Brittle, Broken, Possibly a Bad Idea - 1989 Yugo GVL Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

Brittle, Broken, Possibly a Bad Idea - 1989 Yugo GVL Long-Term Road Test

Our long-term 1989 Yugo GVL charmed us right from the beginning. Well, charmed us with its quirks anyway.

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desmolicious

Didya replace the fuel filter? And if so, are you going to find out what is plugging it (and fix that?).

daryleason

http://www.24hoursoflemons.com/
This car would be perfect for this after y'all do the ownership period. I'd love to see a write-up of the Edmunds team participating.

daryleason

This makes me think of the write up y'all did on owning a used car. I think it would be great to see how y'all did if you refuse to fix anything, other than safety. On the last one, I feel you skewed the costs by budgeting for repairs based on what a new car would cost. How about doing the "Drive it till it dies" cost analysis on the Yugo? Repair nothing but safety related items.

saxdogg

I agree with Dary except for "drive it till it dies" could be tomorrow! Fix safety stuff and any non-catastrophic breakage. I'll bet there'll be some bailing wire here and there because parts? Would be interesting....

darthbimmer

I think the reason this car is such a quirky hit is because of the niche it fills. This is basically the I'm-17-and-just-bought-a-car car. Unlike the other budget minded used cars you've bought, this is not what you'd recommend to a family on a tight budget looking for a dependable family car. Or to a young professional looking for something with a bit of sport/luxury flair while still paying back college student loans. No, this is what many of us had as our first set of wheels when we were still in school. It's not reliable, it's not fast, it's not pretty, but it is ours and it means FREEDOM.

stever

Great comment - we sold out '82 Tercel back in '99 to a young woman down the street for $800. Same deal; she wasn't buying a 17 year old car, she told us she was buying freedom.

daryleason

This is sort of why I had a problem with the "used car" writeup they had on the Lexus last year. Most people that can't swing a new car payment aren't going to allocate the same amount, each month, for car maintenance. You buy a used car for as much as you can afford, then drive it until you have to fix it. If you can, you keep the maintenance on track, but lets be honest, if you are struggling to come up with 1500 for a car, odds are, you're not sticking to the regular oil changes. I'll give you an example. My 1998 Buick Regal GS (Supercharged) I bought for 2 grand. I kept the fluids & tires on schedule, but things that broke stayed that way. AC? Quit after a year. power windows? Only on the front. dent? Yep...easier to pick out in the parking lot. If you're going to do a cost analysis on the benefits of a used car over a new car, don't price the monthly cost as the same as a new car.