well i have a descision to make and quick, my 88 sse with 79,901 miles on the clock with original engine and trans. now im not sure what i should do as i have already put $3000 + into this car in the last year and a half and so far it has not stop.
so now i honestly cant afford to keep fixing it if all these issue'* and problems will keep arrising.. here is a list of whats wrong with the car now..

cons.

1- trans is slipping in 1st gear
2- my torque converter clutch needs replacing as its completly shot
3- it needs all new bushing which i have but need to pay for the labor.
4- needs both passenfer side motor mounts replaced which i have the mounts
5- needs ALOT OF WELDING. big big holes in front driver'* side wheel well under the air box, my drivers side floor pan has a hand size hole that lets my drivers seat rock back and forth, my trunk has a hole that needs to be welded in my driverside rear whell well, basically all my whell wells execpt for the back passenger side have holes and need welding,
6- the drivers seat is ripped and needs replacing
7- the floor carpet is cut and water damaged and needs repalceing
8- it has a maaco paint job ( my favorite )
9- keeps throwing code 44 for a lean exhaust and keeps killing O2 sensors
10- needs new tires
11- has some body damage and imperfections
12- abs brakes dont work and the brake light is always on
13- my car stays at 6500 rpm'* at any throttle above 10 mph

im sure i missed 1 or 2 things but you'* get the point.

now i desperatley need 2 cars as i will start working in a month full time again and i cannot afford another used car right now with my mortage and me not working more then 2 days a week..

can you'* please give me some advice and your opinions on what yous think i should do. i at a lost with this issue right now and need help

Some of this may sound harsh, but here goes:

Alot of that stuff you listed are not really needs if all you require is something to get from point A to point B; however, this car faces some big issues. In order of importance, IMO are:
1) the tranny issues
2) tires
3) brakes (could be number 2, depending how bad they are)
4) lean code issue

(Personally, I'd say all the cosmetic issues on this car are beyond being worth worrying about )

So, the first question becomes, are you willing to pay what it would take to repair all of the above? I'd say you ought to budget a minimum of $1500 (maybe $2500 or more) for that list of repairs. IMO, you would do better replacing this car.

The second question becomes, sell it or part it? Selling it you'd probably get $300 or $400 at best...if you could sell it at all. Parting it you'd probably do only marginally better, and take more time and effort. IMO, unless you can find someone who wants to buy it for parts (as it is unsafe for the road ATM), donate it.

I'm going to take a shot in the dark here and guess that you are a young guy. I poured more money than I should have into certain cars that were beyond their useful life when I was younger, too. And I'm sure I'm not the only one on this forum who has done so. Chalk it up to experience, and taking a step toward learning when to stop throwing good money after bad.

I will agree with this. Had several cars I thought I could make great again, but the resources were not there.

so all the rust is not an issue to drive the car from a to b..

and yeah i believe its time to sell but imo $300-400 is an insult.. i would get more parting it out and i gaurentee atleast $1000 for it if i sell it. 79,000 on the motor. but thats my opinion tho..

if i was sore enough the car is safe enough to drive with my family in it locally then i would keep it and put no more money in it.. but the rust holes seem alot to me and get me worried, so im unsure what to do.

just sold my 90 bonneville.. for 1000.00 and its in awesome condition..
not sure you would get a grand with the issues you posted..

but hey.. good luck and I hope you get as much as you can ,,

!!!!

Congrats!!

Agrazela has very good points. Since the car needs in the vicinity of $1500 of mechanical work, and the Maaco job doestn' make it look any better, $300-$400 is a good estimate of what you can get for it.

Yeah I'm really sorry dude... going through the same thing with my 99 SE I crunched... with cars this age it'* just really hard not to dump a lot of money into it and get only a fraction back :(

Yeah some times you have to take a loss to save money. Just find another car, perhaps slightly newer, thats just as easy to work on. Old people like to give away low mileage old vehicles, but expect to replace a lot of not steel or plastic parts.

I got buddy to buy a 95 civic dx w/ 166k mi for 1800. It'* a 5 spd, and he said it runs great. We just did the typical fluid changes, and all that'* left is the trans and brakes. He has about 1900 into it, and it'* great on insurance.

Not saying I'm a Honda fan... but they seem to run forever . I may even look at one myself if my bonne keeps going through a tank of gas in 280 miles like it has been lately. I'm about to move 15 miles FURTHER away from school.