Should I fix up this car or re-sell it in this situation?

So I bought a used 15 year old Honda Civic with 130,000 miles on it. I paid $1700 for it. However I found out from the mechanic it will cost another 2500 to fix up all the brakes and lights to make it drivable and good. However the ac and radio still won't work. Or should I sell it for 600 dollars to the mechanic and lose $1100 dollars. I know I made an error. But what should I do?

I would sell it for less if its broken

That was a very bad year for Honda with automatic transmissions. Unfortunately that one is a money pit. If the mechanic will buy it from you, that's good. If it's a standard shift it may be worth fixing and keeping.

Well, no matter what, you have to register it and pay tax, title & tag. So you will lose most of that too. The tag can go toward another car.

Id try to find someone on craigslist to fix it for less. You really bought a car with no lights and bad brakes and no ac or radio and didn't think anything of it?

I sold a lot of cars with broken AC & Radio. Brakes & lights should NOT cost $1000 let alone $2500. Whoever told you that is trying to rip you off.

1) It's redundant to say you bought a used 15 year old car. There's no such thing as a new 15 year old car, is there? Duh.

2) Don't sell it to the mechanic for only $600. He would be stealing it from you and it doesn't cost $2500 to repair brakes and lights. He'd be hosing you there too. Find an honest mechanic and get a fair estimate of repairs before you do anything.

See another mechanic. Looks like you are getting ripped off.

Second opinion

Sell it but not to your mechanic.

Maybe you should own a socket set and some wrenches and learn how to fix cars yourself? Just a cheap metric set will do you a long time. Visit a public library because there was no INTERNET at the time, but there was REPAIR MANUALS on every car. So you learned by reading and following the pictures & diagrams on how to fix stuff.

ANY IDIOT can go out and buy a car & ANY IDIOT can take it to a mechanic & get hosed.

Do you think for a minute those guys that used to drive around in the MUSCLE CARS "ever" went to a mechanic… Or did they just learn it on their own? Swapping motors, rear ends, trannies, body modifications, paint jobs etc… While still attending high school? Yeah, they had a part time job and that was it. That being said the 66 Mustang and early Camaro which initially came out with 6 cylinder engines, but the engine compartment had lots of room for a V8… And it happened in guys back yards. Out with the stock In-line 6 and in with the V8's. And customized bent up exhaust system(headers) to make the car thunder down the road. Detroit followed the innovators… The backyard mechanics.
None of the backyard mechanics ever went to see an actual car mechanic when they themselves had the tools and the time… And a beer.

. Mechanics have not changed. They are looking to make an easy buck. That is true with all of us no matter what the job.

Go out and get the price for brake shoes or pads from an auto parts shop like NAPA or LORDCO. Hell, I used to be able to buy brake shoes from Sears for my VW Beetle. I also borrowed a book from the library that showed with photographs how to change the brake shoes. I was 16 so my wrenches was just the basic knucklebuster adjustable crescent wrench and a screwdriver and pliers (as my dad was a house painter so wrenches he did not have nor the mind for working on mechanical things… It was not his mindset.
. But I had an interest in it. You need that to do anything.
I bet by the time you find out how much the shoes/pads cost you will be "browning yourself" You are paying retail. As you are buying 1 set. You are not a mechanic that may need 30 sets a week so he gets a discount closer to wholesale price.
STILL even at retail there's a lot of money between the cost of the part and what he charges to do the brakes. All Labor. Money you are saving and paying yourself.

Make an inquiry at a parts store. They sell to the public.