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Screw the new car, just get a new engine!

gas2.org — There's an interesting service out there that's being advocated by a group called the Engine Repower Council. They say that instead of buying new cars, consumers should be having their old, tired engines swapped out for freshly rebuilt, waranteed version, which will increase fuel economy, reliability, and reduce emissions.

Who dugg this? Made popular Mar 25, 2008

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  • RealmDown, on 03/25/2008, -8/+113If only there was a service like this for wives.....
  • degron, on 03/25/2008, -3/+92Good idea, but I find that in the American cars that I have owned it is always the transmission that gives me trouble not the engine. Now if we can get a package deal on both that would be great.
  • Teh1337Pirate, on 03/25/2008, -0/+88does no one realize that you've always had the option of replacing the engine in your car instead of buying a new car all together?
  • brstilson, on 03/25/2008, -4/+67Or you could just get a Nissan or Toyota. The engine will outlast the body by at least 200k miles.
  • crazzy88ss, on 03/25/2008, -3/+59A new engine? Cool, except the rest of the car is still falling apart and way out dated...
  • DrDragun, on 03/25/2008, -5/+52Would be pretty unsafe in snowy parts of the country where they salt the roads in the winter and your frame is liable to get rusty after a decade or so.

    Still, if you're putting 25k+ per year on your car then I guess your engine would be gone significantly earlier than other structural parts of your car would become unsafe.
  • omgsideburns, on 03/25/2008, -2/+45I think articles like this are written by people who have never worked on or owned a car older than 10 years...
  • antonio97b, on 03/25/2008, -0/+40My 72 Datsun 510 is on its 3rd engine. First the stock l16, then moved to the l20b, now it's on an sr20det. 650k miles on the chassis and still going strong!
  • inactive, on 03/25/2008, -8/+44so is this problem also going to fix the other problems in older cars?? problems like wire shorts, and wear an tear, and transmission and exhaust problems??

    this is just a stupid idea, better to invest time and money into finding better technologies to make cars cleaner and safer and in the mean time recycle old cars. everyone wants to make a buck off of the green movement and high gas prices. but their ideas aren't helping any.
  • rockefeller2, on 03/25/2008, -0/+26How about doing away with the double negatives: "Always drive a manual"
  • serif69, on 03/25/2008, -0/+25Funny, actual gearheads have been doing this since cars have existed.
  • Narcism, on 03/25/2008, -6/+28Look at me, I know more about cars then you.
  • Spuy767, on 03/25/2008, -7/+28This is all well and good, except for the fact that. . . THE REST OF THE ***** CAR FALLS APART TOO!
  • PFS1, on 03/25/2008, -2/+22Replace? Screw that, just get a SECOND engine and strap it to your roof.
  • Trinitrogen, on 03/25/2008, -3/+23It's called the Emperors Club
  • nickj6282, on 03/25/2008, -0/+17I replaced the engine in my car last year. It had nearly 200,000 miles on it, but the car still looks great.

    Luckily I drive a Saturn. Cheap parts and easy to work on. I'm already up to 220,000 total miles on the car (40k or so on the engine) with no indication of stopping soon. My next projects on the car are the front struts. That'll take up about $200 and a Saturday with my son out in the garage and be well worth it if I get another 200k out of them.

    The point is, doing all the work myself, it really is cheaper to maintain the car I have indefinitely rather than replace it. Once our family grows too large (i.e. we have another baby beyond the one due in June) I'll have to get a new car.
  • prisoner24601, on 03/25/2008, -0/+16Actually this sort of thing is one of the reasons why "series hybrids" instead of "parallel hybrids" (like the upcoming GM Volt) are really interesting to me. Since each major component (battery, electric motor, the small gas engine/generator unit) are connected to each other with only a few wires, each module is going to be much easier to replace. Maintenance should be dramatically lower. Especially when you think about it getting to the level where instead of one drive electric motor under the hood connected to a traditional drivetrain, you look at any of the numerous prototypes where they have placed 4 "wheel motors" on the car literally integrated into the wheel itself. Then there is no drivetrain at all, and (very cool) if one of your motors breaks, you can still drive the vehicle on 3/4 power to the service department to get it fixed. And the "repair" of a broken motor is basically the same process as changing a tire!

    I think the incredible simplification of car design that automatically comes from having a series design (small gas engine/generator connected with a couple wires to a battery connected by a couple wires to four motors, one in each wheel well) may be one of the reasons manufacturers had decided NOT to sell them yet. Maintenance drops by orders of magnitude and dealers would hate that. But the design change is inevitable. That "series" approach is exactly how diesel train locomotives work, btw (except for battery storage...) because the efficiencies of turning gas/diesel into electricity and then driving motors is so much better than trying to directly turn small explosions into mechanical energy. Railroads demand efficiency and low maintenance in the locomotives they buy. Car buyers should contemplate this and demand the same product design.

    I can't wait for the GM Volt.
  • Narcism, on 03/25/2008, -2/+17Pay $16 for 1000 views like the rest of the advertisers, ya scum.
  • akatherder, on 03/25/2008, -1/+14That's the exact opposite of what I was thinking. Trade in for a newer model when it starts getting run-down.
  • jemka, on 03/25/2008, -3/+16Did digg.com approve of this advertisement? I think not.
  • therealkdog, on 03/25/2008, -2/+15What about other things? Like safety? its going to be expensive to retrofit some of my cars with anymore than the 1 airbags its comes with. And what about new crumple zones?

    Then you need to replace alot of small things no one thinks about, all the bushings in the entire suspension, wheel bearings, anything that moves on a car that will start to go bad after the first motor dies.
  • dreesemonkey, on 03/25/2008, -0/+12I'm a big fan of older used cars, I'm rocking a '95 Nissan 200sx SE-R right now. Sure, you'd pick up a few MPG from a freshly rebuilt engine (assuming your engine isn't already running pretty well), but what about a 13 year old catalytic converter that's all broken down and clogging exhaust flow? What about faulty O2 sensors downstream of the exhaust manifold. Just these two problems alone could account for a 20-30% loss in fuel economy. An engine with in-spec, even compression on all cylinders, properly working fuel and ignition components, clean throttle body and air filter is generally going to run within a stone's throw of a rebuilt engine.

    And as everyone else mentioned, if you live in the NE or other rust-prone areas of the country - good luck keeping a car road worthy much longer than 10-15 years unless you don't drive in the wet/snow/slush and keep it in a heated garage.
  • inactive, on 03/25/2008, -2/+14You did the right thing, a new engine in a worn out car gives you just that - a worn out car with a new engine. The suspension, transmission, rear end, body, shocks, paint and everything else wears out just like an engine does. By the time you replace it all, you could tie up enough money to buy 2 or 3 new cars. Besides, a new engine doesn't give you that "new car smell" and we all know that's what it's about. Enjoy your new ride!
  • stretch611, on 03/25/2008, -0/+12Its called divorce; but it is cost prohibitive.
  • ohcoaster, on 03/25/2008, -1/+13***** that, on my previous car the only thing that didn't need replacing was the engine. what do they recommend when the frame and body are rusted out ? that's right, a whole new car.
  • JK1150, on 03/25/2008, -0/+12this is not news...
  • zengonzo, on 03/25/2008, -1/+12That's actually far too true .. My 2001 Sentra's interior has been falling apart since the year I'd gotten it, but the engine runs great.
  • EBFoxbat, on 03/25/2008, -1/+11Too much wind resistance, better to toss it in the trunk.
  • Chompy, on 03/25/2008, -3/+13Everything I know about cars I cut-and-pasted from a wrencher forum.
  • asnaturalasgas, on 03/25/2008, -2/+12The article says it's focusing on domestic models, hmmm, wonder why??!! haha. Buy a Honda, the body will last 15-20 years and the engine 25 and they probably invest more into North America than the not-so-big-anymore 3.
  • NonLeftistDiggr, on 03/25/2008, -2/+12Thank you! That's awesome! I will never go to that site.
  • norman619, on 03/25/2008, -0/+9how many engines have you bought? I have bought 2 and neither came with a transmission.
  • mortigon, on 03/25/2008, -6/+15i do love manual shift... but it sucks balls driving in the city with it.
  • rizla420, on 03/25/2008, -3/+12I agree, but i'd still stick with my manual. Makes me more in tune with my surroundings by having to think of how to get the car to do what I want in the most efficient manner at the moment. Need some extra speed burst to pass a car on a single lane road, down shift, punch down. I dunno maybe its just seems more fun to me.
  • BigManOnCampus, on 03/25/2008, -0/+8They've actually proven that new-car-smell is bad for you. I don't know how they did it. Perhaps they exposed lab animals to 1000x the normal dosage (Toyota factory maybe?) I dunno.
  • blankman, on 03/25/2008, -0/+8I think what he means is that when you get a new engine, not a replacement, but a new, aftermarket performance engine you have to also replace the transmission to one that will mate with the new engine. He probably bought the two together as "one package". If you're just replacing a stock engine with a stock engine, you can just keep the old transmission.
  • sq2shooter, on 03/25/2008, -0/+8There is. It is called stairs.
  • inactive, on 03/25/2008, -0/+8I'm not sure my car's body will survive another engine upgrade, but definitely a good idea for the right climate.
  • inactive, on 03/25/2008, -0/+8Go to a ***** area of town where there is a garage, you'll work something out, trust me.
  • GetShorty, on 03/25/2008, -2/+10I imagine most people replace their cars just because they want a newer or different one, not because the engine is worn out.
  • lostngone, on 03/25/2008, -1/+8If its a different model of engine, good luck getting the car to pass an emission test with a new/different engine. Where I live they won't even try and test it if it doesn't have the stock engine.
  • SpaceMonkeyZero, on 03/25/2008, -2/+9A door that closes smoothly is almost worth the cost of a new car!
  • metalbabble, on 03/25/2008, -0/+7all my old cars fell apart around the engine. still, $3500 or so to replace an engine on a 10 year old car *IS THE PRICE OF* a ten year old car. but i suppose the point is "waste not"
  • PleaseJustDie, on 03/25/2008, -1/+8I'm all for better gas mileage, but I want it to have ungodly power as well.
  • inactive, on 03/25/2008, -4/+10Eh, I'd rather buy a new car for about 13-15k with all new parts and warranty - with my luck I'd replace the engine and then have the transmission/exhaust/suspension go on me.
  • brownrecluse888, on 03/25/2008, -2/+8If you have a car you love and they don't make any more, this is the way to go. I have one of the classic Jeep CJ-7's that they quit making in 1986. When my motor died four years ago I did some research, and for right at $3,000 I put in an engine from a 2002 Grand Cherokee, it basically dropped right in. Now I have the best running CJ-7 on the planet!!
  • Duositex, on 03/25/2008, -3/+9The cost of replacing your engine is likely higher than the payments on financing a new car and trading in the old one. No?
  • shadowspawn, on 03/25/2008, -1/+7get a new blog engine.
  • inactive, on 03/25/2008, -1/+7You mean keep the old bitch going forever???? j/k.....I love my wife, especially if she's reading this.
  • Chompy, on 03/25/2008, -1/+7If nobody else think it's funny, then it's not funny.
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