Wishing and hoping and dreaming and thinking....

Maybe...my wife will let me have one more...

It's all I can hope for.

With the idea of adding a third row seat to our Durango shot down because the factory design is lacking as far as my wife's opinion is concerned...she has sent me out into the wild to find a family hauler. No longer is she willing to ride in the cargo area while the other six of us have seats and seatbelts. I have three main concerns:

1) has to have 7 or more seatbelts
2) has to have cold AC
3) has to be reliable and easy to repair

Then there's the secondary concerns, three of them:

1) If SUV, priced under $4000, if other, priced under $2000 (preferably $1500)
2) Cloth seating surfaces
3) Has to look nice

So I asked about a station wagon. "Only if it's dirt cheap and runs good and the air works" How cheap is dirt cheap? "I don't want to ride in a station wagon anyway, so it'd probably have to be under $1000 and I'd still want to get a Suburban or something too, and NO WOODGRAIN sides!"

I began my search for bubblewagons...

'94 Caprice with 74K for $4400? Too expensive, and woodgrain would be a problem with wifey.
Custom Roadmaster for $2800? Still pricey, has leather, and green flames would be a dealbreaker.
'92 Caprice for $2550? Well it's plain white and clean but it's still $1500 over budget, too much.
'91 Custom Cruiser for $1500? Well it's a good start but SWF agrees it's real rough for the price.
'91 Custom Cruiser for $350? Um. Um. MINE?!!

So it doesn't have much in the way of second gear. So it has a dented hood, fender, and driver door. So it's dirty. So it's got leather. But the air's cold. The motor is rebuilt. It includes three stereos, CD, tape, and tape/EQ. It has a spare headlight and taillight. It has the factory alloys. Good tires.

I'm thinking this is so my car. 284K on it. I've had cars with more be great or good. I've had cars with less be horrible.

Tomorrow afternoon, wifey makes the decision. We'll have to see. I'm excited about it. Last wagons I owned, in order of ownership:

1988 Buick Electra Estate Wagon, white/tan, paid $600, sold $450, repairs done by PO messed up the engine, the electrical system, lights, wipers, and the interior was an awful mess

1984 Chevrolet Caprice Wagon, beige/brown, paid $300, impounded, PO had tried to pull the motor and I never got it wired back up before Ciudad de Dallas changed the street I lived on to a no-parking zone while I was out of town for 3 days, no advance notice, and suddenly I get back in town and it's gone.

1980 Datsun 210 Wagon, white/blue, paid $350, sold for $200, saved from junkyard, sold to a friend for cheap transportation and what does he do? Wrap it around a lightpole. I tried!

1978 Chevrolet Impala Wagon, light blue/blue, paid $160, scrapped for $85, had massive cooling system failures finally resulting in a cracked block, but this was a 2-seat wagon with no AC so when I moved to TX I couldn't take it with me even if I had the means.

1982 Datsun 210 Wagon, yellow/tan, paid $65, sold for $600, impound auction score, this was an awesome car and was sold to a Datsun enthusiast.

1979 Chrysler LeBaron Town & Country Wagon, copper and wood on tan leather, paid $350, scrapped for $75, burned valves and a bad starter but I was 17, can you blame me for wanting to move on and pick up a '65 Chevy Biscayne sedan?

I am confused but welcome to the group.We will try to help if we can whenever you ask.
When and if you find something that satisfys your wife,make sure to bundle up because
HELL will be freezing over shortly.Sure have owned a unusual bunch of wagons in the past
so you are definitely in the right place so forget about buying an ugly gas guzzleling SUV and
find that perfect CHEAP wagon and get busy.
Take Care
Jim Gordon

Jim - he's about to buy that $350 texas cruiser that Mike posted about in that 2-3 page thread regarding that same exact car!

Welcome aboard and good luck with the wife. It's a fixable car and well worth the money.

Sorry I did not know that.That wagon is definitely worth the money and the effort required to
make it right.If Texas Mike likes it 'its got to be a good wagon with a rust free body and
chassis.If you buy it make sure to park it near Mikes house and leave it there for a couple
of days.When you go to get it you will be surprised with whats been done to it.Mike cant
help himself and cant stand a dirty wagon.
Good Luck
Jim Gordon

Welcome! Get that OCC and start living the dream! lol

Chris

That's what I'm thinking the plan will be, see if the seller will accept PayPal/money order, express mail me the title/bill of sale/title app to sign and return, send Mike some gas/labor money to haul/drive it to Round Rock and do his thing (snag the CD player, detailing) then pick up from Round Rock and drive as far as it'll go then either make it home or have AAA bring me the rest of the way.

I work from home and have to be here working from 1pm-5pm on my computer. Kids get on the bus at 730am usually. So being able to get it from Round Rock (~115mi) would be a lot better than Dripping Springs (~155mi).

I already have 4 post-it notes full of ideas, notes, and urls for common problems sitting here so I'm ready for the bubblewagon. Wife has her kitchen bits now. The stand mixer nearly completes her Cuisinart collection (mixer, coffeepot, espresso machine, pots-pans, and I think she wants the matching microwave too). If mama's happy, everybody's happy. And her stuff cost WAY more than this wagon's purchase price and logistics will!

occupant wrote:

Last wagons I owned, in order of ownership:

1988 Buick Electra Estate Wagon, white/tan, paid $600, sold $450, repairs done by PO messed up the engine, the electrical system, lights, wipers, and the interior was an awful mess

1984 Chevrolet Caprice Wagon, beige/brown, paid $300, impounded, PO had tried to pull the motor and I never got it wired back up before Ciudad de Dallas changed the street I lived on to a no-parking zone while I was out of town for 3 days, no advance notice, and suddenly I get back in town and it's gone.

Why is your parole officer working on your cars?

Welcome aboard. Hope it works out for you.

Ha ha ha..."Previous Owner"

PO also refers to the emotion you feel when you discover poorly done repairs made by other owners on your car...

"P'd Off"

I'm waiting for my instructions!! ..................and my CD stereo for my Cutlass

-Mike