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car shopping, need help

Buddy_Christ

Buddy_Christ

New member
ok, i'm hunting ebay for cars and not having much luck. i've realized that i can't afford a decent small/midsize truck with 4wd and extended cab, so i've given up on that (a tacoma with a V6 is what i would consider to be perfect, but just too far out of my price range).

so i've refined my criteria for a car. i think i'm pretty much stuck looking at mid-80s cars, because they'll fit my price range.

Requirements:

- the car has to be in running condition, or require minor work to run. something like this Suburban is unacceptable.

- the car must be somewhat reliable. if the car gets very high gas milage, like this one Diesel Jetta it must have a problem getting out of it's own way, which i'm sure this car has that problem.

- the car must have room for subwoofers. i currently have 2 12s in my blazer in a box that takes up almost 2.5 cu ft. once the subwoofers are in the car, however, there doesn't need to be any more room for anything else.

- the car must seat 4, as i do have kids.

- 5 speed (or 4 if no 5spd availible) is preferred.

- the car doesn't have to be all one color. yes, some cars are 2 tone origonally, and that is acceptable. however, if the car has obviously had body parts replaced that don't match the origonal color, that's fine. so the fenders or doors can be a different color from the rest of the car and there's nothing wrong with that. my 85 civic hatchback was a light blue, but the fenders and hood were a metallic grey. something along those lines is fine with me. nothing obnoxious though. that rules out a red car with bright yellow doors and blue fenders, or something similar. if there are multi-colored body panels, let's try to make sure they match, as in both doors are the same color, but don't match the rest of the car.

- here's the trickiest requirement....the car must be pathetic, but not too pathetic. let me explain. it must be the type of car that i could drive and think "damn i'm cool" yet everyone looks at me and says "that poor bastard, he thinks he's cool driving that car, how pathetic." this seems to be the hardest part of finding a car. listed below are some cars that i think meet those requirements:

1978 Alfa Romeo

1981 4cyl Ford Mustang

this car is by far a tricky decision. it has plenty of spare parts, including motor and trans. it could be fixed up and look pretty nice, as well as run quite well. i could pass the spare motor and trans off to one of my friends (yeah, i have a few friends) and he could rebuild it all for me while i'm driving the car with the existing drivetrain.

1982 Volkswagen : Scirocco

i live in Central PA, so finding a car within a few hours of here would be ideal. if anyone is willing to make donations or hell, even buy the car for me, that'd be greatly appreciated, and would expand my options even further. i'd be sure to take pictures of me with my new car for eveyone to see. i also promise i'll be smiling in one picture and crying in the next.

my 91 Blazer is just getting too expensive to drive and i don't feel like putting the work into our 88 Beretta to get it back on the road. the beretta would also be a bitch to put my stereo into. i know as soon as i get rid of the beretta, the blazer will die. if i get rid of the blazer and get the beretta on the road, that'll die on me. the blazer has almost 169K miles, the beretta 183K (i think).

i look foreward to anyone's suggestions in my search for a new car. i have to drive to school every day and it's 20 miles each way. there's lots of college kids that are driving nice, clean, newer cars that mommy and daddy bought for them and they havn't paid a single dime on, so i'm sure they already view my blazer as being pathetic. however, it's not pathetic enough, and i'm trying to fix that problem.
 
I would recommend limiting your search to finding the newest Honda Civic that you can comfortably afford.

That Alfa would be good as hell, except for the extreme probability that it will need constant, expensive maintenance.
 
chaos mage said:
caucasian rubbish
Click to expand...

i've never thought i fit the requirements to be classified as such, for a multitude of reasons.

i don't live in a trailer.
i don't have a mullet.
i have a high school diploma.
i have attended (and am still attending) college.
i have all my teeth.
all my teeth are still in my mouth where they belong.
i brush my teeth and shower daily.
i'm not paying alimony or child support to at least 3 different people.
i do not know the local police on a first name basis because they're at my house quite often for "domestic disturbances."
i am not a volunteer firefighter with a blue light bar on top of my car that cost more than the car itself.
i don't drink cheap beer.
i don't drink canned beer (except for Guinness occasionally).
i do not have harley davidson t-shirts, hats, boots, belt buckles, and stickers on my car, proclaim harleys to be the only REAL motorcycles on the road, yet have never owned or even ridden one.
i do not watch NASCAR or even consider it to be a sport.
 
mr db - we already have one civic, her 96 that her grandmother bought for her. as far as finding one i can afford, we'd most likely be looking at mid-late 80s.
 
crak600 said:
i've never thought i fit the requirements to be classified as such, for a multitude of reasons.

i don't live in a trailer.
i don't have a mullet.
i have a high school diploma.
i have attended (and am still attending) college.
i have all my teeth.
all my teeth are still in my mouth where they belong.
i brush my teeth and shower daily.
i'm not paying alimony or child support to at least 3 different people.
i do not know the local police on a first name basis because they're at my house quite often for "domestic disturbances."
i am not a volunteer firefighter with a blue light bar on top of my car that cost more than the car itself.
i don't drink cheap beer.
i don't drink canned beer (except for Guinness occasionally).
i do not have harley davidson t-shirts, hats, boots, belt buckles, and stickers on my car, proclaim harleys to be the only REAL motorcycles on the road, yet have never owned or even ridden one.
i do not watch NASCAR or even consider it to be a sport.
Click to expand...


that is a work of art :artist:
 
i expected more of a response here. come on people, i'm gonna need to replace the Rust Bucket sooner than we all think.
 
how much exactly are you looking to spend?....and how can you replace a rust bucket with a mid-late 80's car..thats gonna be a rust bucket to..
 
i say shoot for a acura cl...brother had a 97 and it was one of the best cars he ever had he says...
 
jest3r - the acura is out of my price range. even the name makes my wallet and checkbook cringe in fear.

njjuice - the tricky part is finding a car that isn't rusted quite as badly as the one i currently have. my price range isn't that great. i'll give you a breakdown of all the cars i've bought in the past 9 1/2 years i've been driving and how much i paid for them

95 - bought 81 Monte Carlo for $200 or $250 (major piece of shit car)
95 - bought 82 Prelude for $1500 (not too bad of a car, totalled 4 months later, stupid fucking volvo driver)
end of 95 - 78 Impala for $250 (it ran pretty solid for 11 months, parted with it cause it was a gas pig)
End of 96 - 85 Civic hatchback for $250 (had to put almost $800 into it to get it road worthy, ran pretty good though, parted with it when i shipped off to California)
mid 01 - was given a Chevy Astro, engine seized at 242K miles a year and a half later
Jan 02 - 88 Chevy Beretta GT for $500 from a friend (still have, not on the road though)
Aug 02 - 91 S-10 Blazer for $900 (rusted out piece of shit, has 169K miles on it now)
Mar 03 - her grandmother bought her a 96 Civic Coupe

those are all the cars i've ever owned. as you see, i've never paid more than $1500 for a car, yet most of them have served me well with the exception of the Monte Carlo. that was a beater, plain and simple. ran it completely into the ground. there's pics of it on another thread around here somewhere.

i have owned 2 motorcycles as well. one was an 85 VF1000R i bought in mid 98 for $1500. the other is a 99 CBR600F4, which i got in March 99. almost $10K out the door. still have the F4, but it's not road worthy at the moment. need a battery, could use decent tires, and want to slap new bodywork on it before it gets on the road again. the motorcycle isn't practical for every day use when you have to pick up and drop off kids though. in 2001, i was forced to ride that bike all the way to the beginning of november. i rode to work and found out when i got there that it was 27 degrees outside. it was a 20 mile ride. the next day, it was 24 degrees. less than 2 miles into these rides, i couldn't feel 3 of my fingers. by the time i'd get to work, i couldn't feel any of my fingers nor my feet. i was wearing leather from ankles to neck, a neoprene ski mask under my helmet, cotton gloves under leather gloves, sweats under my leathers, and cotton and wool socks. i coudln't of put another article of clothing on and still fit in my leathers. i had to do all this because my gf needed to drive the kids to daycare and herself to work in the Astro. i've made sacrifices, but after those 2 sub-30 degree days, i had to pull the plug on the bike for the year.

anyway, enough about my past cars and freezing my testicles until they were a lump in my throat stories, i need a car. i've actually been considering getting the Beretta back on the road because it'll get 26-28 mpg compared to the Blazers 14-16 (if i'm lucky) but swapping the stereo is going to be a pain in the ass. can't fit my speakers in the dash and nowhere to mount them in the doors :( beretta needs some work though. not sure how much it needs to pass inspection, but it might be cheaper to just get another car.
 
string_bean00 said:
I didn't know this made someone trash. :confused:
Click to expand...

i didn't know a car made someone trash either.

i was just fitting the canned beer thing into the stereotype of what people consider to be white trash, thus the entire list i posted. it's expected that white trash drink the cheapest, shittiest canned beer they can get. that whole list was put up to make a point, but i can't remember what that point was anymore.

actually, i don't even remember if i had a point when i made that list. i think i'm just saying now that i had a point to make it seem like i knew what i was doing when i made this thread. stop challenging me because it's confusing and now my brain hurts.
 
damn pitbull, those 2 auctions are a wet dream for mr db. think he'd get mad if i snagged those cars? ;)

the problem with the first auction is that it's 2 cars, not just one. that'd mean i'd more than likely have to get rid of my blazer, which i was kind of hoping to fix the 4wd on and keep around for snow use and occasional offroading until it finally died on me.

the upside is that both cars could be used for daily driving, i'd just have to switch day to day. maybe people would get confused and think i was driving a new car every day, and therefore i wouldn't be looked down upon for my choice in cars.....

the second auction, the car screams "i've had the living shit beat out of me for the last 90K miles!" this is actually the one thing that's steering me away from Hondas, as everyone thinks that even a Civic DX is a race car and should be treated as such.

decisions decisions......
 
crak600 said:
the second auction, the car screams "i've had the living shit beat out of me for the last 90K miles!" this is actually the one thing that's steering me away from Hondas, as everyone thinks that even a Civic DX is a race car and should be treated as such.

decisions decisions......
Click to expand...

That's actually a pretty damn good observation, sounds like you know your cars. A friend, and I use that term loosely, of mine is always looking for cars like these or high mileage Grand Marquis' or Lincolns. He has a buy here pay here lot in the city. People come in put down whatever he has in the car, and make payments every month until the default. Then he repos their shit, lather, rinse, and repeat.

Thanks for the K, baby and momma are doing awseome!! My wife is almost back to her pre pregnancy weight, and Alexis is actually quite the sleeper! She takes after dad. :)
 
crak600 said:
damn pitbull, those 2 auctions are a wet dream for mr db. think he'd get mad if i snagged those cars? ;)
Click to expand...

Haha, I've already got a CRX with a ZC engine swap, I don't need another.

Both of those look pretty scary to me.
 
pitbullstl said:
That's actually a pretty damn good observation, sounds like you know your cars. A friend, and I use that term loosely, of mine is always looking for cars like these or high mileage Grand Marquis' or Lincolns. He has a buy here pay here lot in the city. People come in put down whatever he has in the car, and make payments every month until the default. Then he repos their shit, lather, rinse, and repeat.

Thanks for the K, baby and momma are doing awseome!! My wife is almost back to her pre pregnancy weight, and Alexis is actually quite the sleeper! She takes after dad. :)
Click to expand...

i only know how people treat their hondas because i beat the living fuck out of her 96 Civic DX ;)

ok, i don't beat the living fuck out of it. i'm actually pretty nice to that car compared to what other people do to theirs. no mods except the flowmaster muffler (stock one rusted out where inlet pipe was welded to it, half the price of an OEM muffler) and JDM headlights (stock ones got smashed out in accident, aftermarked used ones were cheaper).

i was in my brothers 90 or 91 Accord last weekend. i'm not sure if the stainless header was mounted when he got it or not, but i know it came with the car. he put a high flow cat and a fart cannon on, both to "compliment" the header. damn did i make fun of that. he took it in stride, and the only reason i think he didn't punch me for it was cause A) i've got 30-35lbs on him, B) he's seen every car i've owned, so he knows i don't have too much room to talk about the quality of my cars, and C) he knows it's a piece of crap but it gets him from point A to point B and that's what matters. we went through an underpass, i was behind him in my blazer, windows halfway down, stereo wasn't up too loud. his car completely drowned out everything. i probably would've heard his car over my 400watt stereo had it been cranked up. i hopped in his car for the short ride from his apt to my dad's house, and when it got over 3K rpm, we couldn't hear each other. when we got to my dad's house, we all went out to eat. my son saw my dad's car and said "i wanna ride in grandpa's car." he didn't want to get back in my brother's car (dad has a 04 Sante Fe). when we left to go back to my brother's place, my son didn't want to get back in my brother's car. guess the noise was getting to him.

i wanna stay away from cars that have been severely abused by someone prior to me. every car i've ever owned i know has been abused by previous owners. my astro van was well taken care of for the first 130K miles my dad owned it. all services done at the dealership, all of them done on time. the life sucking bitch took it in the divorce (we still don't know why). she ran it into the ground. she gave it to me as i had no car and a son about to be born. it had 217K miles on it when i took possession. she drove it from PA to California. there were quite a few dents in it, the back doors were fucked up, and her dickwad husband handed me a bottle of graphite and said "you need to use this occasionally in the locks." she said she took the car to her mechanic before leaving on the cross country excursion (i found the reciept later) and he told her it was in tip top shape for a cross country run.

a month or so after getting the car, i knew it needed a basic service. when i removed the air filter, i almost called her and told her that her mechanic was a shithead that shouldn't go near a car. i had barely driven the van in that first month. the air filter was completely caked with dirt and oil residue. there was one section about 6" long that was caked over almost 1/2", another section 2" long that was caked over almost as thick. the entire air filter housing was covered in oil. some of it was actually pooled up in the bottom of the housing. i know for a fact that this much could not of happened simply on a cross country drive, as we drove that van everywhere in the southern california desert for 9 months and then drove it back across the country. when we got back, the air filter was still clean, air filter housing wasn't coated in oil. the plugs when i got the car were almost double the gap they should've been (i like to check these things the first time i change plugs on a car to see how neglected it was). the fuel filter was restricted approx 50% (i blew threw the old and new for comparison). the cap and rotor were worn to hell.

oh yeah, the front springs were shot (bottom coil on both were rusted to shit) and only one front shock had been replaced....they weren't done as a pair. the car also had a bad alignment (something i never got fixed), and the parking brake barely held the car in place.

but her mechanic said the car was fully prepared for a cross country trip, and it was even noted on the invoice from his shop that the car was "serviced for a trip to California." she also told me he was a "great" mechanic and had been working on their cars for years. if i didn't hate that life sucking bitch so much, i would've saved the evidence and taken it to her, then took her to the shop to watch her demand all her money back for the years of "service" he had provided to them. i hope he's responsible for engines seizing in all of their cars until the day she dies.

i try to check out cars fully before buying them. getting a history is always great. i donated my grandmother's 84 Plymouth Reliant Sedan to the Purple Heart car donation program (they take cars to give to veterans and their families from what i understand). my grandfather had every single record of work being done to that car from the day they bought it new in 84 all the way til he passed away in 97. my grandmother barely drove the car after that, so i didn't have any records of it after his death. i put all the records (stapled neatly together) in the car so someone at least knows it had all services done on time every time. prolly should've kept the car. it fits my requirements, as it's pathetic enough. it was also garage kept from day 1, so there's no rust. the head went out on it just after 100K miles and was replaced. car had 105K miles. needed a battery, tune up, and all fluids changed, but i probably would've gotten 50-60K miles out of it problem free. oh well.

when we got the Blazer, my gf said my face lit up when she cranked over the engine. it purred. i had my head under the hood listening while she cranked it over, just to see if there were any strange noises or not. i crawled underneath that car and checked everything i could see. it drove fine, so i thought i had picked a winner. 136K miles and a 4.3L V6. great engine, IMO. i didn't care about the rusted out rocker panels at the time. now they're just getting worse (patched both, ripped one out when i tapped a tree stump offroading). fenders are rusted to shit. has issues when starting. need to read the engine codes again cause the light keeps coming on. fuel milage used to be 17-18 around town, 20-21 highway. i'm lucky to get 16-18 highway now.


good to hear you, the wife, and the kids are doing well. if she sleeps through the night, consider yourself lucky. my son was a very light sleeper until he was almost 15 months old. lots of restless nights and fights between us as to who's turn it was to put him back to sleep. glad those days are over. spoil her well, and don't worry about your girls dating the wrong boys when they grow up. the bad seeds will see you and tuck tail and run. i know when i was a teen and dating, if i would've seen a dad as big as you, i would have either treated the girl with utmost respect or run the other way ;)
 
since i don't want to put the money into the Blazer and unsure of the life left in the Beretta (runs ok, but will prolly shit out on me within a month), i need to bump this thread in hopes i can get some help.
 
Get yourself a Renault 5. Put a turbo in it or even better, a V8 Northstar (yes it can be done). This would be the perfect sleeper to own kids in Civic.
 
i'm actualy kind of contemplating looking at an 87 S-10 blazer down the road. guy wants $700 for it, body looks pretty good. got 190K miles, however, the engine was rebuilt at 100K miles.

downsides

- it's only a 2.8L V6, not the 4.3L. if that 2.8 is carborated or throttle body injection, i won't even consider. the Multiport injected 2.8L chevy engines are pretty damn strong.

- the transmission is 100% blown. i'm pretty sure my transmission will bolt right up to that engine, but that just means i gotta rip 2 out and put one back in. trans swaps aren't fun, even if you're in a properly equipped shop (and i'd have to do this in my driveway.
 
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