New daily winter beater car time

[pizzaman09]

Well, after 15 wonderful years my twin brother and I's 1999 Oldsmobile Eighty Eight is no longer good enough for the state of Pennsylvania.  The salt encrusted Erie, PA winters got to it.  The front subframe has ripped from the unibody in an incredibly rusty area.

 

It's still very shiny on top!

 

There are sections of rust there that should be connected...

 

It's a sad moment, the Oldsmobile was our first car gifted to us by our Grandparents with 42k creampuff miles.

 

That said, we need another vehicle before winter hits as we have no intentions of letting the Comanche get attacked by salt.

We currently own a 1999 BMW M3 which is our other winter beater as well as daily driver and weekend autocross car.  

Our general interests lie in 80s and 90s cars with stick shifts.  We've never owned a Japanese vehicle but would consider one.  We would definitely look at Jeeps, and BMWs of the vintage as that is what we are most familiar with.  Any suggestions?  I should say my brother has a 100 mile round trip commute that he makes 3-5 days a week, so cruise control for highway comfort is a must.

 

[GrandBoost98]

Nothing beats a cherokee for a cheap beater 

[1987Comanche]

That's a shame.  She looks great from the top?  You going to junk her?  How many miles?

[pizzaman09]

43 minutes ago, 1987Comanche said:

That's a shame.  She looks great from the top?  You going to junk her?  How many miles?

She's very clean on top.  Typical rock chips, I always insisted on white wall tires as they were factory and just look right on it.

 

Has 165,000 miles on it.  We won't scrap it, most likely sell it to someone in NY or OH where they don't care about rust and someone with drive it for another 10 years.  It honestly still rides like a dream and feels like it did in 2008 when we first started driving it.  

[Pete M]

buy. from. down. south.   

 

honestly for a comfortable highway DD, I want another ;late 90s era chrysler minivan.  damn I miss that van.   the seats were super comfortable and you sit up higher than a car for better visability.  plus I could carry 4x8 sheets of plywood or a whole couch.  

[pizzaman09]

On 10/26/2023 at 9:49 PM, Pete M said:

buy. from. down. south.   

 

honestly for a comfortable highway DD, I want another ;late 90s era chrysler minivan.  damn I miss that van.   the seats were super comfortable and you sit up higher than a car for better visability.  plus I could carry 4x8 sheets of plywood or a whole couch.  

I am a fan of buying down south, though usually the interiors are much worse from down south.  I purchased a very clean 99 BMW 3 series from Virginia a few years ago, it's amazing that there is just zero rust on it.  Quite the opposite of the 99 BMW M3 I purchased out of Wisconsin a few years later with less miles.  It's just rusty enough to be annoying to work on.

 

The current front runner for a replacement vehicle is an 8th Gen Honda Civic Si (2006-2011).  My twin and I have never owned a Japanese car and figure it's about time to try one.  It ticks a lot of boxes for us, good fuel economy, 4 seats, high strung fun engine with a manual.  It being front wheel drive like the Oldsmobile will probably mean it goes alright in the winter with the right tires.

[89 MJ]

I'd recommend an AMC Eagle. Its comfortable, simple, lots of them had cruise control, and they are all 4x4 or AWD. I drove mine in the winter and never needed 4 wheel drive. They are incredibly capable, plus they share some parts with XJs and MJs (rear axles are similar, 4.2 and 4.0 are same family, amongst other small things I can't remember right now). The downsides are that they can be tricky to find some parts for, but not that bad and the fuel economy isn't great. The only part that is hard to find are lower ball joints. Only Rare Parts reproduces those. Unless you get one with a 5 speed, you won't have overdrive, but you will have 2.72 or 2.35 gears most likely. If you really wanted to, you could probably get 20-22 mpg.

[pizzaman09]

5 hours ago, 89 MJ said:

I'd recommend an AMC Eagle. Its comfortable, simple, lots of them had cruise control, and they are all 4x4 or AWD. I drove mine in the winter and never needed 4 wheel drive. They are incredibly capable, plus they share some parts with XJs and MJs (rear axles are similar, 4.2 and 4.0 are same family, amongst other small things I can't remember right now). The downsides are that they can be tricky to find some parts for, but not that bad and the fuel economy isn't great. The only part that is hard to find are lower ball joints. Only Rare Parts reproduces those. Unless you get one with a 5 speed, you won't have overdrive, but you will have 2.72 or 2.35 gears most likely. If you really wanted to, you could probably get 20-22 mpg.

Ha, yeah the Eagles are cool cars but definitely inefficient.  The Oldsmobile would typically return 28-30mpg on the highway, we would like to see equal to or improved fuel economy.

 

If I'm going with something with the AMC six cylinder, I'd probably go with a YJ or TJ.  I love the look of the YJ, though I understand the TJ is much more comfortable.

[pizzaman09]

Picked up a 2009 Honda Civic Si as the replacement for the Oldsmobile.  Drove all the way from Erie, PA down to Vilas, NC which is just north of Boone to pick it up.  

It's a clean southern car with burned up paint.

Very pleased with it.  VTEC is real.  It doesn't keep up with the 99 BMW M3 but can get moving, handles nicely and rides very comfortably.

[Salvagedcircuit]

1 hour ago, pizzaman09 said:

Picked up a 2009 Honda Civic Si as the replacement for the Oldsmobile.  Drove all the way from Erie, PA down to Vilas, NC which is just north of Boone to pick it up.  

It's a clean southern car with burned up paint.

Very pleased with it.  VTEC is real.  It doesn't keep up with the 99 BMW M3 but can get moving, handles nicely and rides very comfortably.

Nice. Oil coat the bottom or undercoat that lil guy and you should be good!

[pizzaman09]

14 hours ago, Salvagedcircuit said:

Nice. Oil coat the bottom or undercoat that lil guy and you should be good!

That's the plan!

[erandel]

On 11/19/2023 at 10:19 AM, pizzaman09 said:

Picked up a 2009 Honda Civic Si as the replacement for the Oldsmobile.  Drove all the way from Erie, PA down to Vilas, NC which is just north of Boone to pick it up.  

It's a clean southern car with burned up paint.

Very pleased with it.  VTEC is real.  It doesn't keep up with the 99 BMW M3 but can get moving, handles nicely and rides very comfortably.

That's a pretty reliable DD.

[87MJTIM]

I have a 05 CRV w/ a 5spd. It just hit 400,000 miles. 
 

If you take care of it, it will last a long time. 

[pizzaman09]

8 hours ago, 87MJTIM said:

I have a 05 CRV w/ a 5spd. It just hit 400,000 miles. 
 

If you take care of it, it will last a long time. 

Hopefully so.  I've heard good things about them, I'm willing to bet it will rust out way before it is mechanically not good.  I do plan on undercoating it pronto to give it it's best shot.

 

It's very different than any other car I've owned.  Very light doors, tin can feeling, clearly a cheap car when it was new.  That said it feels light and tossable and the engine is an absolute peach.

[FrankTheDog]

Honda’s are a well made car.

They made millions of civics.

[dasbulliwagen]

Bought an 8th Gen 2010 Civic 2 door for my daughter's first car with just under 100,000 miles, and spotless other than a few spots of peeling paint. It started out as a lease, then sold to an old lady, who had it quite a while. There is evidence on it that it sat for a while before they sold it to a used car lot. That and she was a smoker. I'm still working on remediating the smell, but it really wasnt that bad to start with considering. I expect it to last my daughter through high school and college, as long as it doesnt get wrecked.

 

My search for an older car in the 5-7K range was tough. I can't believe how many salvage title cars are out there on the road right now. I had no idea. And when or if you do find a good clean one, you need to pounce fast, and have cash. I missed out on a very nice, and undervalued Accord because of not being first in line. I told the guy too, he had it valued about $3000 less than what he could have sold it for, assuming it was a decent car. Nice ones are out there.  I work for a dealership and was able to get free carfax reports on all that I was serious about. That really helps with a search for something decent. Glad you found a good one. As a former Michigan resident, now in North Carolina, I know your struggle with winter beaters. 

[75sv1]

Might try Ozium for the smoker smell. 

[pizzaman09]

On 12/6/2023 at 4:53 PM, dasbulliwagen said:

Bought an 8th Gen 2010 Civic 2 door for my daughter's first car with just under 100,000 miles, and spotless other than a few spots of peeling paint. It started out as a lease, then sold to an old lady, who had it quite a while. There is evidence on it that it sat for a while before they sold it to a used car lot. That and she was a smoker. I'm still working on remediating the smell, but it really wasnt that bad to start with considering. I expect it to last my daughter through high school and college, as long as it doesnt get wrecked.

 

My search for an older car in the 5-7K range was tough. I can't believe how many salvage title cars are out there on the road right now. I had no idea. And when or if you do find a good clean one, you need to pounce fast, and have cash. I missed out on a very nice, and undervalued Accord because of not being first in line. I told the guy too, he had it valued about $3000 less than what he could have sold it for, assuming it was a decent car. Nice ones are out there.  I work for a dealership and was able to get free carfax reports on all that I was serious about. That really helps with a search for something decent. Glad you found a good one. As a former Michigan resident, now in North Carolina, I know your struggle with winter beaters. 

I completely agree, it's challenging to find a good car sometimes.  I just went with caring less about how good the car was and finding a good seller.  I passed on several nicer cars only because of how terrible the dealership reviews where.  The small dealership I went to had almost a perfect review history, and I see why, they were awesome to work with.  The guy I worked with even asked how much gas was in the car before my brother and I left, it was basically empty and so he pulled out his wallet, handed me a $100 bill and said that will buy gas and dinner!  

 

I've bought some pretty darn sketchy cars because I knew I could make them right in the end.  That's where the deals are if you are planning to drive the wheels off of it and don't care about resale value.

[FrankTheDog]

On 12/9/2023 at 9:45 AM, pizzaman09 said:

I completely agree, it's challenging to find a good car sometimes.  I just went with caring less about how good the car was and finding a good seller.  I passed on several nicer cars only because of how terrible the dealership reviews where.  The small dealership I went to had almost a perfect review history, and I see why, they were awesome to work with.  The guy I worked with even asked how much gas was in the car before my brother and I left, it was basically empty and so he pulled out his wallet, handed me a $100 bill and said that will buy gas and dinner!  

 

I've bought some pretty darn sketchy cars because I knew I could make them right in the end.  That's where the deals are if you are planning to drive the wheels off of it and don't care about resale value.

Yes, don’t let perfect get in the way of getting a good car.

 

Best car l ever had was a 98 XJ.

It looked like it had been gone over lightly with a ball peen hammer from hail damage that totaled it originally on the first owner and it wandered all over the road because the original owner and put a 1-1/2” lift in it and then it wandered all over the road and he couldn’t figure out why. 
 It had 209K on it and it was straight and rust free otherwise.

 I got it home and parked it in front of my other XJ and had it figured out in 5 minutes what the problem was.

The axle end of the track bar was bolted to the front of its box instead inside of it.

Drove it until it had 453k on it and was pretty worn out on it’s original engine.