Project Cars--You Get to Vote on "Hold 'em or Fold 'em"

Mr_Shiftright

Looks like a decent car, but very few people want a 4-door phaeton anymore. The little coupes and roadsters are so much more fun to drive. Hard sell. Not sure of the price. For a pedestrian make like an old V8 Ford, the pre-war Ford hobbyists are rather over the top about accuracy but underwhelmed when it comes to opening their wallets. Tough crowd to sell to unless it's just the right car. If it were a woody it would vanish at an instant at double the money.

andre1969

but in a demented sort of way, I think it's pretty cool!

xwesx

Hahaha! That is awesome. Did you catch that photo of it with the nose? Oy - I think it looks pretty good now, but considering its obvious neglect in recent years, I think his price is crazy. Looks like he picked a good color, as it seems to match his personality.

Mr_Shiftright

Looks like a couple of the boys were hangin' around the garage one night, and had too many beers, and then one said "Hey, I have an idea....."

steven922

I don't think these prices are correct.
http://southbend.craigslist.org/car/571721414.html
and another
http://southbend.craigslist.org/car/571685520.html

fintail

Scammers likely from Nigeria, images usually stolen from ebay listings

gsemike

I'll give him credit. It bakes tire pretty good

explorerx4

did you see 'christine' in the background of the picture with the superbird nose? :surprise:

Mr_Shiftright

Anybody can smoke a tire, that's not talent--especially slicks. I mean, start car, point straight, stomp on pedal, hold on. Your grandpa's 383 could do that.

fintail

To go with the BMWs from earlier, here's a disaster waiting to happen

"some semi major rust"...I just like that term

andre1969

That pic was taken at the burnout contest at one of the Carlisle Mopar Nationals. I've seen them do that. Basically, they wet down the asphalt, the car pulls out there with some crap tires, and the driver power-brakes and gets a nice cloud of smoke going. Often they'll just keep going until the tire pops.

I remember last year, the winner was actually an ancient Dodge flatbed. Not exactly a powerhouse. I thought about putting my '79 NYer in the contest, especially now that its tires are getting pretty ancient. Only problem is, the spare's pretty iffy, too, and I'd need that car to get back home!

gsemike

how can you resist a car where the seller promises 'all the good s***'?

explorerx4

i call those a 'google earth smoke show'!

fintail

Looks like a nice shark...money pits I know, but they aren't unattractive

andre1969

did you see 'christine' in the background of the picture with the superbird nose?

Heck yeah, I think that was one of the first things I noticed!

Mr_Shiftright

Buy a later 635. Easier parts, better car all over. A 633 will depreciate into nothingness (no one knows, no one cares) but a 635 might at least maintain its value.

fintail

If I was going to get one of those, it would be an M6...but there are many other cars I would want to have first.

Mr_Shiftright

Yeah but an M6 has its own set of problems...and not every indy BMW shop will even work on one. Nice-driving car, though.

gsemike

Landrover NO

Cougar NO

2 airbags and bumper covers are going to cost a little more than $350 Do you think that's how much he thought they'd cost before he got in over his head on this?

I think that this price is good for a 428 CJ car I'm looking forward to Shifty's opinion

"Thousands of dollars of preventative maintenance" Sounds like he's crying Uncle but it does look like a nice car

Must be going through alot of oil

No idea what this is worth

I guess that this can work out if this is your thing But who's thing is it??

Pretty nice Firebird I don't know how below market this price is

fintail

I didn't know Altimas had an oil burning problem.

The 450SL is not one of the good years IIRC...seems a bit steep. I think the earlier and later models are better.

Mr_Shiftright

2002 Altimas -- yes, notorious problems. Apparently debris from the catalytic gets sucked into the engine and scores the cylinders. Bad risk

Mustang Mach 1 -- it's what the ad doesn't say that is interesting. Does not say original engine and the restoration is 18 years old, so I think $55K is market correct or perhaps a touch high. This could be an incorrect #3 car after all, so what happened at B-J with an over the top restored correct Mach 1 428 is a whole other ball game.

450SL -- I agree with fintail, overpriced for what it is. Rust is bad news on these cars, really bad news.

68 Firebird -- I don't know where the seller thinks he's below market. Again, depending on condition a plain ol' 350 automatic is not the hottest ticket in a Firebird. I'd say $12K is all the money here and if these blemishes and "things" needed completion aren't specified, it could be priced lower still.

But it is interesting that the muscle car owners are fairly cagey in their pricing, so they know the market. The SL owner is clueless however.

stickguy

I like that V70. maybe Q wants it for the wife?

almost bought a volvo corp car in 2001, but it was a touch pricey. If that one was closer, I might just get it. Price seems to be in the ball park, with all the work just done.

Awesome seats.

jlflemmons

That doesn't look like an OEM steering wheel in that 'original' Firebird. I always get nervous when I see an aftermarket steering wheel. Too many of them were not done right, and many have the horn missing.

gsemike

That steering wheel is definitely aftermarket but I wouldn't kill the guy got it if it was done right. The original steering wheels back then were as big as a pizza and would feel very awkard to drive if you go back and forth between than and a modern car. Since it's a garden variety car who care's about originality that much. If I got that, a 4 barrel would find it's way onto it the first weekend.

In my 03 Altima, I've never added any oil between changes and it's never been low. Mine only has 46k. Hopefully that issue was straightened out by 03. So far, it's been a great car.

bumpy

Some of the '02 QR25DEs got a bad batch of oil rings that wear prematurely. The '02 Sentra Spec-Vs have the same problem. The disintegrating precat was a later problem.

fortee9er

I know that Porsche Speedsters prices are out of this world but is this project worth the asking price http://houston.craigslist.org/car/573436455.html ????

fortee9er

Looks like someone had a similar idea to the $500 car challenge, http://www.24hoursoflemons.com/

texases

I don't know about the (HIGH) price, but this one has to win some kind of award for "99% complete" nonsense...is he saying $1000 will complete the car? HA!

gsemike

Just common sense... if you've come this far, why wouldn't you do the 1 percent more and have a complete car? that claim is bs 99% of the time

Mr_Shiftright

The guy is plain nuts. You can buy a gorgeous Speedster for $120,000. His is worth less than half that...AND.....AND....he has a 912 engine in it!!! He's got balls I'll say that.

Well after the laughing ceases, he'll sober up. What dark delusional corridor has he ben pushed into by a too long, too far, restoration process?

fintail

Maybe a tow vehicle or something

Cool in its own way, but I don't know if it's just too odd

Mr_Shiftright

72 Ford Wagon -- if it doesn't have AC, very few people will want it.

fintail

That's the problem with old WA state cars...I would easily wager that those before 1975-80 with AC are in a small minority. People just didn't see the need.

Mr_Shiftright

I guess with traffic, pollution and $100 hair cuts, AC is vital to human life now.

bumpy

So with that German van, you get the drivetrain of a 240D in a package that weighs twice as much and has half the aero? Sounds like a real winner. :sick:

andre1969

I guess with traffic, pollution and $100 hair cuts, AC is vital to human life now.

I think I'm just masochistic enough that I could live without it if I really had to. My 2000 Intrepid's a/c went south over the summer. I did get it fixed, but only because it just needed a fairly cheap re-charge. The mechanic couldn't find any leaks or anything else wrong with it. Now if he came back with a $1000 or more estimate, I would've said forget about it, and just left it broken.

I can see though, why the convertible pretty much died. Whenever I have passengers in my '67 Catalina convertible, more often than not they'll find something to whine about. Either the wind is messing up their hair, or the sun is beating down on them too hard, or it's too hot, or whatever. But it's totally different when you're on the outside looking in. I've lost track of how many times someone will pull up next to me at a traffic light or whatever, and compliment me on how cool that thing is, and how they wished they had a convertible, etc. I guess ignorance is bliss? Or the grass is always greener on the other side, or something like that?

gsemike

$50K WORTH OF LUXURY FOR UNDER $3,000
I always liked these but this is a bit of overselling

Trans Ams don't have V6s

I don't know about 25 grand for this If it's truly bondo free, it's worth something but not that much. Maybe if I go 25, I can get him to throw in the 2 cragars, The 6 cyl wouldn't have had a 4 speed back then, right?

What the heck is this? This is a weird story. Maybe it's only got 1 extra zero in the price, possibly 2

Car can be used to drive or considered "junk" its up to you What does that even mean?? I'll go for junk and drop that last zero

Gas saver

Don't these get like 50 mpg How big a job is the water pump and how much life is left?

Hang with the odd ball guys on cruise night Wish this had better pics. It could be worth this once it has the new tires and exhaust. Those needs lead me to believe this is probably rough in person

The pic is not recent but if this is it, you could do worse for this money

The pin has already neen pulled on this one After all that work, it need a tuneup to correct minor hickups. That's good

Pull this out of the woods and we have a deal

78 Vette This one looks good. I don't know where these are at value wise

It' over Johnny

This looks pretty good

Proably decent bones for a hot rod Weird that it has two Cragars on one side and appears to have hub caps on the other

Anyonwe up for some drifting?

68 Camaro Could be decent if it looks good in person

this guy has been trying to sell this for a while I guess that people don't dig Torinos

Stop lieing This will neverbe worth 26 grand again now that it has a salvage title. They don't total cars with 800 miles because they're easy fixes

guss

When I was looking for a cheap Miata, after a test drive I asked the guy where the A/C button was. His reply was "Oh, I didn't tell you it does not have A/C?" Well, no you must have missed that when I talked to you on the phone for 20 minutes.

I am usually the last to turn my air on , but I knew it would kill the resale. So i made an offer for $1k less than a comparable Miata would sell for. He of course said no, because true sports cars should not have A/C anyway.

Back in 1996(when it was built) that may have been true, but in 2008 it better have it .

guss

It' over Johnny

I love when sellers use the word "cuz" and "witch"in their ads, makes me want to buy their cool car so much more. Why oh Why did I buy that IBM stock in 1989 when I should have invested it in a dozen CRX's.

oregonboy

Reading about andre's sad Dart in the "When to just junk it" thread inspired me to check the local craigslist. Pretty slim pickin's.

a true project... impossible to tell from photo if a viable one

this looks pretty nice, but I prefer newer models

65 low-line survivor

67 GT priced high?

71 318 Duster

71 318 Swinger

qbrozen

Its nice enough, but I'm not spending that kind of money on a volvo with almost 100k on it.
I just saw an '00 V70 SE with only 45k on the clock for $5990 at a dealer. Now THAT seems like a good deal. Although I'd prefer an '01 (redesign) and a turbo.

Mr_Shiftright

You have to buy these complex out of warranty Swedish cars with low miles or you are asking for trouble (and expense). Just a couple of $500--$1,000 hammer blows for sensors gone wiggy or just the diagnostic costs can make a "bargain" seem like a lead weight around your neck.

qbrozen

Yeah. I put alot into mine at around the 100k mark that I know I want one with less than 70k just so I have a couple of years before having to really get into it.

Mr_Shiftright

I passed on a 100K BMW 5 series (good price) for that reason. I figured my "good price" would be full retail + in about a year. So I opted for an AWD Subaru that had high miles but had been gone through stem to stern with professional overhauls. Also the Subaru mechanic is a good, old friend---that's another compelling reason to buy a certain car.

stickguy

well, finding the nice safe Volvo in the kids price range is going to require having a bit more miles.

In that case, what I want is the car whos previous owner just had to replace everything that wears out (hard bits, and all those jiggly little sensors!) At some point, it is practically a new car again!

If it wasn't for the insurance hit, and a philisophical issue, it might just be cheaper to get a lowball lease for 3 years. Something like a base Jetta for $199/month, nothing down. One could easily spend the payment on keeping an old European car on the road!

gsemike

I recently made that call for a car for my stay at home Mother wife. I bought a 97 Pathfinder with 74k. I figured that she only drives 5 or 6k a year and that $299 a month or whatever would be a waste. The PF is a nice truck and fully loaded, but I did have a thousand dollar hit after 4 or 5 months. It was in for inspection and I was advised to do the axles. A week later, the water pump went. I guess that even with the low miles, an 11 year old car needs to be maintained. If this is it for a good while, I will still feel that I'm coming out ahead. If anything else pops up in the next few months, I may go looking for that lease deal. I just so love having two paid off cars, especially now with two babies at home

Mr_Shiftright

Leases ARE tempting vis a vis keeping an older but modern car going (no parts for 2001 Volvos at Kragen Auto Parts) but I hate the idea of being legally locked in for 3 years. I mean, with a lease you are STUCK with that puppy, regardless of how your income changes, etc.

qbrozen

here ya go, stickguy:
www.torchlightmotors.com

I see an overpriced '98 S70 GLT on there with 97k miles. Maybe could get it for $3k-$3500?

by the way, check out the S60R manual for under $20k.

gsemike

I agree with you. I leased a Civic once and didn't like it. I take care of my cars, but whenever I found a ding or whatever on it, I always had that feeling like I messed up Dad's car. By the end of the 4 year term, I was pretty sick of the car and would have liked to have gotten out of it earlier but it was too much hassle.

stickguy

Man, that is a lot of used Volvos. Too bad it isn't very close to home (although I was up that way last month for a gymnastics meet!)

I like that S70 for myself. Not sure though that I would want a Turbo model for th ekid.

They also had a 2001 V70 5 speed, which must be a rare bird. And of course something I would buy.