My daughter rear ended a car with her 1995 Millenia S with only 85,000 miles. It was a California car given to her after Grandpa died. Car had very regular service. It was running well till returned 2 months after body work done. Collision shop dropped it off for me. When started that night sounded terrible and check engine light was blinking. There was antifreeze on ground from the overflow. Mechanic said it has dead cylinder from the sound. Regular mechanics changed plugs because said rear bank were all wet. Did not help. Then they changed the coils on rear bank. No help so they gave up and towed to dealer. Dealer said timing is dead on.Dealer says cylinder 1 is dead, no compression. Says needs new engine. I am furious that paid $1100 to body shop plus insurance money for car that does not run after I got it back. They say not their fault, that it just happened. Dealer says needs new engine. Too much to diagnose and fix. I am not car mechanic, but am capable. If it is difference between salvage value and no car and possibly spend some more $ and have working car. Any advice? I can have it towed to garage, or do I just salvage it. The body is immaculate, as is the interior. Sorry for cryptic first post. I hope someone out there can help. Let me know if need more info.

 

a 95 in IMMACULATE condition would go for about 1500 here, IF you could find someone who really wanted it. dunno about your insurance, but here there is supplemental damage, which means your exact situation. get it back, and there is hidden damage. you need to get your agent involved, that is what they get commission for from your insurance payment. and the mazda dealer dont know squat about this car, just like most independents. if cyl 1 is really dead, no compression, it would be really strange, although i have heard of some 2.3's with cracked head, or burned/dropped valve, but it is so rare i would want to actually see the results of compression test/leakdown to verify. and because the rear bank is such a pain to get to, i would also want to verify work there has actually been done. millenia has no resale value. if you do go the new engine route, i would go used jdm, which would probably cost about a grand for the engine, then you gotta pay labor, too. after that, you will have way more money in the car than it is worth. good luck

 

Dealer mechanic said much of what you said. The pressure reading was somewhere between zero and 5 pounds. He estimated "1". The insurance paid out total value to have it fixed. We paid the overage. The car is immaculate but won't run. Based on your comments And friends advice I need to sell it to salvage or figure out how to part it out myself!
Thank you.

 

If the car is as immaculate as you say, then it will be a cheap investment to simply buy a rebuilt or used motor and put it in. Where else are you going to find a car that nice with a new(ish) motor for such little money.

Back in 2005 I started a contract which had me commuting over 150 miles per day; instead of buying a new car to replace what was then my current ride which was going off of lease, I opted to drive our old "Home-Depot hack" minivan which had pretty much sat for three years with very little use. In 2006 the transmission grenaded itself and I was faced with either selling the van for salvage or spending $2,600 on a remanufactured transmission. Given the cost of the transmission was more than the van was worth (if it was in running condition), any number of folks suggested I trash it and buy something else.

I had the van fixed. Why? I figured where else was I going to find a vehicle (which had been utterly reliable up to that point) as nicely appointed and as comfortable for the long commute for $2,600. It turned out to be a good decision as I put another 70,000 problem free miles on that van before I could finally justify a new car (which turned out to be my current Mazda3).

 

That was my feeling when we opted to fix it after the accident. My daughter could not stop in time and rear ended a volvo. Insurance would pay about 3000 max, repairs about $3100 including new hood, bumper, radiator overflow, supports, headlights, etc... Deductible was $500, and salvage value insurance kept was $490. So basically to get the car back we paid $1100 to fix. But day comes back it has dead miss #1. Car is torn apart owe dealer $340. So salvage wont be much and still dont have car. Dealer wants $5100 to put in new engine. I am not capable of putting in new engine. I see just engines are about 1000 plus shipping. And I would have to pay someone to put it in. Any idea of cost of that or time for labor. I live in Austin TX. Any recommendation who to call? Also it is Miller cycle with supercharger so my understanding is many mechanics know nothing about them. TIming belt has 30000 miles on it and has new plugs and rear coils. Tires and new rims were put on 1000 miles ago and was garaged. Body looks better than our 2004 MDX. Best place to buy the JDM engine? and what else do you need with it? Thanks.

 

Would any special modifications need to be made to put in JDM engine? The original car was in California. It is in TX now. Will the swap still pass smog inspections.

 

all i am saying is that if you do invest money in the car, you will not get it back. both of our cars are 99, and both have about 140k on them. i know they have zilch for resale. but we like the cars, i think they are very well made. we plan on keeping them for a long time, and if one of our cars blew an engine, i would drop a jdm engine back in. most people think of their car as temporary, and unless you plan on keeping the car, you might want to cut your losses. i would not hesitate to drop in another engine, and i have with other cars. jdm engines are very clean, and some look brand new. most have very few miles on them, and the japanese keep their cars maintained extremely well.

on another note, because of the lack of knowledge out there about the 2.3, if you cannot do a lot of the work yourself, and have to pay someone else to, it will eat your lunch. and changing plugs and coils is something you should be able to do. if that is beyond your mechanical expertise, i would advise you to get rid of the car. because soon other problems will surface, and you will have to pay someone to learn how to fix your car. case in point, i am suspicious of the dealer saying a cylinder is dead. i see a ton of posts about this engine, and stuff like dropped/burned valve, cracked head, and other mechanical damage is just too rare. the rear bank plugs/coils are a pain in the butt to get at, that's why shops tend to SAY they were changed/worked on, but actually when the shop started, they realized how labor intensive it is, and gave up. but charged you for it. very common to see posts where an owner finally gets the courage to change his own plugs, and finds out that the rear bank plugs are the original ones, even tho the fronts were changed a couple times. and he paid for all 6. this is why i say if you can do the work yourself, dont own this car

 

This is a lot to think about. There is always the unknown with any used car, or old car. If you lease a car you invest money and get nothing back either. If I could get the car running for $2000, and use it for a year I would still be ahead. I can do basic stuff but I shouldn't have to if put in new plugs and coils on a JDM engine, right. Problem is finding someone who can put it in. I have a quote for $1050. I am sure it does not include fluids, but will check.
thank you Kennin and Shipo for input. I will post the outcome. Still bugs me that it broke down right after got it back from body shop. If I swap out engine we would know exact cause of the dead cylinder, I think?