My father in law just sent me this:

I really like my station wagon. It's great for lugging kids, dogs, gear, boxes of books, etc., and there's usually room to everything. It's a good compromise between car and minivan.

Buying a 14-year-old car is kind of unthinkable in Canada, though... the weather really wears them down. Not so much in Vancouver, but if we ever moved elsewhere... I always get a bit of a shock when I'm browsing here or on GJ and see people in the southern US who are driving vehicles from the early 90s (or earlier) that are seeing every day use and that are still in good shape.
 
Flamencology said:
I really like my station wagon. It's great for lugging kids, dogs, gear, boxes of books, etc., and there's usually room to everything. It's a good compromise between car and minivan.

Buying a 14-year-old car is kind of unthinkable in Canada, though... the weather really wears them down. Not so much in Vancouver, but if we ever moved elsewhere... I always get a bit of a shock when I'm browsing here or on GJ and see people in the southern US who are driving vehicles from the early 90s (or earlier) that are seeing every day use and that are still in good shape.
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Since my current daily driver is 45 years old I'm obviously not adverse to buying older cars, but a car from the 60's is much simpler and easier to fix. Cheaper, too. This car looks like it was in Grandmas garage for a decade, but when it needs parts and service it won't be something as cheap as my $37 water pump on the truck.


I think this particular vehicle has not passed the Mrs W test though....
 
Mark Wein said:
Since my current daily driver is 45 years old I'm obviously not adverse to buying older cars, but a car from the 60's is much simpler and easier to fix. Cheaper, too. This car looks like it was in Grandmas garage for a decade, but when it needs parts and service it won't be something as cheap as my $37 water pump on the truck.

I think this particular vehicle has not passed the Mrs W test though....
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Yeah, that would definitely be a huge consideration.

Sounds like you've made up your mind on this one.
 
We have a 6 year old car, a 10 year old truck, and an 11 year old mini-van.

All have over 130k miles on them.

The car is in great shape (other than the fresh new dent on the door :mad: ). Runs great and gets 30+ mpg.

The truck is in pretty decent shape. The bed rails are dented and dinged because it's been used as a truck, and the running boards need to be painted. Other than that, the body is in excellent shape. I need to replace the O2 sensors and plugs/wires before long though. Got a little miss and don't have the power I should, and the gas mileage isn't where it should be.

The van...well, the van is becoming a basket case. Lots of rust popping up on the rocker panels on both sides. Automatic door is no longer automatic. Transmission intermittantly shifts really hard, and occasionally it'll miss too. Plus, the sway bar is broken. Completely. Just completely broken in two. I've suspected an electrical problem causing the hard shifting and the missing, and I think I was right because as I was cutting grass yesterday, I noticed that a wire running from the transmission to somewhere had gotten loose and dragged the ground until it was ripped in two. I'll get that spliced up and see if it solves any of the problems. If it fixes the miss and the hard shifting, I'll spend the $110 for a new sway bar and do my best to fix the rocker panels. Otherwise, it's paid for, so I'll just continue driving it occasionally (as I'm doing now) until it refuses to run anymore. Then I'll sell it for scrap. :embarrassed:
 
Flamencology said:
Yeah, that would definitely be a huge consideration.

Sounds like you've made up your mind on this one.
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I think so. Also, my wife works for an auto manufacturer and we can get a new car for cost through her work if we wanted. I'd rather not have a payment if at all possible so our other option is buying a low mileage used car. We've discovered that having a large SUV is almost embarrassingly necessary with the amount of traveling the dog does with my wife and kids...cramming them all in a sedan or smaller SUV really won't work (I feel safer when the dog is in a row of seats by himself). We'll see what we end up with. I kind of liked this car from Hyundai:

Hyundai-Elantra_Touring_2009_1.jpg


which almost works for our needs.....plus I'd like her to have a newer and more fuel efficient car and I can take the gas guzzling Suburban for my 2 mile commute...
 
You know Mark? Ater thinkning about this for a bit, maybe he is only trying to tell you to get your shit packed and move out away from his daughter.....
 
Mark Wein said:
which almost works for our needs.....plus I'd like her to have a newer and more fuel efficient car and I can take the gas guzzling Suburban for my 2 mile commute...
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you drive 2 miles? in perfect weather? everyday?




no wonder you need a workout thread





seriously dude, walk or ride a bike - you'll feel better for it, mentally and physically - what a great way to reduce some stress in your life, get out of the car





buying 90s GM products is maybe not a great idea either :confused:

mu uncle had a roadmaster back in the 90s - as far as I know he had no major problems with it while he owned it





for the record, he was fat, with a really fat wife and fat kids


they might walk back to the front of the buffet to get a clean plate, but that's about it for exercise
 
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....and they call it a woody!

Wagons are great for people who don't have image issues, otherwise you'd look like a complete tool in that thing. I used to drive a Blue ford ltd wagon in highschool with a ratty old creepy doll head stuck on top the hood ornament. The fold down backseats were very handy, wink, wink, nudge, nudge :thu:
and it looked like this:

5193530003_large.jpg
 
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