Alright! I'm very new to MMM and forums, and I really need some advice!
I got out of college last year and paid off all of my student debt last month. Debt free, woo! I have a boyfriend of one year who is close to being debt free and also wants to marry me soon, woo!
He has a 2010 Subaru Forester with 130,000 miles. He borrowed money for it 4 years ago and has about $500 left to pay on the loan, woo!
So here's the bad news: The Subaru blew its engine a few months ago. We aren’t really sure how this happened. He got an oil change about 2 months prior to destroying the engine. There was no burning of oil, no leaking of oil, and no “check engine” light on until it was too late. The only place in town that will work on a Subaru is the Subaru dealer, of course. They quoted $9000 to replace the engine. The car is only worth $7500! We are considering replacing the engine ourselves, with the help of my dad (who I would feel pretty guilty asking to help… he is older, already works 60 hours a week, and works on his own vehicles on the weekends). A refurbished engine would cost $4000 or so. Shipping, parts, and hoses would be an estimated $2000 or so, if everything goes smoothly. It would still cost around $6000 to replace it ourselves, and we would be left with a car with a refurbished engine worth about $7500 that no shop in town, except the dealer, can work on…
Our other option would be to get a different, low mileage, used car. He is a photographer who regularly hauls heavy equipment cross country, so he needs something reliable and spacious. I don’t know if he would need a 4 cylinder or a 6 cylinder. He thinks his 4 cylinder may have burned out because he was hauling such heavy equipment and might need to upgrade to a 6 cylinder. We have been looking into 2010 Toyota Highlanders as an option. They are the highest rated midsized SUV from that year. They would have the kind of cargo room and power he would need to haul equipment. A lower mileage 2010 Toyota Highlander costs about $10k-12k. This is obviously more than the price of replacing an engine, but we are worried about replacing the engine in the Subaru. We have heard cars never run the same after you replace an engine and they are more difficult to resale. We have also heard refurbished engines are somewhat of a gamble.
What should we do? Should we replace the Subaru engine? Should we wash our hands of the Subaru and sell it for parts? Should we try and part it out ourselves to make some extra money? Should we buy a Toyota? Should we buy something different? Does anyone have experience with a car with a replaced engine? Would a 6 cylinder be a better option than a 4 cylinder if the vehicle is used for pretty constant hauling?