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

benjaminh

15 year old Volvo S60 evaluated at by Car Wizard. Basic maintenance has been neglected. It's at about 150,000 miles and spark plugs were due at 100k but weren't changed. Ditto with timing belt. All sorts of other issues add up to at least $4000. To me seems like time to start with a new car.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRl2XApo9Jo

stickguy

makes sense, but as is, won't get hardly anything for it running like crap. so figure what you can get for say $6,000. Probably going to have needs, and will it really be better than this car fully sorted?

andre1969

Yep! Mine's a '57 Firedome Sportsman hardtop coupe. Same color scheme too, red and white! The side contrast is an evolution of the '55-56 spear, which drooped down at the rear for '55, but kicked upwards for '56, to blend in with the kink at the top of the fins.

The '56 Belvedere was somewhat similar, with the two-toning low on the rear of the car...

andre1969

I always thought the side contrasting on the lower-level '58 Plymouths looked a bit DeSoto-ish:
Meanwhile, the '58 DeSoto abandoned that "Sweepspear" as they called it, and went for a more slender contrast:

explorerx4

I wonder what this will end up going for?
https://carsandbids.com/auctions/rwOwpkJy/2002-ford-f-250-super-duty-xlt-4x4

stickguy

with the diesel and unmolested, a lot.

saw this while I was at BaT. Very cool. Also in the next town over when I lived in Jersey, so I might have taken a look. But the RHD would be an issue.

https://carsandbids.com/auctions/35WgyXQN/1996-tvr-chimaera-400-clubman

oldfarmer50

explorerx4 said:

I wonder what this will end up going for?
https://carsandbids.com/auctions/rwOwpkJy/2002-ford-f-250-super-duty-xlt-4x4

There’s a dealer who advertises on the local Craigslist but is from Texas. Always has older trucks with desirable features and sometimes low milage. His asking prices are sky high.

explorerx4

Something to think about if you are looking at one of these cars(Lexus GS-F).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ievn7Kd5xaM

sda

I had an 88 Fox GL, same color as this. It was a good basic car, and my first new, not used car. https://youtu.be/0X-DO3c40Ik?si=-wyeb8icx9dzFI2m

explorerx4

2 reviews of the same car.
You can't trust anybody anymore.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9L33pGpledw

Subsequent review.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpSZOQMizfY

benjaminh

On another thread I posted a possible answer to a question I've had for years: how long does the average car last in the US? The answer from 50,000 responses from junkyards across the country was that on average personal vehicles in the US go to the junkyard after 16.5 years, and even vehicles that last the longest, like a Honda Accord, on average don't make it to 200k.

The price of this 2008 Acura RDX is $4900, but a vehicles that's 17 years old and has 215,000 miles I'd guess is already be past the 95% mark in terms of its lifespan, and is maybe even closer to 99%? That's especially true because it has a turbo engine. There are lots of service records, but with these years and mileage doesn't seem like much comfort. I don't think this vehicle would be a good risk even for a budget buyer. At this same dealer yesterday, for 4k flat, there was a 2013 BMW 3-series with 130k or so miles. The BMW also had a carfax (lots of maintenance and no accidents) and looked to be in really nice condition. Unlike RDX the BMW description had a warning that it hasn't been checked out, probably has major mechanical issues, buyer beware and so on. But on the surface of it, although both would be risky, I might pick the BMW bc it was newer and didn't have as many miles. Shortly after I looked at it the BMW listing vanished, and so I guess it was sold. Anyway, glad I can afford new at his point.

https://www.acuraatoxmoor.com/auto/used-2008-acura-rdx-technology-package-louisville-ky/100873018/

oldfarmer50

The hoopties I have purchased in the past usually came in at less than 10% of original sticker and averaged 15 years old with under 100k miles. A 215k miles car would scare me.

fintail

$4800 is the new $2500. A roll of the dice, but if average croaks at 200K, half go beyond that. The thought of a 12 year old 100+K BMW that in many trims was built to a cost and can attract abusive drivers scares me unless I like DIY (which I seldom do).

texases

It’s like human life expectancy. If the average is 75 years, and I’m 75, that doesn’t mean I’m going to die tomorrow. You have to look at the average life expectancy for 75 year olds, which is longer.

benjaminh

https://www.acuraatoxmoor.com/search/pre-owned-louisville-ky/?s:yr=1&ct=48&cy=40222&tp=pre_owned

ab348

@benjaminh - That takes me back. I had one of those, also an ‘85, except in silver. What a fun car, my first new car. Perfect for a young single guy. They were pretty rare around here. I remember going on a few summertime vacation trips in it, one time from Halifax to Toronto and back, another to New England. On that one I was driving through New Brunswick when I encountered another MR2 on the highway towards the Maine border. It was a 2-lane, a bit twisty in parts, and the two of us has fun passing and repassing each other at slightly extra-legal speeds until we both got pulled over by a RCMP car. He was decent enough and assumed we knew each other. Turned out the other car had 2 young ladies in it! Unfortunately he let them go first and I never could find them. Let me go with a “drive safely” warning.

The price is interesting. Mine was $15,000 Cdn new in ‘85.

kyfdx

I loved those cars. Almost made a Toyota salesman cry on a test drive..

qbrozen

@benjaminh said:
https://www.acuraatoxmoor.com/search/pre-owned-louisville-ky/?s:yr=1&ct=48&cy=40222&tp=pre_owned

That price is absurd.

And get a load of that “MSRP” on the VW Cabrio.

kyfdx

qbrozen said:

@benjaminh said:
https://www.acuraatoxmoor.com/search/pre-owned-louisville-ky/?s:yr=1&ct=48&cy=40222&tp=pre_owned

That price is absurd.

And get a load of that “MSRP” on the VW Cabrio.

Import one from Japan, and make some money!

texases

That price is in line with the sales prices on BAT, lots over $15,000.

qbrozen

@texases said:
That price is in line with the sales prices on BAT, lots over $15,000.

Would have to confirm specs. The boosted models pull far more, of course. With 68k miles and no boost, nothing special here.

I definitely could import them far cheaper, but RHD brings less money, too.

sda

@andre1969 https://youtu.be/N_PkHp0Y5IQ?si=IjQn_CONhgIcW-7n

fintail

This popped up in a fintail group - later run car (W111 230S), off the road for 10+ years because of rear suspension/differential issues, but cosmetically and structurally nice (the expensive things to get right):



One may notice something is unusual here:



Oh, that's what's unusual, a 302:

explorerx4

Nice Ford engine in that Benz. Seems somewhat sacrilegious though.

stickguy

looks nice and tidy though. Needs a 5 speed stick instead though.

explorerx4

If something like that was good enough for Paul Newman, I guess it would be good with me.
Not that car but did the conversion with a Volvo.

fintail

explorerx4 said:

Nice Ford engine in that Benz. Seems somewhat sacrilegious though.

Oh yeah some people howled about it. I don't have an issue - the car may have had some kind of mechanical issue where a bad engine took it off the road. Perhaps the conversion saved the car, better to have it alive with a transplant than sent to the parking lot in the sky.

explorerx4

Never know what you might come across going for a walk in our neighborhood.

kyfdx

fintail said:

explorerx4 said:

Nice Ford engine in that Benz. Seems somewhat sacrilegious though.

Oh yeah some people howled about it. I don't have an issue - the car may have had some kind of mechanical issue where a bad engine took it off the road. Perhaps the conversion saved the car, better to have it alive with a transplant than sent to the parking lot in the sky.

That's the only way that '70s, '80s and '90s Jaguars stay on the road (though they usually get Chevy V-8s)

tjc78

I didn’t scroll all the way and I was going to say that aftermarket head unit was unfortunate.

I don’t hate the 302 in there. Probably runs nice

stickguy

I think the Volvo 302 swaps are really cool too.

tjc78

It makes sense. You can buy anything for a 302 and it will run on bad gas and no oil pressure forever.

kyfdx

tjc78 said:

It makes sense. You can buy anything for a 302 and it will run on bad gas and no oil pressure forever.

Well, not forever... My first 302 threw a piston.

explorerx4

Volvo V8 conversions are a thing.
https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=volvo+to+ford+v8+conversion&qpvt=volvo+to+ford+v8+xoncersion&form=IQFRML&first=1

qbrozen

@explorerx4 said:
Volvo V8 conversions are a thing.
https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=volvo+to+ford+v8+conversion&qpvt=volvo+to+ford+v8+xoncersion&form=IQFRML&first=1

Of course. Paul Newman and Dave Letterman each famously had a v8-swapped Volvo.

stickguy

I would sell my wife's car for a 740 V8 manual conversion. If needed she can go in the deal too.

fintail

I last drove the fintail on November 5th - since then I would put it on the battery tender now and then, and put fuel stabilizer in it, but didn't start it. In prior winters I would start the car monthly or so and let it get to hot idle, this year I figured I would let the car have a real hibernation, and see what happens. Today I went out to start the car, and to my pleasure and relief, it started on the first turn of the key, and idled fine. I didn't drive the car, just pulled it out into the driveway and let it idle to full temp for maybe 20-30 mins, but everything seems fine - hopefully it will stop and shift as usual. Maybe a long slumber won't hurt anything.

ab348

I did the same thing every year with my Cutlass. There was always anxiety every spring when I would disconnect the battery tender, hook up the car’s battery, give the engine few few cranks to build up some oil pressure, then give the gas pedal a couple of full presses to set the choke and crank it again. For over 20 years it always started and ran great.

xwesx

Yeah, my old rigs often slumber for 9+ months continuously, and I have yet to have an issue getting them to wake up.

oldfarmer50

I do the battery tender plus monthly starts. Seems to work.

gsemike

Went to my local abandoned car auction mostly just out of curiosity. All cars are sold with no keys and unknown mileage except for the real old ones with digital speedos. They did provide the VINs so you may be able to sleuth up a history.

Sadly, many of the cars appeared lived in. There were a few with potential if you felt like rolling the dice. The Audi Q5 was the cleanest. Practically no chance that it's running.

qbrozen

Bentley would make for a nice apartment

texases

Here's a non-running Aston Martin, at least the keys are included, bid fast!
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1991-aston-martin-virage-8/

ab348

Huh. I’m no Aston expert, but that model is all new to me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one before. I find it oddly unattractive in terms of both exterior styling and interior design. Doesn’t turn my crank in any way.

texases

@gsemike - any idea what they sold for?

oldfarmer50

Who was living in that Bentley?

qbrozen

@oldfarmer50 said:
Who was living in that Bentley?

stickguy

I would have bought the Miata. Only a cat could live in one of those.

stickguy

Aston looks like a modestly face lifted V8 from the 70s. Same 3 speed automatic too!

texases

Looks like the last bid ($10,000) might get that Aston. Probably small compared to the costs of getting it back on the road after 15+ years undriven.