What do you drive?

[Jesse James]

Kinda neat looking for a little hatchback Dale...  Curious how it'll get around up in the great white north though.  Guess you're in a relatively flat area though, eh?

My gf bought a 98 Mustang a little while ago, and even though our winter was mild last year, when it did snow that car went surprisingly well in it.  That's always such a big issue for us to think about with the hills and potentially bad winters...  It can be a nightmare with the wrong car.  I had a 76 Maverick when I was young (my bro's I drove sometimes) and whoo boy was that thing fun in the snow.  Heavy as hell and rear wheel drive...  The ass would come around on you in a heartbeat.

[Chris M]

It can be a nightmare with the wrong car.  I had a 76 Maverick when I was young (my bro's I drove sometimes) and whoo boy was that thing fun in the snow.  Heavy as hell and rear wheel drive...  The ass would come around on you in a heartbeat.

I had a 66 Chevy pickup  with a 327 motor and a Turbo 350 tranny.  That thing got crazy in the snow...not that that didn't stop me from finding a parking lot and having fun.

[Jesse James]

My dad always hated buying 4WD so we always had just RWD pick-ups...  Talk about a bad idea on a hill on a snowy day.   Had to watch weather reports and not take those things out at all.  Just too light to get traction, even if you loaded up the back.  Mail trucks are the same way...  They're just little S10's with only RWD and *gasp* an all aluminum body so they're ultra light.

[MattCBR]

My 00 CBR 929 with a massive list of fun mods.... I do all the work myself, including the paint... can't afford a fast cool car so the old bike is my baby:)

[Jesse James]

Been a new car kinda holiday for everyone here.

Today, out of the blue, my gf went and bought a new car trading in her 98 Mustang Convertible...  I liked that car, it was a base 6 but was really peppy.  I was getting a little tired getting in/out of it though, I must admit.

Anyway, right before Christmas I bought a sweet little, cherry red, 5 Speed...

2002 Chevy Cavalier with 133k on it.

It was a kid's car that had been for sale up on the hill above my place.  It kept going down, and down, and down, and eventually it hit $500 and the inspection was running out.  I know his dad, and basically the car needs body work to pass inspection, but in January he was going to junk it and scrap value's just a little less than the $500.  It runs/drives perfect, and that little engine those Cavaliers have is a tough one.  Not having to worry about an AT f'n up down the road is nice incentive too.

So for the last couple weeks it has sat in our shop getting body work done.  Sheet metal and rivets baby!  This thing will look like a Rebel A-Wing when it's done.    I honestly have considered painting shark teeth and eyes on it like a P-40.  I needed a beater for work...  I'm putting my Jeep in the garage to sandblast the frame and protect it.  Also taking the bumpers off to sandblast them (they're steel tubes), and I'm taking the front brace/push bar off it that the previous owner used when they towed it incase it bumped into the back of their RV, and I'm going to weld teeth to the tubes of the push bar (seriously I am doing this). 

My gf wrecked the Jeep once, which I fixed but the fender's showing its age now from her denting it, and so I'm going to look for a replacement for that as well.  I have some other work I want to do...  It needs a new heater core and things, and I'm thinking about putting the hardtop on it and fixing the AC.  Compressor's fine I just need new lines which aren't cheap.

Also need to find a coolant leak it has going on, but that's the point of the Cavalier...  That car has a good 2 or 3 years left in it, maybe more if the body holds and I don't have a ton of miles to put on it, so my Jeep will be babied and much happier to have me beating the hell out of this little red coupe.

Sad thing is, other than the gaping holes in the body, that Cavalier looks really nice.  Never wrecked, and the kid only drove it for 15k so he didn't have a long time beating it around.  Otherwise his old man drove it and bought it new, and I know he didn't drive it like he stole it.  Good little car almost sent to the compactor!  These little gems for $500 are getting harder and harder to get.

[Chris M]

Jesse, maybe this will make you smile.  I finally got my lift put on my Jeep.  I got a Teraflex leveling kit, which brought the front up about 2.5"  and the rear up about 1.5"  I've got a Rugged Ridge stubby tube bumper due to be delivered this week.  The pic is kind of crappy but it's the best I've got for the moment.

[Jesse James]

Nice Chris.

Mine's got a slight brake leak too so it's going in the garage tonight and my car's coming out of our shop soon.  I'll drive one of the others till then.

My gf bought a 2012 Chrysler 200 I mentioned above.  I drove it around this weekend...  VERY nice car.  Roomy, handles nice, peppy but nothing insane.  Love the heated seats, and all the little doo-dads inside.  Remote start was well worth it.

Anyway, love this car already, and am already thinking if I buy new I'm leaning towards Chrysler.  I'd test-driven some others with her over the Fall, but not this.  We drove a Dart though and it was pretty slick too.  This is a nice mid-range car to me though.

We took it out last night for NYE and it was just so great walking out to a warm car.  Goofy but I loved it.

[I Am Sith]

Any of you catch the article on Yahoo! about all the Hurricane Sandy flood salvage vehicles?

http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/classics-flooded-sandy-still-waiting-salvage-lot-saviors-220322167.html

I browsed the site for about an hour looking at everything from boats to exotic cars and construction vehicles.

Anyone ever purchase a salvage vehicle with water/flood damage?  A buddy of mine picked up a Chevy Tahoe years ago that was a flood salvage vehicle and has never had anything wrong with it beyond normal wear.  Curious to hear if he was just lucky or if others have also purchased flood damage vehicles and had no problems.

[Jesse James]

I caught the article earlier too.  Some cool cars there.

I'd describe him as lucky, personally.  It depends if it gets into the more sensitive electronics.  Electronics can dry out, but a car's computer can be fried and you're talking a boatload to fix something like that.

Not to mention potential long-term damage one might not see...  a car may get flooded, and sound-dampening foam that was intended to never see water, gets wet, and rots the car inside-out.

Then you have to figure, should you wish to resell, I believe it's illegal to not disclose the damage on the title.  It will probably be on it forever through your state's DMV.

Some of the older cars, like the article mentions the packard, those are far less likely to be damaged...  They're less complex and so less sensitive stuff can be damaged.  At the same time, some of those cars are worth parting out alone for the prices listed...  I mean, a solid body on some of those cars, alone, could sell to a chop shop to make a rod out of it, or whatnot.  A lamborghini or ferarri can be parted out quite easily, from door panels and fenders, to any piece of the engine that's survived...  knowing how to even dismantle one might be tricky for the average grease monkey though.  Cars like that, I live by the motto that if you cannot afford a brand new one, you simply cannot afford one, period.

On things like a 65 Mustang, you can part it out, but is it worth your trouble?  You could try rebuilding it...  But you can find ones that won't have the issues that one almost inevitably will for a fair price too.

There's a lot of "what if" with water damaged cars unfortunately.  I'd not recommend them to anyone without a good garage and a bit of car knowledge, plus the ability to take a bath on something being unfixiable, personally. 

Now if I had an almost-restored car and they had one for a fair price, might totally be worth picking it up for the parts I needed, should they be parts I can be relatively sure are safe, or salvageable.

I think some people will salivate, then realize rebuilding some of what will inevitably need it, is far beyond their abilities.

[Chris M]

I think some people will salivate, then realize rebuilding some of what will inevitably need it, is far beyond their abilities.

This for the win.  I thought about looking around for an older Jeep to build up.  Then I decided my pocket book probably wouldn't be able to handle what my ego said I could do.  So I decided to pass on a salvage vehicle.

[Jesse James]

It's like jumping into any new hobby.  It's gonna cost ya, but what you know about it (or don't) will wind up costing you more possibly.

Problem with cars is, if you don't know what you're doing, and you have to pay to have things done, you're really into a lot more money unless you have friends.

[Rob]

Going to check out the dark grey, 2014, limited Crosstrek this weekend.  I think we're buying one next month.



EDIT:  Put the deposit down.  The car will be here around July 10.

[JesseVader08]

Congrats on the new purchase Rob, it looks pretty sharp.

I'm pretty proud of our new vehicle purchase, a 2013 GMC Sierra.  The cool thing is it's a hybrid, so it actually gets better gas mileage than my previous SUV (Hyundai Veracruz).  We're going camping next week, so the timing couldn't be better.

[Rob]

Pulled the trigger on the Crosstrek this morning!

[Scott]

I bought this last year and absolutely LOVE it...getting almost 36mpg on the highway.  I can't recommend a Hyundai and the Sonata enough