1:1 automobile saga...

[olds97_lss]

Well, I've been informed that there is an "old mans" car that will be auctioned off next weekend. I'm always on the lookout for a decent car.

I have a 110 mile commute (55 each way) to work and I rack up around 30K a year between work and vacations. I eat warranties for breakfast, so I don't bother buying new anyway. I just buy comfortable and reliable.

My wifes car is my old car (olds 97 LSS, go figure) and it has 140K+ on it. It did ok (aside from a used engine replacement at 80K due to bad main bearing), but I quit driving it 5 years ago due to the car my wife had at the time got a little better mileage, but not much (1998 ford contour 4 cyl). She wasn't working anymore, so she didn't need the mileage.

Well... after riding in that thing for a year, I bought what I have now, a loaded 98 mercury grand marquee. I bought it a little over 4 years ago with 22K on it for $11K. Comfortable is what I shoot for now. And I've definitely had it.

The marquee has been the most problem free car I've had since I started driving my commute over 11 years ago. It's my 5th car in 11 years. It currently has 160K+ on it, but looks great, runs great and rides great. I've only had 3 issues with it so far, all in the past 6 months.
O2 sensors had wires get wore through, $40 a piece, I installed them.
Upper front right ball joint went out, $60, I installed a new one.
Steering wheel electrical issue, $120 fixed a the dealer.

Other than 2 sets of brake pads and just installing the 2nd set of tires (aside from the originals), that's all the issues I've had in 140K miles. If I get the lincoln, the olds is going away and my wife will be driving my land yacht. She isn't real thrilled, but it is a pretty car...

So... with that in mind, the "old mans" car at the auction is a 95 Lincoln Town Car Cartier with 25K original miles, single owner. KBB says $3800 trade-in and $5500 private sell. It has pretty much the same engine/drive train as the mercury I've had for the past 5 years, but has a few more bells/whistles and about 30hp more due to dual exhausts and other minor engine differences.

Well... with all that said, I've never been to an auction, but an older friend of mine has been to hundreds. He's sold cars and had his own dealership at one point, just got tired of the head aches. Although, he still likes to dabble with buying/selling... He's the one that let me know about the lincoln and I'm doing my best to not get excited about it... it's very hard not to though. He'll be going with me and his only word of advice is to go there with a number in mind that the car is worth to me, and do go over it.

Knowing what I know about the drive line, ride, reliability, miles and general look of the car, I'd go as high as $6K.

Just waiting is killing me... stupid cars.

 

[Rolex]

I've had a couple of Lincolns, Continental MK IVs, Cartiers, both of them. With 25K you'll be getting an almost brand new car. Just remember, you have a long commute, and their weight and power makes them thirsty. Gas will soon be $4 a gallon.
Both of mine had 460s, and every gas station in the county greeted me on a first name basis.

 

[itsalifeworthliving]

this is just my opinion.. i have done away with buying american cars.. am i anti american product.. no. but it is just proven to me that fariegn cars last longer and are more reliable.. i can't afford to by a new car. and i dont wana replace a motor at 80k either. i dont wana replace ball joints and electrical problems scare the be-jesus out of me. oil leaks absolutly drive me crazy.. i want a car that gets 250k with out breaking down or rusting to peaces in my drive way. i stopped buying american about 7 yrs ago.i bought a used acura integra w/ 40k on it. long story short, i beat the snot out of it and sold it in working condition with 200,000 miles on it for $1000. i paid 6 for it. i am like you enjoy large conmfortable cars.. by all meens my car budget has never really been over 3-4 thousand. so I'm limited. my next cars were all bmw,audi and honda's. i sold all of them just to get something better. not becouse of problems. i think that they are just a better built and designed car. thay get great gas milage are fun to drive and can easly get 200k with out ANY problems.. and i am not a maintonance freak. its nothing to go 10k without an oil change. my acura integra went over 60,000 miles with just topping of the oil. i drove my 325i for over a year and didnt evan open the hood exept to put washer fluid in and top off the oil once a month.. i put over 50,000 miles on that car and sold it for 3k. my presant car is a 95' audi a6 quattro that has about 120k on it. i take better care of it just couse I'm bored. my wife has an 00' honda civic with 90k on it.. can't remember when the last time we changed the oil on it. we dont just plan to but are pretty sure we will have both cars for many years. problem free.. i am by all means not bashing american cars or any body elses opinion. but a cadilac sts with 75k and a blown motor just doesn't cut it for me. i bought a ford thunder bird with the factory super charger. i asked the guy why it had a valve top. he said he bought it brand new like that. it was ever so slight, but there. 6 months later the valve shot thru the piston. barely had 90k on it. i may be hard on cars, but i wont change, so i changed what i bought aND ITS BEEN WORKING GREAT EVER SINCE..
MY AUDI!! i paid $2000.00 for it 2 yrs ago..
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii17/itsalifeworthliving4/whip.jpg

 

[olds97_lss]

I figured someone would post something of that nature about buying foreign... but, the only foreign car I'd buy would be a mercedes... which is just a touch out of my price range lol!

I burned up a honda, toyata, hyundai, dodge and a ford. All, but the dodge had 4 cyl in them. The longest lasting out of the bunch was the hyundai. The dodge blew the trans at 90K. The honda blew the main at 70K. The toyota blew something around 90K... can't remember what, but it was more to fix than the car was worth. The hyundai met a K-Rail at 60mph... but I still drove it 50 miles home. It had 147K on it. The olds blew the head gasket at 78K, then sat on a mechanics lot for two weeks with a gallon of antifreeze in the crank case, which ruined the lower end of the engine... sounded like a diesel.

The mercury however has lasted the longest with minimal unexpected maintenance and even the unexpected was cheap and easy to fix, except for the electrical thing (which was cheap, but I couldn't fix it).

To each their own I guess.

With 25K you'll be getting an almost brand new car. Just remember, you have a long commute, and their weight and power makes them thirsty. Gas will soon be $4 a gallon.

Yeah, $4 a gallon... I've been dealing with $3.50 a gallon for so long, what the hell does it matter? I've been driving a car like it that gets worse mileage for 4 years. I'm used to that. Although, I do average 22MPG winter/24MPG summer with the mercury. The lincoln gets better than the mercury I'm driving by a couple MPG's according to a few old school car guys I've talked to.

Looking at all the MPG ratings of the cars out these days, a 4 banger just can't take the long haul day after day (already proved that), so I'd end up with a v6 that gets 27-28 if I'm lucky and hope it lasts long enough to outweigh the benefit of the better ride I get with a V8? I'd rather have the V8 that gets a couple less. The comfort and reliability out weight it considerably. I've done the math... repeatedly.

The 95 runs a 4.6L v8 by the way... which is a 281ci engine. Smaller than the old 302 (5.0L), but more power/RPM's. Funny how times change things isn't it?

 

[itsalifeworthliving]

dude.. that luck you have is crazy, with all those low milage cars dieing and all... i can't beleive you got that far with a hyandai!! both milage and home.. thats awsome.. since i live in rural p.a. most folk drive american cars here. sometimes i get heckled in my audi. my boss has a chevy duramax with over 300,000 miles on it. and he makes me park on the side lot so he doesn't lose customers..lol..i dont understand it.. maybe i just had bad luck with certain cars. well good luck with your new purchase and keep us posted on what you wind up with..

 

[olds97_lss]

Will do!

Heck... if a hyundai rode better and was larger... I'd look into getting one.

If the auction goes south, I'll still be shopping. Got my eye on another newer town car, marquee and continental... oooo... purty.

Don't get me wrong, I really do like foreign cars... I just can't afford any of them or the repairs. A nice audi, nissan, lexus, mercedes, acura (really like the TL) would look nice in my driveway... just not in my bank account.

It's funny how many forign car makers can crank out engine after engine pushing 220+ HP, but here in the US... it requires a v8, turbo or supercharger... WE HAVE GOT TO BE DOING SOMETHING WRONG!!! lol


On a side note, the second longest lasting car for me was a mid-80's chevy chevette. 210,000 MILES! How sad is that!
Then I hit a deer at 70... poor little car didn't know what it had coming!

 

[Rolex]

You're right about going V8 for that long commute. A friend of mine had a 6 cylinder Tbird and got a lot less mileage than I get with a 5.0L HO Tbird with overdrive. I'm getting 22 local and 28 on a long haul with AC on.

 

[psunitro]

Well,I can understand why you are looking at the larger cars, much more comfy!

This may come from left field, I know you dont want to buy new......and I was ALWAYS in the same boat.I used to buy NOTHING but older VW's....always had great luck with them. Drove them a LOT, I guess the were bred on the Autobahn, made for long,fast traveling.BUT as the older ones became harder to find with lower miles, I began looking for a replacement....New ones were WAY too pricey, and they are not what they used to be.........
Would you consider a new Cobalt? ANYONE who knows me would NEVER thing I would have got one, but I now have a 06. Bought it new for around $11,000. 4 door, plenty of room. My reasoning is why pay $5000 for a used car with 50-60k on it, when I can get a new one with no miles? Granted, for $11K it is STRIPPED, and has NO features, but for A to B travel, I didnt care. I have about 30k on it, NO issues. Except for a flat, had some extra rubber on the bead,fixed no problem.

May not be what your looking for, but I thought I would throw it out there!! You would pay part of your payment in gas saveings......I get 30mpg in town, 33 or so highway.

My old boss bought the Lincon your looking at new back then. Very nice"old man's" car. Can't say too much about it,but I did like the car.

Going to an auto auction or any other is a fun time! My dad loved them. Bought and sold a bunch of cars that way. The best being a 73 Imperial, 440, LOW miles. What a land boat!!! But you and 7 of your friends could fit in....

 

[rckid91]

we own a good ole 95 chevy tahoe that is pushing 350k on the stock chevy 350 block no rebuilts just little maintence here and there if you take care of your cars they take care of you

on a 2nd note(no bashing of any1s opinion)but forign cars only cut it if you live in the middle of a big city and yeah they last a long time but they just up and quit when they reach the end of the line no warning signs just leave u stranded
#2 there all made outta plastic at least american cars are made of some sorta metal frame
#3 the maintence on a honda or acura when something does go wrong =$$$$$$$$$$$$ lots o cash

 

[psunitro]

LOL, I dont want to get off the subject, but come on bob24. The 1st 2 points have NO reasoning behind them. As for a frame....really? And how many "American" cars have a true frame anymore? Since Ford and Chevy both own MANY other companies, and have had many joint ventures with other companies,many car platforms have been shared. I could get into the plastic stuff, but I dont feel I have to.

As for the repair....yes it may cost more to fix certain things. Parts MAY be more expensive, BUT it can be said for domestics as well. Try changing all the spark plugs on my old Voyager.....HA!!! Change the valve cover on my ex's Ranger? Ever look at a 2.9? What a joke! Put a new alt. on a Escape? all but remove the engine!

My point being ALL cars can be a PITA.

 

[olds97_lss]

Yeah... I'd have to go with a no to the smaller unit. I've gotten to used to the niceties of a 2 ton car. If I was in a suburb and just did city driving, then it would make sense. But, I'm an hour away from work and pretty much any other larger city.

I'm not saying small can't be reliable and last a long time. I'm just saying it isn't a fit for me. I'm a big dude... The big seat is nice. Even when I wasn't "heavy", I was still wide and weighed a good bit (225lb/10% BF 10 years ago) and I didn't fit well in many cars I had then.

Now that I drive 110 miles a day, minimum 2 hours in good weather/traffic, 2.5-3 hours in bad weather/traffic, I can tolerate it much better in a smoother ride that doesn't feel cramped.

In the larger/mid-size car arena, a v8 tends to just last longer for me. I drive fast in the open (avg 80mph) and the v6's I've had didn't care for that over time.

If I were to go foreign for real, I'd probably go hyundai. I've had two and had no issues with either, and they were old. 89's. Both exceeded 120K and their days were ended with hitting an inanimate object at high speeds. I'm still here to tell the tale and that's without a single airbag.

 

[digger]

Hey Olds, bought a few at the auction. Had pretty good luck so far. (knock on wood) Last one was the 'ol lady's Bronco. Got it 4, 5 years ago? $3000. Had a guy offer us 5 for it a week after we bought it. Was hard to turn down, but I hate looking for a vehicle and she liked the hell out of it.
Should see her in it. She is about 5' 5", 100lbs and can barely get in it.

Haven't done much to it. Only complaint really has been the gas mileage. About 12, maybe 13?

Look over a few more before it starts. Keep something else in mind. May be somebody looking at yours pretty hard.

I always enjoyed them even if I didn't have any money. Good luck.

 

[hamz9561]

You might also try looking for light duty (1/2 ton) pickup. They're fairly inexpensive and some ride as well as the big luxo-yachts and come with as many accessories as the Lincoln or Caddy's. One of my old room mates had a Dakota with a V-6 and it got about 25 mpg.