It’s also gonna need a new water pump and timing belt in another ten thousand miles or so. And at 122 miles a day that is not very far off. I believe this is one of those engines that a broken timing belt causes to place valves and pistons in the same time-space continuum. It might get noisy.
A broken timing belt can wipe out the motor but they last longer than they used to last. I’ve only replaced one and it had broken. I drive my cars over 150k miles.
A timing belt is $400 usually. Water pumps make noise before they go. They can also kill an engine but you’ll get a warning first. When you see the temps go up, it’s time. Check coolant levels frequently.
Water pumps are pretty easy to replace. Youtube can show you.
I used to work on my cars; I had a friend who knew what he was doing, so I’d get it over to his place, and he’d supervise me.
But it was just so much work, even when he had most of the tools we needed, taking an hour to just get into where the stupid part was, it was so tedious.
So when I had enough money that I could rationalize paying someone else to do the work, I found a nice Christian guy and decided I was doing charity. Then I didn’t care how much it cost.
I actually do that a lot — if I find someone I really like, then I feel like whatever I’m charged, the money is going to a good place. This is also why I tend to become “members” at museums and zoos — I want to support them anyway, and then I don’t have to worry about cost when I drop in for an hour.
Now, I just buy new, and let the dealer do the work. And I get the full-coverage extended warranties. Of course, my two cars are both Prius. So they are complicated, and have expensive electronic parts. I’ve got my money’s worth out of the warranties. And I wouldn’t trust just anybody to work on them.
I’m looking to get a clunker now, and so I’ll be back to looking for some kind old man who likes to fix cars out of his garage.
I actually had such a guy long ago, and was sad when I saw his house was gone, a new development being put up on the land. So I guess he and his wife probably died.