so, i have a 05 civic ex with 153k miles and its paid off. i havent had the timing belt changed yet and i probably have a bad head gasket. i put close to 50k miles on it a year and my plan was to try and take it to 200/250k. there are some minor cosmetic issue like a cracked windshield a broken cover to the center console and the gas tank cover doesn't stay closed. should i trade it in now or put money into now with hopes of having it for one/two more years?

 

What makes you suspect you have a bad head gasket?

 

im losing coolant and there is no visable leaks. i had a mechanic it look at it twice

 

i say fix the windshield ( cost $90 around here) and tank cover and then take it in to trade while its still only a 6 yr car.

 

Gas tank cover?


Do you not have insurance? I had a rock kick-up from the freeway and it cracked my windshield. Insurance paid for a new one.

Center consoles are easy to replace and readily available from parts cars. Search craigslist, car-part.com and/or local junk yards. (maybe ebay, too)

Head gaskets are easy to replace, just time consuming.

Remove the head and have it inspected to make sure it isn't warped too much. If it's warped less than 0.05 mm then you don't need to worry about it.

If it's warped 0.05 mm and 0.2 mm you will need to have it machined.

If it's warped more than 0.2 mm, buy a replacement or just find a used engine.

Buy a new head gasket and valve cover gasket (and some liquid gasket for the bottom of the corners where the valve cover gasket arches over the cam) and put it back together.

If you don't have a manual, I recommend buying one. It will save you a lot of labor costs.

 

Its the flap that covers the gas cap. What im concerned about is putting close to $2k into a car that is going to need more work over the course of the next 2 years. Plus I dont have the tools, space, or knowledge to do the work myself.

 

Fix windshield, have the insurance company do it if you have $0 glass deductible.

 

As-is, your car's trade-in value isn't very much. Roughly, it'll be around $2500 (if you find a dealership willing to negotiate). Even if you were to fix the current problems with the car, you're not going to get much more then $3500 for a trade-in.