What should I do in this situation (broken cars and need to get to work)?

I have a choice of two cars to drive to work, and a 20 minute commute. And now both are broken.

First car is a 1998 Mercedes E300d, the water pump failed a week and a half ago, between diagnosing the problem, ordering parts and special tools, etc, it's been broken a week and a half, and it will be weekend after next before I can even start working on it, and since it's a quite difficult job I'm not sure how long to finish but I wouldn't be surprised if it's a couple months to get it on the road.

Other car is a 96 Subaru legacy with very high miles, I have a low mileage engine and transmission to swap in with various other parts so I don't want to sell it, but it's badly in need of some major work which I can easily do but will take a while(either the transmission input shaft bearings or throw out bearing are bad so it constantly squeals while driving, it leaks quite a bit of oil, coolant temp sensor failed so fan doesn't work, etc).

Any votes of what I should do? I don't want to sell the Subaru because it's worthless and I still like it and have all the parts to fix it, i could buy a different car but anything more than paying $4500 cash would not be a good financial decision, other than that idk. Buy another beater car to drive while I fix the other two? I'm sure I will figure something out but I'm curious what others would say.

Is a motorcycle an option?

With a little bit of patience you can find some really good cars for that $4500 that you mentioned. In my experience $2500 is the threshold of high quality hoopdies. Cars that may be ugly or have really high mileage, but are perfectly sound and ready to drive.

Assuming that you need wheels to get to work right away, and don't have anyone willing​to lend you a car short term, this is probably the best play. Once you get the other two in order you can sell the one you like least, and possibly break even.

It can't be that hard to change a water pump on a Mercedes!!

I owned a w126 with the 5.0 V8 and that was the easiest car to work on. Everything was laid out so that tools would fit and a guy with regular sized hands could work on it.

I'd give it a shot at the MB.

Or dont fix anything and buy my original owner Acura RDX!!!!

2008 Acura RDX - $4750 - Mine!!

What about having a shop do the water pump?

No idea on the modern Merc's, but the old 220D I had was very easy to work on. You could see they thought maintenance and access out very well. Which was good, because there was always something falling off.

So, therefore, I suggest a new used Toyota. Four and a half large will get you a pretty nice one.

Call Uber

$4500 is pretty deep into decent used turn key Honda range, and very deep into decent used turn key Toyota range or Korean stuff after they got their act together in the 00s, or any big 3 domestic crap that isn't totally worn out, that would buy a really nice Ranger or Colorado.

Subaru engine/trans swaps go fast, easy weekend job, guys that have done them before can do it in an afternoon.

Googling around I'm not seeing the difficulty in this water pump though, sounds like any longitudinal engine water pump job, pull the belt, fan shroud, and fan, drain the system, change the pump out and reassemble and refill, book time is probably only a couple hours.

Slippery wrote: Or dont fix anything and buy my original owner Acura RDX!!!! 2008 Acura RDX - $4750 - Mine!!

Sounds like a reasonable solution to me.

Hmm, no motorcycles or other cars to borrow, having a shop fix the Mercedes is possible but I think would cost a lot more than buying another car and reselling later. The main thing that makes the Mercedes water pump really difficult is the lack of space to get the fan and pulley off with the radiator in (the purpose of the special tools) or how complicated it is to take the radiator out. The older ones are way more simple. The Subaru engine swap won't be too bad, but I expect pulling the engine and transmission, swapping the intake and wiring over, replacing the shifter linkage, cv shafts, etc and putting it all back together to take a few weekends too.

Sounds to me that you just need a rental car until you have the Mercedes fixed?

There's a value to your time also, so unless you're looking for an excuse to buy another vehicle (which most of us are happy to enable), the time spent looking for a usable hooptie is probably better spent fixing the Mercedes.

Pull the radiator on tbe benz. I think that bmw and Mercedes have the same jackass designing their cooling systems.

GRM will hate this answer...

Lease or buy a new Nissan versa

They're not even 10k out the door. Sometimes you gotta have a not so cool appliance to fill in when your toys betray you.

I just looked and Nissan is giving $1500 cash back on the 2016 versa. That makes it $9500 then subtract whatever down payment you want to put on it. There you'll have a cheap reliable car that you wont have to work on for at least 3 years. These dealers need to get rid of those 2016 Versa and you need something that can get you to work everyday. Then you'll have your subi and Mercedes as backups. Or, sell the Mercedes, that model rust free is good for about $4-5000. Damn, you just paid off a versa in less than a year. Which gives you a new car in warranty that you're just paying gas and insurance on. The likelihood of you not having a car to drive to work everyday can be eliminated. Thus giving you the time and money to play with your toys without you having to depend on them to get to work.

Get another subi of similar YMM. Now you have a parts car.

Life is too short to drive a Nissan versa lol. Renting a car is possible too, but yeah I may sell the Mercedes because it's too expensive of a car (as in what I could sell it for) to end up sitting in my driveway for weeks. I used to have a w126 and that was far easier to work on (and actually more reliable even with double the miles).

Two broken cars and you need to get to work? Don't listen to all these people suggesting a nice reliable Honda -- what you need is something with a rotary engine. :)

Does not sound complicated. Looks like an afternoon job:

E300d water pump diy

Sounds to me you dont want the MB anymore. You still need to fix it in order to sell it and it could help you get you to work while you swap the engine on the Subaru.

Tk8398 wrote: i could buy a different car but anything more than paying $4500 cash would not be a good financial decision

I'd argue that not having a 100% reliable means of getting to your source of income may be a poorer financial decision yet. Rarely does the excuse "life is too short" (aka YOLO) precede a wise financial decision.

I'd probably look for the best condition small truck you can with about half that $4500 ASAP. Then fix these other busted cars and sell them.

I suggested an avenue that took care of all issues. Oh whale!

I'm pretty sure I saw a billboard the other day advertising a lease on a Jetta for $2,500 down and $69/month. That seems insane, but if you're too good for a Versa, maybe the warm glow of a check engine light would make you feel better?

yupididit wrote: GRM will hate this answer... Lease or buy a new Nissan versa They're not even 10k out the door. Sometimes you gotta have a not so cool appliance to fill in when your toys betray you. I just looked and Nissan is giving $1500 cash back on the 2016 versa. That makes it $9500 then subtract whatever down payment you want to put on it. There you'll have a cheap reliable car that you wont have to work on for at least 3 years. These dealers need to get rid of those 2016 Versa and you need something that can get you to work everyday. Then you'll have your subi and Mercedes as backups. Or, sell the Mercedes, that model rust free is good for about $4-5000. Damn, you just paid off a versa in less than a year. Which gives you a new car in warranty that you're just paying gas and insurance on. The likelihood of you not having a car to drive to work everyday can be eliminated. Thus giving you the time and money to play with your toys without you having to depend on them to get to work.

I paid 8500 for one almost 2 years ago. Other than some random ebrake sensor issue, it's been absolutely trouble free and gets amazing mileage.

But the Versa is a horrible drive. Sorry, but it is. It's the modern Hyundai Pony, but without the character.

In reply to yupididit:

Gee thanks, now I'm going to look at them Monday to replace my mom's jeep. Didn't realize they were so cheap