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Engine pricing?


mrs.cos

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My dad's 05 caddy is starting to nickle and dime him but its not financially feasible for him to get a new car anytime soon. He keeps talking about just buying 3-5k car to tide him over but i feel like this is just buying someone elses's problems.

 

Does anyone have a good idea on how much a newer used or New 3.6 motor from GM runs?

 

I cant get the work done here in ohio, it will be done in St Louis, so im just looking for some ballpark figures so i can help him spend his money wiser.

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All depends on miles and condition. Does his car need a engine? Likely the money spent on a engine he will never see gain so he is at the jump where you take what you can get and buy another car or knowing sink a good amount into your current broken car knowing it will all be absorbed. What is the year and model of his caddy ?
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2005 Cadillac CTS with the v6

 

My dad is maintaining two residences because of a forced transfer to GM in St. Louis 5 years prior to retirements

 

He's had to have two knee surgerys which has also depleted his savings (he gets sick leave but not enough to cover his condo and his house) the idea of adding a car payment back into his life right now is not ideal

 

The timing belt may have jumped on his car and he just put like 4-500 in it for something g else recently.. it's not worth much, but I feel like if the timing issues are as bad as we think- I'd rather him put money into a new engine, than spend a 1200 repairing one that's already got 184k on it.

The body is in decent shape and he does like the car.

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If it's been fairly well taken care of, ie proper regular oil changes, then just put timing chains in it. The newer parts are supposed to be better, personally I used to think these engines were crap, however proper maintenance is all that is needed on the 2011 and up. Putting the newer chains (it's all GM sells at this point) fixes these.
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my dad works for GM. he will not buy a japanese car.

 

That's a really stupid reason to not buy a cheap, reliable vehicle to get him to work so he can keep his job with GM and cover his bills. If he's limited to a $3-5k GM vehicle, then he's pretty much limited to Cobalts, HHRs and Trailblazers.

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That's a really stupid reason to not buy a cheap, reliable vehicle to get him to work so he can keep his job with GM and cover his bills. If he's limited to a $3-5k GM vehicle, then he's pretty much limited to Cobalts, HHRs and Trailblazers.

 

Anything with a 3800 V6 would be a good buy

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This is a can of worms few people ever have to deal with and fewer still know what they are going to be getting into. Rarely when you crack an engine apart do you just get in get done what you expect and get back out without additional costs/issues. Go into this with eyes wide open, either way you are going to be incurring some serious costs.

 

Per labor guide if you were to buy a used engine (long block) and swap over the accessories you are looking around 20 hours. Add in things you are likely to want to do while the engine is out like timing/water pump, valve cover gaskets, spark plugs. Which might add an additional 3-4 hours. So all told you are likely facing 25 hours +- of labor, plus the actual cost of the engine/parts/markup/fluids

 

Depending on what is wrong with the motor currently in there your costs for repair could come up above or below, hard to say until you get in there and see what's what. Valve damage? Do heads need worked? Pistons rings/cylinder walls? In this instance you will have labor costs for the tear down and rebuild, likely machine shop costs, as well as the parts/fluids/misc/markup.

 

As someone who currently has $4500 wrapped up in a car I initially expected to have less than $2000 in, go into this with eyes open! And keep in mind, that $4500 is with me having a shop!

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That's a really stupid reason to not buy a cheap, reliable vehicle to get him to work so he can keep his job with GM and cover his bills. If he's limited to a $3-5k GM vehicle, then he's pretty much limited to Cobalts, HHRs and Trailblazers.

 

Trust me.. this is an argument I have WEEKLY. But when you have an entire family raised on the brainwashing UAW, nothing else matters other than it's gotta be a GM vehicle.

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Getting a used engine is no more or less inheriting someone elses issues than getting a used car.

 

I'm with Cordell, throw in the updated chains and guides, get reman heads and get all the maintenance done and stay up on it. Enjoy for many more miles.

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Getting a used engine is no more or less inheriting someone elses issues than getting a used car.

 

I'm with Cordell, throw in the updated chains and guides, get reman heads and get all the maintenance done and stay up on it. Enjoy for many more miles.

 

As someone who did a "buy a low milage used motor" swap very recently... it lasted 2 months and popped a head gasket. Nothing like doing the job twice!

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Maybe he should look at something like a 90's to early 2000's s-10 blazer. I seem to remember them being pretty tough despite the usual GM failings on interior quality and door hinges. Or one of those Buick riverias with the 3800 engine. I see high mile ones for both all the time and most are under $5k
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