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zztzed · 07-23-2003, 07:57 PM

I'm not really sure if this should go in Tilted Living or here. I think it fits here, since I'm asking for car advice, but if I'm wrong, I'm sure a mod will move it for me.

Anyway, a little background ... I'm 19. At the moment, I can't drive, but hopefully I'll be rectifying that in the coming months (especially considering that I'll be going to school and work (well, they'll be the same place, but still), and my life will be a lot easier as far as that goes if I can drive).

So obviously, it would be nice to have my own car, and I've been thinking about how I could accomplish this.

My family has a currently inoperable '91 Pontiac Grand Prix. I'm not sure exactly what's wrong with it... I seem to recall that my dad said the transmission's busted, but I really don't remember exactly. In any case, I asked him about it and he estimated that it'll cost about $1700 to fix. (Where he got this, I dunno. I'm assuming it's what his mechanic told him.) The car's been sitting in our driveway for a year or two now, though, since we haven't had the money to fix it, So for all I know other things could've gone wrong with it since then due to this neglect.

A friend of mine says that I should just go ahead and see about getting the old car fixed up, because I'd have a record of all the work that's been done on it. I don't know if that's really a good reason, though -- can't Carfax tell me that kind of stuff about other cars? I realize it wouldn't tell me everything, but I'd think most important things would be covered, and I don't think we've really kept perfect records on the old car, either.

And on top of that, there's other 'fixing-up' that could stand to be be done on the car (reupholstering, mostly). The $1700 would be just to get it running again.

So I'm wondering what would be wiser and more cost-effective in the long run -- repairing the Pontiac or just getting a new car. (And when I say "new" I really mean "used but in better condition and better cared for than our old Pontiac". I realize buying a brand-new car would probably be insane at this point given how quickly they depreciate.)

I realize I may not have given a whole lot of useful information here, but I'm not really sure what's pertinent and what's not, and I admittedly don't know a whole lot about the car, other than it's old, was used a lot (I know it has over 100k miles on it), was in the shop several times, and is in (obviously) pretty crappy shape now. If there's other stuff you'd need to know to give me useful advice, let me know and I'll see what I can find out.

07-23-2003, 07:57 PM	#1 (permalink)
zztzed Tilted Location: Here and there	Car advice? I'm not really sure if this should go in Tilted Living or here. I think it fits here, since I'm asking for car advice, but if I'm wrong, I'm sure a mod will move it for me. Anyway, a little background ... I'm 19. At the moment, I can't drive, but hopefully I'll be rectifying that in the coming months (especially considering that I'll be going to school and work (well, they'll be the same place, but still), and my life will be a lot easier as far as that goes if I can drive). So obviously, it would be nice to have my own car, and I've been thinking about how I could accomplish this. My family has a currently inoperable '91 Pontiac Grand Prix. I'm not sure exactly what's wrong with it... I seem to recall that my dad said the transmission's busted, but I really don't remember exactly. In any case, I asked him about it and he estimated that it'll cost about $1700 to fix. (Where he got this, I dunno. I'm assuming it's what his mechanic told him.) The car's been sitting in our driveway for a year or two now, though, since we haven't had the money to fix it, So for all I know other things could've gone wrong with it since then due to this neglect. A friend of mine says that I should just go ahead and see about getting the old car fixed up, because I'd have a record of all the work that's been done on it. I don't know if that's really a good reason, though -- can't Carfax tell me that kind of stuff about other cars? I realize it wouldn't tell me everything, but I'd think most important things would be covered, and I don't think we've really kept perfect records on the old car, either. And on top of that, there's other 'fixing-up' that could stand to be be done on the car (reupholstering, mostly). The $1700 would be just to get it running again. So I'm wondering what would be wiser and more cost-effective in the long run -- repairing the Pontiac or just getting a new car. (And when I say "new" I really mean "used but in better condition and better cared for than our old Pontiac". I realize buying a brand-new car would probably be insane at this point given how quickly they depreciate.) I realize I may not have given a whole lot of useful information here, but I'm not really sure what's pertinent and what's not, and I admittedly don't know a whole lot about the car, other than it's old, was used a lot (I know it has over 100k miles on it), was in the shop several times, and is in (obviously) pretty crappy shape now. If there's other stuff you'd need to know to give me useful advice, let me know and I'll see what I can find out. __________________ "It seemed to me that if humanoids eat chicken, then obviously they'd eat their own species, otherwise they'd just be picking on the chickens."