Not gonna hear that kind of story from me!
I have a buddy that can buy a car with a rod knock and it goes away with a car-wash. Imagine an actual hole in the block would require that he wax the car.
Me? I buy perfect stuff the falls apart as soon as it is legally mine.
Pete
I looked at a '06 525 this past week that "needs an alternator" for $2500... I already figured it would be a stupid $400 part, but then I see it could just be a bad pulley that's sub $150 needing a special tool...
I bought a '95 Escort for $400 because "the heat doesn't work" and it's Wisconsin and winter was coming. I put a new fuse on the blower and it worked. Had awesome A/C to boot.
My dad bought a '73 Mustang for $75 because it wouldn't start. Coil was bad.
(Mid 90's) Air cooled beetle was free because the owner was tired of trying to fix it. Was running fine before tune up, crank no start after. I popped the engine cover and saw the rotor sitting on the side, held it up and looked at the owner. He said, just take it, I'm more pissed at it now.
1960 AH 3000, non running for $1500 (1987), same stuck choke issue as the first post in this thread. Drove it all through school.
Back in the early 1970s a friend needed a cheap car. There was a student at the university who had a 1966 Corvair for sale, 110 engine/4 speed, that wouldn't run, asking $100. My friend looked it over, determined the problem, and offered $70, which the student took. Rubbing block on the points was broken, installed new points and drove it home. Later that year we got bitten by the rally bug, built the car up as an SCCA Pro (stage) rally car and were running national events in midfield by the end of the year (with the installation of a 140 that my friend just happened to have in a VW bus in a garage).
One uncle had a 1978 Ford van that started to leak coolant. He assumed that meant it had a bad head gasket.
Different uncle thought he might be able to fix it for cheap so it traded hands for $50 in 1988.
One 50 cent hose clamp later on the heater core uncle #2 drove the van for the next 6 years until it finished rotting away. Running a very successful carpentry business on Cape Cod the whole time out of it.
Bought a '92 Nissan Sentra with ~180k for $750 from a grad student in my area that was selling because "my mechanic thinks it won't last much longer." Drove it for 5 years, spent less than $100 in parts on it. Finally junked it when the drivers door had sagged enough that it wouldn't latch and I (wisely) thought "huh, that's probably not safe."
Only hiccup was when it refused to start, and I was swamped with life stuff, so I flat-towed it to a local garage on a Sunday morning. Asked them to diagnose first, but not fix, since I "wasn't sure if I'd keep it anymore." Coupla days later they called with about $4k in needed repairs, including the bad coil they attributed the non-start to. I said forget it, I'll donate it and get it towed from their lot. Picked up a coil at NAPA, rode my bike over around 7pm after they closed, replaced the coil, put the bike in the backseat, drove home.
I was 9, I had, since birth, asked for money for every Christmas and birthday "to buy a car". Everything went in the savings account my parents set up for me. I constantly scoured the classifieds for MGs and Austin Healeys.
I found a 63 Sprite in Nashville, and convinced Dad to go look at it. Formerly white car with a paintjob the color and texture of an orange. The transmission was locked up. $500 brought it home. Once home, Dad gave the shifter a firm jostle with the palm of his hand, and the car was fixed. I was allowed to start driving at 9, since we lived out in the sticks. 948ccs of bliss.
Dad used the car for commuting, and in retrospect, humored me greatly, but great first car story. I have told a form of this story on the forum before, but it bears repeating, and the facts don't change, because well, they're true.
I bought a nice NA Miata for $600. It had a few mods- LSD, nice wheels, suspension, leather interior, 6 spd.
Price was low because the owner said it had a rod knock. It also had a crappy paint job.
Turns out it was just lifter adjustment. Car runs fine.
I bought a high-top conversion van from a guy for something like 1,300 bucks back around 2005 or 2006. It was a '97 and didn't have very many miles on it and it ran great. A little underpowered since it was the 4.6l, but it would get the job done. The interior was cloth and had a little bit of staining, but it wasn't bad at all. The problem with the van was that the adhesive holding the fiberglass top to the roof had deteriorated somehow and if you had the windows closed and got to about 45mph air would seep under the cap and the pressure would build up inside the van to the point where it would lift the top off the roof. All of the air would immediately escape and then the weight of the cap would push it back down so you'd be going down the road and hearing "whump---whump---whump--whump" as it bounced. The seller's solution was to just drive with the windows down but he wasn't getting any takers on buying the thing.
I talked him down to $1,300, we did the transaction at the courthouse and parted ways. The seller was in Louisville, so I had about 75-80 miles of highway driving to get it home so in the parking lot of the courthouse, I went along the edge of the fiberglass high-top with blue painters' tape to keep the air from getting in. No more "whump-whump". A little while later, I used a tube of roof flashing sealant and some self-tapping machine screws (grand total of under $20) to seal the top and then affix it to the van. Drove it for years and sold it for more than I paid for it.
I forgot about my old Suburban. When Lil Stampie was about ready to pop out I had an Audi A6 with no AC. Repairing the AC would cost more than the car was worth and I wanted something truckish anyway. One day I see a Suburban parked behind a tile shop obviously not driven. I walk in and ask about it. The lady gives me the number of the worker that owns it. He said that it had a bad oil leak and needed a battery. Next day I show up with a battery and it starts up fine. AC works front and rear but I see oil all over the front of the engine. I offer him $500 over the phone and he accepts real quick. Three day old Lil Stampie and Lil Stampie mom take me to pick it up. Drive home and find the oil cooler lines are leaking. $30 later it's good. Several months later I see some guys at a gas station wearing the shops shirts. Ask if they know the PO and they point him out to me. I walk up introduce myself and thank him for the Suburban. While we're talking I mention the oil cooler lines and he gets pissed. Said he had taken it to a shop and they quoted him $2500 for a new engine. I told him not to use that shop ever again. About four years later an oak tree in my front yard falls while we're on vacation. Crushed the roof in right down the center. Scraper paid me $450 for it and it drove up on his trailer.
In reply to NOHOME :
I'm the other side - I sell cars for cheap that turn out to be fairly easy fixes when I'm just tired of dealing with them.
#1 - my E30. The car seemed to break every time I drove it and the last straw turned out to be a faulty fuel injector, according to the buyer - Blaze86vic on this forum for $2013. He said he'd never seen that happen before. Of all the vehicles I've ever owned, that is the purchase I regret the most as I never really liked the car from the day I test drove it.
#2 - 1990 E150 van. Parked it in Dec 2005 when I was driving it around for the Christmas errands and heard a nasty noise that to me sounded like a water pump. Not wanting to dig into the front of a van in December, I parked it assuming I'd get to it in the Spring. Life gets in the way and 2006 came and went while the van sat untouched. Feb 2007, I buy a new (to me) truck and need the parking space. Put it on eBay as a parts car - sold for $800. Buyer comes down with a trailer and a new battery. With the new battery, it starts up like it had just run yesterday instead of sitting for 14 months. My water pump guess turned out to be a power steering pump. Which was probably a $100 part from Pep Boys.
The best one was a car I bought that 'doesn't run anymore' for $200 and towed it home and all it needed was a jump start!
Favorite: Bought an '85 e28 528e off my dad: 274K miles, worn clutch, tired brakes, no a/c. $500. Put about a grand into it over the next few years, drove it all over the country and sold it (for parts) with 395K. (Still no AC)
Best beater: Bought a $300 98 VW Cabrio from a friend's mom. The car was destined for scrap. IIRC it had ~ 145K on it. Fixed (and upgraded (and lowered)) it on ebay, CL, and junkyard parts. Put 40K miles on it and sold it for $700 a few years later. New owner's kid learned to drive standard with it and put on 30K miles (and a new top.) They sold it to another acquaintance who's daughter needed a college car. She put 50K on it before it was hit and totaled.
81 marquis 2 door. This was 06 and it was a rust free car. First 2 door I had ever seen and it was sitting at a shady little car lot/garage. They had removed the stock sliding Venturi 2 barrel and replaced it with a standard autolite 2 barrel. Never adjusted the detent so it wouldn't shift until 3500 rpm. Lady refused to pay for the fix because of that. He called her while I was there and she offered to sell me the car for the price of the bill. Cost me 431 and some change. Performer rpm take off from my Capri, a Holley carb and adjustable detent later it was a blast as a DD after a few other speed parts.
my first ford was a 79 Capri from the same shady car lot 2 years before the marquis. Was forfeited as part of the estate to cover back rent. The mechanic could only get it to run one time with a new battery and selenoid. My dad came in too look at it with me and told me to buy it the fix was simple. 800 bucks and a trip to the parts store for a selenoid later I drove it home. Found out from a friend at said parts store that the car had a brand new 300hp crate engine and reman c4. He printed me all the receipts. Was my first ever 12 second quarter mile car and I had a blast until rust finally killed it.
Free 76 Montego with 351 Cleveland back in the 80's. Rust free and had been sitting 6 months and owner wanted it out of the garage so the new car could use it. Was told "needs new transmission, you'll have to have it towed". Turned the key and it fired right up then quick diagnosis led to replacing a small section of vacuum hose. Drove it away with 1/2 tank of gas and dailied for years after without any trans work needed.
In reply to NOT A TA :
We had a 77 Country Squire wagon I drove when I was 16-17 and I remember it having transmission problems once, so dad took it to the town mechanic. I was surprised to find out it was only a vacuum line causing the problem, but apparently it was pretty common on old Fords?
Not really fixed.. but I bought a SVT Focus for dirt cheap because the seller lost the keys, and couldn't get in the car, and it was going to be towed away soon. I bought a break in kit (inflatable bag and long reaching rods) with me, and had the door open in under a minute, then had the ignition unlocked via hammer and punch in another minute. He didn't want to help me push it on the trailer after that, lol.
I once bought a 2002 Q45 for $50. Stripped the interior and a few other things and won half budget at the Challenge.
A buddy of mine was given a Nissan Sentra that a transmission shop had diagnosed as having a bad transaxle . When we went to pick it up he popped the axle back into the transaxle and drove it on the trailer. That was all that was wrong with it.
Got a relatively minty 90's civic hatch for $300 as a non runner. Towed it home, an hour or so of diagnoses led me to the clutch "safety" switch. Replaced it and $35 later I had a running Civic with a brand new battery (thanks to the PO).
Got a free 1983 SAAB 900 turbo that wouldn't start. One of the rubber couplers in the intake tract slipped off. Splurged on a new one for 35 bucks. Drove the car everywhere for four years. It was in beautiful shape too.
Found a early '00s Tacoma on craigslist for cheap. Went to look at it and the owner had just paid to have the engine replaced but was now having electrical issues. I had a hunch it was a bad ground. The guy said he just needed $$ to find something to get to work. I told him to take his ad off craigslist and find a loose ground and he'd likely have his truck back. He was hesitant but said ok. He called me about an hour later and he found the wire on the back of the block that wasnt attached and the truck ran great now.
Few months later went to look at a 4 cylinder s10 that the owner had rebuilt the motor but was only firing on 3 cylinders. Bought the truck figuring I would either have to re-do his rebuild or just drop in another motor. Got it home and found #1 spark plug cracked. Put in a new plug and the truck ran great. I sort of felt bad for the easy fix but figured it might have been the car gods making things even for the Toyota.
Triumph GT6+. I told the owner that it just needed the rubber diaphragms in the stromberg carbs. He was selling it cheap because it was unfix able. He laughed at me and called me an idiot kid. I came back and bought it for even less money, pushed the car across the street, replaced the diaphragms, Fired right up and drove it away. Don't question my Triumph skills!
In 2000, I bought a 1992 Toyota RN Truck with 200K miles for $350. "Bad ECU. New ECU is $1K." It had all the usual clueless no-start stuff: New plugs, new wires, new air filter, etc. He was going to part it out. He put 100K miles on it in 2 years. My friend asked "Did he use in-flight refueling?" Lawyer that lived in the TX hill country and worked in Galveston. Anyway, towed it home across Houston behind the the 86 RN Truck with my wife driving with a tow strap. Got to messing with it. Had spark. Had fuel. Timing? Huh. Twisted the dizzy and it fired right up. Timing chain had jumped from the rail being broken. A common issue on 22R motors. Fixed it and drove it for several years, including using it to move up here to Arkansas. Finally gave up on it when the chain ate through the water passage and I was tired of messing with it. Parked it and sold it years later for $300.
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