I may be working on a new project daily driver. The car is a 2006 Scion xB with ~150,000 miles. The original engine was overheated so bad it lost compression on all 4 cylinders and cooked the oil. I know the previous owner so although its not my usual trusty GM product, I feel a little more comfortable with the car knowing its history.
The plan is to put a motor in it, replace the windshield and try to keep the odds and ends to a minimum to keep the cost down. I'm just doing some quick preliminary research to make sure I won't get burned on this project. I'm just trying to think of some possible things it may need to keep that in the budget. The #1 goal is cheap and reliable.
So far it seems that these cars have a pretty good reputation. Fairly reliable, good gas mileage, not many complicated systems to go bad. And from what I can tell replacement parts are fairly cheap. If the project goes through I'd be buying a used engine from a reputable source with some sort of warranty, just in case. I'm not interested in remanned engines, from what I've seen so far that drives the cost to a number I'm not comfortable with for this project.
My local yard sells complete engines for $299 with a $50 core. 30 day warranty (price is appetizing, but only a 30 day warranty)
On LKQ's website they have an engine for $895 and from what I can tell their warranty on engines is 6 month/6000 miles (seems fair)
My question is, are there any engine recyclers you guys have had good luck with? Any advice? Are there any things that I could be overlooking? I'm no stranger to a mechanical project of this size, but I just want to make sure I'm considering all options financially.
Here is just a quick list of things I've come up with so far.
PARTS (MANDATORY):
engine
radiator
radiator cap
battery
windshield
air filter
oil + filter
coolant
PARTS (MAYBE):
engine gasket set
head bolts
water pump
belt
radiator hoses
The plan is to put a motor in it, replace the windshield and try to keep the odds and ends to a minimum to keep the cost down. I'm just doing some quick preliminary research to make sure I won't get burned on this project. I'm just trying to think of some possible things it may need to keep that in the budget. The #1 goal is cheap and reliable.
So far it seems that these cars have a pretty good reputation. Fairly reliable, good gas mileage, not many complicated systems to go bad. And from what I can tell replacement parts are fairly cheap. If the project goes through I'd be buying a used engine from a reputable source with some sort of warranty, just in case. I'm not interested in remanned engines, from what I've seen so far that drives the cost to a number I'm not comfortable with for this project.
My local yard sells complete engines for $299 with a $50 core. 30 day warranty (price is appetizing, but only a 30 day warranty)
On LKQ's website they have an engine for $895 and from what I can tell their warranty on engines is 6 month/6000 miles (seems fair)
My question is, are there any engine recyclers you guys have had good luck with? Any advice? Are there any things that I could be overlooking? I'm no stranger to a mechanical project of this size, but I just want to make sure I'm considering all options financially.
Here is just a quick list of things I've come up with so far.
PARTS (MANDATORY):
engine
radiator
radiator cap
battery
windshield
air filter
oil + filter
coolant
PARTS (MAYBE):
engine gasket set
head bolts
water pump
belt
radiator hoses
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