I've always hated cars considering owning one an infringement on my
freedom to do as I pleased. When you have to make payments, you are a
slave to said machine. Consequently, I have always driven truly cheap
machines and proudly kept them waaaaaaay beyond reason. Of course, as
I have gotten older, being economically successful has made it easier
for me to drop $800 on a repair as I did today on my "new" Nissan 4wd
truck for routine maintenance.
Unfortunately, my son did not inherit my attitude toward cars. He
really thinks he needs to drive a cool car to be cool (sometimes I
wonder if he's my kid). So, when he saved about three thou, he
searched Craigslist for older Mustangs and found one of indeterminate
mileage about 150 miles away and went and bought it against my advice.
YES IT is cool. V8, more power than I am used to. That stick shift
is tight and 1st gear goes up to 30 mph, a true suicide machine, if it
would run more'n 5 miles between breakdowns. It is a '95 model GT
that looks good and sounds BAD and runs like crap.
He spent his entire reserve fund getting the wiring harness replaced
as soon as he got it home. Now, he's learning mechanics the hard way,
out of necessity. I showed him how to read an auto wiring schematic
when his stereo kept blowing fuses and killing all his lights, YES, a
300 watt stereo installed in series with a 10 amp fuse. Then he
learned about old plug wiring causing rough running and then how to
use a vacuum gauge (a great experience). Today, it was an idler
pulley going bad.
He is discouraged but I told him that is simply the nature of cars.
He did not buy it for reliable transport, he bought it cuz its just so
cool. Told him not to worry about the reliable transport issue, he
can always bum rides from me and eventually, he'll get all the likely
stuff replaced and will have a reasonable time before something else
happs. When I think about it, I never learned automotive stuff till
I simply had to and I suspect he will be the same. Necessity can be a
great teacher.

wrote in message
news

Kids are just like that. I went through a succession of new "go fast"
cars ending with a 69 Corvette. My next car was a new 72 Jeep that I
had 5 years 170k miles and the one after that was a used, free 71
Gremlin that just landed in my front yard. I ended up putting in a
clutch, driving that 2 years, just because it wouldn't break and I
sold it for $500.
I never bought a new car again.


My first car was a 1965 Chevy Impala Wagon. No, it wasn't knew... sheesh. It
was a really surfer machine, ran great and we could put all our crap in it.
My father hated it. Thought is was junk, but it only cost me $800.

--
Nom=de=Plume

wrote in message
...
On Mon, 21 Sep 2009 22:36:49 -0700, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

wrote in message
news

Kids are just like that. I went through a succession of new "go fast"
cars ending with a 69 Corvette. My next car was a new 72 Jeep that I
had 5 years 170k miles and the one after that was a used, free 71
Gremlin that just landed in my front yard. I ended up putting in a
clutch, driving that 2 years, just because it wouldn't break and I
sold it for $500.
I never bought a new car again.


My first car was a 1965 Chevy Impala Wagon. No, it wasn't knew... sheesh.
It
was a really surfer machine, ran great and we could put all our crap in
it.
My father hated it. Thought is was junk, but it only cost me $800.

I was young, working for IBM and making, what I thought, was a lot of
money. I had to have a new car ... or so I thought. I ended up taking
a bath on all of them except the Jeep and that one I just recovered my
investment by driving it longer than the payments lasted.
The Gremlin was a real eye opener. My pecker didn't get smaller, my
bank account got bigger and the girls I liked didn't really care what
I was driving as long as we went somewhere fun. I could afford fun
places.


Fortunately, I've never ridden in a Gremlin. lol

My college beau had a BMW, which was just fine with me.

--
Nom=de=Plume

On Sep 22, 6:59*am, wrote:
On Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:11:48 -0700, "nom=de=plume"



wrote:
wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 21 Sep 2009 22:36:49 -0700, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

wrote in message
news

Kids are just like that. I went through a succession of new "go fast"
cars ending with a 69 Corvette. My next car was a new 72 Jeep that I
had 5 years 170k miles and the one after that was a used, free 71
Gremlin that just landed in my front yard. I ended up putting in a
clutch, driving that 2 years, just because it wouldn't break and I
sold it for $500.
I never bought a new car again.

My first car was a 1965 Chevy Impala Wagon. No, it wasn't knew... sheesh.
It
was a really surfer machine, ran great and we could put all our crap in
it.
My father hated it. Thought is was junk, but it only cost me $800.

I was young, working for IBM and making, what I thought, was a lot of
money. I had to have a new car ... or so I thought. I ended up taking
a bath on all of them except the Jeep and that one I just recovered my
investment by driving it longer than the payments lasted.
The Gremlin was a real eye opener. My pecker didn't get smaller, my
bank account got bigger and the girls I liked didn't really care what
I was driving as long as we went somewhere fun. I could afford fun
places.

Fortunately, I've never ridden in a Gremlin. lol

It actually wasn's a bad car but was ugly. It had a 25 gallon tank and
got about 22 MPG so you could go a long way between fill ups. That was
handy back in the "gas lines" days. It was also my first "hatchback"
with a rear seat that folded flat. You can haul a lot of stuff in one
of those. Since then I car shop with a 10' stick of PVC pipe. If it
won't fit I don't buy it.
My Prelude will carry a stick of *PVC pipe with the trunk closed.

My fantasy in cars is techno-simplicity. I'd like to buy an old
(early 60s) 6 cyl truck and put radial tires and electronic ignition
on it and be happy. I could fix anything easily and it would not cost
anything except gas. I wouldnt even get new paint, keep it rusty so
nobody wants to break into it.

Frogwatch wrote:

My fantasy in cars is techno-simplicity. I'd like to buy an old
(early 60s) 6 cyl truck and put radial tires and electronic ignition
on it and be happy. I could fix anything easily and it would not cost
anything except gas. I wouldnt even get new paint, keep it rusty so
nobody wants to break into it.


How is that different from everything else you own now?


--
Birther-Deather-Tenther-Teabagger:
Idiots All

"Frogwatch" wrote in message
...
I've always hated cars considering owning one an infringement on my
freedom to do as I pleased. When you have to make payments, you are a
slave to said machine. Consequently, I have always driven truly cheap
machines and proudly kept them waaaaaaay beyond reason. Of course, as
I have gotten older, being economically successful has made it easier
for me to drop $800 on a repair as I did today on my "new" Nissan 4wd
truck for routine maintenance.
Unfortunately, my son did not inherit my attitude toward cars. He
really thinks he needs to drive a cool car to be cool (sometimes I
wonder if he's my kid). So, when he saved about three thou, he
searched Craigslist for older Mustangs and found one of indeterminate
mileage about 150 miles away and went and bought it against my advice.
YES IT is cool. V8, more power than I am used to. That stick shift
is tight and 1st gear goes up to 30 mph, a true suicide machine, if it
would run more'n 5 miles between breakdowns. It is a '95 model GT
that looks good and sounds BAD and runs like crap.
He spent his entire reserve fund getting the wiring harness replaced
as soon as he got it home. Now, he's learning mechanics the hard way,
out of necessity. I showed him how to read an auto wiring schematic
when his stereo kept blowing fuses and killing all his lights, YES, a
300 watt stereo installed in series with a 10 amp fuse. Then he
learned about old plug wiring causing rough running and then how to
use a vacuum gauge (a great experience). Today, it was an idler
pulley going bad.
He is discouraged but I told him that is simply the nature of cars.
He did not buy it for reliable transport, he bought it cuz its just so
cool. Told him not to worry about the reliable transport issue, he
can always bum rides from me and eventually, he'll get all the likely
stuff replaced and will have a reasonable time before something else
happs. When I think about it, I never learned automotive stuff till
I simply had to and I suspect he will be the same. Necessity can be a
great teacher.


Kids...what are ya gonna do with 'em?
The 95 Voyager minivan we had as a 2nd vehicle ran fine at 138k kilometwrs
and it's recent transmission job.
The thing wasen't even rusted because I had it undercoated every year since
new at Krown.
My son could have had it all he wanted for free...but he had to have a Dodge
Charger. Now I have to squeeze the $150.00 bi-weekly payments out of him.
well...sometimes anyway.

On Sep 22, 10:14*am, Frogwatch wrote:
On Sep 22, 6:59*am, wrote:





On Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:11:48 -0700, "nom=de=plume"

wrote:
wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 21 Sep 2009 22:36:49 -0700, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

wrote in message
news

Kids are just like that. I went through a succession of new "go fast"
cars ending with a 69 Corvette. My next car was a new 72 Jeep that I
had 5 years 170k miles and the one after that was a used, free 71
Gremlin that just landed in my front yard. I ended up putting in a
clutch, driving that 2 years, just because it wouldn't break and I
sold it for $500.
I never bought a new car again.

My first car was a 1965 Chevy Impala Wagon. No, it wasn't knew... sheesh.
It
was a really surfer machine, ran great and we could put all our crap in
it.
My father hated it. Thought is was junk, but it only cost me $800.

I was young, working for IBM and making, what I thought, was a lot of
money. I had to have a new car ... or so I thought. I ended up taking
a bath on all of them except the Jeep and that one I just recovered my
investment by driving it longer than the payments lasted.
The Gremlin was a real eye opener. My pecker didn't get smaller, my
bank account got bigger and the girls I liked didn't really care what
I was driving as long as we went somewhere fun. I could afford fun
places.

Fortunately, I've never ridden in a Gremlin. lol

It actually wasn's a bad car but was ugly. It had a 25 gallon tank and
got about 22 MPG so you could go a long way between fill ups. That was
handy back in the "gas lines" days. It was also my first "hatchback"
with a rear seat that folded flat. You can haul a lot of stuff in one
of those. Since then I car shop with a 10' stick of PVC pipe. If it
won't fit I don't buy it.
My Prelude will carry a stick of *PVC pipe with the trunk closed.

My fantasy in cars is techno-simplicity. *I'd like to buy an old
(early 60s) 6 cyl truck and put radial tires and electronic ignition
on it and be happy. *I could fix anything easily and it would not cost
anything except gas. *I wouldnt even get new paint, keep it rusty so
nobody wants to break into it.

Only problem with that is the lack of safety. If you're involved in
an accident, you're toast. No padded dashes, solid steering column,
no door beams, no crumple zones... you get the point.

wrote in message
...
On Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:11:48 -0700, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

wrote in message
. ..
On Mon, 21 Sep 2009 22:36:49 -0700, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

wrote in message
news
Kids are just like that. I went through a succession of new "go fast"
cars ending with a 69 Corvette. My next car was a new 72 Jeep that I
had 5 years 170k miles and the one after that was a used, free 71
Gremlin that just landed in my front yard. I ended up putting in a
clutch, driving that 2 years, just because it wouldn't break and I
sold it for $500.
I never bought a new car again.


My first car was a 1965 Chevy Impala Wagon. No, it wasn't knew...
sheesh.
It
was a really surfer machine, ran great and we could put all our crap in
it.
My father hated it. Thought is was junk, but it only cost me $800.

I was young, working for IBM and making, what I thought, was a lot of
money. I had to have a new car ... or so I thought. I ended up taking
a bath on all of them except the Jeep and that one I just recovered my
investment by driving it longer than the payments lasted.
The Gremlin was a real eye opener. My pecker didn't get smaller, my
bank account got bigger and the girls I liked didn't really care what
I was driving as long as we went somewhere fun. I could afford fun
places.


Fortunately, I've never ridden in a Gremlin. lol

It actually wasn's a bad car but was ugly. It had a 25 gallon tank and
got about 22 MPG so you could go a long way between fill ups. That was
handy back in the "gas lines" days. It was also my first "hatchback"
with a rear seat that folded flat. You can haul a lot of stuff in one
of those. Since then I car shop with a 10' stick of PVC pipe. If it
won't fit I don't buy it.
My Prelude will carry a stick of PVC pipe with the trunk closed.


Yeah, well... ugly is a big factor for me. lol Reminds me of the AMC
Pacer... I wouldn't get in that one either.

--
Nom=de=Plume

"Jack" wrote in message
...
On Sep 22, 10:14 am, Frogwatch wrote:
On Sep 22, 6:59 am, wrote:





On Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:11:48 -0700, "nom=de=plume"

wrote:
wrote in message
.. .
On Mon, 21 Sep 2009 22:36:49 -0700, "nom=de=plume"
wrote:

wrote in message
news

Kids are just like that. I went through a succession of new "go
fast"
cars ending with a 69 Corvette. My next car was a new 72 Jeep that
I
had 5 years 170k miles and the one after that was a used, free 71
Gremlin that just landed in my front yard. I ended up putting in a
clutch, driving that 2 years, just because it wouldn't break and I
sold it for $500.
I never bought a new car again.

My first car was a 1965 Chevy Impala Wagon. No, it wasn't knew...
sheesh.
It
was a really surfer machine, ran great and we could put all our crap
in
it.
My father hated it. Thought is was junk, but it only cost me $800.

I was young, working for IBM and making, what I thought, was a lot of
money. I had to have a new car ... or so I thought. I ended up taking
a bath on all of them except the Jeep and that one I just recovered
my
investment by driving it longer than the payments lasted.
The Gremlin was a real eye opener. My pecker didn't get smaller, my
bank account got bigger and the girls I liked didn't really care what
I was driving as long as we went somewhere fun. I could afford fun
places.

Fortunately, I've never ridden in a Gremlin. lol

It actually wasn's a bad car but was ugly. It had a 25 gallon tank and
got about 22 MPG so you could go a long way between fill ups. That was
handy back in the "gas lines" days. It was also my first "hatchback"
with a rear seat that folded flat. You can haul a lot of stuff in one
of those. Since then I car shop with a 10' stick of PVC pipe. If it
won't fit I don't buy it.
My Prelude will carry a stick of PVC pipe with the trunk closed.

My fantasy in cars is techno-simplicity. I'd like to buy an old
(early 60s) 6 cyl truck and put radial tires and electronic ignition
on it and be happy. I could fix anything easily and it would not cost
anything except gas. I wouldnt even get new paint, keep it rusty so
nobody wants to break into it.

Only problem with that is the lack of safety. If you're involved in
an accident, you're toast. No padded dashes, solid steering column,
no door beams, no crumple zones... you get the point.


Just hose off the dashboard and sell it to someone else!

--
Nom=de=Plume

"Don White" wrote in message
...

"Frogwatch" wrote in message
...
I've always hated cars considering owning one an infringement on my
freedom to do as I pleased. When you have to make payments, you are a
slave to said machine. Consequently, I have always driven truly cheap
machines and proudly kept them waaaaaaay beyond reason. Of course, as
I have gotten older, being economically successful has made it easier
for me to drop $800 on a repair as I did today on my "new" Nissan 4wd
truck for routine maintenance.
Unfortunately, my son did not inherit my attitude toward cars. He
really thinks he needs to drive a cool car to be cool (sometimes I
wonder if he's my kid). So, when he saved about three thou, he
searched Craigslist for older Mustangs and found one of indeterminate
mileage about 150 miles away and went and bought it against my advice.
YES IT is cool. V8, more power than I am used to. That stick shift
is tight and 1st gear goes up to 30 mph, a true suicide machine, if it
would run more'n 5 miles between breakdowns. It is a '95 model GT
that looks good and sounds BAD and runs like crap.
He spent his entire reserve fund getting the wiring harness replaced
as soon as he got it home. Now, he's learning mechanics the hard way,
out of necessity. I showed him how to read an auto wiring schematic
when his stereo kept blowing fuses and killing all his lights, YES, a
300 watt stereo installed in series with a 10 amp fuse. Then he
learned about old plug wiring causing rough running and then how to
use a vacuum gauge (a great experience). Today, it was an idler
pulley going bad.
He is discouraged but I told him that is simply the nature of cars.
He did not buy it for reliable transport, he bought it cuz its just so
cool. Told him not to worry about the reliable transport issue, he
can always bum rides from me and eventually, he'll get all the likely
stuff replaced and will have a reasonable time before something else
happs. When I think about it, I never learned automotive stuff till
I simply had to and I suspect he will be the same. Necessity can be a
great teacher.


Kids...what are ya gonna do with 'em?
The 95 Voyager minivan we had as a 2nd vehicle ran fine at 138k
*kilometwrs* and it's recent transmission job.
The thing *wasen't* even rusted because I had it undercoated every year
since new at Krown.
My son could have had it all he wanted for free...but he had to have a
Dodge Charger. Now I have to squeeze the $150.00 bi-weekly payments out of
him.
well...sometimes anyway.

ooops...
make that *kilometers* and *wasn't*