What is wrong with this $800 2002 Civic with 250,000 miles? Is it a melted crank position sensor?
 

This is what I posted in the For Sale thread. I will post pictures when I am on my computer.

https://ecomodder.com/forum/attachme...1&d=1649919482
https://ecomodder.com/forum/attachme...1&d=1649919489
https://ecomodder.com/forum/attachme...1&d=1649919496
https://ecomodder.com/forum/attachme...1&d=1649919507
https://ecomodder.com/forum/attachme...1&d=1649919515
https://ecomodder.com/forum/attachme...1&d=1649919523
In the ad he said the car overheated driving back from the valley last summer. In-person he said the car overheated while driving back from town 15 miles away when it was snowing for the first time.

In-person he said he had it towed, didn't want to work on it in the snow (we never had snow very long, but it was cold). He pointed out that he doesn't have a garage, so he replaced the car, and tried to diagnose it when it warmed up.

The Internet told him to pull the crank position sensor and it cranks and starts with a delay, but he felt in over his head.

The blue book in good condition is $1,961 and it seems like everyone selling a car that doesn't run and drive, unless the car absolutely looks trash, usually says something like "It is probably a cheap fix" and wants what it would be worth if the car ran and drove reliably.

This guy doesn't seem to be hurting for cash. Maybe he does just want to get rid of it, but people usually want more than a car is worth, not significantly less.

The car was first sold on 2/10/2002.
A loan or lien was reported on 06/25/2012 and again on 03/09/2021.
On 05/18/2021 CarFax reports "Title issued or updated
Registration updated when owner moved the vehicle to a new location."
It was the same MVD as in March!
It passed emissions on 7/27/2021 with 248,501 miles and the second owner bought it the next day.
This guy apparently bought it on 08/20/21 allegedly with 254,000 miles, which is likely a typo, because I don't think that second owner, likely a dealer or flipper, drove 239 miles a day, but maybe someone bought it for Uber Eats and overheated it or something.
Except I believe the odometer reads 249,500, so this guy drove the car 1,000, blew the head gasket or something, and didn't do anything for almost 8 months?

AutoCheck says that it lived in Ganado, Arizona until 01/14/2016 and in Queen Creek from 02/01/2016 until 09/01/2021.
It shows 248,501 miles on 07/27/2021 and 248,475 miles on 07/28/2021.

I can see someone rounding 248,475 to 248,500, but 248,501?

It also shows the car having 254,000 miles on 08/20.
It reported liens on 02/10/2002, 03/09/2021, and 05/18/2021.

I believe that the first owner had a lien, but it wasn't paid off for 9 years and a month?

Why were liens reported on 03/09/2021 and 05/18/2021?

Maybe the first driver drove it until they overheated it and then traded it in. Maybe a place like the used car lot in Pinetop bought it with a bunch of running cars and this guy bought it as a project, but he would rather look at cat pictures and argue with strangers than work on it, and he realized that he was never going to get it running.

Maybe he does know what is wrong with it and this is effectively a mechanic's special.

This mechanic says what to check when your 2001-2005 Civic overheats and there are dozens of people commenting about their overheating Civics.

Is that because the Civic is a hugely popular car or is it especially bad at overheating?

Many people reported replacing a bunch of parts and still having problems. Two ended up replacing the head gasket and the mechanic said sometimes the water pump fails: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBzWxE8FeYcI searched for "2002 honda civic overheating crankshaft position sensor" and nobody mentioned the sensor, so I put it in quotes, and found results, but couldn't make heads or tails out of it.

I don't know why I am staying late trying to figure out this myself when I plan on having mechanics sort it out.

I really need to go to bed! I am supposed to pick up a Uhaul in less than 7 hours!

I wondered if he had posted anything about the car overheating on Facebook. Marketplace showed that he sold 7 vehicles significantly more expensive than this in the last 3 years and the latest was 28 weeks ago in Queen Creek, so it looks like he bought this car there.

One was a Challenger and he wrote that he cannot get in and out anymore due to injuries. Another was a car he wrote he bought for his 16-year-old "but she decided to go with something else."

Her bike?

Who gives their teenager options?!

The local Toyota dealership tagged them a couple of weeks ago for buying new 2019 Rams.

New?

Rams from a Toyota dealership?

No mention of car problems, just lame Facebook posts.

Good news everyone! Forbidden milkshake! :D
 

https://ecomodder.com/forum/attachme...1&d=1649964082
I rented a 10' truck and dolly, picked up the car, and tried to get the seller to tell me what exactly led him to disconnecting the sensor, but he said he couldn't find it, and would link it if he located it later.
I was planning on taking it straight to Crazy J's anyway, but I wanted to give him as much information as possible.

I just wanted to stop at the first big parking lot past his shop, but I was further than Mom's house before I found anything, so I drove home, parked the truck in front of the 2000, and carefully drove to the garage while watching the gauges.

The temperature seemed under control, but when I got there the radiator was low, and the oil cap was milky.

We will see what Crazy J says, and when I will hear back.

2002 CIVIC overheat
 

Does it have an automatic trans?
A friends Corolla developed 'strawberry milkshake' transmission fluid.
The transmission cooler inside the radiator had breached, allowing the two fluids to comingle.
The engine oil was not affected.
Transmission clutches would not 'grab.'
After a $220 radiator and continuously flushing the trans with new fluid as the nasty stuff pumped out of the coolant line, she cleared, and transmission service was restored.
If transmission fluid got into the cooling system it will cause an overheat.
Heat cannot easily pass through a coating of oil, into the coolant, preventing the heat-rejection.
Ethylene glycol coolant is petroleum based.
If it's not changed at the proper interval, it bio-degrades back to 'oil'. According to our old auto shop instructor.
With improper coolant, the electric -fan thermo-sensor, ECM: ignition timing and electronic fuel injection , would be processing bogus voltage signals.
It might explain the rough engine and overheat.

I topped off the radiator and drops of oil and what I fear are solids from a bottle of head gasket fix floated up.

floated up
 

Start pulling spark plugs to identify the offending cylinder.
If you have all the parts, and nothings warped, replacing the head gasket is a one-day job.
You need to understand what the failure mode was though.
On my CRX, the firewall-side of the carburetor has a coolant line for rapid heat.
Mine developed a less than pin-hole sized leak, which under temp and pressure was only a fine mist! Almost impossible to detect.
It took the car down. But came back from the dead.
To get the timing belt off you'll be looking right at the water pump. It's a normal service item for replacement, as well as the belt. Check the cog-belt idler-tensioner while you're there.:)

I know how long head gaskets are supposed to take, but I spent three months replacing the one in my Subaru at the house of a friend I had dated, who announced we were boyfriend-girlfriend.

I wasn't very motivated to deal with all of that.

It took me five months to replace the head gasket on my Civic, at my own house, and I didn't find a bunch of additional problems.

It was a blur, but I am pretty sure Mom kept saying "You are going to get your car running again? Okay, just first do x, y, and z for me!"

Crazy Jay said that he lost the key in his office, so I ran home to get another, just stopping to see if that Civic had a chip key.

Yes.

I was going to make a spare of the spare for the mechanic that already lost a key.

I found a lanyard, but he had found my key, although he hadn't pulled the sparkplugs or checked compression.

He said that replacing the head gasket could cost $800, which was much more than I expected, but I mentioned that it probably needed a new timing belt, and he said that would just be $200 for the kit.

He said the engine should be fine with a new gasket.

I asked about replacing the engine and he said it would cost $900, so it would cost around the same amount, I would just need to order one of those mythical $300 low-mileage JDM engines! :D

RepairPal says it would cost about $1,170 to replace the head gasket. Your Mechanic absolutely will not give me an estimate, it shows bad results for "Head Gasket Replacement." AAA says that members would pay at least $1,220, but nonmembers would need to pay $50 more! :D

After 3 weeks and 7 attempts, I was finally able to ask about the engine in the 2002 Civic.
 

He said it had a blown head gasket, but he wouldn't be able to tell if the engine is damaged without removing the head.
The best-case scenario would be that I have a strong engine with a quarter million miles that needs the head gasket and timing belt replaced.
I could do it myself, but I already need to fix 4 cars, a greenhouse, a shed, and plenty of other things. The cheapest JDM engine I could find was $1,000, and $1,380 with a transmission.
If I am paying to replace an engine with 250,000 miles I feel that I should swap the transmission, too.

However, I found a $1,200 low-mileage engine and transmission for my Accord.

The Civic is newer and looks significantly better.

It also needs a new radiator and I just hope Crazy J can back-flush the heater core.

My phone kept changing "flush" to "door."

How does that make any sense?!

I told Crazy J that I was finding cheaper Accord engines than Civic ones and he confirmed he would charge about the same to swap it, but another $3-400 to swap a transmission at the same time, plus transmission fluid.

$2,500 plus fluid just seems too much. Sure, the drive train should last another 15-20 years, but the rest of the car isn't that nice.

I don't think there is anything to do, but resuming Operation Pig Lipstick.

This is why 20 year old cars go to the scrapyard when they develop problems. Swapping engines takes a lot of time and mechanic rates aren't cheap.

Crazy J said he didn't know that I wanted him to reverse-flush the heater core.
 

It was the last thing I told him!

He claimed he would do it today.

Should I give him a day or a week? :D

I still need to deal with my other cars. I should have climbed under my Accord, but I have been trying to figure out how to replace the heater core in the 2002 Civic.

I didn't want to do this. I really didn't want to do this. I kept telling myself that I would get the parts, gather the tools, and buy a Haynes manual. I would rather flip through dozens of chapters and sections than spend days trying to figure out everything ahead of time.

However, I always need to stop, wash up, and then buy another part or tool, or figure out how to remove something that wasn't described in the FSM or anywhere else I saw.

I just wanted to figure out all of the tools that I needed to gather.

In theory, having already replaced the head gasket in a 2000 Civic, I should have all of the tools that I need for a 2002 Civic head gasket.

I just watch Eric the Car Guy's video and while I was eating lunch I watched his video and mentally listed each step, which, of course, I wouldn't remember.

I thought that, instead of pausing his video hundreds of times and going back, I would start with the transcript.

Yes, the transcript that doesn't have capitalization, punctuation, or any kind of breaks, so I used WPS Office for that, but it is lame, so I copied it into a Gmail draft.

That started suggesting all kinds of corrections, so I copied it to Docs, but that only did so much, so I went back to Gmail, pulled it up on my desktop, and have reviewed it for hours in Word.

The video is an hour long and my transcript is 12 pages.

Huh. I wanted to attach it as a code block so someone could click on it if they wanted to read it, but wouldn't need to scroll through it, and apparently I am limited to 8-page-posts! :D

Amazing. I tried attaching an .RTF, but apparently that format is too new for Vbulletin. I tried attaching a .TXT, but it was over twice the allowed size!

So, I am only allowed 5 pages?

I feel underwhelmed that the .ZIP of a .TXT is only 65% smaller.

I think that I have 29 instructions from the first 5.5 pages, but then he said to rotate the engine to line up the timing marks. Sure, I just put "Remove the axle," but I cannot have two big steps that are actually a bunch more steps, so I found a video on rotating the engine and doing the timing, but I quickly thought "That's it! I need to go to bed!"

I didn't lie down for at least an hour or two, but I didn't use my brain during that time! :)

When I woke up this morning I thought "Continue figuring out how to replace the head gasket and timing belt? No, I need to work on the shed and other cars!"

I sure wish that I knew what I did instead!

I finally got the 2002 Civic home. I never wanted to have the 2002 Civic home
 

After 9 days I finally found where I stashed $700 cash. I kept looking for a black Wells Fargo bag, which I finally found in my Accord trunk on Sunday, having already given up on finding it.

I took my brother on his walk and thought that if the money wasn't in the bag it could be anywhere.

I could have put it in any of the dozens of books that Dad left behind.

Then I remembered where I hid it and put it in the black bank bag.

Then apparently I set it on top of black clothing and put stuff on top of that.

On Monday I went to get my car and realized that I hadn't grabbed the money.

Then I couldn't remember where it was.

I spent all day looking for it and when I found it my brother gave it to Mom.

I didn't have any idea where she put it, but she had him give it back the next day.

I kept trying to get my car and stuff came up. I wasn't able to go before seeing my first client and somehow ever since that client moved to that spot I have forgotten about the client that I have seen immediately after that for 2 years, the exact same day and time.

Remembering is hard!

The second family asked to shift right and it was too late to get my car.

I just needed to grab a few things today. Of course, none of those worked out, and I forgot to grab my cash.

I had needed to park Mom's car at the school so the hired help could park in the driveway.

I got the Civic home, but she died before I could get her through the gate, and I couldn't restart her. I grabbed my brother to have him help push, but all that he did was grunt and groan as he leaned a little bit. I still had my tow strap and giant cargo strap laying out from moving Chorizo, so I ensured the parking brake was set in that car, and tried to use her as an anchor, but I couldn't get it to work.

I finally used Harbor Freight's cheapest cargo strap to bridge the gap and cranked the big one all of the way.

The 2002 Civic moved 1". As far as I can tell, the 2000 Civic didn't move at all.

The battery was clearly weakened and Chorizo's battery has been on life support for years, so I swapped them, eventually started the 2002, and maneuvered her into the side yard.

One of my errands was buying this portable garage:
https://ecomodder.com/forum/attachme...1&d=1674933071
It is currently $230. I couldn't find any valid coupons. It was $170 in October. I couldn't find a valid 20% off coupon and any coupon from any site besides hfqpdb seems guaranteed to fail.

I told my brother to open the tent and empty it, but of course he didn't do either. I am going to empty it, take it down, and set up the portable garage in its place, with the current contents of the tent around my car.

That is assuming I can push Chorizo into it. I tried pushing her forward so I could ratchet up the 2002, but I couldn't budge her.

I am sure that jacking her up and putting 2x6s under each wheel would make that far easier.

I will end up with a portable garage where the tent is and a silver Civic where the black one is.

Then, after all of that work, I can finally resume fixing things.

I don't think you can make out all of the projects in this picture, which aren't all of my projects:
https://ecomodder.com/forum/attachme...1&d=1655949317

1. Mom's Camry
2. My Camry
3. The 2002 Civic
4. The 2000 Civic
5. The tent
6. The shed
7. The back fence.

I wish that I knew where these instructions went!

My brother woke up and laid back down in the living room a couple of times, so Mom canceled his van, and let him sleep until 11.

Mom and I went back to bed, but I was up pretty quickly, and just going to the bathroom seemed to disturb my brother, so I stayed in my room, pretending I didn't exist.

When I took care of everything else I started looking for those instructions I was writing out. I finally decided they weren't on my laptop, so I switched to my desktop.

Right! I wanted to use Word to format the script from Eric's video!

Why?! :)

I have two copies of that, the RTF, and the TXT, but I absolutely cannot find actual instructions, so I need to start over!

It took hours, but I found instructions! :)
 

I downloaded the FSM because it is likable, but I hadn't even found the right section when I thought there must be a write-up somewhere, although it is ridiculous how long it took me to find. I found a sticky for the 1996-2000, but needed to go through dozens and dozens of forum posts to find one for the 2002. It looks great, but the steps aren't numbered, so I worry about keeping track of where I am! :D

Head Gasket + Timing Belt DIY It says to buy replacement nuts and studs for the intake and exhaust manifolds, but I became frustrated trying to find them on-line, and I hate to pay $10 to ship a couple fasteners. It says to buy a wingnut socket.

Eric mentioned that. He showed a socket he found with a slot sawed in it. Hillman sells one for $10 on Amazon. There were significantly cheaper Chinese ones.

It says it originates in the US.

I just hope there isn't a space issue. This should fit in a 1/4" socket, but looks 2.5" long, on top of the 1/4" socket.

An actual wing nut socket would be a fraction as deep.

Everyone said to order OEM and only OEM, but I ordered Fel Pro.

Someone mentioned that the dealership has a kit, but at the time it was $233, and the individual components totaled $135.

Here is the list (and comments): Headgasket replacement parts list.

Majestic will ship the kit for $236.69, but all of the components for $163.22.

At least the post says it is all of the components. I opened every relevant Google result until they stopped looking relevant and none of them said what was included in the kit.

The post with the parts list suggests buying a valve spring compressor so you can replace all of the seals that you are buying. I think this is the type they said, but they mentioned someone's video, which I haven't found yet: ATP Solid Valve Spring Compressor C Clamp Service Kit

They mention Invisible Glove. Amazon sells it for $11. I couldn't find it elsewhere cheaper, not with shipping. It is supposed to help keep your hands clean.

Disposable gloves are cheap, but rip easily. I haven't ripped mechanic's gloves, but they soak.

Shouty recommended wearing disposable under mechanic's gloves--if they fit, but you might need to take your arthritis medication.

From the instruction thread: It is easier to remove the intake manifold if you remove the brackets attached to it first. Someone also suggested securing the intake with a bungee cord.

You may want to remove the engine mount after removing the intake.Once again I am doomed! :)

I believe that Eric disconnected the exhaust, but just pushed it back, still on the studs.

"solution for TDC and top cover - pull the top cover (carefully to not to damage the TDC wires) from the front and lift towards the rear, move it over the engine mounts studs and put your hand in there to disconnect the TDC."

Not Top Dead Center? :)

He said he needed a crow's foot.

I wonder if a wrench extender would work? Eric reviewed one here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZjqpQPYOos This guy tested Tight Wrench Amateur ($32), Tight Wrench Professional ($70), Mac ($130), and Snap-on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK2jfJLKrK4 The cheap one broke with 30 foot-pounds, the second broke around 110, and the expensive ones did about twice that.

I absolutely needed to cut this short 2 hours ago.

It depends on the car.
 

I had a pair of 1992 Geo Metro's my wife would drive around in when she did her Marketing thing. They paid her to drive her Mercedes Sedan, but never checked. She'd drive one Metro into the ground and then I'd give her the other one to abuse while I rebuilt the first one. Both died of body rot at about 300K miles. I still have one engine and 5 speed in the storage. We still have the 87 Mercedes sedan her company paid for.

One weekend, my wife wasn't off at a convention so she decided to help me replace the engine. After draining fluids and disconnecting the transmission, exhaust, intake and the few electrical/fluid connections I went off to get the engine lift. I came back to find the engine missing! I found my wife wandering around with it! I told her to put it down! So she walked over to the work cart and plopped it down. Then she pushed it into the shop. I guess Bally's must have really helped her physical capabilities because she's 100 pounds and change. Then again, when stripped, aluminum block, three-cylinder Metro engines don't weigh much.

There is a difference between what could be done and what is actually done by most people in the real world. What percentage of people in the USA do you think can do an engine swap? Personally I would put it in the single digits. The VAST majority of people have all their car maintenance done by mechanics which charge a hefty. Which is why the vast majority of old cars go to the scrapyard when they develop a major problem. Yes, there are always exceptions to the rule.

I am sure that I could do an engine swap, but I estimate that I would need 1-5 years! :D
https://ecomodder.com/forum/attachme...1&d=1657137706

It depends on the engine and the car. Drop an LS1 in a Mini?
Maybe 0.1%, one in a thousand? R&R a Beetle engine. Your average hippie Compleat Idiot can do that.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives...diotsguide.jpg
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/...diotsguide.jpg

I didn't finish reading your comment before I did a search. The guy who did this is a 6'7", so he fits in the Mini about as well as the Corvette engine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3puVMPEvNi0

Something simple like a 2000 Civic. Also something representative of what is on the road today in volume not an ancient air-cooled VW. What percentage of the US population would attempt to pull a Civic engine from their daily driver and replace it with a reman or junkyard engine? I'd say less than 5%.

Maybe a DX, LX, or EX, but car-part doesn't even show an engine for my HX in Arizona. It only shows 2 in all of the U.S., one for $750 in Modesto with 127,000 miles.

I could visit my grandparents' grave.

Is a 2002 Civic closer to a 2000 base Civic, or a 1999 Accord? :)

Car-part asked if I had EGR. I don't think so, but how can I tell?

Well, according to Darcane, only the 2001-2002 Civics with VTEC and the 2003+ Civics had EGR, which is curious, because I have cleaned out the EGR in my 2000 Civic twice! :)

Unfortunately, CappAttack's Civic was totaled 3 weeks later, a month and a half after he bought the car!
2002 civic LX coupe: missing electrical connector for EGR valve

I had previously looked on LKQ for a 2002 Civic engine. The cheapest one they have for my car has 158,000 miles and they would charge $1,500 shipped!

I couldn't search for 2000 Civic engines. When I put in 2000 Civic it showed Engine Compartment, but not engines.

LKQ on eBay will ship me a 2002 Civic engine with 80,000 miles for $860.

I forget where I saw $1,300 engine and transmission combinations. I probably searched importers' sites.

Searching eBay just shows engines, not a single transmission when I queried "engine and transmission 2002 Honda Civic LX Coupe 2-Door 1.7L."

Car-part shows a 2001 Civic for $700, but it doesn't give any other information.

It seems that the sedan and coupe engines aren't interchangeable and I see far more sedan engines.

The only engines car-part shows that specify fitment are for sedans.

A & G Auto Wrecking has a 2002 Accord engine with unspecified miles for $400. They say "Hot and ready, free local delivery."

Orozco Auto Parts has a 2000 engine with 70,000 miles for $600.

JG Auto Wrecking has a 1998 engine. It looks like it has 218,000 miles for $300.

I had wanted to stop at 3, but All Japanese Auto Parts LLC has a 1998 engine, which came in running with 176,000 miles for $450.

Ran when parked is better than the alternative! :D

Perhaps Honda builds better engines than transmissions. I found 40 engines for my Accord, but only 8 transmissions!

Some of those are LKQ.

A&G has a 1998 transmission for $400 and A&S has a 1999 transmission with 165,000 miles for $475.

So, in theory, I could drive a Uhaul down, and have an engine and transmission from different cars delivered for $800.

In theory I could have them deliver to a parking lot 20 miles away, but let's say I drive right there. Uhaul won't give me details without giving my credit card information. I logged in. They should have it on file.

They charge $20 plus 69¢ per mile. It is 187 miles from Uhaul, so it would cost $278 before all taxes and fees.

$1,100 for an engine and transmission that may not be better than mine.

Would any of you guys take the risk? :)

What was that line art pic of a Civic's engine plumbing that looked like a subway system map?

I've got a zero-miles boxer four on the bench, and a Lexus electric axle with about the same power. I know which one would go into my Superbeetle more easily.

EMPI or someone should make a free-valve head with an integrated turbo.

edit: Keep the rocker arms and the pneumatic plunger would fit in the old lifter bores. Hmm.....

I need to fix up some odds and ends on my Accord and at least look into replacing the rear main seal.

I also want to repaint the bumpers.

I can't sell a $250 car with ugly bumpers! :D

I am focusing on the 2002 Civic now, though. I have the timing belt and head gasket kits in the trunk, as well as the wing nut socket. I finally started watching videos. Since I have already replaced two head gaskets and one was on a 2000 Civic, I didn't take notes, but this is a lot of information in one hour!

I remember copying the transcript from some video--I am positive it was Eric the Car Guy, whose video I was watching when I started reviewing this thread.

In sum: I don't know the history of this car. The seller gave me conflicting stories and I know some of it wasn't true. The MVD seemingly put down a mileage that was a few thousand miles high, so I may drive this until the odometer matches the title.Then I went full "If you give a mouse a cookie."

I still need to fix 4 cars, a greenhouse, a shed, and plenty of other things--although one of those cars has been replaced.A local shop has a sign saying they don't source engines that are 15+ years old and if you source your own they won't warrantee it.

Reman Transmissions warrantees shipping and labor, but charge 160% more for a car with in the ballpark of 50,000 fewer miles--but you know it has zero miles and is in perfect condition--except I would have been putting it in a car with 230k miles.You know how we aren't allowed to quote entire articles?! I just wanted to sum up! :D

With the Accord oil pan, Camry valve cover gasket, and 2002 Civic head gasket I didn't want detailed instructions, I just wanted torque specs and sequences, but yes, I would rather figure out as much as possible ahead of time so I have as few interruptions to my work as possible.

I searched this hard drive for the file, yes, but I forgot about second computer!

This is the one with the links, but I already have my desktop running, so I think that I will send everything back.

Otherwise, I can just download the script to this computer! :)Those 29 steps are on my desktop, right?

Right?! :)

Now I need to look up removing the axle and rotating the engine.This is the write-up I found: Head Gasket + Timing Belt DIYI removed and reinstalled Chorizo's head by myself, but with the angles and everything I had difficulty.

An engine hoist would make short work of it, but would be overkill.

Maybe I put boards between the head and the block so I can remove and reinstall without scratching anything?

I would prefer a solution that didn't risk leaving bits of wood in my engine. Any suggestions? :)

This doesn't look right. Oh well:All right. That is as far as I got. I am going to turn Eric's script into step-by-step instructions, add these notes, and then compare and contrast with the FSM.

With the magic of my 43" screen I have lots of real estate! :)

Consolidation is the key to simplification.

My girlfriend asked if I wanted her to help with a car, but when she arrived all she wanted to do was cuddle!
My brother asked to go to the store, so we took him, then went to Walmart and Harbor Freight for trim clips, another folding table, and bungee cords, so at least I have those for working on the car.

These statements go hand in hand. You will never finish one of the cars if you keep getting distracted by new cars and projects. Get a car running - not perfect, running - then sell it. Repeat 4 times.

You are already missing the biggest boom in used car prices in your lifetime. New car inventories are increasing and wholesale used car prices are plummeting. (Down 15.6% YoY in December - the 6th month in a row they dropped) Before you know it your $500 cars will be $500 cars again instead of $3,000 - $4,000 cars.

You scared me, so I looked at www.jdpower.com/cars/1971/volkswagen/beetle/2-door-sedan. Mid book value is still going up. It's at $10K, was 8 or 9K last I checked. I bought it at $5.5K.

Which five cars do you want me to sell?! :)

Check! When my Camry blew the valve cover gasket I needed to ignore it until the Accord was fixed!

Got it!

All of them. I believe at last count you had 2 Civics, 1 Accord, and 2 Camry. Sell the 5 old beaters - buy one fairly new car that you don't have to worry about breaking down.

So, whatcha waiting for? Mad Max when the value of a vehicle is infinite?

The Camry that was totaled twice and hauled off by insurance? The Camry I replaced with the second Camry?

Are you arguing against the particulars of what was said, or the general idea? It seems you're avoiding the idea. If you disagree with the advice, let's hear what you disagree with. We don't have all the information you have, only what you've shared.

I have previously given all of that information.

There is no logic in telling someone to replace a car after one minor repair.

Every week we hear a story about how it's 20 degrees outside, the car fall off the jack, and after a minor repair is completed, you're just 8 more repairs away from having a pristine 20 year old car.

The question is, what was the value of all the cars in the condition they're in 6 months ago, combined?

Physics and design has constrained you to operating only 1 vehicle at a time, making extra vehicles unnecessary.

What if the value of all your vehicles were contained in a single car? What would that reality look like? Would it be a reliable vehicle needing no head gasket, no main seal, no heater core, no headlight restoration, no dent pulling...

A local maxima is when you can see a better place, but you have to go through a valley to get there.

At one point I had seven vehicles (three Type III went as a lot) now I'm down to two. The values didn't add up they folded into one another.

OTOH, the Superbeetle mid-book is now $10K.

https://ecomodder.com/forum/member-f...0-100-1264.jpg

This angle shows one of the two fenders I need to replace. Can you see how it's [torn and] the wrong color? The hood and both front fenders as well.