could get one for about $13,000 - tell them you can get an X-plan PIN. That is a benefit that Ford employees can give to "friends and neighbors" and it lets you get the car about 1-2% over dealer cost. The Taurus isn't selling well and they have heavy rebates. The rebates come in addition to the Xplan discount. However on trade-in they wont give you much for yours so maybe you can sell it outright.

 

[96LXSport]

Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I am betting your transmission has failed the one way roller clutch. If that be the case that transmission requires a rebuild.

If you got rid of it, it may have been a good move, depends on how you felt about the car.