quote:
Originally posted by Hazelhorth:
I have a 1991 Toyota Celica GT-S.
I want to do something to it but I dont know what to do. I want to keep the gas milage up. So far I think I get 30 mpg.
A problem I have is that there is a smash in the back right end. I want to pull it out. My family was thinking it would cost $1000 dollars but the car was $2400.
Can you guys inspire/help me?
There are two measurements of MPG (Miles per gallon) the first is "In City" the second is freeway MPG.
In city gets lower MPG due to stops and starts - nearly every intersection you are slowing/stopping - acceleration tends to eat up more gas than cruising at a steady speed.
For Freeways Newton plays his roll: "A body in motion tends to stay in motion" Basically the engine doesn't have to work as hard to keep the car flying at freeway speeds.
Thus we will see MPG readings of 22/30 where the first number refers to in city driving, the second refers to freeway driving.
If you do long commutes to and from work on the freeway every day changes are you are getting high mileage (I seriously doubt 30 MPG all the time). Driving style and tendencies will have a huge impact on your MPG. More on that below.
I will assume that your Toyota is a 4 Cylinder, 2.2 Liter, 130 Horsepower Engine. If so it gets 22 MPG city 30 MPG freeway – IF it is tuned up regularly, clean oil, tire pressure set correctly, fan belts, spark plugs “clean” on the inside (of the engine, not the passenger compartment).
The Tune-Up consists of several things, spark plugs, spark plug wires, belts, fluids (oil, transmission fluid, blah), distributor cap check/change – some cars require a PVC valve check/replacement (PVC is part of the vacuum system which can lead to a serious drop in MPG if out of whack). Timing, idle speed and other factors play in there, more modern cars are computer controlled and may need to be hooked up to a diagnoses machine to reset some of that. Clean air, oil and gas filters play into the MPG game. Believe it or not more than half of the cars on the road have NEVER been to a tune-up – but then consider that folk drive on bald tires, drive until their brakes are making that horrible ‘Low to No Brake Pad’ squeal – have lose fan belts (another tell tale noise on acceleration) and other minor and major issues it doesn’t become to hard to believe.
Newer cars are now depending a lot more on aerodynamics – if you open a window you get a drop in MPG, stick out your hand your mpg drops even more – So a dent, a missing bit of body could actually lead to a drop in MPG. Like the tail gate on a truck – having it up actually improves the MPG (Like 2 miles per tank of gas) than having it down. Trucks (bed trucks) are actually designed with the tail gate up. Wind tunnel tests show a “eddy” in the air flow which creates a “bubble” that stream lines air flow over the back of the truck. Letting the gate down destroys that eddy leading to drag which leads to burning more gasoline.
Driving style: I know plenty of folk who drop their foot on their accelerator as if the red light changing to green is the start of a race. The fact is that cars have an optimal range of acceleration – too slow you burn more gas, too fast you burn more gas. Cars have been designed with the “average” driver in mind – the Average driver supposedly can/does accelerate smoothly and does drive the average street speed. As an aside: Brakes are designed for the “coast to stop” not the sudden wait until the last second tailgater stop. Although it has little to do with gas mileage on pure i.c. (internal combustion) engines, these hybrids get more electricity if you are a ease into the stop kind of person. One of the reasons why Hybrids are being said to get lower MPG is not because of the car, but because the driver doesn’t know how to drive/brake.
If you drive the speed limit (in town) you may noticed that many main streets are “timed” their lights are timed to keep traffic flowing – however if you live in areas like hear you will find that the speeders are racing to stop which upsets the fine balance sing you have to slowdown/stop because they have come to a stop. Personally I can drive from home to the parents along Coffee road and only have to stop at Briggsmoore Ave. Briggsmore was given the right of way since it sees more traffic than Coffee. However the lights are all timed to where when driving 40 MPG they light up in sequence to allow a person to continue all the way from Scenic (the start of Coffee Road) to Pelandale (the end of the city limits for coffee Road) with little to no stopping. There are other routes through my town which are set like this.
Deciding when to throw money into a car and when to cut bait and run depends on more than just MPG. If you know you are looking at a lot of major and minor repairs in near future, then maybe its time to consider retiring the car. Cars reach a point where they start to nickel and dime you to death The 91 Mercury reached that point last year, first it was the heater coil, then it was the AC, then it was an “electrical problem” then it was the radiator…. Although the Mercury runs great, it has reached the point where time and use are taking their toll. But then it ran the Modesto/SF daily commute for several years lots of miles in “iffy” traffic. Due to the needs, and the fact that it was starting to be a ‘project car’, we decided it was time to retire the old girl and replace her with something new.
Body work: In your “older” car it isn’t really going to make much difference on your over all MPG if there is a “dent” or not. A crowbar will usually pull a bent fender away from the tire, and that is all you really need is tire clearance.
Fender damage comes in two extremes – the minor dent to the major crush. For a minor dent it is “pulled” that consists of drilling holes, putting in a tool, screwing a larger “nut” on the inside and actually pulling the dent out. The process also includes a bit of hammering since most times you get a hump that needs adjustment. What you have then is a wrinkled holey mess which is smoothed with body fill, fill and sand, fill and sand, building up a smooth layer to “hide” the holes and the wrinkles. Then that is primed and painted. Mind most times you will not be able to match exactly the color of a car. If the car is white – forget matching at all. White (ironically) is the most difficult color to match from lot to lot (mixing lot) let alone over a period of years/decades.
The second is to replace the fender. Older cars are rather easy to do, they were bolted together. New cars are also welded at points. There is a change that a “crinkle” bar is in there – the bar provides stability which allows you to lean against the sheet metal without it denting, but is designed to collapse upon impact absorbing some of the energy of impact.
IF you do it your self it will cost you less. If you take it to a body person you might be able to work out a deal where you go to pick and pull and pull the body part (far cheaper than buying new) and they install it.
Around $1000 dollars sounds about right to me.
Um you could always find out the current worth of your vehicle through Kelly Blue Book – I would do it for you but part of the process requires a zip-code for the worth near you. And there is other information needed which you did not include in your post.
Usually a car will actually end up costing you about 4 times the price you paid for it brand spanking new – with gas, maintenance, minimal repair (not including insurance, registration, blah) you will most likely find yourself never getting what you actually invested into a car back. Deciding if work on a car is worth it compared to the price/worth of the car is a road best left untraveled.
