ksdaddy Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 My wife drives a '94 Explorer I bought 3 years ago for $600. We're on borrowed time. The inspection runs out in June and Gawd knows what it will need. I really planned on replacing it, probably with another Explorer a few years newer. My daily driver is an '88 Blazer that was my father's. 77K, nice shape. Except.... a few weeks back a head gasket blew. I had it towed to my trusty mechanic and told him 'no hurry'. Today I found out I ruined a crank bearing too. The engine is toast. I checked WalMart and they are fresh out of 2.8L V-6's. I threw it on Craigslist as-is for $250. I planned to drive that Blazer for a couple more years, as it's otherwise in great shape. I didn't plan on it having a freakin' aneurysm. My backup is an '82 Ford pickup I bought in 1995 for $1200. Last fall I registered it as an antique so I could get around the inspection laws. It still has to have lights, decent tires, all that, it just doesn't need to go through the rigorous inspection. The big problem is that the frame has been welded, scrap metal scabbed on. That's the major issue; it's getting rough all over, pin holes in the floorboard where I've fixed and patched repeatedly, an iffy front end, rattles, clunks, etc. But it just flat refuses to die. Technically it's not supposed to be my main vehicle, being registered as an antique, but with the demise of the Blazer it has been called up to active duty. I sweat bullets every time I meet a cop, even though that old truck is about as much a danger to society as the milquetoast driving it and the 14 year old Golden Retriever in the passenger's seat. It's brush painted red, faded to pinkish orange, and sounds like the gates of Hell coming down the road. In spite of all this, I would drive it to California today and send you a post card along the way. The state police may have an issue with this however. It's just a matter of time before they catch on to me. So now I'm car shopping but I'm quite broke. I can maybe come up with $1000 or so in cash and I suppose I could sell a couple guitars. This sucks. I'm going to call about a 1990 3/4 ton Ford for $1000 tonight. That would be sweet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artie Owl Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 Well, with the economy the way it is, it's definately a buyers market, why not explore the cash for clunkers deals a lot of dealerships are offering? And Hey, if you're brave there's always a new Toyota, I imagine they're giving those things away now. (Sorry I know its hack to rip on Toyota at this point, I have nothing against them it's just topical.) -Brandon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted March 5, 2010 Author Share Posted March 5, 2010 Yes, one would think it's a buyer's market but it seems like people are hanging onto their older vehicles. All I seem to find locally are 2004, 2005, 2006 vehicles or ones in the same shape as my Blazer. A buddy of mine got rid of his 2000 Explorer in the Cash for Clunkers thing. Bought a new Honda SUV of some sort. Had it less than a week and hit a moose. Another couple hundred dollars damage and they would have totalled it. Instead the insurance company is fixing it. So now he has a brand new Honda SUV that's already been flattened once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky4 Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 Can't you swing something newer and make payments? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted March 5, 2010 Author Share Posted March 5, 2010 Just not my style. I hate to exceed the three digit threshold. Last time I did that was the aforementioned '82 Ford. I've had really good luck driving old junk, this is just bad timing. I've got a healthy tax refund coming, maybe I will splurge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky4 Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 Go in debt like the rest of us. Misery loves company Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackie Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 Your luck on the old junk done run out........... Hey as long as everything else is legal as you are driving relax about that.............till ya get busted. I have been there ......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevef Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 Is your mechanic up, and is it worth it to you, to sticking a rebuilt engine into the blazer? My son (and his buddies) stuck a rebuilt engine into a Nissan Stanza, biggest issue was waiting for the "rebuilt" to show up. http://searchpartsengines.com/gas/chevroletengines.html http://www.gearheadengines.com/CrateEngines?gclid=CJSN19jPoqACFRBM5QodemK7bQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artie Owl Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 I get where you're coming from, but I differ on execution. Two years ago I found a 2002 Subaru Impreza with the bugeye headlights and I was in love. She's had a few repairs from the previous owner who didn't treat her so great, but with some TLC she's been great for me. Even moved an entire dining room table and four chairs in her cargo area. it cost me just over ten grand after taxes and such, and the AWD is a dream up here in Nova Scotia. Though the car I had before this one was a emerald green 1995 Hyundai Accent that rotted out almost completely 13 years later. I have NOTHING bad to say about that car, she gave her entire life from dealer lot to tow truck to our family. And she used to scare the crap out of people at intersections because the exhaust pipe rotted at the engine and she was loud! Hell, if you sat too long somewhere the exhaust started pouring out of the hood, it was ALMOST a James Bond car feature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laaz Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 Get a crank kit and a top end gasket kit. You can do it in a weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrosurfer1959 Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 yep it's never fun my wifes Rover is in the shop again and I'm done, they want 1600 to replace a break module that controls the antilock breaks which wouldn't be so bad but the warranty expired and it's the 6th time the modules gone out in two years plus the damn thing leaks oil kinda like my harley not much just enough to show it's been there which probably means a issue with this car but were gettin tired of throwing money at this POS. And with it averaging 10 miles to the gallon the gas savings alone will probably pay for a new car. I had a old Defender with 230k on it great car the new one sucks though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 Yes' date=' one would think it's a buyer's market but it seems like people are hanging onto their older vehicles. All I seem to find locally are 2004, 2005, 2006 vehicles or ones in the same shape as my Blazer.[/quote'] You can thank the Cash for Clunkers program. ...Another couple hundred dollars damage and they would have totalled it. Instead the insurance company is fixing it. So now he has a brand new Honda SUV that's already been flattened once. That's why God invented sledge hammers. You've been here before Scott.... You'll find a way. One way around annual inspection laws... move to Missouri. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaxson50 Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 KSDaddy I think I would be shopping for a vehicle from a state that doesn't salt the roads in the winter...We don't salt here and about twice a year the state and counties sell off vehicles, I've seen some pretty good deals, low mileage rigs go out for under 1K. My step son bought a Jeep Cherokee with 45K on it for 3K. Clean as a whistle.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeoConMan Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 Same for Arizona, lotsa cream-puffs that've seen nothing but sun, but good luck finding a reputable car dealer. I bought ONE in Phoenix with a small scale war along the way. Tried three other times to buy a new truck and finally had to just walk out. Last truck I bought was up in the mountains in Prescott, used, and the whole deal took 30 minutes. A private sale out here is the way to go, lotsa old/wealthy people unloading unneeded cars all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaxson50 Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 NeoCon Good point about private sales. Dealers are sharks, which is ok if you know your swimming with sharks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowdown Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 Why don't sharks attack car dealers...mutal respect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeoConMan Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 Dealers are sharks' date=' which is ok if you know your swimming with sharks.[/quote']That's the problem - I knew I was swimming with sharks and it still went to hell! I've bought a lot of vehicles over the years, and always knew plenty of people in the car biz. I was not prepared for the audacity, the sheer unmitigated gall of these bastards here in Phoenix. I finally had no choice but to drive away. I was actually thrown off of one lot while trying to get a cash price on a nice low-mileage Crown Victoria. They wanted me to fill out a credit app, though I assured them it would be a cash deal. They kept pushing for me to go ahead and bring my trade-in to the lot - there was no trade-in. I finally told them to tell me how many $100 bills I would have to count out on the table - CASH!!!!!.... Then they started with the credit app thing again - WTF? So I finally went off on the sales manager - "Do you actually want to sell a fxcking car or not?" Long story short - they told me to get out of their showroom before they called the cops. Many of the locals here say it's the California influence next door, I dunno. But you cannot get a straight answer or a sensible number from ANY of these *** holes here in Phoenix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaxson50 Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 NeoCon Years ago at a dealership in Yakima Wash I was working a deal (I thought) with the sales manager, they had taken my trade in out for a test drive, but they wouldn't return my keys. The deal went south and I was getting steamed. They kept saying they couldn't find my keys, then they said the guy checking it out had left for lunch, I waited for over an hour, then I called the police and reported my car stolen and when they showed up I told them what was going on, the sales manager had thrown my keys up on the roof! The officer gave him the choice of climbing a ladder and getting them or being arrested, I couldn't believe it...after all that, he asked me if we still had a deal. I told him to kiss my a_ _. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackie Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 ah hahahahah ....up on the roof ?...... And NeoC it must be they want some extended payment BS contract on that lot........... I pulled my daily driver off a new car lot by just naming a price that was all inclusive to all fees or whatever......... they still tried to add some **** till I was like naw the dealI got is you pay that ........I got a decent truck used..........but .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeoConMan Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 Yeah... I had the "Well, I'm not sure where your keys are" thing happen to me a few times when I was with a couple different women who were buying a car - they took me along to "help" if needed. So I did, every time, because it got so bad. I was surprised at how poorly women are treated at dealerships, and the "deals" they make. I mean, I expected it, but I was still blown away. I finally stepped up each time and quietly told the women "I really don't like the way this sounds." Each time the salesman got all pissy and demanded to know who I was. I just gave them The Look, and waited for them to think twice. Then we left. And EVERY TIME the woman I was with asked "So, what was so bad with that deal? Sounded okay...." When I explained to them how badly they were getting screwed, they were pissed!!! One of them wanted to go back and cuss out the salesman. "Does he think I'm STUPID?" I didn't say it aloud, but thought "Well, you were gonna sign on the dotted line with a smile...." Then I had that "lost keys" thing pulled on me at one of the Phoenix dealerships. I got LOUD in the showroom, customers started leaving. (I have a BIG voice....) When it was mentioned they would call the cops (because the big loud guy is scary) I told them to do it. I explained that it was a good idea to have cops coming, by the time they would arrive the sales manager was gonna be praying for them - if he was still conscious. He asked if I was threatening him, so I asked if he had my keys. He said he didn't have my keys, so I told him he would be wanting them really, really bad in another minute. I suggested he drop EVERYTHING and find my keys - it was the most important thing in his life at that moment. So he asked again if I was threatening him - like I would back down.... I explained to him I was not threatening, but I fully intended to beat the sh!t out of him in his office. No threats involved at all, just fully explaining for his benefit what I was about to do. Wouldn't you know it, my keys showed up and they apologized for the "mistake".... I have no idea if they called the cops (I doubt it) but they had all my personal info - easy to do. Can you imagine the officer responding to THAT call? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrosurfer1959 Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 Car Talk question continued - Well spent the day shopping for new cars in the rain the wife is replacing her Rover and was out looking. Gonna buy new and she wants a midsize crossover so she has them in this order I believe at least today. Infiniti FX35 Mercades 350 Acura MDX Lexus EX Audi (??) forgot the model Anybody have any experience with any of these especially the Infiniti since I know little about them p.s Side note - the Mercedes dealer also had the Smart cars and what a hoot! At 6'4" and 270+ I was pretty much just laughing at them until I got in it damn there huge inside one of the roomiest little cars Ive ever seen. Drive kinda like a golfcart but would be a blast if speed and/or survival wasn't at all important to you. Someday if the whole world changes it might work though, like in some of the European cities like Rome where they were everywhere a few months back. I told my wife she should get the Smart car hell she could get 4-5 of them and she's insured for a bunch maybe even a couple of original 59's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 ...Can you imagine the officer responding to THAT call? The sales manager had better pray that the officer hadn't been car shopping the previous week-end. Your most effective negotiating tool? Stand up. Be fully willing to walk away from the deal at any time. NEVER give them personal information until you are ready to buy. NEVER use the dealerships' financing. Many dealerships who do not like cash deals. They actually hate it when you bring out the cash. They live and breathe for financing and insurance kick-backs. If you don't have a trade-in, they cannot make anything more on the deal chain. i.e. when they sell a new car, most times, they make minimum profit, if anything. They make the big bucks off selling your trade and the car traded in for your trade.... on down the line. No trade? No financing? Get off my lot. Women? Like it or not, you are less likely to get taken if you have a male, the larger and grizzlier the better, with you. I don't make the rules, the dealerships do. Besides, I've found that my wife is a help too, as she notices things that I don't. Two sets of eyes and ears are better than one. If the salesman leaves his office so you two can discuss, do not discuss the deal with your partner in the salesman's office. He is listening. Most sales offices are bugged. Better yet, play it up. Start talking in a way that makes them think the deal is unraveling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thundergod Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 Times like this I wish I lived up there... down here a 94 explorer goes for around 7.000 imagine that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky4 Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 My 98 Dakota wouldn't start yesterday so I put the battery in my 93 Mustang. It started. It's insured, but has no current registration. So today, I drove the Mustang to where my Dakota is and tried to get it running. No dice. The licensing place is closed on Mondays, so I have to drive the car illegally until I can get it current. I'll have to miss work to do it as I am going to get forced to do double shifts all week long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artie Owl Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 Car Talk question continued - Well spent the day shopping for new cars in the rain the wife is replacing her Rover and was out looking. Gonna buy new and she wants a midsize crossover so she has them in this order I believe at least today. Infiniti FX35 Mercades 350 Acura MDX Lexus EX Audi (??) forgot the model Anybody have any experience with any of these especially the Infiniti since I know little about them p.s Side note - the Mercedes dealer also had the Smart cars and what a hoot! At 6'4" and 270+ I was pretty much just laughing at them until I got in it damn there huge inside one of the roomiest little cars Ive ever seen. Drive kinda like a golfcart but would be a blast if speed and/or survival wasn't at all important to you. Someday if the whole world changes it might work though' date=' like in some of the European cities like Rome where they were everywhere a few months back. I told my wife she should get the Smart car hell she could get 4-5 of them and she's insured for a bunch maybe even a couple of original 59's Do yourself a favour and check out the Subaru Forester lineup, they're a great cross over, high ground clearance, ample cargo and Subaru only does All-Wheel-Drive as their drive train, so they do it very well. Also if you go ask to drive that and a Subaru Tribecca, which is a bit more like an SUV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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