what to do with Mom's clunker

[albumartist]

Last week my brother and his wife took my mom's car for the week (92 Legacy) while she had their Camry because it was better suited for baby seats. Anyway, they came home without any problem and were about to leave to get groceries when suddenly the Legacy wouldn't start anymore. (it'll crank, but produce a violent clunking noise, engine shake before dying) mind you, the car had 262k on the odometer, this is the 2nd engine and tranny. After some deliberation we said its time to get a new car.

Well, now the debate is what to do with the Subaru. The body is in fine condition besides a couple parking lot dings on driver frt quarter and door, interior is great, but it doesn't run. Towing it to a shop to have someone look at it would easily cost up to $100, plus any repair. If we sold it fixed we probably wouldn't get out what we put in. Another option was to donate it to charity but don't they only take running vehicles? What should I do? Sell as is? Part it out?

Is there much of a market for parts on a 92 legacy, AT, non turbo? Body has been freshly painted that Maroon mica with grey interior.

[oldsubu]

Me too. My 1994 Legacy 4WD sedan with 220k miles is near death as of today. Going down the road and suddenly strange sounds. Lifted the hood and found one of the spark plugs outside the cylinder block hanging by the hood of an ignition cable. Upon screwing it back in seemed loose. Limped a few miles on three cylinders to an auto parts store and bought a new spark plug. It was no better than the one I'd taken out and subsequently either plug was quickly spit out of the block upon starting my engine. Thus threads were apparently stripped as I suspected.

Thus am facing similar situation. To fix my cylinder is likely about $$$$ maybe as the plug hole would likely have to be tapped, rethreaded, and an insert installed. So am wondering whether to:

1. just fix the cylinder with an insert
2. have new engine installed
3. call auto wrecker and buy another vehicle

Two new near new tires a scratched dented body, and lots of old parts.

[albumartist]

I hear ya. The good news is that my mom knows a couple of people who works on cars. Turns out it might be the starter. Good news is that I can do it myself. So now I just have a really old car car eating garage space. A for sale sign will fix that though. does $1500 sound fair? I looked at kbb.com and they said 2500 for excellent condition. mine has a quarter panel ding, and dent (softball size) at the seam of frt/rear driver side.