19bonestock88’s 2004 Grand Marquis thread “temporary stand in for Ion Green Line”
 

So as I posted in my IGL build thread its engine died and rather than rolling the dice on a $300 junkyard engine that may or may not be any better than the existing one, I’m going to continue to take my time and build the replacement so that the car can continue to perform at its best for whatever I’m doing with it. A friend in the car community offered me a car for cheap to use as a daily in the meantime. It’s a 1996 Saturn SC2, LLO (1.9 twin cam), manual (MP3). All that I know is that it’s slammed on coilovers and what look to be an 18 or 19” wheel, and it has an exhaust of some kind.

Is it a loan or will you flip it? What happens if you start to like it better?

Oh I’m gonna always cherish this additional car, and given that it’s lighter and simpler I may like it better. Time will tell, but neither car is ever leaving my care unless destroyed

I like those early Saturns. I wouldn't miss a chance to take one and take good care of.

Sounds good. Does it need tires [and wheels]?

I have some stock wheels that would go great on it, but I’m also talking to the current owner about swapping him those big wheels on the car for some stock wheels to take delivery on

Well the SC2 didn’t work out and I’m still currently without a vehicle. Still looking for something, anything cheap

The 03-05 Civic hybrid is a car you can probably find for next to nothing. They came with a 5 speed, and when the hybrid batteries died, owners were faced with a $2000 replacement or taking the car to a junkyard, because the 12v battery stopped charging, even though the car was otherwise drivable. There's a trivially easy mod to get the 12v charging system working again. They're good for 60mpg from the factory, if driven carefully, and already have electric power steering and lean burn.

Otherwise, there's a 2005 Insight for sale in Knoxville right now that's a bit of a creampuff. Manual, new hybrid battery, 93,000 miles, good for ~100mpg driven carefully, they weigh around 1850lbs with A/C, and most examples last 5-700,000 miles before there are any major mechanical issues. $5k is, I'm sure, more than you're looking to spend.

Edit: Found a Civic Hybrid for $1000 not too far from you, with a good battery and no apparent rust. The ones with failed batteries you're more likely to see with a For Sale sign on the side of the road, or maybe at auction or as a buyback from a yard.

Found my next car. Sadly not so economical…
 

I was searching the local FB Marketplace and found a super cheap and super reliable car, albeit in extremely rough condition. I bought a 2004 Mercury Grand Marquis for $700 with some cosmetic crash damage. Cosmetic issues aside it ran okay and drove fine, no major clunking or wobbling. Has 188K on the clock and is very rusty, but in the current car market what else can you expect for $700?

Sadly the car has fallen victim to the “car is junk so let’s cut the converters off to sell” so the exhaust currently terminates about 2” past the manifolds. Loud doesn’t even begin to describe it, and I’m sure the poor scavenging is hurting power and mileage. It’ll do for now

Damn lol, if only I hadn’t jumped on a $700 car lol

Flip the Grand Marquis?

I’d have to spend a lot of money to get it in saleable condition. I basically saved this from the scrap heap

So I promptly began fixing up the car, partly because it needs to pass an inspection and partly because I couldn’t not work on it. I patched together bits of the broken header panel and secured the headlights to the car, fabricated a totally blocked upper grille, pulled the dent out of the bumper (hole still needs zip tied shut) and used foil tape to cover the rust holes in the front fender arches and painted over it with black spray paint. I also installed turn signal bulbs and used clear tape to make lenses for the corner lights. So far it’s not pretty but it should work until I get my Saturn back on the road. Gotta say though, the thing is super comfy to drive, kinda like driving your living room down the road

One good aspect of such old-school body-on-frame cars is they basically refuse to die. As long as either the body or the frame is OK, there's always something doable to keep them functioning.

The car should prove durable over the long term, and it’s definitely tough enough to take what I intend to do, which is use it as a tow pig after my Saturn is roadworthy again.

On a side note, I’ve ran the first tank through it, and the mileage was abysmal (273.3mi and 14.301 gallons), but the engine started out running poorly and I had to give it an Italian tune up to get it to come around. Given that it’s running decently now the mileage may improve. It still needs an exhaust and the front clip fixed, and will receive some aero mods over time

Once again, a good point regarding body-on-frame is it allows going even quite extreme when it comes to aero mods :D

So the big car died. Was taking it on its first bigger road trip last weekend and it suffered a number of mechanical failures in a row, culminating in an issue that I couldn’t afford to repair that also left the car incapacitated alongside the road, so I left it

Yikes. So what's next?

That’s a good question. I’m broke so it’ll be a while before I buy anything but I’m torn between another GM/Delta car or something newer. Being that I work for Toyota I should try and leverage an employee discount on a Camry LE Hybrid…

It's pretty hard to go wrong with a Camry.

How much is the difference between the prices of a Camry and a Corolla hybrid with the employee discount?

I don’t know what the difference would be, I have yet to do any serious inquiry due to the vehicle shortage, finding anything at all will undoubtedly be difficult