UPDATE - 2021 Honda HRV purchased. They got back home and we also able to sell the broken Subaru on Craigslist in 90 minutes as a mechanic's special.....


Looking for input on whether to save a 2006 Civic with 152K miles.

My son and DIL are stranded in Tucumcari with a Civic that stalled out on them when traveling back to ABQ for my son's PA rotations.

Local shop diagnosed that there's no compression in cylinder No.1. The shop works on trucks but was able to perform this test but can't recommend a solution. It was the only shop open Sundays and they were kind enough to look at it this morning. The tech thinks rebuilding the head would fix the issue but their shop wouldn't do it.

I'm guessing $2K minimum on rebuilt head.

My son and his wife aren't gearheads and not the greatest with maintence. They are ready to walk away from the car....and considering all that they're up against, I tend to agree. I'm not there to help tow the car home to repair it myself.

They have a title and can donate the car to a dismantler if they can track one down.

Thoughts?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Russ59,

Given how 152,000 miles isn't all that much to a Honda and how INSANE used car prices are right now, I think $2,000 would be worth it.

Really depends on their financial situation. $2000 is a good down payment on an inexpensive car like a Hyundai or Kia. Can they afford payments? Even an inexpensive lease if necessary. How is condition of the rest of the car. Is it going to need several thousand more invested in the near future. What is blue book value of an 18 year old Civic?

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Russ59:

My son and his wife aren't gearheads and not the greatest with maintence. They are ready to walk away from the car....and considering all that they're up against, I tend to agree. I'm not there to help tow the car home to repair it myself.

They have a title and can donate the car to a dismantler if they can track one down.

Thoughts?[/QUOTE

They ran it till it died, turn the key and go everyday till no more. Time to dump it and move on, going to have other issues as well. A borescope type camera in #1 cylinder would help determine how fatal the outcome would be.

Go to KBB.com and input the data to get a car value, a $2K repair on a $3K car doesn't make sense financially, as Alyron said you can get a base level Kia with a $2k down payment and a 10yr powertrain warranty.

Thanks all. Yeah, they're gonna tow it to a recycler in town. It's not the most pristine example of an 06 Civic, so it's likely to have other issues. Again, if they were local, I'd bring it to my house at a minimum to tinker more. But at this point, that's not an option. And towing it to ABQ doens't make sense either.

They're out of school now and will have real jobs, so I think newer cars are a better remedy versus the beaters they had in college.

If it "suddenly stalled" and now there is a dead hole, it may have broken a timing belt and bent several valves, or dropped or broken a valve. This will tear up the piston and even the cylinder wall. With engine damage like this, it would need either a remanufactured engine, which will exceed the value of the car, or a used engine, which is a crapshoot whether you'll get a good one. Given the apparent condition of the rest of the car and that it is stuck in BFE (I have passed through the area and that is little exaggeration), it sounds like time to retire it.

Years ago I had a transmission crap out on my Suburban. I had it towed to a Chevy dealer to be fixed under warranty. The repair was going to take weeks.

This dealer happened to be somewhat close to the tourist / Disney area of Orlando. I was chatting with the service manager about various things and it got brought up how many cars he sees towed in and how many sales they get from those tows. He went on to explain that people drive to Orlando from all over the country. And if someone's transmission gives out and that it is a two week lead time for a repair, they cannot wait two weeks to get home. So the car gets traded in and a new / used one purchased and they drive home. Said it happens all the time.

I'm with egregore. Probably a broken timing belt and resultant bent valves, which have done who knows what to the inside of the engine. Hard to say without tearing it apart (IMO, stupid of Honda to build an interference engine that is dependent upon a wear-item like a timing belt to keep it from eating it's own guts).

Were it mine and in my driveway, I'd pull the head and figure out how much damage was done to the lower portions of the motor...then try to source junkyard parts to fix whatever needs fixing.

As it stands, being hundreds of miles from home, and dependent upon paying a shop to do the repair, I'd probably take what the local scrapyard would give me, find alternate transportation home, and cut my losses.

Could be wrong, but I'd think you could get a replacement engine for it, for less than $2k

When I had the timing belt jump a tooth in our 05, it would crank & crank but not start. Luckily, 1 tooth was somehow not enough for interference damage & it resulted in just a TB replacement.

quote:

Were it mine and in my driveway, I'd pull the head and figure out how much damage was done to the lower portions of the motor...then try to source junkyard parts to fix whatever needs fixing.

I put in a new timing kit when we bought the car 3-4 years ago and it's been working fine. I too would like to tear off the head and I least poke around. And because they're in BFE, there's no demand for these car parts - hence the recycler isn't giving them Jack Freakin' Squat for the car. That kinda irks me.

It would crank over and without any funky noises, so I assume the belt is good and no serious damage to the timing and valves. And I assume shop would have opened up the peep hole to see if the timing belt was intact.

Again, not much I can do from my keyboard. Except now I get to play Banker Dad. It's a good thing both are in the medical field with solid employment prospects.

My son just replaced the engine and transmission on an 02 Accord. He used a JDM motor and trans that he paid $1300 for. He did the work himself

The answer is no. Get bus tickets, get home, and move on.

Does their insurance have towing? AAA? if not then what is the cost to get it to Amarillo or Albuquerque.

At least there would be more shops to look at it in the bigger cities or a better scrap offer, of course towing costs could negate that. Amarillo looks closer.

Or fly out there with a reman head and gaskets, buy up the tools you need at HF and fix it up in a hotel parking lot ALA Roadkill Style...

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Does their insurance have towing? AAA? if not then what is the cost to get it to Amarillo or Albuquerque.

At least there would be more shops to look at it in the bigger cities or a better scrap offer, of course towing costs could negate that. Amarillo looks closer.

Or fly out there with a reman head and gaskets, buy up the tools you need at HF and fix it up in a hotel parking lot ALA Roadkill Style...

That's assuming head/gaskets are all it needs.
Would royally suck to get there with all that & it needs more.

Before I poured money into a car that's 18 years old with over 150000 miles I'd first determine the exact cause of the engine failure. You don't want to throw 2000 dollars towards a fix and find out you didn't fix the problem. If possible I'd get the car home, take it to a competent Honda mechanic and then based on their diagnosis of the problem decide if the car is worth fixing.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:

Does their insurance have towing? AAA?

My last experience with AAA towing was enough to sour me on AAA for life. My S-10 Jimmy refused to start when ready to leave the hangar. Starter spun the engine vigorously, but no combustion. Called AAA, was told one hour. Almost three hours later, the flatbed showed up.

My AAA towing coverage was for up to 15 miles. GPS showed 14.3 to the service shop that I use, confirmed exactly by my odometer reading when I drove it, leading the tow truck. Truck driver alleged that it was more than fifteen and would not unload my vehicle until I paid his ransom of something over forty bucks plus some bullshit fees.

I dropped AAA like a used earthworm and added RoadSide Assistance to my Travelers auto policy. Six bucks per vehicle, towing is 100 miles vs. 15 for AAA.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
Does their insurance have towing? AAA? if not then what is the cost to get it to Amarillo or Albuquerque.

At least there would be more shops to look at it in the bigger cities or a better scrap offer, of course towing costs could negate that. Amarillo looks closer.

Or fly out there with a reman head and gaskets, buy up the tools you need at HF and fix it up in a hotel parking lot ALA Roadkill Style...

That's assuming head/gaskets are all it needs.
Would royally suck to get there with all that & it needs more.

Agree there is that risk, compression missing is typically a bent or stuck valve maybe a blown head gasket.

A Bore Scope could see if the piston and cylinder are ok.

Still parts, plus flight cost, hotel room, meals, and if you fix it, the cost to drive it home for them and fly back and you'll have more than $2K in the repair.

Now if you could get a salvage motor with compression in all cylinders and swap it in then you'd have a nice run around car.

But it's still in Nowhere NM...

Put it on FB marketplace, ask double the local junk yard offer and see if someone bites, who knows might be a teen with a bitchin set of tools who can fix it up...

I would be concerned that there are other issues along with the compression problem. Could be a never ending money pit.

FWIW I have a friend in Amarillo, his wife is (I think anyhow) the manager of a independent auto repair shop there.

Towing, I would check into a trailer and U Haul rental truck before using a tow company.

Don’t,know if this is still true but in the 80’s towing services were NM state regulated and they would not “bargain” with you especially if you were a “turista” just passing through. And then there’s the state line thing, there might be some Texas or NM law prohibiting them to cross a state line, you’ll have to find that out first.