Daily driver status-sellout or necessary?

We're working on that in the driveway right now. I just took a break

 

Well said! I still have my other stuff. All of it. None were sacrificed for the shitbox. I may sell the GP. But, if I do, it'll be to finance my other 38 Chevy that's been in a holding pattern since last summer.

 

Get some good pics of the zoomie for us... or are you puttin' on a lake pipe? A So-Cal paint scheme might help too... oh... and as long as your at it put a fresh coat of fake patina and some wide whites on there.

 

the way i see it, is that i have no car payment, my 34 pick up gets what like 16-18 mpg, so what the new car would save me in gas wouldnt make up for the purchase or the lease of one.

ill never buy a new car, or lease one, , i wont really even buy a newer car, let someone one else take the loss of depreciation, not me.

but then again, i can understand the warr issues, especially working in a parts store and selling parts for all cars on the road.

jeff

 

Smart lady.

 

I guess it can be argued both ways,,,if you think you are doing the right thing by driving a gas sipping eco friendly environmentalist dream car ,,go for it!

In my case,,I just don't buy into it,,,yeah,,gas is expensive,,,,but think about it,,,if gas had kept up with the cost of inflation over the past 80 years we would be paying about what we are now.

I'll keep driving my old junk,,,BTW,,,I remember a few on this board that gave me a hard time about my stock 66 VW,,,my,,my how times have changed. HRP

 

Denise. Around here, a $1500 econcar would take $6000 worth of work just to JUNK IT!. "IF" my math is a little "off", and I set myself up at a $50 deficit each month (at the worst), I save that much wear and tear, and Socal heat exposure to a car I like. The top of the door panels, top of back seat, and package tray just feel like it's this summer they'll explode from the harsh sun here. So, instead of sitting out in my shadeless driveway every day as in the past 2 years, it stays covered or in the garage. There is a bigger picture here. I dig the GP, and it's in pretty amazing condition. But, for how long? I try not to be the one do worsen the condition of these treasures. I like to be the one that stops the aging process while in my posession. I've failed that on this one car, and am gonna turn it around. It's NOT $9960 to drive that car for three years. You haven't deducted at LEAST $225 in fuel savings each month( $8100 MINIMUM). The difference, worse case is a difference of about $1900! Just think of the harm of 3 more years out in the sun and other elements on that GP. Don't you think the damage will way surpass that $1900 in those 3 years? I DO! What with the cost of paint jobs and prices of parts for Pontiacs? The plastic grill and tailite lens that prolly aren't reproduced. If they are, they WON'T FIT! Don't forget the miles on the GP in the next 3 yrs taking it's toll on everthing from drivetrain to those 8-lug wheel drums. My car burns a MINIMUM of $450 a month. The shitbox gets MORE that double the mileage, and burns 30 cent a gallon cheaper gas

 

groucho,how bout posting some pictures so we can photochop it for you?

 

I'll second that. The high demand for used import sedans/econo boxes makes the prices wildly high, IMHO, here in Los Angeles.

That's why I bought an unloved gas guzzler "Import" with a Chevy engine, a 1992 Isuzu Rodeo with 120k on it!

Has started every time I turn the key for the last year, gets 11 or 12 mpg no matter what I do(5 speed), got sideswiped by a 16yr old on the freeway, and I backed it up into a daggone pole. Haven't lost any sleep over the damage and put 10k miles on it. Best $1600 I've ever spent.

Then again, maybe I just got lucky with this one for a change LOL

 

serious?

 

Groucho,,you have had a lotta cool cars since you have been a member of the HAMB,,,and to answer your own question,,,,yeah you are a sellout,,,but you deem it necessary,,,so no need to justify it with us,,,,,

but please,,it's like crazy Uncle Ned,,,you don't have to beat it in the ground! HRP

 

I'm appreciating all the responses. Quite diverse

 

you got that right, it's more. you haven't added the cost of fuel and insurance. what about tags and maintenance, oil changes. you're not just going to park the GP, are you? so you'll still be putting gas in it and insuring it also. the savings you calculated are way off.

 

Most of you guys that don`t live here in California have no clue how everything is somewhere else....80 to 150 miles a day is business as usual.Plus the fact that most of the time the "freeways" are stopped, 0 to 25 to 0 to 25 for miles and I mean miles. You have no idea what that does to our gas mileage.

 

Well, yeah, if you don't want to have to putz around working on it every time something breaks, you need to get something with a warranty, which means no more than a year old usually. Me, I don't mind carrying tools and some spare parts and bailing wire and jury-rigging something to get home so I can fix it right.

I went out and got a diesel Suburban as the answer to my 16 MPG - I've read claims of 20 to 28 MPG out of them - then the damned price of diesel went up to $5 a gallon. Now that regular gas is up to $4 it's not as big a difference but I'm still only ahead by about 8 bucks in an average week's driving - and that assumes I get 25 out of the diesel. I begin to think I should just finish up the '50 Chevy I have tucked away - with a T5 and a reasonable gear guys pull 25 MPG out of them - and just drive that unless I need to haul something. Of course, I have a T4 for it and no rearend yet (except a '55 Chev rear that's sat in the mud for a zillion years), but what the heck.

 

i don't know if my roadster will EVER be done but my subaru wagon makes a great parts hauler/daily driver. at nearly 4 bucks a gallon, and 32mpg, it's damn near required, just so i can still afford parts for the T...

 

shit man if it's that bad, why stay? the american nightmare is EVERYWHERE these days. don't for a second think that socal is special in regards to traffic....i live in a town of 5000 and damned if they don't manage to cause traffic jams on a daily basis.

 

I got a 1998 acura for the gas milage,better than my 1996 chevy suburban
OR 1989 chevy 4x4 P/U
OR 1955 chevy belair
OR 1953 chevy belair
PAID CASH AND NO added insurance cost...
hopefuly being used the money will stay in the good ol USA..............

 

which further reinforces my sentiments about how messed up Kali really is.

but alas... you are not alone... our entire infrastructure and transportation systems in this country are perfectly tailored to suit the lone individual driver going where they want whenever they want to around cheap fuel... until recently. we're feeling it everywhere... in our personal lives and our businesses. simply blaming "big oil", "the government" and "wall st." doesn't cut it with me anymore though... there's a bigger picture out there that involves all of us and how we've changed our lifestyles and many of our habits in the last 40 years. as someone who stepped away from this hobby for many years and started getting the bug again a few years ago... this all couldn't be coming at a worse time. i'm still going to put my mildly hopped up small v8 in my ride but i'll have an o.d. trans and freeway gearing for sure if i want to enjoy it regularly.

(i've spent the last twenty-two years of my life working in the automotive parts/repair field... for a very long time working on a car when i got home at night was comparable to a proctologist dealing with another asshole at home in his garage every night after seeing them all day long at work.)

 

There is another alternative!
we've been drivin' rice rockets for years. Still drive the hot rods as much as possible, but the mileage on these little cars is just too good to pass up. You gotta do what you gotta do!




this is the daily driver my wife and I use. All the hot rods are in the garage til the week end!

 

I wonder if hitch hiking will come back ?

 

I have a flex fuel van, and cost per mile is a wash. But I love given the ol stink eye to big oil.

 

Come near, come far!

A solution!

EASY RODS!


Who thought THAT up? I may be ill.

 

I was just asking friends this same ? the other day...

 

thats classic..........

on a more serious note i work at home and in no way would spend a car payment in gas in a month, and thats with a built 302 with A/C going. ive thought this out and the way i see it im going to pick up a Harley Davidson Sportster to knock around on while the gas is outrageous. i never go anywhere if it rains so thats not an issue and i can pick one up for 5k or less with hardly any miles on it. and when i want to sell it i can get my money back on it so im not throwing away money.

but if you play your cards right you can find killer deals on 05 and 06 cars for just payoff. my neighbor sold his 06 Z06 vette for $13,200 last week, and you can find all sorts of high end rides for payoff (like $6500 or less) and they have low miles on them too. everyones worried about house payments and gas so they are letting go of their second or fun cars.

there is no way i would throw away good money on a new car or a lease, i dont care how mush gas is!!!

 

I think I jus' puked in my own mouth



How about a "fat guy in a little car" instead???

 

hitch hiking...

no more of that talk or I,ll put the fucking leashes on you understand

 

I see mention of warrantees, but the funny thing is that my experience with Toyotas, Hondas, etc., is that the warranty is almost a waste of money. The little bastards just run forever. Hell, I had an 88 Accord when I was in college that I just absolutely abused the hell out of, and I sold it with 180,000 miles (120,000 of which were mine), still running like a top. When I bought it I purchased the extended warranty....total waste of money. Only thing that ever needed fixing was clutch and brakes. My 4-runner has about 188,000 on the original motor and it runs strong. These are the only 2 Japanese vehicles I've ever owned, and I have nothing bad to say about them. Were they anywhere near as cool as my older cars? No. Would I have rather been driving a perfectly done custom, a hot rod, or ANY neat older car? Sure. Did they, and do they, get the job done effectively with minimal expense when the chips were / are down and one is not blessed with a lot of cash? Absolutely.

You know, I don't repossess cars anymore, but we still impound a lot of them, and I am always blown away at how many 15 to 20 year old Jap cars we pick up that have been absolutely beaten to death, but will usually start right up and drive. These cars have anywhere from 150,000 to 300,000 miles, and pull the dipstick and the oil looks like a fucking milkshake because it has probably NEVER been changed, but get a key cut for the ignition & throw the battery box on 'em and they almost always fire right up.

Say what you want about Japanese cars, but they make one hell of a quality product for the money.

 

I got real lucky I guess. I need more $$$ in my pocket for the "daily expenses" of my projects. I don't like wondering if I can afford to buy something because I'm filling up twice a week. I bought an 01 Alero with a 4cyl from the original owner, my best bud's dad, for 2K. I was getting 17mpg avg work commute. I drive 41.5 miles 1 way. This thing is nice, 140K miles, looks good, and is getting 32mpg between fills. I figure the fuel savings will pay for the car in a year. I always have a 3rd car and just sold the ol Cougar for $400. Now if I want to spend some dough on my addiction I don't sweat it so much. Besides, my wife drives an H3 and 1 thirsty SUV on the road daily is enough. The 1st project to get done is also being done for the sake of fuel economy. The basic SBC and 3X2 with an OD is nothing to hang one's head about as far as I'm concerned. I'd love to drop a fire-breathin 348 or 409 in it but for what purpose. Every event or happening I want to attend is a minimum of 50+ miles away. I can't see dropping a C-note every weekend to enjoy my stuff. On a sad note I just filled the company dually for trip to Valpo again...$146.00. In March the most I spent on a fill during Amelia week was $109.00. Madness, total madness. I hope we all wake up and put a stop to this shit.