I never had any intention of buying a miata. I didn't get it. It's slow, it's small, didn't get it.
In October 2009, the very top listing when I opened up CL (not even searching, just the newest post) was a 1992 Sunburst Miata with 76k miles and a hardtop.
For $1500. "Why not? What do I have to lose?"
5 miatas later... lol.
Driving it right now. '06 Z4 M Roadster. Belonged to a friend who had pestered me for months to buy it because he needed to get out of it, and "it would be perfect" for me. I had other ideas, since a fratty triple-black, murdered-out convertible is not my thing--I live in Florida and hate black cars for good reason, plus I'm just not a flashy person. And I need to drive slower cars, since the fast ones turn me into a shiny happy person.
Got a call from the guy last month: "I'm at the dealership, house closing is next week so I have to sell it today, they only want to pay me $8500 for the car, at that price I'd rather sell it to a friend." Bought it, because hella good price and actually helping someone out. Made no promises about keeping it, since I didn't expect to like it.
Love it. Apparently my friend was right. It is perfect for me. And yes, I am driving it like a shiny happy person.
Margie
I quite nearly bought a Lotus Elise for $25k. That probably sounds like a normal price to you 'Mericans, but by me, that's jaw-droppingly cheap. I passed on it mainly due to the completely unaffordable body repair costs that would be hanging over my head like the sword of Damocles, but also in part due to the lackluster Rover engine, aftermarket parts prices, and social issues with owning such a car in a 3rd-world country. I might've still gone for it if it had the Toyota powertrain.
In reply to GameboyRMH :
I remember that thread
After working on Bimmers for a couple decades I convinced myself I would never own one. Always drove Japanese cars for practicality and reliability.
Unfortunately (fortunately?) a couple of great deals on e46s dropped in my lap and I jumped on them. As much as I love my current 04 325iT, I constantly debate selling it off. Even with parts at wholesale and "free" labor the cost of ownership crosses the line occasionally. It just looks so damn good and drives great.
Decade old 335's are starting to get into that territory. Reflash ECU, unbolt the exhaust, run E85. Then do zero maintenance until it blows up.
Good stuff! I appreciate the input.
The BMWs, Jag, Lotus Rotary and other expensive /rare stuff/troublesome vehicles is what I was aiming at here. What got me thinking is an ad for two 944s with an asking price of $1200 and a running rx8 for $2200. I haven't looked at these but I occasionally see this stuff and wonder if it's worth my time to investigate further. Maybe some cars I should avoid no matter the price.
Matthew Kennedy said:In reply to Ian F :
Little bit of Stockholm Syndrome, eh?
Every time I work on an E46.
Every. Time.
The one I spent time with today was a 330xi with the rare manual trans. Not that I like the manual trans, but that is what this one had. But, the repair bill is going to be something like $2k, like almost every other time his car has been in, except for that one time when it was almost $5k. That's enough to keep me away.
On the other hand, this car's owner is not your typical BMW "limp it along until it stops moving under its own power" owner. He had the seats recovered because they were a little faded, once. If I had the choice between an E46 and a new 3-series, I'd pour money into keeping the E46 perfect, too.
calteg said:Decade old 335's are starting to get into that territory. Reflash ECU, unbolt the exhaust, run E85. Then do zero maintenance until it blows up.
After diagnosing a PCM failure on a 135i caused by the Valvetronic motor failing and frying the drivers, and finding out that the dealership subsequently quoted $9k to put the car back together, I wouldn't touch a 335i with a ten foot pole. Or any BMW with the Valvetronic setup that puts the drive motor inside the head, for that matter. (Telling was that the dealership had all of the parts including the PCM in stock. Dealerships generally don't stock items unless they're moving three or more a month...)
The worst part is that service information for BMW is damned near impossible to find. I learned more about it from a recent article in Motor magazine than I have ever been able to glean from the service information that BMW allows us to have.
Yep. I do it often. Case in point, the 2000 Range Rover my wife has been driving for the last 2 plus years that I picked up for $1000. I also own a BMW 2002 race car that found me for the whopping sum of $2500 with a complete parts car. Sold off spares and was ahead in the game by the time I was done. Now close to 10 years later, I keep picking up more parts cars, selling more spares, tinkering with the BMW and I still have zero dollars into it. Still have no plans for it, but its really cool. Provides a nice contrast to the sea of TR8s around here.
In reply to rustybugkiller :it depends on your abilities and interests. If your goal is flipping understand you have great leverage with some makes. Some of it is undeserved. Jaguar for example. Post 1992 their quality reached astonishing levels of greatness. It has slid down a little since Ford sold it to Tatra but in general it's bad reputation dates back to the 70s& 80s.
3100 powered midsize GM. My auto tech class had one and I hated any work that needed to be done on it. Remove washer fluid tank to get to the battery, the evil cube tool for the rear disk brakes, and worst was removing engine mounts to tilt the engine forward to change the berking alternator. I nearly bought a cheap family deal Buick Century when I was car shopping 4 years ago, but my wife’s aunt got it first as she was going through her divorce.
I buy things that grab my interest. I don't have to need them, or even want them, but if I've never owned one before and I don't have a firm opinion on it, I'll take a swing so that I can end up with an opinion. This is a good way to end up with more cars than dollars.
In reply to neon-cougar-4891 :
3100 cam position sensor in a Malibu. "This shouldn't be too bad..." several hours and the entire passenger side of the engine bay disassembled later and the car still ran like E36 M3 after going back together, It spent another month sitting in the yard thinking about what it had done.
Knurled said:calteg said:Decade old 335's are starting to get into that territory. Reflash ECU, unbolt the exhaust, run E85. Then do zero maintenance until it blows up.
After diagnosing a PCM failure on a 135i caused by the Valvetronic motor failing and frying the drivers, and finding out that the dealership subsequently quoted $9k to put the car back together, I wouldn't touch a 335i with a ten foot pole. Or any BMW with the Valvetronic setup that puts the drive motor inside the head, for that matter. (Telling was that the dealership had all of the parts including the PCM in stock. Dealerships generally don't stock items unless they're moving three or more a month...)
The worst part is that service information for BMW is damned near impossible to find. I learned more about it from a recent article in Motor magazine than I have ever been able to glean from the service information that BMW allows us to have.
Early 335s do not have Valvetronic. They have conventional heads with turbos.
The 330 that preceded the first generation 335 however, did also have Valvetronic.
It's hard to pass up anything weird that runs and drives for less than a grand. I considered a V12 Jag for a very, very long time just to be able to say that I had one for the week it would run. The same thing happened with a $600 928 that I only didn't buy because it didn't have a title.
Right now there are two things that I never would have wanted, but I now need! 1. A Turbo, Convertible, K-Car and 2. Manual Beige Camry.
I recently bought a standard cab 90 ranger to daily just because it was less then 500 bucks, its impractical because i have 2 kids, but at that price point for something that has rockers in ohio i couldnt pass. Helps that i missed my 88 ranger. If it wasnt for my wife id still have 15 vehicles.
Second entry. When it was time to replace neon #1, I swore the damn things off, along with a preference to avoid any further Chrysler products. Doing things on my terms went out the window when Bambi decided cut me off. After a month or so of driving a gas guzzler with $5 gas I bought the first thing I could get my hands on. Another neon. It rewarded me with $1200 of work needed to pass inspection. When it came to replace that one my wife firmly said no Chryslers. I almost bought a PT convertible.
Diesel trucks. After my Cummins, I figured the purchase premium wasn't worth it for the amount of miles I would drive it.
Then I bought a 7.3L diesel conversion van last week. Granted, I would have bought the van for asking price regardless of what engine was in it. The diesel was just a coincidence. Whether or not it is a happy coincidence remains to be seen...
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