The mechanic says I blew a head gasket on my 2004 Monte. It will cost me anywhere between $1250-1720 depending on if it's warped. I only have 82, 000 miles on it, and it's generally in good shape. I've only had problems really with the a/c in the past. Is this repair with fixing? I do not have that money up front. ... Or should I cut losses and try to sell it at carmax? Please help! I'm a single mom who would be lost without transportation. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

The chances of you picking up another reliable vehicle for less than 2k will be slim, and take time. Leaving you car-less in the meantime. Personally I'd repair it if that's your only issue.

 

Find a different mechanic and get it fixed along with the LIM Gasket. With parts it shouldn't run you more than $600-800.

With that low of miles you can still easily get $5,000-5,500 for that car around here.

 

where are you from? is the shop positive its head gaskets or is it lower intake gaskets? i just did 2 lower intake jobs 2 weekends ago there not hard. parts to do a lower intake gasket costs around $180-200 then labor cost from there....

 

First what is going on that caused you to bring it into the shop? Coolant leaks/loss? Smoke out the exhaust? Poor performance?

And do you know which engine you have in your Monte?

At the mileage you are at, typically it Lower Intake Gaskets (LIM) that fail since they are nylon and nylon just does not handle the heat and coolant (there is now an aluminum backed gasket, far better). The LIM gaskets when they fail can result in coolant and/or oil loss. The coolant can sometimes make it into the oil (if you remove the oil cap and see a brown-ish sludge on it, it's a good bet on LIM gaskets).

As for the costs, I've heard depending on engine some shops charging close to $1000 for LIM gaskets (as some engines are more time consuming then others).

As for the head gaskets, some shops insist on sending the heads out to be inspected which does add cost to the owner, but these shops do it so they can warranty their work. The job takes hours to do, they certainly don't want the car coming back and having to honor a warranty because the head had a problem. Head gasket jobs can range $1000-$2000 from what I understand for a shop to do.

I have done head gasket jobs for cost of parts and fluids on my cars and the parts run around $300-$350.

As for "is it worth it". Only you can decide. If the car is maintained and the body is still in good shape, 82,000 miles is not even "broken in" for most of my fleet.

The 3800 v6 is a very reliable engine. The 3400 based off the earlier 3100 is also very reliable. FYI - I had a '94 Grand Am with a 3100 engine, sold it late last year as the body was coming apart, car had 215,000 miles when I sold it (and it STILL running, current owner has not done ANYTHING to it). My wife drives a '05 Impala with a 3400 that has over 150,000 on it it and my winter car is a 3400 Grand Am now with around 115,000 on it.
If you don't maintain them, they will NEVER last to their full potential.

 

I agree with maniac my lumina had a few body problems with its 3100 engine but the tranny and engine itself was flawless ifnit were me I would just save and store the car somewhere dry like a garage and wait to get it fixed