Advice on whether to repair 2015 Impreza or buy used car

[Willie_Williams]

My 2015 Subaru Impreza has just been diagnosed with a "cracked" radiator leading to a ruined engine (which now has a mixture of coolant and engine oil). Our very reliable repair shop estimates the engine and radiator replacements cost to be ~$8K. We are agonizing over whether to go ahead with the repairs or to buy a used car. The Impreza has ~85K miles on it. We found a 2014 Honda Civic with just 37K miles on it for $12.5K. That's the best dependable option we've found, though we just started looking. I'm leaning toward having our Impreza repaired because (1) it'd be cheaper (in the short run) and (2) we wouldn't have to go through stuff like getting new insurance, registration, title, etc. But I'm of course also concerned with how many miles a new engine and radiator would buy us. Have any of you had engine replacements, and if so, how satisfied were you with that decision?

I'm 79 years old, my wife 74, so we probably won't be driving for that many more years (though we're in decent health). But we'd of course hate to face major car problems with the Impreza in year or two. (We're also financially marginal, with little income and meager savings. ) If any of you can offer advice or things to consider that I haven't mentioned, I'd be appreciative.

Also, I feel guilty that this happened. The car overheated a week ago returning from the airport (20-minute drive), and I pulled over and let it cool down, then drove it the few blocks home. There'd been no "Check Engine" light or any temperature warning indicator. (The 2015 Impreza doesn't seem to have temperature meters; only that blue thermometer when you start up that disappears after you've driven a bit. I never saw a RED thermometer.) I drove it a couple of times after this to the dog park (5 minute drive), then drove to the airport again to pick up my wife. Like the first time, it overheated (steam spewing from under the hood). We had it towed to the repair shop and got the bad news the next day.
Thanks,

- Willie

 

[bmart]

Option for a used engine should be much cheaper, if you like the car.

 

[Willie_Williams]

Thanks, bmart. Did you replace engines in all 5 of those cars, and get those miles after the replacement? Impressive. And confidence-inspiring for if we decide to do the engine replacement.

 

[bmart]

No engine replacements. All stock miles...spread out across them all!

 

[draganm]

sorry to hear about your troubles Willie.One big problem with new cars is they do not tolerate any overheating, the Aluminum just expands way too much and the head gasket blows. water in the oil means highly likely the bearings were damaged, instead of just head-gasket repair.
I do think a radiator failure at 85K miles is really pathetic, my 2006 impreza has 252K miles on it and original engine and radiator.
AFA the "new engine", is it new from factory, or re-built by some company, or a wrecking yard engine (new to you).
if it's brand new engine from Subaru, i would go that way. If it's the other 2, they will come with a 6 or 12 month warranty typically and it's a roll of the dice on how long they will last.
Also, are you using a shop that specializes in Subaru's, or a general "do it all " shop? for something like this, i would want specialists who live and breathe subarus every day to handle this. NOT necessarily a dealer though

 

[Willie_Williams]

Well, it's now almost 8 months since our 2015 Subaru Impreza overheated when I drove it (twice) to the airport (a 25 minute drive each way) and was diagnosed as having a mixture of coolant and engine oil in the engine. The car has been sitting in our driveway all this time, after we bought a 2012 Camry. I actually have driven it occasionally to the dog park and other local places, never more than 15 minute drives each way, and it's been fine. No sign of overheating. We loved that Subaru, and still are considering getting it repaired and selling the Camry. (The Camry has 152K miles on it, the Subaru 85K miles).
A kind and wise person replied to the earlier post, saying "water in the oil means highly likely the bearings were damaged, instead of just head-gasket repair." If the bearings were damaged, wouldn't that likely manifest itself in those short drives I've made? Or might they not cause overheating until I'd driven longer, like the 25 minute drives to the airport where it happened back in late August? My prayer is that, instead of needing an engine replacement, it might just be a blown head gasket or something else less catastrophic.
As I wrote in my original post, our trustworthy mechanic in late-August, to whom we had it towed, said it needed a replacement engine. Does anyone out there think it might be worth my while to take it to a Subaru specialist (I looked before but found only dealers, not places that said they specialized in Subarus in the Boston area) and have a second opinion about the engine?
And finally, if I did so and they said that I definitely needed an engine replacement (which would really stretch my resources), how much might I hope to get by selling the damaged car as is? It has almost new tires and the body is in good shape. I guess I'd be selling to someone who was willing to get the engine work done, either to then keep or to sell for a nice profit.

 

[bmart]

I'm not sure that the labor of a repair would make sense. Mechanics aren't very good these days and there are a LOT of things that they could get wrong during machining and reassembly. I'd surely go for an engine swap, which is pretty easy and straight forward.

A good condition Impreza that needs an engine might be saleable, but to only a small subset of people. If you got it running first with a new engine, value goes way up and you have a LOT more potential buyers.

 

[draganm]

My prayer is that, instead of needing an engine replacement, it might just be a blown head gasket or something else less catastrophic.

let's start at square one.

"cracked" radiator leading to a ruined engine (which now has a mixture of coolant and engine oil).

pull the dip-stick, or remove the radiator cap with engine COLD. what does it look like? If it looks like oil, then a head-gasket job might be all it needs. If it looks like this

then your oil has stopped being oil, and it's ability to protect the bearings and other moving parts is zero. You might not hear any noise now, but running milk-shake for oil will start a bearing damage process that only ends in one place, a seized engine.
We recently called about an engine replacement on our kids 2013 outback, 2 subie specialty shops. First shop said a re-built engine was $10K parts and labor.
Second shop said "we don't mess with re-built engines", and a brand new long block from Subaru was $10K + $4.5k labor.
I would not gamble on a junk-yard engine, not unless i could physically see the car and verify low mileage, even then your looking at probly $3K for that + the $4500. labor.
We got lucky, my kids car "only " had a plugged catalytic converter, but the exhaust shop wanted $3K to replace both cats. Luckily it was a very easy job and we did it ourselves for about $600. using an Aftermarket Catalytic converter from CATCO.
The factory converters BTW, are $3500. front and $1500. rear, just absolute robbery from subaru USA = You guys suck!

If your oil still looks like oil, i would tow the car to a specialty shop, closes one to you that specializes in subaru is
603 Performance and Maintenance of Londonderry, New Hampshire. an hour away
wrenchrite automotive in Branforcd CT is 2+ hours

A head gasket job on the 4 cylinder FB engine is still gonna run about $5K