Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

kyfdx

Ditto on insulated steel.. Also, be sure to get steel on both sides, instead of leaving the insulation panels exposed on the inside. It is only about $100 more, and it will save you from gouging your insulation panels.

Mine came pre-painted.. though it was for a new house, so I ordered it to match the trim.

kyfdx

'82 Accord.. 130K miles in 12 years.. original clutch, etc, etc..

Maybe the world's best shifter/clutch.. ever..

lilengineerboy

Actually that is one of the things that I find so endearing about the '93, it was right before they started getting big and bloated. I think the '93, which is maybe mildly modified at this point, is actually great fun to drive.
I was less of a fan of the pre-'86 Accords and the post-'93 ones. I also really liked the 88-95 Civics, I thought those were a lot of fun as well.

andre1969

had a 1980 Accord back in high school and college, and, well, to put it candidly, it's a good thing Honda didn't build them all like that, because if they did they would have been sent from our shores, tail tucked between their legs oh, around 1981!

Now, it was an automatic, which I'm sure saps some fun out of it, and on Japanese imports in general tended to be an achilles heel for reliability. Anyway, this sucker was dead by 1989. It had already had the engine and transmission replaced, and when tranny #2 went out, it got put out of its misery. The a/c was dead by that time, the interior was falling apart from sun-rot, and it had rust holes that would put a '76 Volare or '71 Vega to shame.

It would do 0-60 in 26-30 seconds, with 3 people on board. It got around 20 mpg around town, maybe 25 on the highway.

Still, it was just a sample of one. And to be fair, I guess if GM had built all their cars as good as my 1980 Malibu had been, they'd still have a 50% market share! :P

geffen

I wish i was a member of a credit union, the best rate i could find for an 07 is 7.75 however now I see GM is running a special if you finance through GMAC they're running 4.9% for 60 mos

andre1969

I had a '91 Civic rental once. It had a 4-speed automatic, and was dog-slow in acceleration, although it would hit 115 mph, given a long enough downhill grade. Still, I actually liked that car. I think that was probably my first positive small-car experience. Mainly because it was one of the first ones I could fit fairly comfortably in! Seemed to have a fairly high-quality interior, too.

fezo

Can't account for the rest of his 80 Accord but the automatic was a mistake!

You'd be hard pressed to find a thing mechanically wrong with mine. The AC still blew cold the day it was pronounced dead. I lived on a barrier island and the constant exposure to salt from all directions (including a couple of baths during nor'easters) finally did in all those nice parts that hold the body to the chassis. Just seemed silly to put that much money in a car with that many miles.

My 85 would still be going but in February of 93 it got t-boned by a geezer in a Caddy Cimmaron (calling that a Caddy STILL doesn't feel right). The car was totaled and I didn't do too well myself. I'm still here which is more than I can say for the car... Replaced it with an 87 Maxima wagon so not all was lost.

stever

1982 must have been a good year for clutches - I drove a 5 speed '82 Tercel for 17 years (only ~114k miles though) and never touched the clutch.

Are you guys heating/cooling your garages? Mine's not insulated so I didn't bother with insulating the door either when I replaced it a few years back. I really wanted one with full lights, but those are way expensive.

andre1969

Are you guys heating/cooling your garages? Mine's not insulated so I didn't bother with insulating the door either when I replaced it a few years back. I really wanted one with full lights, but those are way expensive.

As of right now I'm not, but in the summertime my garage gets hotter than blazes, so I wonder if it might be a good idea. Still, it's not gonna be cheap to insulate and climate control a 24x40 building!

I planted a couple of Leland Cypresses on the west side of it, but it'll be years before they grow up tall enough to block out the evening sun.

guss

While we are on '80 Honda's the Prelude I bought in '85 was a very reliable car for me. I bought it with 55k miles on it and drove it for another 55k. Of course everyone then called it the Qualude.

I was just out of college so I was pretty excited to get my first car made in the 80's. It was my first car with a sunroof and have only had one car since that did not have one and I realized how much I really need one.

jefferyg

I've heard my dad talk about DeSotos many times. I believe he had one back when they were still in use as transportation and not collector's pieces. Anyway, he always comments of what a solid car it was, so I'm not surprised that it drips the least.

jefferyg

Our car was an LX. I believe the engine was different on the EX so that may account for different owner experiences. All I ever did for our car was keep up with scheduled maintenance - ALL scheduled maintenance. As I recall we did have to put one set of brakes on it and two sets of tires. Ours did have an automatic because my wife hates to drive a stick. But as I said, it gave us ten years of trouble-free service.

The biggest problem we had with the car was that after we got it paid for it was involved in three accidents in less than a year. Two were hit and run, and the other was an underaged, uninsured driver. :sick:

kyfdx

I don't heat/cool the garage, but since mine is under the main roofline of the house, I had it fully insulated. (already insulated on the two interior walls, of course). that involved insulating the ceiling in the attic space above, the exterior walls on the side/front, and an insulated garage door.

My main purpose was to keep the garage from getting to temperature extremes in either direction, and that heat/cold putting an extra burden on the furnace/air conditioner in the house.

But, I'm sure it would be beneficial, even in a detached garage.

regards,
kyfdx

oregonboy

As I recall, the only difference in the engines for that series of Accord was the EX got a slightly freer exhaust (with a 2 outlet tip!) and an additional 5 HP.

james

kyfdx

I think you are correct... up through '97, the EX had slightly more horsepower.... After that, EX and LX had the same set-up..

lilengineerboy

The 90-93s got the 5hp bump. I believe after 93 the EX had vtec, but I am not sure about the lower models. Graduate would know I am sure.

corvette

I'm guessing you wouldn't want to heat/cool it 24/7, only if you're working out there.

My parents have an unheated attached garage, but it's fully insulated including the doors. If we're going to be working in the garage, we have a kerosene heater for the winter. In the summer, you can stick a box fan in the entry door (that goes from the garage to the house) to sap some A/C from the house. Not as elegant or convenient as flipping a switch to get your desired temperature, but it's pretty effective.

Anyway, assuming the rest of the garage is insulated, I think the insulated doors make a huge difference, even if you don't heat or cool the garage.

qbrozen

I'm only heating/cooling mine in extreme weather. The heating and cooling takes place with either 2 tiny electric space heaters or a window AC unit.

It is an attached 2-car, but its attached via the laundry room (or mud room or whatever you wanna call it), so it doesn't actually contact the full 2-story dwelling. It does have insulation in the walls, but not the attic (something I really should remedy). And, no, my doors aren't insulated either. It didn't even occur to me that they might have something like insulated garage doors. If they do, I might have to look into that. At the same time, I could get ones that go straight up to accomodate the lift discussed earlier.

Neither the heaters nor AC unit do a great job, but it makes it much easier to work out there than if I didn't have them at all. The heaters I put right in the immediate area I'll be working. The AC unit has a remote, so I just stick my hand in the door in the morning and turn it on, that way the garage is somewhat cool from the night before to begin with and the AC just has to keep it that way through the midday sun. I would say I use the heating and cooling maybe 4 days a year each. Then again, if I had a real restoration project going on, it would be a different story.

By the way, when I make my 3-car addition in the distant future, I plan on radiant heat floors and an independent central AC.

jefferyg

I checked the specs for EX vs LX. The EX had 140 hp while the LX had 125. Anyway, ours was a great car. And while we're on the topic of Accords, I was not fond of the 94-97 body style, especially the 94-95s.

I'm looking forward to the next generation of Accords. If the production sedan is even close to being as sharp as the concept coupe it should be a great seller.

By the time the diesel gets here our kids will be almost teenagers, and the Civic will probably be getting a little tight, so I'm sure it will be time to go shopping.

woodyww

Thanks for the tip. After a couple of google searches, turns out a ton of national & local companies do garage doors: sears, home depot, lowes, a bunch of franchise companies, on & on.

My problem is: My garage roof is also shot, & I've let it go so long that I think the wood underneath is affected. The 60 y.o. concrete floor is crumbling, but I can live with that. The garage is barely worth saving, but I don't want to spend $25K for a new 2 car garage, when the house itself is marginal & may be a "tear down" when I sell it.

So I need to get a roofing estimate or 2, & a couple of garage door estimates. And I hate to jump into getting the door replaced, given the condition of the roof, altho it's really the door that's preventing me from parking my car in garage. Being a cheapskate tho, if it's more that a couple of $$thou total, I may just let it go.....

It's amazing how much better an old one-car garage is, than no garage tho.

andre1969

If your garage is really shot, you might want to look into some of those pre-fabricated garages where they build it in a warehouse and truck it out to your lot. They don't sit on a permanent foundation. You just have to make sure that the place where it's going to be located is level. My neighbor had a similar building put in that she actually uses as a sort of pavilion for when she has parties, but it's the same basic structure. Her's is basically a 12x24 garage with one of the long ends opened up to the pool. She had hers put down on gravel, but you might be able to get away with setting one down on the existing concrete slab of the old garage.

I think one of those types of garages might go for about $5,000.

Here's the website for the company that built my garage: http://www.durabiltpolebuildings.com/ Maybe they could do something for you. Just keep in mind that their prices don't include a concrete floor; that's something you'd have to have a local contractor do. Still, I thought my garage was pretty reasonable. I think I'm into mine about $28-30,000 so far for a 24x40, but that also included a lot of grading to the yard, having an engineer beef up the foundation at the county's request, and having A LOT of gravel trucked in. The area I had my garage built was low, so they put a lot more gravel than usual under the slab, but I also had to have about 200 feet of driveway put in. I would've been happy just driving over the grass to park the cars in it, but the county said no. Which in all honesty, is probably for the best. During a rainy season, the lower part of the yard can get pretty muddy.

stever

I'm pretty sure you can retrofit your doors but maybe not as cleanly as getting insulated ones off the bat.

Woodyww, my new (double) door cost about $800 a few years ago.

The prefab is probably the way to go for lots of y'all - may as well spring for a 6 or 8 car Butler type building for your chronic car buying (you can always tear the house down and put a MIL apartment on top of the garage you know).

woodyww

Got my first estimate for a door: $831 installed for a steel "Wayne-Dalton 8300" insulated door ("single" door). Sounds high, like everything around here. The insulation doesn't matter, given the condition & age of the garage.

If I could get the roof done for maybe??? $1500? I could justify it. There's a good local GC who specializes in roofing who could maybe do garage doors--?--but I have a feeling that doors are best left to specialists perhaps.

The prefab--sounds like a good idea, but in my "fancy" Mass. surburban town, everything costs more, there's zoning, seems like no matter what you do, you just have to pay up, & fit in. Given the condition of my house, I'm just trying to do enough frugal repairs to keep it going.....not that I don't have my own grandiose garage fantasies.....

One thing I've noticed--even leaving a 6 y.o. bmw outside all the time seems like "cruel & inhuman" punishment, & may wreck the paint eventually (duh).

geffen

Just wanted to know everyones thoughts, I currently have an 2005 car and i'm now thinking about trading it in for a 2007, usually i wait 3 years however i'm feeling the newer car bug at the moment, would it be wise to wait at least 3 to 5 years before making a trade in ?

steine13

Dude, we're not that kind of a support group.

Go ahead, knock yourself out. Buy now.

You're welcome.
-Mathias

steine13

Fell off the wagon today, hard.

There was just time for a few celebratory beers at the brew pub and a few pics before it got dark.

My 8-year-old daughter thinks it's the coolest ever.
Mama isn't so sure. Oh well.

http://www.msu.edu/~steine13/conv.html

Eat year heart out, Mark156 ;-)

-Mathias

guss

Well,well,well, so Mathias wants to relive the '80's.

The carpet on the ceiling is a nice touch. At least you can save a trip to the local Pimp My Ride.

I assume you plan on doing some camping in it. One of my car fantasies is to one day pick up a cheap Vanagon , but their prices are outrageous.

Lots of luck with the Chevy, I have a feeling you will need it.

lilengineerboy

I would replace that central carpeted headliner with some mylar, maybe add one of those LED strobe light kits, a small fog machine and a requisite disco ball...

stickguy

Wow, nice retro Chebbie. My best friends parents had one of the style (must have been about a '78). SWB passenger (towed a pop up and then a small TT with it).

I still remember him saying that when you went up a hill, you could watch the gas guage drop. And it had a pretty big tank.

For garage doors, it is actually a pretty simple DIY, if you are reasonably handy and have basic tools. I helped a friend do it a few years ago, and it was easy. Just follow the instructions. It is like putting a model toy together, all the holes are drilled, etc.

On my scale, it is a "1 friend + 1 six-pack" job.

Actually, if the garage isn't too tall or the roof too steep, that actually isn't too hard to do either. Might be a 12 pack job, but I recommend drinking the beer at the end (unlike when doing the doors!)

stever

For garage doors, it is actually a pretty simple DIY

No way, the torsion springs on those things are dangerous. I can let you talk to the Ace Hardware guy who did it himself. After the spring bounced off the far wall it roared back and got him in the head, barely missing his temple area.

He was looking forward to his second plastic surgery when I last saw him over the winter. :sick:

jlawrence01

Agree with you completely. Had a garage door problem and called a technician as garage door springs can easily kill you if you are not careful.

FIL comes over and decides to "fix"it. Fortunately, the spring missed by six inches.

I recommend the Overhead Door Co.

steine13

You guys really mean "torsion springs" when you say torsion springs, right?

Cuz most of them have "coil springs", and while those are nasty enough, they're managable, if one follows the instructions and puts safety lines through them.

The torsion ones, on the other hand, scare me.

Of course you'll sound funny saying "stored energy" after getting half you teeth knocked out. Nasty stuff.

-Mathias

british_rover

Oh man we had a van just like that when I was a kid but it was Gray.

That was a great van till my dad got rear ended by an eagle scout in a F350 dually one night.

andre1969

My grandmother's garage a 2-car door (16x7?), and it was built in an era when those suckers were HEAVY! It has two fairly beefy coil springs on either side. I remember one of them snapping awhile back, and it made the garage almost impossible to get into, until we got it fixed. Thankfully, her car wasn't parked in there at the time! She had a pro come out and fix it.

I just checked my garage, which has two single doors (9x7 I think) and it has a metal rod over each door, kinda like a long shower curtain rod. It has cables that wind up around it. I'm guessing there's a spring inside the rod that coils up? Anyway, there's a bright red tag on the end that says "WARNING: DO NOT REMOVE" and gives instructions on how to take the pressure off before taking the thing apart.

woodyww

I found an article on HGTV w/instructions for replacing a garage door DIY (but it looks way beyond me). There's also one about just replacing the bottom panels on a wooden door, & it's amazing how difficult even that looks. (Bob Villa, I ain't).

I actually did replace one of the tension (torsion?) springs on my door once--somehow w/o killing myself. But I certainly wouldn't try it again, or recommend it.

I did find the site for Overhead Door.....they have a local dealer.

woodyww

Nice looking van! No rust even? Does it have a 350, or? I seem to remember those F/S Chevy vans having a good reputation.

Don't forget your Bong, & Allman Bros., or Dead tapes....

fezo

Nice van. I have been having buyers remorse ever since I replaced the Ody with a newer one. I'm thinking for the same money I oculd get a nice conversion van for when I actually need to be carrying that many and a Miata for most of my driving. Full time fun. Right now I feel like I'm in utility mode.

jlawrence01

Mathias,

I do what I do well.

What I don't know (like fixing garage doors), I leave to professionals to do. I have no idea how to change oil, replace garage doors, etc., and I really have no interest in doing those things. A professional who installs garage door springs for a living will do it a lot better than an accountant will.

I was listening to WGN radio to a DIY program. A guy bought a high efficiency (93%) gas furnace for $600 over the internet and asks the host how easy will it be to install it in place of his old furnace. I don't want to live next door to the guy when his house blows.

millspd

I like it, Mathias! Always have a soft spot in my heart for GM, and I've always like these big conversion vans.

Ganz gut!

--Paul

woodyww

There was an article in Smart Money mag. about 10 years ago re: people who get seduced by all the DIY home improvement shows & mags, and try to renovate their own houses but end up wrecking them. There was one story about a guy who rented a Bobcat to do stuff in his backyard, but crashed thru the side of his house instead, which then partly collapsed, & afterwards his wife was "unhappy" with the situation.....

stever

I found this guy's link a few years ago when my door broke. The torsion springs look coiled to me. I removed the siding that had been screwed to the framework, but left the removal of the old springs and the new door install to a garage door guy.

hotel1

Thats a Midas conversion right?
I had one just like it ! They all came in that cream/brown
color scheme............

Mine had a 305 with a electric Q-jet carb. It wasn't fast
but it towed my ski boat fine and didn't visit the gas
station as often as my Winnebago motor home did.

Never had a service issue or breakdown in the 5 years I
had it.

geffen

I should've known better to ask such a question here

kyfdx

.. the kid wants different shoelaces for his new sneakers. :surprise:

There must be some sort of magnetic force field. I found it physically impossible to keep my car out of the VW and BMW dealerships along the way.

Just a typical Saturday..

akangl

There must be some sort of magnetic force field. I found it physically impossible to keep my car out of the VW and BMW dealerships along the way.

For me its the Honda dealership, lol. Problem is I can't justify a reason to dump my current ride. :sick:

bumpy

Maybe the Durango was built on top of an old Indian burial ground?

akangl

Maybe the Durango was built on top of an old Indian burial ground?

LOL, if only that was a reason that would get past hubby. I'm afraid even that wouldn't justify it. Darn thing runs too good, has very few issues (just waiting on parts to fix those), and is under an ESC until 122k. See the problem?? :sick:

woodyww

Darn thing runs too good, has very few issues

Oh man, I hate when that happens.....& a warranty too!

corvette

I found it physically impossible to keep my car out of the VW and BMW dealerships along the way.

BMW dealership? If you went across the river just to get a pair of shoelaces, you must've been looking for an excuse to browse the lots! :P

mark156

-Mathias.... cool van.. I know you will have fun with it!! How much did it set you back? It looks to be in great shape.

Mark156