What should I do with this car?

[atomicradish]

Thanks for the advice, RH. I am going to hold on to the car. Sometimes you just have to get your thoughts out there to sort them out. The vehicle is high mileage, (relatively) low fuel efficiency, and in need of a serious paint job. That essentially eliminates selling it. The car is only valuable to me, and to the scrap yard. The scrap yard wouldn't pay me enough to justify getting rid of it.

I have only a lay person's knowledge about cars, so I really can't do anything to it. The most complicated thing I have ever done is change a radiator hose. I certainly managed to impress all of my friends by getting the car up and running again (I was 6 hours from home) without calling a mechanic! That being said, I will run down to Wal-Mart tomorrow for some paint swatches and see about doing a roller job.

The paint is coming off in big chunks right now. It's unfortunate because just last year, my dad and I painted this car together. Apparently the primer was bad, and the paint became dull in a matter of months, and the above pictures was the end result. Perhaps this is an opportunity to bring out the pressure washer?

[rjacob]

I miss my SECOND car, a 1967 Mustang. My first car was a piece of crap 1974 Mustang II. I don't miss that car at all.

Sell it for what you can get.

[Tango Charlie]

Originally Posted by jesse.rizzo

What's all this about keeping first cars? I totaled my first car (1990 Camry) twice. That's how you get your use out of a first car. Drive it for a bit, wreck it, and learn your lesson not to drive crazy anymore.

Some of us don't like to learn the hard way.
I've avoided many (unfortunately not ALL) pitfalls in life from observing other people's consequences.

Foolishly, I had assumed that everyones first car experience was favorable like mine. If the car is a thorn in your side (yeah, I've had those, too...), then definitely get rid of it. But the way you talk about your car, atomicradish, I'm afraid you'd really kick yourself if you scrapped it. I'm glad to hear you're gonna keep it. It sounds like the perfect car to develop your mechanical skills on, if you wanted to.

Also, some guys can buy and sell cars and actually come out ahead, but for most of us, a buy/sell cycle is just a way to lose money.

[wagonman76]

Id hang onto it. Its always good to have a backup ride. You really never know when youll need it. Plus if you keep it on insurance, the multicar effect may outweigh what it costs. Like a guy I work with who keeps his old beater Jeep CJ on PLPD, because the multicar drops the insurance on his Yukon by more than what it costs to insure the Jeep.

I really wish I still had my first car. 84 Cavalier wagon. It had some electrical problems but always ran great otherwise. I painted it bright blue and wanted to put some Z24 wheels on it. My mom made me get rid of it because she was afraid the front end would fall apart with 199k miles, but that was because she didnt know. There was no play in the steering at all. We sold it to someone my mom knew (didnt seem to concerned the front end would fall apart on her) for $300. She took it across the country and back with no problems except a flat tire.

I still do have my 2nd car though, a 90 Pontiac 6000 SE wagon. After 9 years and 255k, the rear trailing arm rusted from the floorpan. I repaired it with a dryer skin, but the car still needed a lot of work though it ran great. I built a small powered V plow for it, so for the last 4 winters it has been my snowplow car and works good. Certainly better than scrapping it.

Yes Im a fan of wagons. Ive had 3 others as well, one of which I scrapped to make room for another. My only sedan is the Celebrity.

[i_am_socket]

I do miss my first car, an '88 Tempo. It had the comfiest seats, tons of space, and beat a few early ricers too. It also had broken A/C, a dome light the didn't turn off, developed a hole in the cat that scared the crap out of me at a stop light, and was basically a money pit like my next 2 Fords.

If yours isn't a money pit, hang on to it. You never know when you might need a beater.

[RH77]

Originally Posted by wagonman76

Yes Im a fan of wagons. Ive had 3 others as well, one of which I scrapped to make room for another. My only sedan is the Celebrity.

A bit off topic -- a friend in college had a Mid-80's Celebrity Wagon. It had a 4-speed manual which I thought was odd. According to the story, it turns out that his Mom knew someone at the assembly plant, and had it installed as a custom item. Got to drive it once -- 2.5L -- nice ride.

Not sure if there's any truth to it, but I had only seen them in automatics...

RH77

[IndyIan]

Just by looking, the Intrepid looks pretty good aerodynamically, I've always wondered what would be possible in terms of FE with them. I assume they must glide very well so it might be worth while trying it out with some P&G and see what you get.
Do you have a specific MPG goal or just trying to save money? My neon is rated at 30mpg highway and you can see below that I smoke that just with tire pressure and techniques. Unless you drive alot you probably won't be saving money after buying something else. Especially if you can get 35mpg out of your car.
Ian

[texanidiot25]

Google around for the $70 dollar rustoleum paint job tut. There's two really good ones I found, one features a 64-ish Mustang, painted red, the other is a Corvair painted white with blue stripes.


This was painted with a roller and rustoleum paint. It's a lot of labor, but the results are better then most stock paint jobs and have been proven to last pretty long too.

[atomicradish]

Originally Posted by IndyIan

Just by looking, the Intrepid looks pretty good aerodynamically, I've always wondered what would be possible in terms of FE with them. I assume they must glide very well so it might be worth while trying it out with some P&G and see what you get.
Do you have a specific MPG goal or just trying to save money? My neon is rated at 30mpg highway and you can see below that I smoke that just with tire pressure and techniques. Unless you drive alot you probably won't be saving money after buying something else. Especially if you can get 35mpg out of your car.
Ian

The Eagle has a great cd from factory at .31. That combined with its weight gives it an extremely long coasting distance. I would like to get at least 30 mpg out of it. I don't know if that is too optimistic or not considering it is an auto.

[whokilledthejams]

Originally Posted by atomicradish

The Eagle has a great cd from factory at .31. That combined with its weight gives it an extremely long coasting distance. I would like to get at least 30 mpg out of it. I don't know if that is too optimistic or not considering it is an auto.

Conservative driving could probably get 30mpg without trying too hard. Like I said above, in a 2nd-gen Intrepid, 28mpg at 75mph with three people and a couple hundred pounds of stuff wasn't a big deal.

This was in a 2nd gen Intrepid, mind you, with a .28 cD. Still, the early ones aren't too bad, either.