Cousin scored a stereotypical "old lady's" car - 10 y/o Tercel, 3k miles.

[MetroMPG]

Got a kick out of this: big family gathering for supper, and learned my cousin just picked up a 1998 Toyota Tercel 4-door with about 5,000 km on it (3k miles)!



It's an archetypal "old lady" car in like new condition. She literally only drove it to church and the grocery store. She left it to her church when she passed away and they used it for a while, but decided to sell it because they really didn't need it.

Replaced fluids and changed the front brakes and my cousin has a car that'll probably be trouble-free for years. Price: $5k CDN

Very similar story & price as my Firefly, except it had less than half that mileage on the clock when I snagged it.

[Frank Lee]

Lucky to be in the right place at the right time!

[roflwaffle]

Seriously lucky! I got moderately lucky and nabbed a project recently. A '63 Mercedes W110 diesel for $400. 50hp of fury in a 2800lb body = Slowest. Car. Ever. But it had body work done to it and was incredibly straight/clean barring some cracked paint and a few rust spots from dew. It needs some work, but I figure I can scrounge around and have a nice (slow) 40mpg classic for ~$1500-2000.

[blueflame]

I prefer the smaller/lighter/earlier 2nd generation over the third as it is so similar to my Citroen AX.

I think the 88" Tercel is around 909kg?

The Metro is lighter with better aero's....

[festivaWES]

stellar find i love those grandma cars!

[taco]

check for engine sludge!!!!!! after sitting that long and not being drove much. i know an oler guy (who i cant get it through his head) wiht a 2005 lexus es, that only has 4k on it that he NEEDS to change to oil, but he says thay say change it at 5k, i am like the oil is alomst 3 years old. shame shame on him.



great score btw

[ModelE]

i got a '94 pontiac grand am coupe....literal granny car with the 4cyl a couple years back for free from a neighbor... 45k miles on it... wish i had it now to ecomod the heck out of

nice score anyways

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by taco

check for engine sludge!!!!!! after sitting that long and not being drove much. i know an oler guy (who i cant get it through his head) wiht a 2005 lexus es, that only has 4k on it that he NEEDS to change to oil, but he says thay say change it at 5k, i am like the oil is alomst 3 years old. shame shame on him.

Lighten up on him. It depends on whether, when he DOES drive it, if it gets up to operating temp long enough for contaminants to vaporize off.

I don't change the oil in my vehicles until it either looks like it needs it, or in the case of daily drivers, 5 to 7k miles has passed. It just occurred to me that I haven't changed the oil in my '59 since 2000! But I check it frequently and gosh darn, it still looks honey-colored on the dipstick. That's cuz when I do run it, I run it long enough to get it nice and hot.

Oh... and in 30 years of motoring, I can't think of any instances of suffering any sludge-related problems due to my oil changing practices.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by roflwaffle

Seriously lucky! I got moderately lucky and nabbed a project recently. A '63 Mercedes W110 diesel for $400. I figure I can scrounge around and have a nice (slow) 40mpg classic for ~$1500-2000.

Wow. Project thread, please? (With pics!)

[roflwaffle]

Sure, I can post up a project that'll never get done once I find my camera's USB connector.