Arctic_Blast
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That's right, another car thread.
I've lost my last car since the last time I posted (I believe) so I had to say goodbye to my 89 Corolla. I've been without a car for 3 months now, since the company I work for sold out to a corporation. Corporate fired pretty much my entire crew except 3 of us and I've been working 8AM to 8PM 6-7 days a week since February. Hence my lack of appearing on the board.
I finally hired a crew good enough to give me 2 days off a week YAY.
Anyways, with those long hours came some money. I'm now debt free and am looking to buy a car, I'm tired of biking/busing to work every day. Just as we were getting ready to go out and look for cars a beauty of an '89 Toyota Cressida pops up at work with 170k on it. It fires right up, gets to running temp with no problems, has almost 0 blowby in the valve covers (which will get new gaskets) and the 7M-GE motor still pulls like a luxury sedan should. The leather interior is faded and has some cracks starting to show up, but all of the electric seats work. In fact, all electrics work: Side View mirror adjusters, check; Weird pop out heater controls, check; Power/economy switch, check; Hazards/turn signals, check; all interior lights, check.
I did some research and called around to a couple places, like the lady who sold it to us... and had us tow it. She hasn't gotten back to me yet. I called the shop who's oil change sticker was on the window to see if they were the ones that diagnosed it, it turns out they just changed the oil. Our driver informed me that the woman said she couldn't afford a new engine. I can't figure out why she'd need a new engine, this thing doesn't smoke at startup or at running temp and the only noise coming out of it is a typical very light valve tick. I had my dad (mechanic of 28 years) come in and take a quick once over, he's bringing me a block tester to check if there's any gasses making it into the radiator.
Okay after all that my question pops up: Does anyone have any experience with these? I've heard this was Toyota's "Luxury Sedan" before they started making Lexus. It sure rides and has a feel like it. What I'm worried about is that there's a lot of electrical doo-dads hangin around in this thing so I was hoping someone owned one and had all of the common problems occur. Either way the asking price is only 800 dollars.
Any opinions are appreciated, I know some of you despise Toyota so I'll take it all with a grain of salt 
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blu-nightbreed
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Putting aside my general hatred for all things Toyota, I'd still wonder why you'd want what was basically Toyota's version of a Buick LeSabre? It's the automotive equivalent of white bread.
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Arctic_Blast
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My guess would be that it's 750 dollars
That and as I've stated before I know Toyota engines inside and out. Ease of working on it myself is ALWAYS a bonus when it comes to older cars.
It doesn't matter, ran a block test on it and it failed miserably so it's got a head gasket gone bad. Was to be expected and it ran too good to be true.
Oh well going out today to look at some Subaru's. Would have liked to have found a decent Volvo wagon but they just don't get sold around here too much.
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CutchaGuy
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What's your budget? Hobbies? Interests?
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blu-nightbreed
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Arctic_Blast posted:
My guess would be that it's 750 dollars
That and as I've stated before I know Toyota engines inside and out. Ease of working on it myself is ALWAYS a bonus when it comes to older cars.
It doesn't matter, ran a block test on it and it failed miserably so it's got a head gasket gone bad. Was to be expected and it ran too good to be true.
Oh well going out today to look at some Subaru's. Would have liked to have found a decent Volvo wagon but they just don't get sold around here too much.
I'd think you could get something Toyota for around a grand on Craigslist.... Something not quite so milk toast.
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LaceTP
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Wana buy my Alfa? :P
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-Kiande-
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You should get a Toyota Echo, I hear they're really comfortable to drive.
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Arctic_Blast
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Just went out and bought a car.
That Cressida was just a nice thought due to the low price and my knowledge of the car type. I like the rarer cars. However, the lady and I were looking for a specific car type. We had a budget of 5,000 and found a 1995 Legacy/Outback with the 2.2 and a 5 speed trans with only 150k on it and all of the service paperwork at a Subaru dealer.
Car is ours now, apparently pissed off one of their mechanics because he wanted it.
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blu-nightbreed
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Congrats!
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Arctic_Blast
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Thank you lol. We were really just out looking around to see pricing and if we could even find one. Couldn't believe we happened upon a 2.2 Outback 5-speed at our first stop. As sad as it is to say, this is the newest car we've owned and it's 16 years old LOL. HOWEVER it's the exact car we wanted, the 2.2 (according to the guys at work) is a solid motor and finding it in a 5-speed is tough. We plan on getting a dog and having a kid soon, it was just too perfect to let pass up!
We tried looking at new cars, but working at a scrapyard makes it way too easy to spend a few thousand on a car and just keep it up with parts from the yard.
Well we're happy and we had the cash to buy it outright and I always like that feeling :P
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blu-nightbreed
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Arctic_Blast posted:
Well we're happy and we had the cash to buy it outright and I always like that feeling :P
There's no car payment like no car payment.... 
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Arctic_Blast
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Exactly, with the raise I got when my company got bought out (Not to mention working 70 hours a week) We've gotten so far ahead it's nice to go out and get something we need without the worries of "Can we afford it"
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-Kiande-
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Big congrats on the new car then.
PS: In case you didn't realize, I was totally joking about the Echo. I assume you figured that out, but eh.
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Arctic_Blast
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Hey, I actually looked at an Echo, and a Matrix but... As much as I love Toyota I HATE the new Toyotas. In the 80s I'm all kinds of happy with them. Anything past 92... no thank you.
We looked at brand new cars as an investment for us, but just couldn't justify paying 25,000 for a certified pre owned.
Thank you all for talking with me about cars and junk, actually helped me out with the big expenditure. This is the first time I've spent over 1,000 and not had buyer's remorse right after, just happiness.
Probably because I've been working 11+ hour days and riding a bike which adds another hour onto the commute for almost 3 months.
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blu-nightbreed
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Arctic_Blast posted:
We looked at brand new cars as an investment for us, but just couldn't justify paying 25,000 for a certified pre owned.
Cars aren't ever an investment, unless you're talking about collectible Ferraris or the like. A car that you're going to use is a depreciating asset that is worth less as time goes on. Buying new is kind of crazy, unless you know you're going to keep the car until it disintegrates.
CPO makes sense for luxury cars, where the cost of repairs is high... But otherwise, buying a good used car is e way to go when money is at a premium.
Sounds like you did well. I like Subies, and always like a stick shift. They actually still make manuals throughout their whole line, one of the few makers anymore who does.
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Arctic_Blast
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Yeah when I was pricing out /buildyourowning a Subaru we were looking at a Forester... but they don't make a manual in that one. It was ironic that we said to each other "don't buy the first car you look at" so we went to a subaru dealer just to see what kind of trade ins had been done recently.
So we ask them what kind of cars they have that are older, and the guy said "I don't think we have anything in a manual those are more rare than these other ones, then he said "we do have this Outback that was just traded in, let's check but I think it's an auto," it wasn't :P. The guy ran a carfax for us and the first owner bought it new and owned it until this year. The second owner only had it 5 months. From the stereo wiring in the car I'm guessing they gave it to their kid who moved out here for college then got a new car. The thing came from Minnesota so I checked for rusting and found no cancer, and barely any rust at all. I'm not even sure if they salt their roads there but I checked just to be sure. It's got a ding, a dent where it looks like the ran over a median (it's just under the passenger door) or something, and some character to it. BUT they also filled it to the brim with 4.00 gas for us lol.
Now I just have to get used to how these things run. The engine doesn't feel like a normal 4-cylinder.
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