General Chat
Q:
OK guys I did something really stupid over the weekend.
You see I drive a MONSTER year round right now as my fun car is waiting for me to have time to restore it.. The monster is a 94 chevy astro that I despise. I bought it in 2001 and have had it for 5 years, and it's not in that bad of shape considering I have owned it for 5 years (I'm what they call an agressive driver). I have been trying to decide if I want to make the needed repairs to it or take my restoration money and buy a newer used vehicle that doesn't need as many repairs right this minute, and that I won't detest as much as I do this van (I have ADD for crying out loud 5 years is way to long to own a vehicle). Well here is the stupid part.
I had to move furniture from mackinaw down to detroit over the weekend so instead of cleaning the monster out and taking the seats out of it I rented a truck. A 2007 5.3l V8 Chevy Silverado Crew Cab. A brand new truck with less than 2500 miles on it (when they gave it to me, now it has well over 3k on it), that gets 20mpg compared to the 13-16mpg my van with a smaller engine gets. So not only am I hating the looks of the van, I hate the gas guzzling, and I hate working on it..... Plus now I have a taste of a new vehicle again. Now I wouldn't buy a truck (I feel dirty enough having enjoyed driving this one the past few days (I am not a redneck, I am not a redneck, I am not a redneck, .....)) and I won't buy a new new car cause I just consider that a waste of money. But I want a new used car. Not wanting to spend tons of money but figuring bout 3k cash. I've been thinking bout a 98 or 99 chevy malibu. The main draw back is I won't have something big for being able to move stuff around in....
Anyone have an opinion on the malibu? Would I be better off trying to find a crew cab ranger or s10? Argh I hate car shopping when its for my own car, but I hate this MONSTER.
Maybe I should just get a civic.
Mans Prayer "I'm a man.... But I can change..... If I have too...... I guess"
No matter how good she looks, some other guy is sick and tired of putting up with her.
A:
Are you saying you have $3K for a down payment, or $3K total? You can't buy many "new" used cars for $3K that are worth having...
-- Next Up: SCCA ITR 300ZX --
A:
i have 3k in my pocket right now. If IF I financed something I wouldn't want to spend more than 5 total maybe 6.
Mans Prayer "I'm a man.... But I can change..... If I have too...... I guess"
No matter how good she looks, some other guy is sick and tired of putting up with her.
A:
Well Gary, you OBVIOUSLY have to have a vehicle big enough so that you can carry tools and spare parts in. How else will we keep our Z's running on our drives?
Jeff
Northville, Michigan
'78 280 10:1 CR, Web Racing cam, Arizona Z Car header, urethane bushings, Tokico springs, Illumina struts, Panasports, Maxima alternator
A:
get a little pick up nissan or toyota.you may be able to get one cheap stripped down two wheel drive etc.
Z's are like woman maintenance,maintenance,maintenance!
1971 240Z gunmetal metalic 5sp 4:11 gears in the rear
illuminas and purchased from the original owner w/136k original miles
A:
Jeff I know thats part of it but the gas milage is killing me. I could easily pick up another astro in much better condition than mine for 3k. The problem is the gas will still suck.
Mans Prayer "I'm a man.... But I can change..... If I have too...... I guess"
No matter how good she looks, some other guy is sick and tired of putting up with her.
A:
get a used pathfinder they get 18-20 mpg. average. and they are pretty trouble free!
76 280 all stock exept full bushings,qwuik knuckles,tokico struts&springs,3-2 header,k&n cai,msa sway bars,konig rewinds with toyo proxis ra1.
78 rust bucket. (4 sale!)
2000 v-dub mk4 jetta vr6
2005 titan 4x4 with nismo cai,banks exhus
A:
Malibus are nice gary, and with the 3.1 are pretty quick.
-1981 280zx
-89 Jeep Cherokee
F-54 - N-47 - 9.8:1 comp - 6-3-1 header -Schneider (470 lift, 280 dur.) - full 2 1/4 exhaust- Pallnet fuel rail - 6 puck ceramic clutch
A:
ZWilliams.
I found a couple today that I am going to lookat this week. I have always wanted a Pathfinder if the gas milage is really that good and they are running good I may grab one... Maybe..
Roman,
I am looking at a couple of those this week to. I have driven them alot more than I have driven any pathfinders and I have always liked the ones I have driven from the rental car companies. It's gonna be a matter of me deciding to give up cargo room, or not. I really like the malibu's though. This sucks lol.
Mans Prayer "I'm a man.... But I can change..... If I have too...... I guess"
No matter how good she looks, some other guy is sick and tired of putting up with her.
A:
Throw that gas pig of a 4.3 out. Haha. Correct me if i am wrong. Dont they have some kind of single fuel injector, kind of like a carb? I swear my that is the setup on my girfriends blazer, and it is a 98. By then you would think it would be a direct port fuel injection system.
-1981 280zx
-89 Jeep Cherokee
F-54 - N-47 - 9.8:1 comp - 6-3-1 header -Schneider (470 lift, 280 dur.) - full 2 1/4 exhaust- Pallnet fuel rail - 6 puck ceramic clutch
Post Edited (Aug 28, 9:25pm)
A:
Yeah mine is a TBI (Throttle Body Injection) which has two injectors in place of where the carb was. It's a horrible design for economy. I hate the damn thing.
Mans Prayer "I'm a man.... But I can change..... If I have too...... I guess"
No matter how good she looks, some other guy is sick and tired of putting up with her.
A:
Do some arithmatic -
how much are you paying for gas? How much are you going to have to finance for?
If you are a mechanic - can't you find and small or medium size or even full size P/U that you could work on for not too much.
With a pickup you can add and subtract camper shells and other home built stuff to carry your stuff.
Saving on gas doesn't mean a thing if you're paying high interest rates. You svae nothing in the end.
Seems that 3K could get something you can live eith, maybe even have fun.
Ed and Jeanne's
ZXelda 1981 280 ZXT: ZXena 1990 300 ZX
1941 Buick Special Sedanette (Betty)
1956 Dodge Royal (Dorothy)
1971 Buick Riviera (Rita)
1975 Ford F-150 Stepside (Fiona)
1992 Firebird (Frieda)
A:
Ed thats the plan. Don't know about a truck though. Will see what I find when I look at stuff.
Mans Prayer "I'm a man.... But I can change..... If I have too...... I guess"
No matter how good she looks, some other guy is sick and tired of putting up with her.
A:
You DO REALIZE THAT YOU CAN EASILY SWAP A 350 INTO THAT THING.AN LT-1 350 OF THE SAME YEAR.If you're in California,it has to retain original smog emissions equipment and you go to a refferee station,and they issue you a tag that you attach to your car,and you're legal.And it will cost you UNDER 3 GRAND.What you get in return is MORE POWER,ACTUALLY A BETTER GAS MILEAGE,AND THAT SHOCK LOOK ON YOUR BUDDIES FACE WHEN HE GETS SMOKED BY A MINIVAN.
1971 "Series One" 240z,L28 n42/n42 flattops.primered,work in progress,Tokico Iluminas,Eibach Pro-Kit,1" front swaybar more to come..
A:
Yes I have know about the 350 swap for some time.
Mans Prayer "I'm a man.... But I can change..... If I have too...... I guess"
No matter how good she looks, some other guy is sick and tired of putting up with her.