Ok gonna try this again. Somehow my last introduction never made it. It may have been user error.
1992 Chevrolet Caprice Wagon 5.0
Bought my first wagon a couple of weeks ago. The wife and I are looking to get rid of some debt and we poured over our finances and decided that the fastest way was to get rid of our only car payment by selling our 07 Yukon XL. We joked around about getting some sort of "wagon" and started the search. We needed the room that only a wagon or Suburban could offer. My wife actually found the car on good 'ol CL after only looking for 2 days.
Had to wait 3 days for the guy to get some repairs done to the car to make it road worthy so that he could feel better about selling the car.
My dad and I drove 100+ miles down to Tucson AZ to look at the car. I called the guy as we were 20 minutes out as a courtesy, and he was returning the AC compressor to get his core charge back. Well, the guy was driving the Caprice around town while we waited nearly 30 minutes for him to show up! My dad wanted to leave, but stuck around to help me out. The guy calls me again and asked us for helping in jumping the battery for him. He was out scouting a "new" motorcycle when the battery died.
At this point I was both pissed and excited. I was angry because it was over 100 degrees and had just driven forever to possibly buy a car that will not start anymore. I was excited because the guy was going to take my cash and buy a motorcycle as soon as I left! Upper hand.....ME.
The car made some really bad noises that I was not that excited about....making me even more pissed. It had a lifter tick, a weird rattle noise, and the new AC compressor sounded like marbles in a tin can. Cosmetically the car looked dang near perfect......all but the passenger door that was replaced and painted the wrong color. He had conveniently not posted those photos. All in all the damange was not too bad.
I spent the next hour pointing out all the flaws in the car, and trying to wrap my head around some of the noises and if it would be worth me spending money on it. Remember, trying to get out of debt. He slowly raised the price on me because he had just spent a lot of money on tires and the AC and new fluids. The price went from $3800 to $4100. Not that big of a jump but still a jump in price. I offered $3500 and told him that I would need the $600 to fix it the right way........After he called me a couple names and walked away, he said ok and took his "motorcycle" money from me.
We finished all the paperwork online in his house and I drove her home.
Since my initial purchase I have had to replace the flex plate and the AC compressor. I also tinted the thing, because no AC in the world would ever cool that thing down in the AZ heat. That literally cost me the $600 I talked him down, and kept it close to my $4000 budget. I dont plan on doing much to her. The speakers and radio are a must. All other things things will be to just keep her running smoothly. This will be our DD for a family of 6 soon to be 7.
I have spent more than any person should on your forum and have already learned a lot. I look forward to sharing my wisdom and learning from yours.
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Mon Sep 01, 2014 11:50 pm
