Hello! So I've got a 2007 2.7L 5spd with 93k miles. I'm planning on changing out the clutch/flywheel, all the belts, water pump, thermostat, plugs/coils, etc. Total price for all the parts is gonna be about $1700-$2100.
I just found an ad locally for a 2008 2.7L 5spd with only 40k miles on it for an asking of $1875. The ad does say it's got damage to one cylinder head from a forklift, otherwise it's good to go.
Would this be a straight plug and play swap? What are the pros/cons of sticking with the 07 vs the lower mileage 08? Anyone already do this type of swap?
Thanks!
Pro of swapping:
Less miles if that matters. That's if they are telling the truth about the mileage
Cons of swapping:
Will cost more now
Is damaged
Has possible more unknown damage
More time in the shop, less having fun driving
No maintenance history
Will most likely cost more in the long run
IMO opinion the older a car gets the less the mileage matters and the more the condition/maint history does.
You might consider if you have space - buying it and putting it under a tarp in your garage, thereby invoking
Eilenberger's Law #2 of Spare Parts - "You'll never need the part you have".
And since you'll never need it - when you decide to pass along the '07 - you probably can sell it for what you paid for it*. So - what's peace of mind worth?
* = I recently sold my R1200R BMW motorcycle. Through owning 2 of them (total miles on them 140,000) I accumulated quite a few spare parts. Whenever I saw a part cheap, I'd buy it and put it on a shelf in my garage. There were a LOT of spares there, from seats to windshields to driveshafts, suspension parts, throttle bodies, and electronic modules. After I sold the bike I decided it was time to sell the parts. I put an ad in a BMW-specific marketplace and was contacted by a chap from Staten Island who wanted the driveshaft, and he'd come over to pick it up. Well - when he got to my house he decided he wanted everything I had for an R1200R - he had one in Staten Island and one in Poland (where he was from.) So he built a great big pile, and asked "Whatcha want for it?" I said $1,000. He said $950? I said OK. I think I broke even on the parts, and Law #2 worked -
I never needed a single part that I had on the shelf
for those bikes (which were the most reliable motorcycles I've ever owned - each crossed the US twice.. and toured Canada, the deep south and lots of other places reachable by motorcycle.) But Law#2 proved true again - and it didn't cost me anything in the long run (and now I have lots of empty shelves to put 987 spare parts on..)
