If I was to sell my car right now, it would have to have an ad that goes something like this:
For Sale, Rattles. A 1997 Hyundai Sonata Sedan. Features: Immobiliser with Anti Hijack feature, Timing Belt and Engine Mounts replaced with new. New Shocks, spark plugs, starter motor and tyres. Serviced Regularly. Flaws: Rattle sound, contains an oil leak with bonus water leak on passenger side, bonus lake of water in passenger foot well when rains. Rust holes in firewall and on bonnet. Dent on drivers side, scratches on passenger side. Front bumper marked all over. Paint issues with spoiler. Drivers side headlight faded, needs replacing.
It is one of those moments where if I knew the car was going to be this bad not too long after buying new shocks and replacing the timing belt, I’d probably have not done it at at all and just let it fail itself, saving that for a car (it’s just like not having comprehensive insurance, you bet that the car will last long enough to not require replacing thus save the money on insurance for what the payout from insurance would have been anyway).
So now I have some more things to ‘patch’. The leak that I thought was the windscreen now turns out to be from the door seal on the passenger sides (both front and rear). The front passenger foot well is litterally a lake, the water drips down past the ECU (yay!), past the relay and central locking, and into a pool on the floor which will probably rust in the near future.
The benefit from that could be seen as a ‘Flintstone’ feature – where I could ask my partner to give the car a rolling start. Fuel Economy win.
The fix will likely be some silicone to stop the water getting under and around the door seal and thus keeping the water out.
Then we pray that the ECU survives the water that has been dripping past it (it might).
The rust in the firewall is probably a more significant issue, not because rust is bad, no, it’s because the damn RTA rego inspection will fail each time the car has rust that will cause a hole when tapped (and I tapped it, yep, there’s a hole in the firewall).
The downside to it is as above, I have put a fair amount into the car to fix it up, and it’s the body that is it’s significant failure (ignore the oil leak and belt squeal, it’s aestethic). But if I ignore the cash we dumped into the shocks and timing belt, the more significant issue – the bigger issue is finding funds for a replacement (I was thinking Mitsubishi Lancer, 2000+ model). Considering we have to try and save enough to make sure the side fence can be done.
I also have a smaller issue of the time poured into trying to get the interface to the ECU going, a lot of time has been put into that – it’s nearly in a complete state.
Then you have to figure what to do with the current car, can trade it in? They’ll probably give us $50 for it. I could sell it privately, to someone so desperate that they couldn’t find a worthwhile VN. Repair the body work – this is something I’ve been contemplating – the rust being the bigger issue though, cutting it out, patching it up, and making it look neat is a difficult job for me. And professionals charge significantly for that neat finish.
It’s something we’ll have to consider eventually I guess – the extension to the house being delayed even more if we do change cars first.