From: willy on
On Jul 19, 6:21 pm, Mat <m...(a)nowherexcv.net> wrote:

> Estimated total cost of repairs (over 40 yrs) < $2,500
> Needless to say I do almost all work myself


Come on?!?! 25 hundred in 40 years?!?! That comes to $62.50 a year in
parts! I don't believe it!!!

From: chuckcar on
willy <danceswithbeers(a)embarqmail.com> wrote in
news:e7e5a909-bcd3-445f-92e9-d4b94bd19af5(a)i31g2000yqm.googlegroups.com:

> On Jul 19, 6:21�pm, Mat <m...(a)nowherexcv.net> wrote:
>
>> Estimated total cost of repairs (over 40 yrs) < $2,500
>> Needless to say I do almost all work myself
>
>
> Come on?!?! 25 hundred in 40 years?!?! That comes to $62.50 a year in
> parts! I don't believe it!!!
>

Somehow it's always the first time posters here isn't it? And only in
the summer.

--
(setq (chuck nil) car(chuck) )
From: cuhulin on
I would have to stop and think and write them down.I have owned a lot of
vehicles before, all of them I bought secondhand.
Currently, I own a 1914 Ford Model T Runabout Roadster car, a 1948
Willys Jeep, a 1978 Dodge Van, a 1983 Dodge van, and a 1976 made in
Germany Hercules moped.
cuhulin

From: Harry Face on
1980 to 2010 ---->>

1. June 1980 bought my first car, a black 1973 Chevrolet Impala sedan,
bought used for $1,500.00 Junkyard hauled it away in Feb 1983 for $75.00

2. 1968 Buick LeSabre Convertible, bought used for $600.00 Rear Quarters
& Trunk badly rotted out. Sold in Sept 1986 for $400.00

3. 1978 Oldsmobile Holiday 88 2 door. Bought Used for $1999.00 Bought
Aug 1986 with 89,000 miles. My new neighbor inherits the same car from a
dead uncle with only 600 miles on it - neighbor still has the car in
2010. Mine gets Stolen Dec 1986, found in the ghetto - where else! I
got it back 2 days later. Missing the 5 wheels, battery, trunk contents
& radio. Rear brake drums fell off when towed to a repair shop.

Spent the next 2-3 years fixing theft related damage. Both front springs
were broken 3 inches from the end of the pigtail ! The Frame was bent.
During the battery removal it was dropped on the upper radiator hose and
fractured the seal on the upper hose connector at the side tank. The
transmission went out six months after I got the car back. Internal
spline gear shattered from the result of doing neutral drops. But not
from me..

A Ziebart removable Sunroof added in 1988. The landau roof I removed
and had a body shop paint the roof the body color. Went to Disney World,
Denver, CO and Myrtle Beach, SC in 1988. Record high of 29,000 miles
that year. By Dec 1990 every other week $$$ had to be put into the car.
I was begining to travel more out of state (Joined some clubs and got
new friends who travel) so I decided to sell it and buy something more
dependable. Sold my 88 to a trucker in April 1991 with 196,000 miles. At
225,000 Louie had to install another differential. I found my Oldsmobile
13 years later in a Chicago junkyard with 329,000 miles on the odometer.
Painted on the quarter panel in yellow: " Motor junk ! Water in Oil".
The floor pans front & rear were gone. rotted away due to a leak
sunroof that was never fixed. Someone poured silicone sealer all over
the seal. I Drove home to get the camera to take pictures of the
car....The trucker moved to Wisconsin in 1992. So the car must of had a
one or more owners after I sold it to Louie in 1991, somehow it got back
down to Sweet Home Chicago, and it died back where it was originally
from.

4. On Monday, Feb 4, 1991 the famed 91 Bonneville LE was purchased
with 6 miles on the odometer. This is my first new car. While I'm
starting out life with a new car, sadly 2 are ending, while coming home
from the Pontiac dealership with my new car, six blocks east from the
dealer honeymooner's returning from Aruba are killed minutes before I
pass through the same intersection. A car with 3 robbery suspects
crashes into the honeymooners Monte Carlo killing them instantly. The
robbers are unhurt (naturally ) & caught. Big write up in the paper the
next morning. 2 of the robbers are out of jail in less than 2 years.

A long history ensues with the Bonneville.
It takes me to places I've never been....Texas, Oklaholma,Salt Lake
City, Yellowstone, Mt Rushmore, The Badlands...and I finally find out:
Where The Hell Wall Drug is! Wall, SD. Other places included the biggest
Mall of America, Lake of The Woods, Coney Island, Hershey Park,
Pittsburgh, Ohio, The Jersey Shore and the Everglades. Who ever thought
you could drive to Sydney, Austrailia?........ok I made that one up.
Needless to say the car has been around.

2002 sees a whopping 34,000 miles by years end.

Labor Day 1995 hit 100,000, June 2001 saw 200,000 - 1/4 million miles in
2003 and 300,000 rolled over around January 2005. Around 304,000 mile
the engine developes a knock. Plans are in the works to buy a new car
before summer travels of 05'....but I have no idea what to buy.. In
July 2008 the rear window seal seperated from the body, it was removed
& the center section of the top was cut off. A trim shop made up a snap
on boat cover and sewed in a plastic window. Driveable in the rain &
winter. Car currenly running on only 5 cylinders - Possibly a bad cam.

Paint / clearcoat look bad, dull, haze cracks. The body is rusting and
rotting out now : - (
On nice days, take the top off and it works well as a lumber truck
hauing 4x8 sheets of plywood and 12 foot planks. The car gets a lot of
looks and compliments.

5. April 1996 bought car #5 (used) to help prolong the life of the
Bonneville, a 1989 Chevrolet Cavalier Z-24 convertible V6. Looked very
sharp. Sold in June of 2000. The car developed into a problem child in
about a year. You never knew if this car was going to run or not. Major
body work escaped detection of my now trained eye. I also missed seeing
the radiator pan bet and the condensor bowed in from being smashed. How
did I miss seeing that?? The car was stored in the winters. It had
39,000 on it in 1996 sold it with 89,000 miles for $2500.00 Went out of
state a few times with no problems. Went to Wisconsin Dells and as far
away as North Tonanwanda, NY, and the Pocono's in PA.

6. Car # 6 - 2005 Buick Park Avenue, a used rental car buy back from
Alamo in Boca Raton Florida to a Buick Caddy dealership in Hodgkins, IL,
where my main mechanic works. It has 13,000 miles. Just turned over
100,000 last week with the original spark plugs & Dex Cool in
it.....LOL.

While looking at the Buick I was looking closely at a 2003 Lincoln
Towncar with 30,000 miles. It was priced $4000 less than the Buick...
But one day when I went back to look at the Lincon I found the body
shops masking tape over the round back up sensors in the rear bumper -
which had been painted over, so the car must of gotten hit in the rear.
Some trace evidence on the quarters meant they were partially painted
too. Lucky it caught my eye that day ...BIG AL, My parts guy @ Chevy
run the vin # on the Lincoln. It turned out to be a California emissions
car. Several mechanic friends warned against buying it for that reason
alone....hello Buick, wanna be my friend for the next 20 years?

As you can see by my signature I still have # 4 & 6 and the mileage is
going up.

harryface
91 Bonneville 322,596
05 Park Avenue 100,234

From: MM on
Interesting thread...

For me, starting in 1964...

1962 Renault Dauphine (given to me by my dad)
1959 VW bug (first car I bought, in 1967)
196? Honda S90
1955 Mercedes 190SL (engine in a basket, literally)
1971 Honda CB350 (bought new)
1964 Dodge Dart (came with wife...1974)
1974 Chevy pickup
1968 BMW 2002
1976 Ford E150 (traded in Chevy pickup)
1980 Volvo sedan, diesel (traded BMW)
1981 Ford Cortina (leased when we lived in Scotland)
1980 Ford Fairmont wagon (when we returned to States)
1984 Ford Sierra (leased when we lived in Switzerland)
1986 Ford Taurus wagon (when we returned to States)
1967 BMW 1600
1991 Ford Aerostar (traded Taurus)
1993 Ford Ranger (traded E150)
1993 Ford Aerostar (traded 91 Aerostar)
1998 Chevy Astro (traded 93 Aerostar)
1999 Mazda Protege (kid's car)
2003 Mazda Protege (another's kid car)
2003 Mazda Protege (replaced other 2003 that was totaled)
2004 Ford Taurus
2007 Chevy Cobalt (kid's car, traded 99 Protege)
1990 Toyota Corolla (inherited from MIL)
2008 Honda CR-V (traded 98 Astro)
2008 Ford F250 Diesel (to pull our fifth wheel)

Jeez...I can't believe we've had that many cars.

I still have the CR-V, F250, Cobalt, 04 Protege, 04 Taurus, and 93
Ranger. The others were sold or traded along the way. The Ranger and
Taurus are for sale, or soon will be. I have no idea of TCO...I'd
probably rather no know. I don't recall any major problems with any of
them after the 74 Chevy and it wasn't bad, just got terrible mileage.
The 91 Aerostar puked its tranny at about 9k miles but it was fixed
under warranty.