Trying to find a beater car is tough... I've reduced myself to ones needing just a little work...

I have narrowed it down to two decent possibilities, in order of interest.

1. 2005 Chevy Cavalier, L61, 5speed, 112k... Needs clutch slave, $700 plus the hundred mile trip home... Seats are a little torn up, but I'm not concerned about that...

2. 1996 Saturn SC2, auto, 105k... From the owners oral description, it's a little ragged out(mismatched doors, one power, one crank), one headlight won't retract, and (the only thing I'm worried about), needs rear brakes serviced, stuck caliper or something(locked up), but runs fine, he said...$500, plus the 80 mile drive home...

I'm more interested in the cavalier than the SC2(manual trans and somewhat driveable), but I'm going tomorrow to look at the Saturn, and maybe leave a deposit if i can free up the affected wheel...


Ooh, and I stumbled across this gem...

http://martinsburg.craigslist.org/cto/4712590514.html

Way outta my price range, and not what I want, but I figured I would document one of those rare creatures...

 

I have seen like 3 of those minivans around town, and I am just not impressed with them. I rather get a Vue if I was getting something bigger.
But anyways, I would probably go with the cavy, too.

 

The only minivan we'll have here will be either the GMC Safari or Chevy Astro (siblings). The GM 4.3L is a super tough motor, and those vans are just the most reliable out there. We have an '89 Astro (currently retired but DH is making noise about it) with over 370K (300K on current motor). A couple years ago we got a '94 Safari that now has 170K on it, original motor. We expect the Safari to have equal longevity to the Astro. If you really want a minivan, look at them - you can find them pretty reasonable and they just don't quit.

 

i'd go for the cav; only question I have is how you/they know it's only the clutch slave, since I assume it's locked in gear or close to it, Did you get to test drive it?

And where is the slave cyl in that thing? Any codes?

Test drive it to an autozone or similar and get it read if you can.
______________

"only selling the relay because we don't drive it". Right.

You're selling it b/c it's an ugly piece of **** and you're trying to recoup some of the money you blew when you bought it new.

 

In the correspondence between us, she told me that the clutch can be bled and will work for a while before requiring a repeat of the procedure... Exactly the same as when the slave went out in my ranger... I assume that with only 112k, it doesn't need a clutch, but I don't know... I haven't driven it, it's about 100 miles from me, and the deal may have fallen through before I could get ready... Just borrowed the cash and everything too...

 

no test drive to read codes, no buy. Sounds like you're stretched pretty thin and the last thing I want to see happen is for you to buy a saucerful of secrets and get screwed over, costing you $$ just to get and keep it on the road; $$ which may not be available when you need it.

[Uncljohn style rant]
There used to be a day when business could be done with a chat, a smile, and a handshake. Sure, there were some bad apples out there, but for the most part, you could trust folks to treat you with respect and be straight up to your face.

Not in today's world. I often (unfortunately) think of our country as the land of "screw your neighbor", as many people will gladly profit at your expense by selling you things riddled with problems, all the while keeping a straight face and a smile. Once the ink dries and the deal is done they give even less of a **** than they dd when the deal started.

Used cars are pretty easy, especially during private sales since the average person does not always know what to ask when evaluating a purchase. Even with used car lots, any reputable place should give you a 30 day warranty. They will then have no incentive to clear codes or do other bs that will immediately show up 5 miles after you leave the lot.

So ---- Buyer beware.

[/Uncljohn style rant]

 

That's pretty good, the deal on the cavi fell through though... Somebody else bought it...

Emailed today about a 2002 Crown Vic P71, with a few miles on the odo (250k) for a grand... Might try and talk them down...

Also, I emailed last night about a 1993 Ford Explorer Sport, manual trans, 4x4...$900 was the asking price... At least some familiarity with the platform... It looked half decent too, I wouldn't mind it if it weren't a total basket case...

And I seen this...
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...80415872&Log=0

Somebody please buy it! it looks freakin' SWEET!

 

Is that plasti dipped? Dig the look ; hate the color on this car. That color belongs on a drop top 70's Cadillac Coupe de Ville

I actually saw a late model plasti dipped Nissan Altima this week in almost the same color. Butt ugly.

Just my opinion.

Sorry the deal fell through.

You'll score one soon.

 

I did have an almost viable option come up, if I can ever make contact with the guy to pitch my idea...

A guy at work has a friend that's looking for a Saturn S series for parts, mainly an automatic transmission. The reason is, he has a manual trans car and wants to convert to auto, so his GF can drive it... Now, I scratched my head for a minute on this, and then the light bulb flickered on:

It's the same process and downtime(nearly) to change a tranny as it is to swap an engine, not counting doing a swap involving the PCM, BCM, and different linkages/pedals and such... The guys car has about 110k on it, per my co-worker, and my car has 95k, and will still start, even...

The idea: why not trade entire cars? I could even give him enough boot to buy an engine, so it would be nearly like an even swap... He would be already planning on the downtime(for trans swap), and just changing the engine would be far less costly than swapping manual to auto, especially if he had an SL2... He would get what he wanted, and I would have my cake, eat it too, all the while laughing about getting pretty much my dream car within reason... I very much want this to work...


... And no the SW2 doesn't appear to be dipped... I've never seen even a glossified finish look that glossy... Either paint or KICK AZZ vinyl...

 

Good idea on the car swap if he'll go for it. If you make it worth his while, I don't see why he wouldn't. And I have to agree with derf about that paint job. Who in their right mind would want a car that looks like a giant robin's egg?