How should I handle serious mechanical issues on a car I borrowed from my parents?

[Anonymous]

a while back i borrowed a used car from my parents , they had it for a while and weren't using it much and i needed a way to get to work in another nearby town. it was a 2015 and has had some repairs over the years but worked well until more recently.

it started to develop an oil leak ( at gasket ) and seems to have issues with breaks as well and some rust is showing on various areas , i got a quote a few months back to repair the oil leak and change the belt ( needed to be changed as oil got on it ) and was around $1500-$1800 depending on what they needed to do

i showed quote to parents who still legally own the car and they didn't take it seriously and claimed garage was trying to scam us and that car was not really in that bad of shape

a few months later car isn't any better , i don't even drive it on the highway anymore as i found faster speeds increased the oil leak and it do weird things once i got off highway so figured out some ( paved ) back roads i could drive instead but car isn't doing much better just surviving

i don't have any extra money to do the repairs and its not even legally my car i was just borrowing it , i do have caa ( roadside assistance ) but that only gets me a free tow to a nearby garage if and when it does break down

Updates

1 mo

been driving it around as is since i posted question , did finally get it into the dealership garage yesterday and they confirmed it has an engine oil leak and needs a part replaced and could be fixed for under $1000 according to there estimates , parents questioned if it would be worth fixing but have came to an agreement to get the car fixed , have to book another appointment but might have it done before this weekend

Updates

1 mo

finally went to garage today and got it fixed , no longer an oil leak , still have to go in again to replace belt ( which got covered in oil when it was leaking and needs to be replaced ) appears car runs mostly fine although still a couple minor issues and realise it won't last forever but seems like it might return to normal for a little while at least

[HollyK21]

How you should handle it is by taking care of the issues that happened to the car while they have been generous enough to let you use it. I think it’s messed up to run anyone’s car into the ground, parents or not, and then expect them to pay for the repairs that will get you back on the road. This isn’t their problem dude, it’s yours and as a grown man you should be taking responsibility and making some sort of game plan to either repair that car or save for a new one. If this were a rental, you’d be responsible for almost anything that happens to the car in your possession, so what makes this any different? Time to put your big boy pants on rather than expect them to take care of it.

[Asker]

it has over 200,000 km's on it , from what i've seen and read these issues are common on this type of car , so not like i specifically did something that caused it. it was just caused by age and wear over the years , they always took it in for regular oil changes and i made sure that continued and it still developed this issues

[HollyK21]

I get where you’re coming from dude, as someone who’s also had to borrow a family members used car and dealing with car troubles. I just don’t think it’s right to have been the last one doing majority of driving that car for lord knows how long, and now that it’s having troubles, you want them to pay for it. It sounds like borrowing that car was a gamble, you knew the history of it yet took a chance because it was still drivable and you needed transportation. Im not faulting you for that, it just is what it is, you did what you felt necessary over all this time and this is the unfortunate result.

Morally the most I would suggest you do is either ask for them to chip in whatever they can spare, and you take on the rest, or ask for a loan and agree to pay it back. I think you’re leaning more into the safety net of having supportive parents than someone in your age range should, and I say that with nothing but respect because we are a privy to struggling with finances, no judgment from me. It’s just about taking responsibility for your decisions, even the costly ones. Make a game plan, start saving what you can even bit by bit. You will get what you need and maybe your parents will just help on their own accord if they saw you take initiative on this.

[Asker]

but the car was purchased in 2015 , like how long did they figure it was going to last for and be in good condition?

is a couple little dents on the back cause by me backing into things but the oil leak was cause by usage over the years not by an accident when i was driving it around

its frustrating cause they don't even seem to understand what is wrong with the car and don't think the oil leak is that significant even though i can see oil all over the lower part of engine from when its leaks the last few months as its been doing this for some time but has leaked less as i only drive in on back roads at lower speeds now

[HollyK21]

Well, if it wasn’t their main car and just a backup then I’m not surprised that they weren’t spending anymore money on it. In any case, start saving dude. You may not have the 2k extra right now but you’ll get there. You’ve dented up the car, drove it to where it’s now having issues again whereas it was doing alright before, this is your responsibility. They are not concerned with that car anymore, you are. If the car was having troubles before and you knew about that then it was already a risk to drive her you did it anyway. You’re almost or already 40 years old, too grown for this sort of mentality.

[AngryCarl3]

Get a quote from another garage then show both quotes to your parents. Consider car pooling with someone at work.

[Asker]

i'd like to get another quote but not sure what garage to go to and don't want to have to pay someone $100's of dollars just to look at it when i already know it has issues

[Mike_Hum]

you sound like a loser. Get a job and pay for the repairs.

[Asker]

the repairs could cost over $2000 and i don't have that kind of extra money , it also may just fix the car for a few months and then something else could go so might not be a good investment

[Mike_Hum]

Get a job. Quit being a loser.

[Asker]

i don't have the $ money to fix the car and its not even in my name and over 10 years old so might not be a good long term investment, if it was just $200 and it be fine for a few months i'd do it but a couple thousand is out of reality

[Mike_Hum]

Then buy your own car.

[In_Trance]

Fix it

[Asker]

its not possible for me to fix it on my own , the maker of this car has installed special screws on the engine which can only be removed with very specific tools that only dealerships or mechanics have and i'm not a mechanic so could not do a repair this complex

there also was a mechanic in our town that parents had used in past for this car but he retired so cannot take it there anymore