Opinion - should I fix the my car?

Question

I have a 1993 Mercury Grand Marquis which has been sitting this summer unattended. I had it towed to a shop to be worked on.

After installing a new starter, they got it started but now it idles at like 600 rpm. He says he thinks the plugs and wires were never replaced on the car ever so...he wants to do a tuneup with a fuel filter and the works to see if it starts working then....

I have already put 250 for the new starter and battery. The tuneup will cost me 400 is it worth it? I bought the car 2 years ago (for just $650) and have had no problems, but now they are starting to pile up it looks like. What do you think I should do?

Answer 1

I'll buy car from you.

Seriously, you could tune that car up yourself.  All you need are spark plugs, a distributor cap and rotor.  Bosch spark plugs come gapped from the factory.  Just switch them out one at a time.  The distributor and rotor are simple to change out.  The parts shouldn't cost you more than fifty bucks.  If you want to go all out you can change the plug wires and fuel filter which may run you another $30.  

Answer 2

Buy the parts and do the labor yourself. Save several hundred dollars.

Or, find another car and spend the same several hundred to purchase it, and hope nothing goes wrong with it.

Answer 3

Is it worth it to you, the plugs and wires shouldn't be much, i dont see a tune costing more than 100 to 125 dollar, if you pay 400.00 you will be getting ripped off.

Answer 4

I wouldn't be spending $400 on a tuneup for a car I payed $650 for, just buy another car.

Answer 5

So you bought a car 2 years ago for $650 and you are surprised you are having to put money into it?  It sounds like it has been a good car up to this point. All cars need maintenance and if you buy an older car for almost nothing, you should expect to have to pay for repairs from time to time that may equal or exceed the total cost of what you paid for the car.

If you don't fix it, you will have to go out and buy another car and if you use the $400 you saved by not fixing this car, what can you get for that? The next car may need $800 of repairs in the next few months to keep it running. You just never know.

If you like your car and you are relatively sure that the tuneup will fix the problem, I would go ahead and do it.