Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

oldfarmer50

"...can't imagine the flex..."

Yeah. Strictly a cruise night type of car. Still, interesting for a bargain-basement collector like me.

fintail

A girl I knew in high school had an NX2000, it was pretty new at the time. Yellow with t-tops, was alien JDM to my eyes, especially living in a place where the nearest Nissan dealer was over an hour away.

oldfarmer50

"...I'd like to think that the joy-riders took good care of it..."

Yeah, it was probably just a gang of auto mechanics boosting cars so they could do tune-ups and detailing for kicks. :P

ateixeira

At that low price, sure.

ateixeira

About as fun as FWD would get during that era.

Ever drive it? Sounds like you had no interest in trying it out.

fintail

Never drove it. I had no interest in something so small. It was a neat curiosity.

I knew another girl who's mother often let her drive her 92-93 Prelude Si 4WS to school - that was a nice car.

oldfarmer50

318 engine, 12mpg city.

When we first got the 74 Charger I drove from Toms River NJ to Albany NY at 45mph the whole way and got exactly 20mpg. I thought I won the Super Bowl.

michaellno

Since we're trotting out 90's memories, who remembers the baby Mazda with the tiny 1.8L V6 engine?

MX-3, I think it was called.

Also 140HP, but I gotta believe that the V6 was worlds smoother than a 4-cylinder.

oldfarmer50

""...this looks really bad..."

Just put up a few pennants and flags and people will assume it's another used car lot.

ateixeira

My roommate's girlfriend had a 4WS Prelude. I couldn't stand her so never got to drive it. She did show me the rear wheel turning, subtle but visible.

Mazda had it on the MX-6 also.

I think active 4WS was complex and expensive, and also heavy. We've seen some passive systems since then, and I recently read about such a system on a newer car, european IIRC? I forget which car.

Anyone recall?

My 91 Escort GT supposedly had passive rear steering, I guess that's what Ford called it when the suspension bent out of shape.

That was actually a fun car around town. You could use the handbrake to swing the tail around. It ran out of breath at altitude when climbing, though. Can't expect too much from a 1.8l.

dieselone

Since we're trotting out 90's memories, who remembers the baby Mazda with the tiny 1.8L V6 engine?

MX-3, I think it was called.

Also 140HP, but I gotta believe that the V6 was worlds smoother than a 4-cylinder.

I test drove one back then. Neat car. That 1.8 24v v6 was so smooooth! IIRC, I think it might have been a bit smoother than it's big brother, the 2.5v6 that was used in the MX-6, 626, and Probe GT. But it was a bit to small and to expensive for me at the time.

dieselone

A friend of mine in college had a Prelude SI 4ws with a manual trans. Awesome car. He let me flog it now and then and it was always a blast to drive.

As for the 4 wheels steering. It's neat but I don't think it's necessary.

michaellno

My 91 Escort GT supposedly had passive rear steering, I guess that's what Ford called it when the suspension bent out of shape.

Then there was the GT's less hoon-tastic cousin, the Mercury Tracer GS.

An American Protege, by and large.

127HP was a big deal 20 years ago.

oldfarmer50

"...the proverbial $150 car..."

You must be younger than I thought. We used to call a car like that a "$50 Wonder" because you wondered what was keeping it running. :lemon:

My buddy's first car was a 61 Ford that cost exactly $50......which he borrowed from me.

ateixeira

That's why I starting liking Mazdas, they were by far the most interesting of the Japanese brands at the time.

You had the Miata, the world's smallest V6, and the only rotary on the market.

Total failure from a consumer stand point, no identity at all, but that's precisely why they were so interesting.

A good study for MBA schools on why merely making interesting cars is simply not enough.

ateixeira

My wife owned a 626 V6 5 speed (manual).

Manual trans - another reason Mazda was so interesting back then.

Not successful, mind you, just interesting.

breld

A little late on the response (we got out of work early yesterday for the expected road closures here in Denver for the pres debate), but as to your question on how much I paid for that '90 Civic Si - I think it was right around $9,000. So a little cheaper than the Escort GT, but not much. Now, that was without the optional in-dash radio and air conditioning . I got some aftermarket cassette/radio put in - I remember paying a bit extra to get the model with auto-reverse! And I just lived without the a/c for the four years I drove it.

Those were my four college years, and I got so much use out of that little hatch - I guess that's why I still have a soft spot for hatchbacks. Did I mention I'm missing my GTI a bit, even with the much more stylish A5 replacement?

Fun talking about all these late-'80's, early-'90's small sporty cars - the MX-3, NX2000, Impulse/Storm - I lusted after all of them. I really wanted the yellow CRX Si sitting at the same lot where I got my Civic. But I was a bit spoiled with my parents helping me with that purchase, and didn't want to push it. I still search for a '90-'91 CRX Si on craigslist once in awhile, but even if I were to find one in nice condition (unlikely), something tells me that the experience of driving one is best left to my imagination at this point.

breld

Speaking of craigslist ads...

Geo Storm

Well, here's my chance to own one of those little cars I wanted back in the day! :P

ateixeira

No A/C, how'd you manage?

DC is a big swamp, so mandatory here, I had started working.

Ourisman wanted $1800 for A/C. I think the option cost $496 retail on my Escort.

A5 is too .... nice. I know that sounds strange. It's fun to beat on a quick little hatchback. I miss mine, believe it or not, even with the issues it had and the motorized mice belts (awful).

My first roommate's mom had an 84 Civic Si, the earlier and smaller one, that thing had the smallest turning circle I've ever experienced. I wanted the next gen CRX though.

ateixeira

Description should read:

HP: 130

Torque: no

michaellno

That's why I starting liking Mazdas, they were by far the most interesting of the Japanese brands at the time.

You had the Miata, the world's smallest V6, and the only rotary on the market.

Total failure from a consumer stand point, no identity at all, but that's precisely why they were so interesting.

A good study for MBA schools on why merely making interesting cars is simply not enough.

Even then, I think Mazda had some 'zoom zoom' in their DNA. Well, except for the 929 and the Millenia - oh, wait, the Millenia had the "miller cycle" engine available as an option.

There have been 3 Mazdas in my family over the years. My sister had an '85 RX-7 for a number of years. She bought it when she was 19 and kept it for something like 7 or 8 years.

Then there was the '91 Protege my first wife and I had. Got totaled in an accident and the wife upsized to a '92 Accord LX.

Lastly, there is the 2010 CX-7 that we currently own. Am taking it to the dealer today for its scheduled 5K service.

My second wife and I looked at a Protege in the late 90's - that, too, was a fun and zippy car. But, she was a Ford girl at the time.

corvette

My dad also owned both of those. A 1990 CRX Si, and a 1991 Civic Si. When he got close to 200,000 miles on the CRX, he sold it and bought the Civic, which only had around 30,000 miles. He later sold the Civic (with 200,000+ miles) back to the same guy who sold it to him. He didn't like the Civic as well as the CRX. I know the CRX had standard alloy wheels and a tilt function on the (metal panel) sunroof, features the Civic didn't have, but I'm not sure about the other differences between the two models.

qbrozen

When we first got the 74 Charger I drove from Toms River NJ to Albany NY at 45mph the whole way and got exactly 20mpg.

leaving toms river in 1974? .... Dad? :surprise:

fezo

I think we're about the same age, I do remember one car that cost $50. 51 Plymouth. Smoked like crazy. That one can't have lasted more than a month. The classic "two quarts of oil and a gallon of gas" car.

I think you should buy that Shadow. It's really you!

andre1969

I've had three 318's. Well, it might be two 318's and a 273...never was sure about my '68 Dart. It originally came with a 273 according to the VIN, but the guy I bought it from, at 253,000 miles, said he had a rebuilt 318 put in at 242,000. Dunno if he had the original engine rebuilt, or if it really was a 318.

Anyway, that Dart usually got around 13-14 around town, 16-17 on the highway. My next 318 was a 1979 Newport that got more like 11-13 around town but, surprisingly, had no trouble hitting 22 or so on the highway. The third was a 1989 Gran Fury ex copcar, with a 318-4bbl. Around town it was usually around 11-13, and the few times I ever went on a highway run with it, it would get about 20.

Now I've got 360's, and in the New Yorkers, I'm lucky to see 10 mpg in local driving. A few times though, I've gotten around 20-22, in the right conditions on the highway. It's not reliably repeatable though.

I'll be curious to see what kind of mileage the Ram ends up getting. I topped it off early last week, and it only has about 155 miles so far on the tank. gauge is reading about 5/8 of a tank. I'm going to PA on Saturday and planning on taking it. I figure I'll fill up down here, and again when I get back, and see how it does on a highway run.

fintail

Tech for the sake of tech. Apparently a number of newer cars (current 5er, 7er, GS, some Infiniti cars) offer it, maybe not all in this market though. MB had it on a military car in the 30s. Doesn't seem practical for normal driving or average drivers. Doesn't attract me.

fintail

Rare in the states, but much more frequently seen in Canada, loads of them were sold in Vancouver and seem to have survived.

andre1969

I think we're about the same age, I do remember one car that cost $50.

My Mom's first car was a $75.00 1957 Plymouth, that she bought in 1965. She doesn't remember much about it except that it was "big" and "gray", and at some point one of the doors got slammed too hard and it shattered a window. I don't think anything major really went wrong with it, but she didn't like it because it felt so big. And, by 1965, I'd imagine anything with tailfins was considered a loser car. She replaced it with a 1959 black and pink Rambler station wagon that she paid $200 for. At one point, I think it lost a wheel because of a bad bearing. She didn't have it long either, because in 1966, she saved up enough money waiting tables at the Hot Shoppe to buy a new Catalina convertible.

When I was a kid, my Dad had a habit of buying beat-up, crappy cars with stick shifts, which even if they ran reliably, my Mom couldn't drive. He'd go out on the weekend sometimes and take Mom's good car (first the '66 Catalina, then a '68 Impala 4-door hardtop, and finally a '75 LeMans coupe), leaving her stuck at home with something she couldn't drive. So, my Granddad got us this teal green '64 Ford Galaxie 4-door that needed a starter, for something like $75. He figured that my Dad would drive it, and quit dogging Mom's car, but nope. Mom usually ended up driving the Ford.

laurasdada

When I got married, wife had a Monte Carlo. Nice enough, not the best built car I'd ever encountered. 107k miles, decided we should buy new and economical (to go with the new house). So, '92 Maroon Sentra SE-R, 5 speed (I taught her how to drive a stick. I had a co. car at the time, so I got to play on the weekends). Loaded, think we paid $13.3. Woo hoo fun! Sunroof, alloys, rear spoiler, fogs and LSD!

Fast forward 3 years, expecting child #1, Sentra is traded for a Saab 900, stick. Great car, the hatch just swallowed everything! Heated cloth seats, favorite new necessity for the wife. Faithful, economical, fun and practical. RIP Saab. With child #2 came the Lexus RX300, still with us. Faithful, not so economical, not so fun but practical. And handed down to child #1. Man, time flies. Misty water colored memories...

So, Bradd, if you want to further update the car.xls from an uber-lurker, occasional poster here, you can add:

BMW (5)
Jaguar (XK)
Lexus (RX300)

breld

No A/C, how'd you manage?

Well, just being in college, I didn't have any long commute to speak of, so most of the time it was tolerable in Denver. Although one time I took a roadtrip out to Kansas with some friends in May, and that got pretty hot.

A5 is too .... nice. I know that sounds strange. It's fun to beat on a quick little hatchback.

Not strange at all - that pretty much sums up how I feel about it, and how my wife feels about her X3. We both discussed just this week that because we are car enthusiasts, we don't need to buy the most expensive and nicest car - we can find the "gems" within the current car offerings (new or used). Plus, we've realized a significant part of the overall car satisfaction comes from the value of the purchase.

ateixeira

Millenia, yeah, I remember those. A buddy of mine owned one. When you opened the door the steering wheel would tilt out of the way.

Supercharged Miller cycle engine, another oddity. Again, interesting.

ateixeira

other differences between the two models

Size and weight. CRX was smaller and lighter. With 108hp and not much torque on tap, it made a difference.

ateixeira

Loaded, think we paid $13.3

I was expecting about $14-16k so under $11k for my Escort GT seemed like good bang for the buck. You got a good deal for the time, though.

ateixeira

Anyone else here more likely to remember the car someone drove vs. that person's name?

I'm like that. I don't remember many of the names of the owners of these cars, yet I can remember the model and color and even the transmission type.

I can ID any car that doesn't normally park on my block, yet I don't know most of my neighbors' names.

Who else? C'mon now...

laurasdada

Maybe the 13.3k was with the Monte Carlo trade in? I remember thinking overall we got a good deal.

Yes, I know people's cars better than the people! "Hi, um, well, you. You drive the silver Saab 9-5!"

Hot hatches of the '70s and '80s, those were the days my friends. I had a Mitsu Mirage Turbo, brother had a GTI. I started car life with a '78 Scirocco. Rust colored memories!

qbrozen

absolutely! But I can't remember names to save my life, so its to be expected.

I'm not sure what people you meant, but I don't remember the names or even faces of girls I've dated, but I remember cars.

nyccarguy

if any of our more ambitious members would give Repairable Vehicles a try. Some of them look cheap enough. There's a 2012 Fiesta with less than 1000 miles!

qbrozen

But I assume they all have salvage titles. And most appear to have had the airbag(s) deploy. Bad news.

stever

Funny that they all look like they've been detailed for the photo shoot.

ateixeira

Some times I'm talking to my wife, and I refer to people as "you know, the girl who drove that Datsun" or something like that.

She looks at me like I've lost my mind.

ateixeira

Hang on a sec...

2012 CHEVROLET MALIBU LS 4DR - STOCK #: 03020912 (SOLD)

...sold for $7950 and was messed up in the back.

If the guy is smart, he'll buy ...

2009 CHEVROLET MALIBU LTZ 4DR - STOCK #: 00710312

..messed up in the front, for $5675, it might even be the same color, maybe slightly lighter.

Put 'em together you have one good car.

Funny how some cars with 1k miles cost about the same as another with 47k. Maybe there's more damage than meets the eye.

stever

Grab the torch and queue up some Johnny Cash and you're in business.

andre1969

Sad thing is, back in the late 70's my Granddad bought a '53 DeSoto that was wrecked in the front, and it looked like it was more seriously smashed than most of the cars on that website. Yet, he was able to get all the parts he needed to fix it (fender, hood, bumper and brackets, grille), for about $125.

And to think that every car on that site was probably totaled. Otherwise, they wouldn't be there, right? On the flip side, most of those drivers probably walked away with no injuries, while that DeSoto could kill you with little strain. In this case though, the driver, my great-uncle's mother, did survive. She'd had a heart attack while driving and smashed into a parked car. The car got put into storage and never fixed, and years later when she died, my great-uncle sold it to Granddad for something like $200.

One vehicle that caught my eye on that website was the 2011 F-150 4x4. It didn't look like it had much damage at all. Yet, it was still enough to end up on that salvage site.

ateixeira

To be the spiritual successor to all those tiny hot hatches, this RS is only missing one thing:

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/10/04/2013-chevrolet-sonic-rs-first-drive-review-vi- deo/

Lightness.

2800 lbs, really? The BRZ/FR-S is lighter than that.

It it lost a few hundred pounds it would be a hoot.

ronsteve

I remember prices dropping below $1/gal in 1999 ... we owned a Ford Expedition at the time and it was nice to fill that beast up with such cheap gas.

And now we're paying for it because those low prices "shut in" quite a bit of domestic oil production. It cost more to get it out of the ground than the $10/bbl it was selling for, so they stopped pumping it.

fezo

I remember them interviewing guys that had wells in Texas who basically said that anything less than $40 a barrel it wasn't worth running the pump. They all said when it went up they'd judt turn the pumps back on.

ateixeira

I can't believe a barrel is hovering around $90 yet gas is still close to $4 per.

Imagine if it hit $140 again.

Prius sales were up over 100% for September.

michaellno

To be the spiritual successor to all those tiny hot hatches, this RS is only missing one thing: lightness

To that I would add that an extra 20-30 HP would also be nice to have. Are there chips for the 1.4L turbo that will do that?

michaellno

I can't believe a barrel is hovering around $90 yet gas is still close to $4 per.

Just paid $3.939/gal for Shell 91 octane for the wife's CX-7.

RUG is around $3.60/gal here.

oldfarmer50

"...Dad?..."

Call your mother, she worries about you! :P