The following message looks like a major troll to me, but if anyone
wants to start addressing the extensive list of problems described,
go ahead and start the pile of posts     If what the message says
is true, then QA2008 needs some life advice from a friendly uncle.

Sorry for the top post.

Rodan.
________________________________________________________

Hello, I do not know much about cars and need advice.
I purchased a 1995 Chevy Lumina 3 years ago.  I paid
$2500 for it.  Since then, I have put about $3000 into
it for various repairs.  In January, it would not start.  I had
it towed to the garage.  The mechanic said it is leaking oil
and transmission fluid.  He said it also needed a new starter.
He charged me $550 to clean the fluid off the engine and to
put in a new starter.  I went to pick it up in the evening, after
it had been sitting in the icy cold all day, and it would not
start.  It was in the same condition as before I had paid the
$550!  The next day, he told me that he would need to put
in some kind of new wires for $220. I paid for him to do that,
and the car now starts.  However, it runs just as poorly as
before once it starts.  Sometimes, I have to start it 5-10 times
to back it out of my driveway.  For the first 10-20 minutes, it
will stall out when I idle at a red light, and the brakes to not
work properly.  When I try to push on the break pedal it is
like there is an object in the way, and I have to push down
with quite a bit of force.  Once the car has been running
10-20 minutes it runs fine (for now?!??!).  .... Now, the
muffler is suddenly making a tremendous amount of noise.
It sounds like a lawn mower, or louder.

I never had the two leaks fixed that the mechanic told me about.  He said
that it will cost about $600 to have the leaks fixed.  Right now, according
to him, the car is leaking oil and transmission fluid and it is getting all
over the engine.

What I am wondering is this.  At what point would a person who is
knowledgeable about cars decide that enough money has been put into a
vehicle and that another used car should be purchased?  I presently
cannot afford to buy a new car.  If I buy a car it will have to be another
car in the $2500 price range.  This Chevy is now in need of the $600
repair for the leaks, the muffler needs to be fixed, and soon I will need
new tires and brakes.  It is getting to the point where it will need so much
money in repairs that I could buy another used car.  On the other hand,
if I buy another used car for $2500, won't that quickly need repairs too?
I am wondering if it will be a case where I will spend $2500 for a used car
and then it will need $3000 or more in repairs, like this Chevy has
needed?  If that is the case, I might as well just keep the Chevy and
pay for all the repairs.  Or, since this car is 13 years old already, would
I be better off spending $2500 to get a newer car?  Would a newer
car generally need less repairs for awhile?

I know very little about cars and I am confused.  I hope someone will
give me advice.  I am a college student and I am in a financial disaster.
I almost can't afford the tuition payments for graduation, and now I am
having all this trouble with my car.  The drive to school is an hour each
way.  Every time I get in the car I wonder if it will make it.  There is no
bus system in my area, and I have no one to drive me to school, even
for a short while.  Please give me advice if you can.  Should I keep
sinking money into this 1995 Chevy or should I start thinking about
getting a new car?

Thank you in advance for any advice you can give!

While the Lumina doesnt get rave reviews on quality or dependability,
it should have been better that what you experienced...

You bought a money pit.   One would hope that with all those
repairs (which sound excessively expensive to me, by the way)
this thing would start developing a little reliability, but apparently
the car is addicted to frequent and expensive visits to the
garage.

We dont know what sort of engine and transmission is in that
car, nor the mileage involved, but I suspect that your problems
are not over. If your transmission fails, or your engine commits
suicide, you are looking at substantially more expensive repair
jobs or you will be left with a worthless hunk of metal.

- You could take a course in auto tuneup and repair at a local
community college, or suchlike, get yourself a manual, and start
doing some of your own work.  That could save you a lot of
money, or...

- Get this thing running well enough to sell it and buy something
that is more reliable...This time, have a mechanic friend help
you choose more wisely.  Dont buy somebody else's problems,
if you can avoid it.

<snip>

A car this old is going to be very much a product of the care it's received
in its life. 13 years is a long time for neglect, aftermarket parts and
inept servicing to do lots of damage. And it sounds like yours has
definitely not been looked after.

My general recommendation to any non-techie wanting car-buying advice from
me is to get the absolute newest car he can afford, just to minimize the
probability of buying a money pit.

Consider how much you would have to pay to get something newer and in
better shape. Now contrast that against how much you'd have to pay to
completely overhaul your current Lumina. That's how you decide whether to
keep or sell.

Not an easy situation.

With a car that age I normally say dump it when the monthly upkeep
starts costing more than payments on a new one or when a major
component fails like the trans or engine.

Not to be mean, but you probably aren't going to find a great
replacement car in the price range you are looking in.  Best thing I
can tell you is to buy from the original owner, not a used car lot.
Check them out just as much as you check out the car.  Nice house?
Well kept yard?  May sound dumb but in the age/price range you are
shopping in how a car was cared for makes all the difference.  If you
can buy a car from a cute little granny and granpa with the perfectly
maintained house and all the service records for the car since it was
new  I'm picking that one over the one in the trailer park with used
appliances in the yard and the bubba that "changed the earl" once a
year.  Once you pick the car  you need to take the car and have it
checked out by a mechanic.  People love to sell their problems which
is what it sounds like you bought last time.  Don't let my cute granny
from above get you!  You can not skip this step if you don't know a
whole lot about cars.

Can u lease a new car?  Normally I don't care for that idea but
perhaps u could get the cheapest thing with four wheels for a hundred
and change a month on a lease.

For the current vehicle:
You need to start looking for somewhere else to take the vehicle for
service.  A starter replacement on that car should have been half what
you paid.  Ask friends and family who they use....  Normally I try to
find an honest small independent shop and stay away from the chains
like Goodyear and pep boys etc..  

As far as the oil and trans leaking there normally isn't any reason
these have to be fixed quickly unless they are major leaks..  Just
keep a close eye on the fluid levels  so you don't run  low.

Well, First of find a better mechanic. From what you have posted this
one is REAL good at taking money and doing shoddy work. If he told you
to come and get it because it was ready and it didn't start, he didn't
repair the problem.
The LEAKS, could be simply gasket leaks.

From your description of the crappy running and the brakes it sounds
like you have a LARGE vacuum leak. That shouldn't be very hard for you
to track yourself. Open the hood and look at the brake booster (big
round thing bolted to the firewall with the master cylinder attached) It
has a large line that goes from it to the engines intake manifold. Look
for cracks or splits in the line and check that both ends are on tight.
Now look on the engine itself for any loose hoses that are just laying
there. Check ALL the hoses for leaks. To make it easier you could go to
a parts store and buy a can of WD40. Start the engine and let it idle,
now use the can to LIGHTLY spray each hose. Do them one at a time and
listen to the engine. When you hear the engine rev up (like you were
pushing the throttle) check the area you just sprayed for the leak.
Fix the leak and see if your brakes work.

If you are looking for advice, then here is mine:
Dump the car.  It prob has the 3.1 engine with the leaking intake manifold.
Buy a Toyota Corolla.

My rule of thumb is that when a cost of repair is greater than the value
of the car, I get rid of it.  Guaranteed if car is wrecked you will only
 get bluebook value.

I would demand a refund for all but 1 hour of labor because you paid
to get your car problems fixed, not merely have parts thrown randomly
at them.  I hope you paid by credit card.

Take a course in basic auto maintenance and repair at a community
college, or at least read some introductory books about car repair,
preferrably not Chilton or Haynes manuals.

Find a competent mechanic and have him go over it.  Not the guy that you
have been having look over the car, but someone who will spend some time
and find _everything_ that is wrong with the car.

Once you know this, then you can make a good decision.

As long as you keep them topped off, engine and transmission fluid leaks
may not be a problem at all.  I'd worry about your bad muffler and about
the fact that it doesn't run well a whole lot more.

Basically, the way a car is treated in the first six months determines a lot
about how well it will last for the rest of its life.  If you buy a used
car, you are basically at the mercy of the first car's owner.  

This means you COULD buy a car and find it's less reliable.  Or also you
could buy a car and find it pays for itself in a short amount of time with
fewer repairs.

Find another student who DOES know something about cars, and ask him or
her to go over your car and see what they can find wrong.  Odds are you
have a lot of things wrong, and some of them you can ignore forever, some
of them you can ignore only for a while, and some of them you cannot ignore
at all.  You need to know these things and which category they are in before
you can make an informed decision.
--scott