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

stickguy

I kind of like it. not the color though. Certainly something I would look at later in the year. could be a good time to convertible shop in November!

lemmer

I sold my Lexus. I bought it for $4300 just under three years ago. I sold it for $4200 cash last night. It was at 229K or so.

In those three years, I replaced the tires, replaced the battery (half paid by warranty) and changed the oil a couple times. No other repairs or maintenance were done. I can't imagine the next owner will be so lucky.

In any case, I was tired of it. It was a great driver, but the kind of car Shifty could have "totalled" with a few minutes with it on a rack. The front suspension seemed tired. It dripped a little oil. The interior had no damage, just was getting a bit too worn for my tastes.

I am going back to "no excuses" cars. I guess I mean not having to say my car is in good shape considering the miles, or overlooking this or that, just saying the car needs absolutely nothing other than a driver.

Mr_Shiftright

If you lose confidence in a car, that's often the time to let it go...I don't mind little glitches (one can't keep an old car perfect) or normal wear and tear but when you start worrying about breakdowns or a future repair of substantial proportions (trans leaks, oil burning, weird and ominous noises, leaking heater core, etc.) then the whole relationship is undermined IMO.

lemmer

I just have to think these people that claim their cars are still "like new" at 200-300K just don't have high standards. Especially when they are on original shocks. At that mileage, on the best built cars, lots of stuff just feels tired to me.

I think from now on, I am bailing out before 150K. Like I said, my high mileage experimentation is over. I don't think I proved anything either, other than I was lucky.

It also nice to drop that gas bill - 15/21 MPG on premium. Ouch.

stickguy

not sure I have seen a car sunk quite this far before. Yours for only $900, claimed to be in not bad shape (ha!), but it has been "sitting a while" (ya think?)

tjc78

How many of these did they make ? link title

Nice van, Stick. Bring a winch.

Mr_Shiftright

That van isn't worth $25.

fintail

Wow, that's a rare bird. I wonder how long it was offered as well - that's a first year car, I'm sure it wasn't offered through 96.

Speaking of Lexus, saw a GS450h today, those are pretty uncommon.

texases

Wow, Ihave a '96, never knew any year came with a stick.
$3000 seems high.

andre1969

I always liked the 90's Lexus ES300s, with that sleek, pillared hardtop look. Just out of curiosity, I checked the inventory at one of the big no haggle dealer groups in my area, and found this 144,000 mile 1999 ES for $6295.

Ouch, that's a little too blue for my blood considering the age and the miles, even if it is a really nice car. Is that seriously a reasonable price for one?! It just seems like the kind of car I wouldn't want to pay more than $2-3,000 for, although I'll admit I'm out of touch. Heck, about a month ago I found a purple '94 Fleetwood that the local Caddy dealer wanted something like $5495 for. I think it only had around 80,000 miles on it though. That Caddy sold fast, as it was only on their website a few days, maybe a week tops.

fintail

If that Avanti II that parks by my fintail doesn't get out more, it's going to become a real project car:

texases

Near me ES300 prices are all over the map, with '99s going for $3k to (GASP) $12k?!? That one has only 26 k miles, but that's a big red flag to me, I'd worry about maintenance on it.

fintail

Quick local craigs search finds a few...they seem to have aged pretty well, cosmetically:

Cheaper, but with ...ummm...more miles

Less miles but higher price

Same here

Less miles, more features, similar price

Similar mileage and price

tjc78

Strong prices on those ES's, they seem like 5K cars to me.

xwesx

Whew; that ES300 is clean. I'm surprised by the mileage claim: Leather looks good, no cosmetic issues. Tempting at that price. It wouldn't last a day on Craigslist here.

Mr_Shiftright

$3500 is about fair private party price. From a dealer with financing perhaps, then maybe $4500. Tops. That's it.

Mr_Shiftright

Just love those fake wire wheels.

lemmer

Just out of curiosity, what do you figure you would have paid for that 911 with the tiptronic?

Mr_Shiftright

somewhere between $18K and $21K I think. It *was* very clean but it's still a TIP. You can sell a TIP a lot easier in a Boxster than in a 911.

Also they replaced the plastic window with a glass one, which you'd think was a PLUS, but the glass window is smaller, so rearward vision with the top up was pretty bad. I don't think parking would have been much fun.

lemmer

DB4 that needs a tad of work.

The comments crack me up. Some of the commenters seem outraged that someone would pay that much for the car. If you don't like it, don't buy it.

fintail

Don't know what this is worth, looks nice, not far from me

Mr_Shiftright

Well it's a rare car, only 925 of them made--and potentially worth $250,000 concours...can you get from here to THERE for $160K? Don't think so.

Mr_Shiftright

Okay /56 Chrsyler New Yorker Newport hardtop in probably # 3 condition---I'd say around $15,000 or so should do it. Needs a closer look--car could have problems.

texases

I was surprised that I only saw one photo of the engine on that Chrysler, looked dirty, tired battery, makes me wonder...

Mr_Shiftright

yeah I don't have a real good feeling about the car, from past experience with previewing photos before viewing the reality.

fintail

I was thinking it was more like an 8-10K car -as was said, detail work is poor. In one pic it has Hawaii plates, which is worrisome if it really is from there - I doubt that humid climate is easy on old metal.

Mr_Shiftright

$15K is for a very clean driver--a #3 car--this looks like a 3 minus, maybe a 4+ if the underside chassis is a mess.

stickguy

But looks nice, and certainly unique. Fun car for the money I guess.

http://southjersey.craigslist.org/cto/2953527170.html

stickguy

http://southjersey.craigslist.org/cto/2938855591.html

stickguy

Hey, what could possibly go wrong? Bad tranny, no keys, and a V12. perfect combo for reliable motoring.

http://southjersey.craigslist.org/cto/2963131117.html

au1994

Run, make that SPRINT!!, away from this. No keys??? Never seen that on a car this new.

Rubber baby buggy bumper MG looks really nice.

Loving the Cougar as well. That green works well on the car with the black stripes.

Mr_Shiftright

XR-7 --- seems a little high. Needs a closer look but more like $7K-8K seems right.

'79 MGB -- fair price for a fun, slow, ugly car. And converting it to a chrome bumper car is a LOT of work.

'03 BMW V-12 --- parts car. Buy it for the nice interior if it has one, the sheet metal, and the magnificent engine. Maybe $3K if you need all that stuff.

texases

That XR-7 looks nice, but 'all show, no go' comes to mind, what with the 2bbl carb and the automatic. I'd expect more under that hood scoop! edit - and racing stripes! and spoiler! and hood pins!

I'd rather spend that kind of money on a clean base model and fix r up.

Mr_Shiftright

It'll get out of its own way with the 351 and 2-bbl, and maybe duel with a new minivan 0-60, (and lose) , but with a new intake, 4 bbl carb and some cylinder head work you could get the tires to chirp. Or you could buy a beefed-up crate engine for maybe $4500 bucks and get some real power out of it.

If you could buy it right, it'd be a nice entry-level way into what really is about the last years of the credible "pony car" era.

fintail

$9500 and needs what, 15K in repairs? Deal.

Small wheel looks funny in the Cougar.

Mr_Shiftright

Anyone who pays $9500 for that BMW should be wrestled to the ground and muscled into a white van and taken away, and their assets should be frozen and placed in the hands of a family trustee :P

explorerx4

There were some serious comments, but overall I think a lot of the posts were pretty funny.

explorerx4

They are asking 15 for it.

Mr_Shiftright

"All the easy restorations have been done already".

fintail

After you're up to about a 25K total investment to get everything right, then you are gifted with a ~10 year old questionably maintained victorian gothic mansion on wheels, with early iDrive to keep everything going. Sounds good, no?

Mr_Shiftright

To say nothing of a depreciation rate approximating an asteroid hitting the earth.

stickguy

assuming it really has had the needed work done, is this a decent price for one of these?

http://southjersey.craigslist.org/cto/2965697176.html

lemko

YEESH!!! What reckless and self-destructive masochist would take on this one? Even the roundel on the hood looks messed-up. One's finances would be violently prison-raped after bringing this one up to spec! Pretty POISON!

andre1969

YEESH!!! What reckless and self-destructive masochist would take on this one? Even the roundel on the hood looks messed-up.

I can think of a use for that BMW. Remember the old "Football" variation on demolition derbies, where they'd have all the contestants divide up into teams, and then throw something small out in the middle, like a VW Beetle or Renault or whatever, to be the "football"?

Maybe they could do a variant on that, using old retired school buses as the "football players", and that BMW as the football!

qbrozen

show quality ones are like $9k... so if it needs no paint/bodywork/rustwork, probably an OK price. A questionable purchase nonetheless.

Mr_Shiftright

strong price but not unreasonable if it's really sharp top bottom and inside. Actually a fun little car and you can fix them by shopping at Home Depot's plumbing department (lliterally---they have manual shut-off valves for the heater that looks like a garden spigot).

explorerx4

but I have always wanted to get one of these

what the heck, they are only asking about 900 bucks more than this

stickguy

I kind of like that SVO too. If the mechanicals are good, doesn't seem like a bad price. Not like there are many good ones floating around.

qbrozen

Oh, sure. I mean, its obvious by the condition underhood that the odometer hasn't rolled over at least once. :sick:

Mr_Shiftright

86 SVO -- price is too strong for the condition IMO. Cosmetics are more important than how it runs.

70 Mach 1 -- he must be joking. Does he think he has a Cobra Jet Vin # or something? (CJ is worth double a 351). Silly price.