Thread: Should I fix or sell?

My '97 200SX needs some work, its got 131,000 miles, rough ride, lowered, and I'm moving downtown StL this coming fall. The biggest problem with it is that when im driving if i let go of the wheel it swerves into the left lane, not like drift out of line it just jerks right to left. From the old forum I've heard this means i need new axles and wheel bearings (something like $600 or so) and theres just a few little things that needs replacing. I'm just worried about this kind of stuff is going to keep happening, a few hundred here a few there really adds up, and I'm not going to have a garage to work in more than likely and not much time to do it. So should I sell it find something with lower mileage and just keep it stock(ish) and not really have to worry about whats possibly going bad or fix what I need to? (Is there much more that might be going wrong soon w/ my car?)

Where are you located right now?

About 50 min east of the city in a rural area

Ah nevermind, i'd be interested in buying it if you were around here.

Can you not figure out the problem with the car? I'd say put a stock suspension in it and then fix that major problem.

The major problem i was talking about was the hard pull to the left which is, from what i heard on the old forum, bad axles and wheel bearings. I just don't know if I want to pay for having it done and i don't know if i could do it myself.

Right now im looking at a 99 Volvo C70 convertible w/ 82,000 on it, but the parents (who are helping pay for stuff) say i have to sell my car first before we can get ne thing or even really go and look

the miles arent aNYTHING to worry about, maybe the alignment is off, with such a rought suspension your alignment is bound to **** up, you always can surf the forums for parts like axels so it wont be 2 bad a price

Have you tried getting an estimate from a garage? I think the stardard rate is like $20 for an estimate.

I think I'm also in the same boat as you: going to college and parents offered to buy me new (reliable) car to replace my constantly in need of repair Se-r. Here of some of the same things you might want to think about when deciding between a newer car and your se-r:

Enjoyability of new car (read: fast and fun)
How much better it impresses the ladies than your current car? (let's face it, b14 = "A face only Mother Nissan could love")
Increase in insurance
How important is reliability? (Do you really need to have a Honda-level reliable car or can you take public transportation when your car is in the shop?)
Do you drive enough to warrent a new car? (Now that you're going to be living in a city)

I think we can only give you things to think about, but the decision is up to you because you know your situation best.

i would fix it

if the volvo is going to be a better car for you and for what you do......i say go for it. the volvo is a more mature car and if you are going to have contact with customers/clients you may want a higher class car. not sure what you do for a living tho.

Well, the problems you outlined really shouldn't be very expensive to fix... especially when compared with the unknown of a more complicated used car of unknown history. What else is wrong with your SE-R? One of the great things about our cars is that they're relatively simple cars with inexpensive parts. If you're scared off by the maintenance costs and complexity on our cars, then an 8-year-old Volvo vert is probably not a good alternative for you. The cost of replacing the soft top alone (which should be about due) should fix any suspension/wheel bearing/axle issues you're having with the SE-R.

Assuming that there are no other major problems with your car (excessive rust, ect) my advice would be to acquire a '97 200SX FSM (Floor Shop Manual) and look at the diagrams of what suspension/drive train parts you need to refresh on a 10 year old car to get another decade of reliable use out of it and go from there.