find better mechanics that stuff all can be done for less than half of the cheapest price you were quoted. g.l

 

FWIW, I would NEVER trade an original factory built 2jz with a mere 70k miles for the average rebuilt or jdm swap engine unless I knew for a fact that the original had been severely abused/neglected. (BTW, you can get the maintenance history of your car from Lexus) I'd just deal with its oil leaks and basic maintenance issue long before I'd trust the rebuilt if I were keeping it for the long haul. I just have that much faith in Toyota's original build quality.

Backing up though, before you put any more money into either, I think you need to ask yourself what your plans are for this car; just how long do you realistically intend to keep it? Are you are going to drive it for another 5, 7, 10 years? Have you considered how outdated it will be compared to modern cars by then? Plus, it's only two doors, will you still want that? Properly maintained, it will easily last until then . . and well beyond. These motors are known for reaching 300k+ miles before needing to be rebuilt; at an average of 15K miles per year, that's another 15+ years of life in your current engine.

I'd say if you aren't really sure you'll keep the car long enough to see the return of your investment in terms of actual time/miles you will drive it, then you might consider otherwise because you would never get a fair return for all that money when you sell it; you have to use it yourself to see a return. In the near term, it would help your sale value only by a slight amount.

As was mentioned before, a lot of those issues (and prices) sound overinflated. I'd focus on the essential issues now and take the rest in stride as you can budget for them as part of an ongoing and routine maintenance practice.

$.02

 

SJ you're delusional dude. $1200 for THIS

spark plugs
fuel filter
timing belt
serpentine belt

Omitting all of the other stuff she likely doesn't need.

Also PLEASE I'm just dying to hear how much you think it's going to cost a shop to perform a RELIABLE 1jz swap.

Please READ the post before you blast it. And yes, swapping a perfectly good 70k mile motor for some other bull**** motor that you have no history on is going to cost a lot of money for no gain and you STILL have to do the maintenance items listed above. Clearly you bring no experience or knowledge to this thread, please don't mislead the OP.

 

Okay, here's the reality: I love, love, love this car. There is not another car on the planet that I would ever want, plus I don't want payments anyway. Soooooo, that settles it - I'll just do it! [hopefully at a lower initial cost by doing major necessities first] Thanks for all the input - much appreciated.

 

BTW come to think of it, I can change a timing belt on the supra in 3 hours. So that's 3 hours at $100/hr plus parts and some of the other small things. Ask for an itemized quote for:

Serpentine Belt
Timing belt
Spark Plugs
Fuel Filter

Then post it on here and let us help you pick it apart . I'm willing to bet it's not unreasonable to get this done for under $700. Hell if you were in AZ I'd knock this out for $450 plus parts.

 

I so need to be in AZ

 

why doesnt she just buy another sc for the price of all that labor? thats ludacris to be paying 6+k on a car thats worth less than that. if she was making the car better yea but she's just bringing it back to running good again.

that's my personal opinion though. id just find another and sell the current for like $1500

 

Some people value a nice car with a comfortable ride, not needing a ton of speed. That and there is the fact of reliability comes into play on a modified engine.. which she clearly is concerned with having a reliable car.

 

To clarify, I did not recommend a rebuilt motor for "speed". When the price of parts and labor exceeds the cost of putting in a rebuilt, well the answer seems obvious.

Money can be saved by deciding not to repair certain items, or doing it yourself, but the OP indicated that she wants the car fixed and is not willing to DIY. It is possible however, that some of the things on the list don't need to be done immediately or at all.

Getting the quote broken down and itemized, and clarification as to why the repairs need to be made is an excellent idea.

You may also want to find out the blue book on your car and trade up to a newer SC if the cost comes close to the cars value.

 

How about bringing some of your girlfriends to wash some of us fellow cl'ers cars and we will do the labor for you. Provided you supply the burritos and beer. Lol...but in all honestly I doubt you need all that, have a fellow member who knows the car and can use a wrench to check it all out for you. Out of curiosity, is your car lowered?

 

Also can we give her the lurker of the year award? Joined in 2003 with 7 posts and all of them are in this thread? LOL

 

i noticed that to hahahhhahahaha

 

car is not lowered, at least not by me and I'm the second owner.
so anyone in the Palm Springs California area want to bring a wrench???? Jus askin

Lurker of the year? Are you kidding me? I'm lurker of forever and proud of it!
Thank you for this award. I wish to thank . . . . oh nevermind my 15 seconds are up :-)

 

She is probably busy with Facebook or something. I get on here and read more things than I can handle.

 

Man I read this whole thread and was waiting to see if some of you local boys would jump at the opp to help a "girl" out..

I guess you do need to be in AZ or FL cause everything you listed could of been fixed with you supplying the parts and the beer. Well good luck with that ..


Where are you in California ???