OT: Talking Cars Thursday - Head gasket repair and best older car for a short person

I've always been of the opinion that "bad head gasket" = "machine head and block deck". 

As far as "short people cars", my sister is 4'11 and liked her mini cooper. However, any car with a telescoping steering wheel should work. 

In the old days..... if you replaced a head gasket, you were foolish to not have the heads milled.  That's a fuck of a lot of work to go through only to repeat the process....

Same logic as replacing a timing belt or chain without replacing the water pump.  Granted I'm referring to something manufactured in the '70's or '80's.

i would suspect engines are made with even less material these days, which would leave them much more likely to warp....

I'll admit I'm not the most mechanically inclined guy in the world, but why would you even attempt to repair a blown gasket on a 22 year-old car?

Do you also re-watch OSU classics on BTN?

That sealant is a band-aid at best. If that car is someone’s lifeline and has to be driven, then by all means give it a shot. Otherwise I’d sell it as-is. You’d likely find a mechanic or a hobbyist that will pick it up to try and repair.  

This same thing just happened to me last month . . . head gasket on a 1995 Honda Accord w/ 217,000 miles on it.

The mechanic I have is an independent shop guy that I have used for years.  Very trust-worthy.  Since it is an old car, he always gives me the minimum viable repair and pricing. 

But in this case, he said that it would be over $1000 to fix it.  It's not overly-complicated, but it is a labor intensive repair.  I did not ask about sealant, but if it was an option, he likely would have told me about it.

So, a $1000+ repair just was not worth it on a car that old. 

No regrets, I got every last mile I could out of it (sounds like you have too).  But when it is time to close the book on an old car, it's time to close the book.

I've only heard good things about the Fit, it'll be about the size of her older Civic. Only issue with it is that it's not geared well and drones on the highway at speed.

I would NOT recommend the Versa - it's the cheapest new car on sale in America for a reason.

Mini Coopers are lots of fun, but they're just BMWs under the skin and come with the repair costs you'd expect from a German take on a British classic.

I'd say see how much adjustment there is in the driver's seat of whatever you're looking at. Odds are it would help no matter how tall or short your daughter is.

Can’t argue with these guys. Old car, repair that costs as much as the value of the car... that sounds like a recipe to replace the car. 

If I had something like that I might keep it around to see if I could learn to replace the head gasket myself... but I’d replace it, since there’s a good chance I’d get stuck or mess up. 

Short person car.  My wife is not as short as your daughter, but she has a ford escape that I feel is well built for shorter stature.  I have a relatively long torso, and even with the seat all the way down I still feel like I am far too high for the steering wheel. I'd check the small SUV (Escape, Rav 4) to see how these fit. 

Lots of smaller suvs out there that would work well for little folks. My oldest daughter isn’t much taller and her ‘08 Santa Fe is a good fit. Has a decent safety rating as well.

edit: funny how someone with the same point is always chiming in at about the same time

I'm going to go in the opposite direction and suggest you get her a truck. You can get aftermarket side steps to ease getting in and out, but they are useful, safe, have a lot of mass for her protection, and allow for an upright seating position with good view of the road.

having just bought a couple used cars this year, I did most of my research on carcomplaints.com and came up with an '07 and  '06 Pontiac Vibe(Toyota Matrix) for both daughters.  This car is equipped with a solid I-4 1.8L Toyota engine.  The utility of a hatch-back with rear window which also opens up.  rear seats clad with hard plastic backs which both fold flat as well as a front passenger seat which also folds down.   can be found w/ AWD, manual trans also available, both of ours have sunroof.  a 110V outlet is standard.   Avoid the '09 model which has problems with excessive oil consumption.  these vehicles replaced an '02 Buick Regal and '04 Civic with high mileage.  both of those were great cars as well.   

I wouldn’t spen much money on repairing that old of a car. Time to replace. Might try a compact SUV so she sits up a little and can see better. I would suggest a RAV4 or CRV

Actually, yes. There's a really good mechanic channel on YouTube where the man has broken down various different car categories to buy, based on his experiences repairing them. He has several recommendations for compact vehicles he routinely sees approaching 300k miles.

If this video doesn't provide what you're looking for, he has several others, and even if they don't provide the car you buy, he does an excellent job demonstrating what to look for in a reliable used vehicle, at the least. 

 https://youtu.be/dwuCtBfNVQ4

My personal advice: if not new or without warranty, I'd generally avoid anything with a CVT, too many electronics, or an infotainment system. Mechanical systems are typically more reliable, infotainment systems on older used cars often glitch, typically aren't repairable or patchable, and are expensive to replace, especially if they're the only way to access your climate controls, for example, so you can't buy aftermarket, etc, and need to drop more than $1000 on a factory replacement.

Edit: I'd also seriously look into getting pedal extensions for whichever car you buy, as sitting too close to the steering wheel can injure her if the airbag ever goes off. Even people who don't sit as close as that routinely receive burns, broken noses, and the like from them. 

My daughter is 5’3” and just got a 2015 Versa as her “grad gift”

she he loves it.  i love the fact that it’s a 4 cylinder, so it doesn’t go fast, and is relatively cheap to insure. 

I've had several Honda's(not a fit) are they are great cars.  I did have a Toyota Echo and the clearance/small tires were not good in the winter.  I run snow tires in the winter to fix that issue.  You might want to stick with a Civic.  Good luck!!!