Dead car question

[David S.]

The engine died on our beater '04 Camry. Shop says no compression on the block, IIRC. The shop quoted us $7k to replace it, which is almost twice what we paid for the car a few months ago.

What do I do with a dead car? Any way to get money back out of it?

[LittleLebowski]

The engine died on our beater '04 Camry. Shop says no compression on the block, IIRC. The shop quoted us $7k to replace it, which is almost twice what we paid for the car a few months ago.

What do I do with a dead car? Any way to get money back out of it?

Which engine? I’d be shopping for quotes. You can prolly save money by finding your own engine.

[LittleLebowski]

@JV_

…

[Spartan1980]

Can you find another $3500 Camry that compares to it? You said it was your "beater", what were your plans for the car? If you had planned on driving it a few more years I'd be looking at salvage engines, there are literally millions out there somewhere.

[JCN]

The engine died on our beater '04 Camry. Shop says no compression on the block, IIRC. The shop quoted us $7k to replace it, which is almost twice what we paid for the car a few months ago.

What do I do with a dead car? Any way to get money back out of it?

When I was racing beaters we used this site to find junkyard engines that ran.

https://www.car-part.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi

If you have friends who wrench and are set up to do it you might be able to replace it for $2500 all in. But no guarantees on how long that’ll last either unfortunately.

Might be easier to contact a salvage yard and see if they’ll give you $1k for yours and roll that into a new beater Camry.

[LittleLebowski]

Can you find another $3500 Camry that compares to it? You said it was your "beater", what were your plans for the car? If you had planned on driving it a few more years I'd be looking at salvage engines, there are literally millions out there somewhere.

This is probably the best answer. A neighbor of mine got a Pontiac Vibe cheap for a beater and it’s a Toyota Matrix in GM livery, seems like a good way to get into a beater Toyota.

[TGS]

@JRB should take a look at this

[JV_]

If you have friends who wrench and are set up to do it you might be able to replace it for $2500 all in. But no guarantees on how long that’ll last either unfortunately.

That's the problem with an 04 engine, it's probably not going to have 40K on the odometer. It'll likely be 140K'ish. If it was well maintained, you'd get another 100K out of it. If it wasn't, and it's been sitting outside for a few years, it'll be less.

I'd just find another car, you'll be in a new engine for $3500+ at best.

[Welder]

A diagnosis of zero compression is a little hard to believe....you should have compression on at least some cylinders even if your timing belt broke. Unless you know the shop really well and have reason to trust them, I'd honestly get a second opinion. Or buy a compression tester and verify for yourself....it's one of the easiest tests to perform and only requires pulling the coil packs / plug wires and the plugs.

[wsr]

Buy a salvage engine and install it yourself….get it done for a grand give or take