Advice: Car in repair shop with US$750-800 repair tag

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I'm on disability, so I'm on a fixed income. I don't have nearly enough money to pay for such a repair, and I'm not sure if my car is even worth that much. I still need to drive to get to appointments and do grocery and other kinds of shopping.

What do I do?

What sort of repairs?

Can they wait?

If your car is still running, maybe you could shop around to try to get a better deal.

I wish I could give you better advice--but the mechanics always expect ALL the money before they release your car.

Could you borrow some money from somebody?

Also, a large portion of the money goes toward parts. I need to replace 4 engine coils, for example:

http://www.1aauto.com/nissan-altima-ign ... -c/329-109

What's the state of your car now?

What happens if you don't get the four coils?

I'm not an expert in cars--but mechanics, sometimes, are looking to make money.

Have you shopped around?

Yep...the car is undrivable.

Sorry about that.

You should repair the car. It's definitely worth more than the repair bill.

Can you use public transportation while you pay off the car a little at a time? Have you looked into grocery stores that deliver?

Can you ask your mechanic if these are the kinds of repairs that can be split into priorities, or does it all have to be done at once?

If the repairs can be split into separate issues, you could ask for the most pressing thing to be done first, to get the car driveable again at least. Then take care of the rest bit by bit.

However, I know that sometimes one issue can't be repaired without also repairing another related issue, with cars.

Depending on how old your car is, what you bought it for and when, it may possibly be that the cost of repairs is more than what the car's actual worth is now. This was true of two used cars I had years ago, one after the other. They each cost under a $1,000, and if I'd been told an $800 repair bill it would have been not really sensible to put that much money into a used car I just about paid that much for in the first place, so instead I put the same money into just moving along to another similar used car -- but with the fresh start of that it at least ran and was less miles, so a kind of "start all over again" deal.

$800 is rough, I guess it would depend on if your car is really worth fixing or if it would be better to scrap it and then use that money + what you would of spent on a repair on a new used car that works.

my car died. took too shop paid them $250 to fix. get back dies on road half mile from shop. they keep for 2-3 weeks say can't find problem. I have for week then it dies again this time stranding me across town. they've now had it for another 3 weeks and still can't find the problem. oh and it almost died the whole way driving to the shop but they waited days before looking at it. until it acts up they can't fix it. didn't have this problem before they "fixed it" i think its something to do with their parts they put in. so guess I'll have to get it back but can't drive it if it could die at any time. what if happens again and I get hit. :S hurting my job search and stuff now too. I hate cars but we also need them

hugs. so I know your pain. though on the plus side you know whats wrong with yours.

Being that me and my dad did a mechanical restoration on my car, here is my advice.

I would repair it. If you trust this mechanic, then they should do a good job at the repairs. For $800, if you can get another few years out of the car, then that is money well spent in my eyes. Since my car is a 28 year old American car, I don't know much about Nissan Altima's since our cars are completely different in design and technology. I can say that labor definitely is a majority of the cost associated with repair builds. I think it is close to $100 an hour last I checked. Shops usually have parts suppliers that they frequently purchase from, so the parts may cost what they do in the link you shared or they may be a bit more expensive then that. If the shop is reputable, then presumably the parts will be OEM (genuine Nissan parts) or very high quality third party parts. When it comes to engine components, I wouldn't cheap out on such parts. A bad engine will cost you much more in the long run, either needing to replace the engine or the car itself.

If you tried selling the car as is, you are not going to get a lot of money for it being it needs work. Junkyards and salvage yards won't pay out that much either. We had a 2001 Buick Century that needed some work in order to pass inspection, got $800 for the car to give you an idea of what you may wind up getting if you went this route.

Thanks, all. I was able to secure funds and I've told the mechanic to go ahead with the repairs.

You replace ignition coils all at once. And if there were other things wrong, splitting things up would end up costing more.