Highly considering selling

[VXIRONwoMAN]

I may just be ranting, I hope that is what I am doing... But I am so incredibly frustrated!!! I keep trying to want to fix my VX and I DO, but I feel it is just a money pit. I love it more than it loves me! The trust is gone in our relationship. I have seen this before with my Dad and his DeLorean. He is a fanatic for his Delorean like we all are for our VX. He had a 1981 DeLorean and dumped all kinds of cash into it, fixing piece after piece, nearly completely restoring the thing. Only to get more problems, just like I keep getting with my VX, no matter how much love and affection I give it, it just keeps taking and taking. He soon sold his 1981 to get our house and soon after that got a 1983!!! Can you see the relation here??? And did it all over again. Paid about 13k for the car and put at least 13k into it in repairs. REPAIRS meaning new tranny 2 or 3 times ($6k) only warrantied for 6 mos. Complete engine rebuild, well the only thing he didn't replace was the front and rear axels. I love my Dad, but I don't want to make the same mistakes he did. He just sold his Delorean for $15k, he's at least $11k in the hole...

I already got one axel berring (sp?) on my VX fixed!!! I have put 5k into my VX in 2 years and that doesn't include what I am going to pay when and if I get my baby back this time. And that is just maintenence, not cosmetic stuff... I can't even do the cosmetic stuff I want to because crap keeps popping up or popping off or just popping! Every time I take it into get an oil change I go in with a LIST of thing to fix. Though it looks mighty good up on the mechanic's lift! By the time I do fix everything on it, I fear, the cycle will begin to repeat itself...

Sell VX: 10k
Sell VX roof rack: ???
Sell VX rail covers: ???
school savings: 8k
finance: 10k (not too bad) about $200-$250/mo.

New FJ: Taller than Gill's VX, Eat into school savings and not worry about even the itty bitty problems because...New Car Factory warranty, or big ones...Lifetime Drivetrain warranty, Locking Diff., cosmetically sound, But it doesn't come in LEATHER! Part are readily available. Moab is in the horizon.

Fix VX: Eat into school savings, and never get it back because the VX will never sell for what I keep putting into it. And continue to try and work overtime to cover the interest on my credit card bills that stacked up from even more repairs. Mine defintely can't make it out to Moab...



Just for clarification,

No one has/will offend me on your comments on here. I am just flustered with this and all the other craziness going on. I appreciate all of your input.

No I am NOT pregnant!!! Though that did make me laugh and is good grounds for getting a new "bigger" ride!!!

Though the Saturn Sky looks totally awesome, I would not survive winter though (that's the only Saturn I would wan to get...) Don't mean to thread jack my own thread, but didn't Saturn get excommunicated???

This is EXACTLY how I feel:

[VX crazy]

If your looking at a new FJ with locking diff, your looking at more than the 20k I see by your calculations.....more like almost 30k. Jay has after market leather in his FJ, that thing rocks! AND 35 inch tires......not sure why he isnt posting pics.......Cece if you saw his pics you would be out the door to the dealership......but he also has mucho $$$ into it......so ANYTHING can become a money pit....

[WormGod]

To keep it in perspective, I think it really boils down to what is it costing annually to maintain the VX vs what a car payment would be. 9 times out of 10, the car payment overshadows the previous. I think last year alone, I spent no more than $300 total on my VX. Sure wish I were able to pay that "a year" for my STi, heh. I guess it really comes down to what all "you" are having to do. If it's all that much, maybe the problem isn't the VX.... but how you are using it? Just throwing it out there. *shrug*

I think you are just bummed about the VX and what it takes to keep one healthy. Mine bums me a LOT, especially since the S/C went in. But, I am hard on a car and I modify them before I even get my first oil change, so I am quite used to staring at CELs and diagnosing for hours on end in the garage (I clock more hours a month in my garage than I do in my bedroom... sad). I have debated MANY o' times about selling my VX but then I take her out for a ride, just me and her. Somewhere far away and quiet. Sure enough, we bond again and I suddenly fall in love all over again.

It's paid off though. Surely you can man-up and hold on a bit to save up for a down payment on a DD. Put that ISUZU gem in the garage for Sundays and when Robb Report tells the world that the VX is worth $1billion, heh.

[VX4EJR]

Funny...I was thinking along the same lines with the title of this thread just recently after noticing more and more wear on different things in the VX, mods or parts I haven't had money or time to replace or do, the somewhat costly job just to do maintenance for those who do all they can do using nothing but the best fluids/materials, and then my ABS light came on with a price tag of $3200 total to replace the module (ABS problem is not something I'd do myself but then again could just ignore it and not have ABS brakes?).
Like everyone else here, it's probably a love-hate relationship over time. There are days I get in the thing and simply love driving it, and days I want to cash it in for something new and better. Problem for me is, I take a few steps back from the VX and look at it...and realize there's still nothing out there that is as cool and sensible (on the outside) as the VX. So in the end, I am on a treadmill running in place and going no where with leaving this ride. Until the day it completely leaves me, if you know what I mean. Just my 2 cents on the topic.

[VXIRONwoMAN]

To keep it in perspective, I think it really boils down to what is it costing annually to maintain the VX vs what a car payment would be. 9 times out of 10, the car payment overshadows the previous. I think last year alone, I spent no more than $300 total on my VX.

Sure wish I were able to pay that "a year" for my STi, heh. I guess it really comes down to what all "you" are having to do. If it's all that much, maybe the problem isn't the VX.... but how you are using it? Just throwing it out there. *shrug*

...(I clock more hours a month in my garage than I do in my bedroom... sad).

It's paid off though.

Put that ISUZU gem in the garage for Sundays and when Robb Report tells the world that the VX is worth $1billion, heh.

But you are one of the lucky ones that can WRENCH! If I lived in California with my Dad this baby wouldn't be costing me so much, but I don't. Take that $300 in parts and double if not more for labor...

It isn't user error either. I bought this car abused and wasn't informed about it. It was said to be in good condition. That was a LIE! DAY 1 I found out tranny had never been flushed and they couldn't recall the last oil change. I didn't know the U-Joints were nearly shot too. He blamed the vibrations I felt on the off-road tires. Got to Cali from the long ride home from AZ and turned out it had no lube in the drive shaft! It took all the grease we could give it!

I take care of this baby better than any of the previous owners. I know that VX's are in need of constant maintenence, this is my 2nd one...But for some reason my Ironman was way more reliable. I know why though... I bought it from a loving original owner who still had the warranty!

Problem for me is, I take a few steps back from the VX and look at it...and realize there's still nothing out there that is as cool and sensible (on the outside) as the VX. So in the end, I am on a treadmill running in place and going no where with leaving this ride. Until the day it completely leaves me, if you know what I mean. Just my 2 cents on the topic.

SERIOUSLY! When I got it back from the shop the 1st time and coming back from class saw it sitting all by itself in the last end spot in the back of the parking lot and was like "DAMN you look GOOD!"

But then it is a stab to the heart when you put your heart and soul into a vehicle that you can't drive because it is constantly in a garage. Not my garage! I figured if we have to dump money into one of the 2 VXs in our garage it should be Gill's because he is the original owner and we know it's history.

It's like I adopted a dog that looked really cute and was sweet at the pound; and once we got home he started ripping my house apart. I wouldn't want to put it back in the pound... but I wouldn't want to keep it...

[vt_maverick]

I'll chime in here since I went through a similar experience last fall. I was at the very end of a divorce, which cost me about $15K in lawyer fees alone. Plus lawyers want their money up front, so I was charging everything on my credit card just to stay afloat. Bottom line was I found myself into the lawyer for about $5K and into the credit card for about $7K. Every night I thought about where I was going to get the money, and every morning when I walked out to my nearly paid off Inifiniti G35 coupe I couldn't help but think selling it was the answer. It broke my heart to sell it, it was the first car I bought after college, brand new, 6-speed, Brembo brakes, navi, black-on-black, the works, and I loved it dearly. Reliability wasn't an issue (though the cost of parts when things went wrong was ridiculous) but I kept thinking that I could eliminate a $450/mo. car payment AND get $12-14K in cash to sell it. In the end I sold the car to some guy to give his 16-year old for their birthday () and used the money to buy my way out of debt. I hated selling it, but in the end (for me) the relief was worth it.

But deciding to sell was really the easy part. The much harder part is figuring out what to replace it with that will still keep you in a good financial position. At the time I was considering a new Wrangler Unlimited (gasp) in Rubicon Red, a slightly used Xterra in Red Brick, or a 2000/2001 VX in Foxfire (see a trend here? ). I weighed the same options you probably are, warranty v. out-of-pocket, predictable payment v. unpredictable repairs, etc. In the end I decided to pick up a low mileage VX (24K on the clock in Apr 08) that would be a super low monthly payment while also being mechanically sound. My payment is only $260 per month, and in the last 18 months all I've done is scheduled maintenance and replaced a window motor. If I had bought the new Wrangler I wouldn't have repair costs, but I'd have a sizeable monthly payment. If I'd bought the Xterra I would have had a lower payment but less of a warranty. In either case, those higher payments don't stop when the warranty ends; so your big risk in buying a new(er) car isn't in years 1-4, it's in 5,6,7, when you're still making that predictable monthly payment AND personally covering repairs. But by then maybe you're ready to trade in again.

Bottom line is that if you're going to sell the VX, make sure you don't really regret it later by overcommitting on your next vehicle. Good luck!

[VXIRONwoMAN]

Apparently the drive shaft was unbalanced... $85. But for some reason... IT'S STILL NOT FIXED!!!

[tomdietrying]

Sorry to hear your aggrivation CeCe. Hope things work out out whichever way for you.
Peace.
Tom

p.s.
Say "Hi" to Gill for me.

[nocturnalVX]

Hi Tom!

[Triathlete]

Sorry to hear about your VX trouble CeCe. I remember seeing that VX before the previous owner had lifted it. It "appeared" to be in very good shape then (about 2 years before you bought it). The previous owner was a member here "Pigpen" if I remember right. Good luck in whatever choice you make.

[Y33TREKker]

Apparently the drive shaft was unbalanced... $85. But for some reason... IT'S STILL NOT FIXED!!!

What's the current problem? If there's a vibration you're trying to track down, you at least have an additional way of troubleshooting some of the potential problem parts, and that's by swapping parts from the other VX in your garage.

Granted, it depends on the part in question as to just how hard/time consuming the swap may be, and the fact that the process effectively takes both VX's out of commission for awhile, but that's just time invested, and could maybe save money wasted. (I don't know about you, but there's fewer things more frustrating when it comes to car repairs than having new parts thrown at a vehicle in the "hopes" it will fix the problem.

Any specifics of the current problem that could help everyone here offer a few possible suggestions for fixes?

[VXIRONwoMAN]

What's the current problem? If there's a vibration you're trying to track down, you at least have an additional way of troubleshooting some of the potential problem parts, and that's by swapping parts from the other VX in your garage.

Granted, it depends on the part in question as to just how hard/time consuming the swap may be, and the fact that the process effectively takes both VX's out of commission for awhile, but that's just time invested, and could maybe save money wasted. (I don't know about you, but there's fewer things more frustrating when it comes to car repairs than having new parts thrown at a vehicle in the "hopes" it will fix the problem.

Any specifics of the current problem that could help everyone here offer a few possible suggestions for fixes?

The VX's are our only rides. So if both are out of commission we have no way of getting to and from work and/or school. And we would have to have the mechanic do the work which would cost in labor any way... Another reason to just have one VX, not two... If they both need to go to the shop you're screwed!

As for what the problem is...

Driving at highway speeds over 55mph I hear a loud grinding noise only when I slowly let up on the accelerator. Not when I am giving it gas or completely off the gas, but in between. The faster the speed the louder the noise. The noise is stemming from the rear and is more prefound near the rear diff. But it also is heard in the front just not as loud. We had it up on the lift that is how we know the location of the noise. We just don't know what is wrong...

[MSHardeman]

Cece,

Sorry to hear about your issues with the VX. I'm sure it's incredibly frustrating, particularly when things seem to keep going awry. I hope you don't have to sell your VX, but would totally understand if you do.

As for your grinding; have you checked the fluid in both the transfer case and the rear end lately? I don't get a grinding noise, but when I let off of the gas I tend to get some gear noise coming up through the shifter for the four wheel drive system. I have an after market shift knob, and I think it amplifies the gear noise. That noise happens only on deceleration and I'm guessing it's because as the weight of the VX shifts forward it puts stress on the gears and I can then hear them meshing. I don't think it's a problem because it's always made that noise, even after I had the transmission and transfer case fluid changed.

I know this sounds silly, but I also get a wicked noise from my tires when I let off of the gas at highway speeds. Again, I guess it's because the VX's weight shifts forward and pushes the tread on the tires into the pavement differently. That doesn't sound like your problem because you said that you guys had the VX up on the lift and it still made that noise.

Oh, another possibly silly question; have the u-joints on the drive shafts been lubbed?

I would check (or have it checked) the fluids in the transfer case and the rear end to make sure that there is enough clean fluid in there.

Just my two cents.

[VXIRONwoMAN]

As for your grinding; have you checked the fluid in both the transfer case and the rear end lately?

I know this sounds silly, but I also get a wicked noise from my tires when I let off of the gas at highway speeds.

Oh, another possibly silly question; have the u-joints on the drive shafts been lubbed?

I would check (or have it checked) the fluids in the transfer case and the rear end to make sure that there is enough clean fluid in there.

I am pretty sure the mech. checked the fluids, I have done so much to it, it's hard to remember though. I gotta check my records.

It's not the tires because the noise was there when it was on the lift.

U-Joints and driveshaft are lubed... they didn't need much, but they are lubed...

You know it's bad when you don't want to drive it anymore because you're afraid you're gonna have to fix something else...

The mech. still wants to figure out what is wrong with my VX, but I can't afford much more...

[Y33TREKker]

As for what the problem is...

Driving at highway speeds...

Has any of the work you've had done involved the ring and pinion in the rear diff? Excess backlash between the two could be a possibility, and if there was an excess in the rear diff, I imagine the sound/vibration could get transmitted back towards the front via the drive shaft.