rikkistein

Hi everyone. I'm a newbie to this forum but have enjoyed the wealth of information found here over the years about my model Lexus. Recently, while I was recovering from a serious illness and major surgery, my car's engine died due to several factors out of my control. It sat in the garage for weeks and was only started up every few days by my brother. I later discovered that that does not charge the battery but rather drains it. So the battery died and we had AAA jump it for us and my brother drove it around for a while. The red engine light apparently was on and off intermittently while he drove it but he thought that meant it needed oil. When he called me to tell me he was going to check the oil level and the red light was on, I told him to stop driving the car, get a tow truck and get it back to the garage. Well, he drove it back home. I sent it to the mechanic the next day who thought it might be the oil sensor and he replaced that first. The light stayed off but within a few days the engine threw a rod and that was the end of it. Long story to bring you to my questions:
Is there any point in putting a used engine in the car for about $3500? Or should I sell it to someone who will fix it up for himself but is only offering me $650 for the car?
My engine has 178K miles on it so rebuilding it is not a great idea, I'm told. The body and interior are in great shape. It has all the extras one could buy in 1997.. and it's my baby. I love the car. It has been relatively low maintenance over these many years and I am sad to say goodbye to it. I've spoken to a couple of other independent Lexus certified mechanics who both told me to get rid of it.. and that $500 is about all I could get for it without a running engine. I thought before I make the final decision, I would ask Club Lexus. I look forward to hearing your thoughts. Thank you!

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

If you cant do the repairs yourself, get rid of it. An engine swap is not going to be a cost effective option.

rikkistein

Is $650 about all I can get for the car as is? I feel like I'm giving it away. It has a brand new battery that I put in just before I got sick which cost $120. Thank you for your reply.

speedkar9

Yes, unfortunately $650 is actually a fair price for the car without an engine, considering scrap value is $2-300 tops. Swap the battery and tires and whatever else is in good shape before giving the car away to cut your losses.

If you could find another ES300 or Camry V6 or Avalon that has a decent used engine, you could get a shop to do a simple swap (rather than put in a rebuilt or new one in) and get it back on the road since you say the rest of it is in good shape.

$3500 is a lot of money and can more than buy you another ES300.

rikkistein

Thanks for your reply. Not sure how to find a decent used engine without my mechanic doing the legwork. I imagine any used engine from 1997 is going to have pretty high mileage on it and be hard to find. My mechanic would charge around $3K to find and replace the engine, which is pretty low compared to what another shop would charge. I checked with two other Lexus independent mechanics and they quoted me closer to $4K to $4.5K to do the work. It feels like it's time to say goodbye to the car, as much as I love it but I really hate the thought of getting so little money for it. I have no way to swap the battery or tires/wheels and no place to store them, so the guy would be getting items that are worth the $650 he'd be paying for the whole car. It's a shame that this happened but I guess that's the way things sometimes go. Thanks again for your input.

ES300NZ

You've been through some huge changes, and big events there. I think this is another one. Let the car go. It served you well that's over now. Look forward to finding something newer, and nicer.

Once of my cousins once put $3,000 into a $2000 car, .. when it came time to sell it, it was still a $2000 car, even if it did have a $3,000 engine and paint job.

DJPsystems

What part of California are you in? I had a shop in La Habra swap my engine and they charged me $1900.

hanime

I know how you feel. My '97 ES300 just reached 250K miles and still runs like a champion. I had it since college when it was at 151K miles in 2006. I thought about getting another ES300 all the time, but I just can't because it's been with me for so long, I cannot let it go for some reason. Some weird chemistry there.

But in your situation, I would definitely let it go since going through an engine swap will cost you almost as much as another ES300. I've seen some similar clean ES300s for $4000 easily with 130K miles. If you can swap it yourself, then that will be another story.

Fritz330

Part it out.

OceanView

I would not put anymore money into it. Seems like it may have been neglected or abused to have issues all come up like that. Sitting for 3 weeks should not cause any issues unless you had a bad battery to start with.

Sometimes, you have to walk away from a car as it makes no financial sense to keep putting money into it.

rikkistein

You got that right. Major health challenges that will ultimately be OK but I'm still recovering. I sure didn't need this problem at this time. Thanks so much for your input.

rikkistein

I'm in the Los Angeles area. Not too far. How is the new engine running? How many miles were on it?

rikkistein

I wish I could tell you what it is. It's just been a part of my life for so long. It rides beautifully and I feel very safe in it. It really has become like an extension of myself. I don't particularly like the design of the newer models. There's just something about this model. I think they got it all right when they put the '97 together. Form and function and a touch of class. Great car. I will miss it.

rikkistein

This car was hardly neglected. Serviced every 3K milles for 17 yrs. Repairs done as needed. I actually had to replace the battery the day before I went into the hospital, so it was a brand new battery. It died after about 5 wks. of just being started up by my brother. I think it was a combination of my brother driving it with the red oil light flashing on and off and a misdiagnosis by the mechanic that it was just the sensor. Neither will accept any blame or responsibility for the engine throwing a rod. Perhaps the oil pressure was intermittently low and areas within the engine didn't get enough oil to remain in good working order. I don't really know and probably never will know what caused the problem, but I suspect the mechanic screwed up in some way. He, of course, says the damage was done by my brother driving the car with the red light on. By replacing the sensor, the red light stayed off. My question to the mechanic was 'if he replaced the sensor but the pressure was still low, why didn't the light come on to warn of the lack of oil pressure?' He really couldn't answer that question satisfactorily for me.. but just kept saying the damage was already done to the rod. The sad thing is I only got to drive the car once after it went into the shop and was brought back to my garage. It seemed fine..no bad sounds... but a couple of days later I started it up and there was a whining belt sound coming from under the hood. The mechanic came out and listened to it, took it back to the shop and said it was a dried out belt but that when it warmed up the sound went away. When he brought it back to me and left, I started it up again and then there was a metal on metal sound coming from the engine. I couldn't believe he didn't hear that sound but he claims it was fine driving over to my house. He came back out the next morning and listened to it and said it was the rod. Engine is gone. It's obvious to me that they screwed up but won't admit it. It's all water under the bridge now. But I sure wouldn't give him the job of replacing the engine, which is not going to happen at this point.

lostape45

I would say if you have the time and patience, part it out, you'll get at least $650 if it is in as good shape as you say and possibly more. I hate to see you get cheated out of such a nice ride.