2012 Outback - fix or sell?
Just got the bad news that my Outback needs head gaskets...again....first time around (85k), the overheating destroyed the short block and I had a brand new short block and gasket/seal kit put in at the dealer. Now it has 135k on it, had an overheating incident, I stopped immediately and had it towed to my mechanic, and the diagnosis is the HG...they ruled out everything else. They ran three HG tests, it passed the first one but failed the subsequent two.
It's a 2.5 (EJ253), 6-speed manual. Drove fine/really nicely until it started overheating a couple weeks ago. Some scrapes/scuffs/whatnot, a dent on the drivers door, bumper was replaced a year ago following a collision with a deer (and I went through insurance so it does show up on the vehicle history) but no issues otherwise... My mechanic is quoting around $3000 to get it back on the road.
I'm looking for this sub's opinions on:
- Is a car like this worth anything as-is? What could I realistically expect to get putting it on Marketplace with an honest assessment of its condition and issues? Located in Hudson Valley NY if that makes a difference
- How much is a car like this actually worth fixed up? My mechanic is saying he thinks it's worth about $7k-8k, but given the collision on the record and the scuffs and scrapes I'm not so sure. Carvana's offer is $3300 (obviously not taking the HG into account), makes me think that if fixed up, true market value might be around $5000-6000 at best?
- In terms of maintenance, repairs and reliability, I gotta be honest, this car has felt like a perpetual headache. Constantly chasing oil leaks and other little nuisance things, wheel bearings go bad left and right, and head gasket issues twice in the span of 50k is unreasonable IMO (wasn't this issue supposedly "fixed" by 2012?) I feel like what I had been paying in repairs (not routine maintenance) has been working out to be about as much as a car payment at least during this past year or so.
I'm really torn on what to do here. I had been loosely planning to get through the winter and then get a new car in the spring. Part of me wants to just unload the car now and get a new one. But if it is truly worth $7k-8k in this market, I might be better off doing the $3k repair and then selling it once it's fixed up? Anyone in this area know how much cars like this are *truly* trading hands for? Is dumping that much money into an Outback this old just pouring money down the drain?