Which car should I keep?

I have 2 Plymouth Breezes. I want to donate one and keep the other. Which one will give me less trouble?

CAR A -----------------------------CAR B

'98 2.0L 83k miles----------'98 2.0L 75k miles
'98 original engine----------'00 junkyard engine since 40k on my odometer
burns oil (1 qt/1000 mi)----leaks oil to outside (1 qt/1000 mi), no oil burning, I mean no smell
ABS doesn't work------------ABS works
head gasket replaced-------don't know. At least, I didn't.
gold color, no collision------purple, black hood because of collision, otherwise no sign of collision
paint peels all over----------paint peels on the hood

Timing belt and water pump were replaced on both cars.
On this engine, head gasket is a weak point. Earlier engines are worse.

If you need more info for intelligent decision making, please let me know. Thanks.

Merry Christmas

 

No offense but I'd just go ahead and donate both of them
I don't think any agency will get much for either one of them , they're 10 years old with obvious mechanical and body issues

 

Since the values are likely similiar, I'd keep the one I liked or felt best about. Or put another way - donate the one you trust the least.

 

Great Side-By-Side presentation!

From your detailed analysis I would keep car B.
At least it's easier and cheaper to seal most oil leaks than putting in new rings.
Mabey swap out the hoods before you dump A if it's better.
And B sounds like it has a better apperance and most of all the ABS works!

Brakes are a good thing!

 

While I would favor the one with working ABS, I think I would donate both. Under the tax rules, you wont get much of a tax write off. It's the old story of throwing good money after bad.

 

I vote "B"
And happy holidays to you

 

I just need to keep one car until next May. I will keep car B. Thanks for your input.

Regarding Car A, my best guess is oil is lost both to burning and leaking (oil pan). I think I can cut down oil consumption to less than half by replacing oil pan gasket. On this car, oil pan just drops without removing anything. I will do that before donating the car.

The charity organization runs a homeless shelter, both singles and families. They give donated cars to family residents, who cannot afford maintaining a car and pretty much run it to death. A car that will run a year is worth donating.

 

Unless it is totally impractical (city ordinance, lack of reasonable parking space, etc.), I would keep them both and use one as a driver and the other as a parts doner to keep the driver running. Give the homeless shelter a $25 cash donation instead of the car. When you get able to buy a nicer car, dump both the old ones.

 

Thanks for the suggestion to keep a donor car. It may not work as well as intended:

Both Plymouth Breezes have always had the same problems. When headgasket blew on one car, the other got the same problem right after. When AC compressor clutch died on one, the other had the same problem. Ball joint boots went bad on one car, and the other got the same problem soon after, etc.

I have one follow-up question:

Is there other maintenance I can do while oil pan is dropped for gasket replacement? Thanks.