it nickel and dimes but doesn't die

[Anonymous]

just wanted to hear storys about cars that don't want to die.


i got this 91 dodge shadow america from a buddy for 200 bucks 3 yrs ago it came with 170 k on it

today i had to put a timing belt on it and it prompted me to add up what i had into it to date

car 200, fuel pump 80, 2 tires 60, head gasket 26, brakes 20, timing belt 20, radiator 100, thermostat 4

that comes to 944 bucks that equals out to $ 0.028 per mile minus gas and fluids

at fill up it holds like 12 gallons and at next fill up it was at 260 miles 21mpg/cty on a 200000 k P.O.S :shock:

i am the 3rd owner and only work done other regular service from the first owner my buddy had a head gasket done at 90 k

other then that the car has ran like a champ since the day it rolled off the sterling heights line and made it's way west

if i have the chance i will pick up another one for sure

 

[CCR]

2000 dodge neon - my wife had bought it new before we were married in 2001, in 2005 i started driving it for work, it had about 32000 miles when i got behind the wheel had 230k when i retired it last month.

50k the child lock switch messed up, made a grinding noise every time you hit the power locks, the kind of noise people turn to stare at when it screams
60k the sunroof track broke, i bought another sunroof from a salvage yard but never put it in :roll:
80k a little old lady put a crease down the left 1/4 panel and l/r door with her mirror while i was getting my hair cut, wasnt that bad so i never fixed it
81k my grandma backed into it with hear golf cart in the same spot, never fixed it either, little worse but not much
90k lady rear ended me at a stop sign and cracked the rear bumper cover, kinda my fault, i was sitting at a stop sign stopped, i noticed she had been weaving all over the road in my rear view mirror before i got to the stop sign in the middle of nowhere. i probably waited about 30 seconds after i could have went on but i decided to wait and see if this lady would stop at the sign .... she didnt :lol:
150k the drivers side seat track broke so it rocked back and forth, fixed it so it wouldnt rock, but you couldnt adjust it anymore, im the only one that drove it anyway
160k the driver door inside grab handle broke loose so when you closed the door from inside you had to be careful not to pull it completely off
161k the seat belt stopped working, got about 3/4 seatbelt tickets (still cheaper than replacing the belt, salvage yards wont sell seat belt parts)
200k 1st rock chip in the w/s, freeze the next day, turned on defroster, cracked from side to side, scheduled replacement for next week, a lug nut came off a semi and put a half dollar sized crushed spot in the glass, cancelled replacement :lol:
210k tie rod end gave out, about 1 minute after going thru some country road s-curves at 70mph - got lucky, but also about 200 someodd miles away from home

only maintenance was fluids/filters/brake pads/changed the belts 1 time, still has the mopar emblem on the suspension, never touched the timing chain, replaced the battery once.

this car didnt owe me anything, been rode hard and served me well, always got 28-30 mpg, just couldnt see dumping the $$$$ into it that it needed

i think it was 18,000 new when my wife bought it so 230,000miles for $18,000, about $0.08 a mile besides gas/fluids, still runnin like a champ, just afraid it doesnt have much left in it to give

also had a 95 S10 4.3 6 cyl that was my dads, used in the same manner, replaced the head gaskets at 250,000 miles (and about every 30,000 miles after that), odometer stopped working at 260,000 miles, drove it for 2 more years (average 50,000 miles a year), odometer started working again, odometer said 320,000 miles before it got put away.

 

[Anonymous]

what motor did the neon have in it?

i've heard nothing but good things about the 2.2's most of them break the 200k mark with no major work.

 

[CCR]

what motor did the neon have in it?

i've heard nothing but good things about the 2.2's most of them break the 200k mark with no major work.

2.0L 4 cyl, the 2000 Neon automatics only had a 3 speed trans too, the 2001 and laters are supposed to have 4 speed autos that get better mpg.

 

[Anonymous]

2.0L 4 cyl, the 2000 Neon automatics only had a 3 speed trans too, the 2001 and laters are supposed to have 4 speed autos that get better mpg.

yeah mine has a 3 speed auto i try to keep her under 65 when i get outside of town. 35-40 in town mostly

 

[CCR]

2.0L 4 cyl, the 2000 Neon automatics only had a 3 speed trans too, the 2001 and laters are supposed to have 4 speed autos that get better mpg.

yeah mine has a 3 speed auto i try to keep her under 65 when i get outside of town. 35-40 in town mostly

most of the miles on mine were running 70+ at around 3200 rpm :lol: i was religious with the oil changes though, towards the end a quart would "disappear" about every 3000 miles

 

[CCR]

2.0L 4 cyl, the 2000 Neon automatics only had a 3 speed trans too, the 2001 and laters are supposed to have 4 speed autos that get better mpg.

yeah mine has a 3 speed auto i try to keep her under 65 when i get outside of town. 35-40 in town mostly

most of the miles on mine were running 70+ at around 3200 rpm :lol: i was religious with the oil changes though, towards the end a quart would "disappear" about every 3000 miles

 

[Anonymous]

NO B.S. here is a pic of the speedo

 

[ricksterr1221]

My buddys got a geo tracker with 500+thousand miles. Just does maintnence whenever it needs it. never a mile over for oil change.. He beats the piss out of it. Mud bogging, jumping railroad tracks. Just insane. talk what ya want about trackers, but this thing is amazing. Its so much fun to ride in with the tops off. Its like a dune buggy.

 

[bigredddaddy]

I give you "Bigredd"

Not a money pit, but I did treat redd to new tires, as seen in pic. It has a 300ci I-6 with a 5speed and does good on gas for a full size truck. I bought it over 10 years ago and it had 103k on the clock, now has 280k! The only motor work has been a new water pump and I had to replace the oil pan after an off road joy ride. Seems the pan was introduced to Mr. feild stone :? But in retrospect, other than normal repairs and routine maitenence, I should mention all the "stuff" it has gone through; 6 CD players, 2 amps, 4 subs, 5 seat covers, 4 sets of hub caps,(don't buy those cheap $20 plastic sets, I finaly got proper factory beauty rings and dog dishes), more front plates than I can remember, and all the little dumb stuff like licence plate surounds, shift knobs, floor mats, stickers, yada yada yada. I think that's a lot of nickle and dime fun, but it wasn't in repairs.

 

[Anonymous]

so how much did you pay for it if i may ask?

 

[skoda]

$200 for the car with a set of brand new tires on it
$150 for tune up parts
$50 lincensing

Lots and lots of elbow grease.

189k to date, 20mpg on the 4 speed all the time. Have put 46k on it since I got it.

 

[Boardtrack fan]

I had a 1984 Omni GLH that some Chrysler engineer put a 87 trubo II engine into (170hp I think). I bought the car for $2800 and drove it for about 5 years. You had to buy extra door handles because you would break one off every couple of months and the shift rods would pop off leaving you stuck in gear. I eventually stripped every ounce of weight I could from the car and ran it without any cats or muffler. It was like a giant go-kart. It got so rusty that I did not think it was safe anymore so I sold it to a guy for $500. He was going to put the engine and transaxle into a Rampage to fake a Shelby (which they never made). Wish I still had that car.

 

[bigredddaddy]

so how much did you pay for it if i may ask?

Toooo much. Close to $7000, it KBB for $4400 and yes it was a buy-here-pay-here lot. But I was getting a divorce and the truck was bought before she filed, so I didn't get stuck with her bills. But I'm never getting rid of it 'cuz it has been the most reliable vehicle I've owned yet.

 

[Anonymous]

Toooo much. Close to $7000, it KBB for $4400 and yes it was a buy-here-pay-here lot. But I was getting a divorce and the truck was bought before she filed, so I didn't get stuck with her bills. But I'm never getting rid of it 'cuz it has been the most reliable vehicle I've owned yet.

good score on the truck. most on the buy-here-pay-here lots like that here the cars are whooped
when you figure total cost per mile it comes out low but reliability is it..

just today i was telling a buddy i would buy a rebuild kit if it gets to bad it
it is a good lil car has done me nothing but right. i'll snap a pic of it. it's seasoned like your truck :mrgreen:

 

[Anonymous]

$200 for the car with a set of brand new tires on it
$150 for tune up parts
$50 lincensing

Lots and lots of elbow grease.

189k to date, 20mpg on the 4 speed all the time. Have put 46k on it since I got it.

your 200 dollar car looks better then mine good score

 

[skoda]

When I got it, it looked like someone had opened a lawnmower bag into the inside. The outside was a pale chalky dull creamsickle color that felt like 400 grit sandpaper to touch. Under the hood, the valve cover gasket had leaked oil for years and everything was coated in hardened oil.

Lucky for me it had only been in Missouri for 5 years, driven from California previously. Volvo used 33 pounds of paint on these cars, so there was plenty of life under it.

After taking out the interior and powerwashing it, killing my arm and hand with the rubbing compound and doing a lot of airbrushing to fill in the paint chips...it won 3rd place in it's category at the 2000 Volvo Club of America national meet. The guy that sold it to me thought I could use it for parts. I sold my other car, a 1970 Volvo 142 and kept this one.

The 8track still works.