Posted December 28, 2012
Can you go to an independent shop, if you haven't already, and get an estimate on what it will take to fix up the car? 150K miles is still young for a GM car and unless you have severe engine problems or transmission problems (the number 1 cause of most people trying to get rid of their cars in my experience) you really might be worse off trading in that car.
I used to be a mechanic myself so for me most of that stuff would be fixed, well, by me if I had the room to do so. However, not everyone is a mechanic BUT if you have some elbow grease and know how to use most of the common tools, you can actually save yourself some money by doing some of the basic repairs yourself. On a Buick LeSabre, doing the brakes *shouldn't* be a hassle as they have pretty simple brakes. It should have pads and rotors up front and more than likely the same on the rear.
The fuel pump can be tricky as when I did the fuel pump in my 98 Chevy Blazer, the dang thing set me back about $400 just for the pump because they like to use fancy electric pumps..and you can't buy remanufactured pumps for some odd reason :D. I managed to change it out in my yard without lifting the Blazer but that's because it sat quite high anyways :D.
The radiator and thermostat, if I am remembering the layout of the engine and various components, should be easy enough to get to without any extra tools as again, this is a GM car and those, for the most part, aren't crammed with everything under the sun like most Chryslers or Volkswagens :D. If you do take the DIY route, make sure to bleed the coolant after changing the radiator and thermostat. It's not enough to just pour it in and go...
ABS and electrical...that I'd leave to the shop because this will more than likely require a diagnostic computer to be connected to the car to see what codes are stored in the ABS module's memory and the main computer for the car that should store any codes relating to your blinkers :D.
More than likely the trouble with your blinkers is either corrosion at the connecting plug that goes into the light for the blinker or you may have some wiring issues. This, of course is off the top of my head so take that with a huge grain of salt.
I used to be a mechanic myself so for me most of that stuff would be fixed, well, by me if I had the room to do so. However, not everyone is a mechanic BUT if you have some elbow grease and know how to use most of the common tools, you can actually save yourself some money by doing some of the basic repairs yourself. On a Buick LeSabre, doing the brakes *shouldn't* be a hassle as they have pretty simple brakes. It should have pads and rotors up front and more than likely the same on the rear.
The fuel pump can be tricky as when I did the fuel pump in my 98 Chevy Blazer, the dang thing set me back about $400 just for the pump because they like to use fancy electric pumps..and you can't buy remanufactured pumps for some odd reason :D. I managed to change it out in my yard without lifting the Blazer but that's because it sat quite high anyways :D.
The radiator and thermostat, if I am remembering the layout of the engine and various components, should be easy enough to get to without any extra tools as again, this is a GM car and those, for the most part, aren't crammed with everything under the sun like most Chryslers or Volkswagens :D. If you do take the DIY route, make sure to bleed the coolant after changing the radiator and thermostat. It's not enough to just pour it in and go...
ABS and electrical...that I'd leave to the shop because this will more than likely require a diagnostic computer to be connected to the car to see what codes are stored in the ABS module's memory and the main computer for the car that should store any codes relating to your blinkers :D.
More than likely the trouble with your blinkers is either corrosion at the connecting plug that goes into the light for the blinker or you may have some wiring issues. This, of course is off the top of my head so take that with a huge grain of salt.