Annoying/pricey car repairs?

Sorry, I'm not a car expert, but have you ever listened to Car Talk? They always have tons of callers with hilarious random problems with their car. You might be able to find something good there.

catalytic converter: $1000 on my 2003 Subaru. Mine needs to be replaced right now Transmission costs even more, I shudder to think about it.

A gearbox rebuild

Software upgrade on power locks. Just had that one done.

A new exhaust system

New tires

A new transmission

New air bags (after you hit the No Parking sign at the neighborhood Sav-A-Lot)

Replacing front struts - typically $700 or more. Not easy for the home mechanic to do.

waylander said:

A gearbox rebuild

Click to expand...

Yep!!

In early 1990's a clutch for my 1983 manual-transmission Accord was about $500. The engine, transmission, etc. are all in one piece under the hood, so almost all of the cost is the labor to take it all apart and put it back together. I wouldn't be surprised if it's twice that now. With as much mileage I put on my latest Accord (it was really bad in November with daily NaNoWriMo write-ins) I may find out soon enough.

New key for a 2003 (manual transmission, they still make 'em!) Accord, because they have to "program" it with the right code for the car: $150, but I've heard for other model cars it's as high as $400.

New key (just for comparison - I also got this recently) at Ace Hardware for 1991 Ford F-150 truck: $0.95.

Seeing another car's trunk pop open when I press the "unlock the car" button on my 2003 Accord key: Free AND priceless.

I just had to get an expensive new key as well (I think I thew out my spare by accident). Argh.

What of some sort of prank/sabotage? Like having someone key your car? Or put sugar in the gas tank (but not that example - mythbusters disprove it).

Clutch is indeed a pain as on my car, they had to take the engine out to get to it. Expensive exercise.

Spaeking of which, an engine is also a very expensive thing to have to replace!

New brakes

Valve job - those used to be waaay expensive!

New/Rebuilt tranny

New Engine

I ruined the tire pressure sensor in one of my tires and it cost well over $300 to replace the damn tire.

Timing belt/water pump. Pricey and a pain in the arse.

Air conditioning compressor, about $800
Alternator (which makes your car stop running), $300

AnnieColleen said:

This would be for a blog post on savings. Something to the effect of, "You're just about to hit a savings goal, and then the car needs ______."

Click to expand...

New guts?

For me, anything other than an oil change.

But: transmission and brakes come to mind.

I hate the "check engine" light.

It comes on all the time (seems like) and costs $300 - $500 to have fixed. You have to pay for the sensor & have the computer re-programed.

Oh, oh, and there are FOUR of them on most vehicles. PLUS, inferior gas or contaminated gas (with water or dirt or sand or ????) make the oxygen sensors fail.

Small dent on rear quarter - the only panel on the car that can't be easily replaced.

Got it from some anonymous person who bashed their door into my car. Hundreds of pounds/dollars to fix or I can just live with it.

Six-way power seat - $1,100
Automatic Transmission - $4,200
Power transfer box (4-wheel drive) - $2,400
Those are some of the big ones.

New engine.

Several years ago with almost no warning, my car wouldn't start back, had it towed, and lo, it needed another engine. It cost around $2500 and it took a couple of weeks to find the right engine to replace it (used engine - new would have been much more).

The sun roof motor dying... with the sun roof in the open position. You can't have a permanent hole in the top of your car, so it has to be fixed. And since it's a non-essential thing, it's ANNOYING. Mine was around $900 to fix.

And naturally, the day it broke, there was a huge thunderstorm. In the pouring down rain, I was trying to cover the top of the car with a tarp, and it kept blowing back and smacking me in the face. Again, ANNOYING!

The electric window dying in the open position. The engine dying and needing to be replaced. Grit getting into the fuel tank, when it turns out they don't make that shape fuel tank anymore and there are no second hand ones in the country. Did you know it's cheaper to replace a fuel tank than clean one out? The mechanic had to get someone who works on airplanes to split it open thanks to the petrol fumes.

An electrical short fixed. Those can be extremely expensive if it's really hard to find.

Brake lines. Just spent $1,400 fixing those on my 2003 Suburban. It had been spending much of its time sitting in the dirt driveway, while we drove other vehicles. It doesn't even have that many miles on it. But because it sat on dirt, the brake lines rusted out. It now sits on pavement, when it has to sit.