Steering You Right With Sharon Peters
Q: What’s a “repowering” process when you’re talking engines? My son emailed he’s considering that for his old car, and I’ve never heard of it.
A: When an engine is in deep trouble, some owners are opting not to buy a new car, which used to be what folks generally did. They’re pursuing “repowering” — better known as “rebuilding.”
That involves taking the engine and having it disassembled, cleaned and rebuilt to prescribed standards by machinists using specialized equipment. The components used sometimes exceed the original performance standards, proponents say.
It’s not cheap to do this — often $3,000 or more — but it’s cheaper than buying a new car.
Some people who choose this approach do so primarily because it’s the “green” way of dealing with an unpleasant situation. It makes the car more fuel-efficient, there’s a warranty and the impact on the environment is less detrimental than a new car (which requires substantially more raw materials to build, not to mention the environmental impact of discarding the old one).
You’d have to be pretty certain other systems aren’t about to fail for this to be a really attractive approach, so a mechanic should check out everything before this avenue is chosen.
Although relatively few people think about rebuilding as the solution when the engine blows, awareness of this approach is growing. There’s actually even an Engine Rebuilders Council (which was called Engine Repower Council until four years ago).
Q: We’re buying a new car and my husband insists that if we don’t get the expensive GPS package, resale value will be ruined in four years when we trade. True?
A: Maybe not true. Those things get outdated fast, first of all. Second, I can think of no one who uses anything but his or her smartphone to get from here to there.
Here’s my personal example: I purchased my 2008 Acura RDX without a navigation package. That saved me many hundreds of dollars upfront.
KBB.com tells me that if I were to sell the vehicle today, I would get about $200 less than someone with the same car equipped with nav.
Surely there are exceptions. But sometimes the decision to buy without built-in navigation can be smart, especially if the package includes many additional things you don’t care about having.
© CTW Features
What’s your question? Sharon Peters would like to hear about what’s on your mind when it comes to caring for, driving and repairing your vehicle. Email [email protected].