Warning: Thought I could save a 2005 Civic with a blown head gasket for $300

Picked up this beater last month from a guy in Tacoma, figured I'd just swap the gasket and drive it another year lol. After pulling the head I found the block was cracked in two places, plus the timing belt was original with 180k miles. Ended up selling it to a scrapyard for $150, so I basically lost $150 plus my whole Saturday. Anyone else ever waste money on a 'quick fix' that turned into a total loss?

3 comments

3 Comments

abbyg1412d ago

Yeah I mean... maybe people just get too dramatic about this stuff. A cracked block isn't exactly hidden you know... you can check the oil and coolant before you buy it. And original timing belt with 180k miles on a 2005 Civic? Thats pretty obvious if you just look at the belt cover. Sounds like you just didn't look hard enough before handing over the cash. Plenty of people buy $500 beaters and drive them for years after a simple repair. Maybe the real problem is you trusted the seller too much instead of doing a ten minute inspection.

hugo_schmidt12d ago

Holy crap. A cracked block in TWO places? That's insane. Like I can't believe you got that unlucky with a $300 car. @rowan_roberts49 you're right though, I always subtract the scrap value from the purchase price in my head before I even decide to look at a car. Did the seller not even let you run a compression test or at least let you peek at the oil cap? That would have saved you a whole Saturday for sure.

rowan_roberts4912d ago

Used to think any car under $500 was worth the gamble. Then I picked up a Civic with a "just needs a tune up" and found the frame was rusted clean through under the carpet. Now I just factor in the scrapyard price from the start so it's less of a surprise.