Automobiles: The Agony and the... more Agony

Buying off of somebody you trust and who really knows cars and has had it checked out top to bottom but you got lucky and they just want to get rid of it is better than a dealer, but that comes down to luck.

I got my car through a dealership, albeit one where someone I knew worked, and I definitely appreciated the ease and streamlining. That looks like a nice car and it seems like a good price, though I guess that depends in part on the mileage. Hopefully your car odyssey moves forward to a happy conclusion!

I don't have a picture of the vehicle itself yet, but here is the truck I just picked up yesterday!


It's a 2004 Nissan Frontier with 127,000 miles that I paid $6,300 dollars for. It has very worn tires that I need to replace, possibly some shocks that need replacing on the front left (at least), and the former owner wore too much cologne. Other than that, it handles nicely, has a clean interior, and seems to be pretty good.

It only took nearly 4 months, checking out four different cars, and a whooooole lot of Craigslist searching!

Congrats on the deal, Forest! Sounds like you got a good one. I hope the vehicle is in good condition. Mine was back in the shop again last week but all things considered (especially the age and price) I can't complain too much.

Just looking at the exterior makes me think it wasn't ridden too hard. Did you ask about timing belt and water pump? If those weren't done then that's the major thing to worry about.

It has very worn tires that I need to replace
on account of speeding from the police
possibly some shocks that need replacing on the front left (at least),
on account of the dead body weight

and the former owner wore too much cologne.
to hide smell of said body
, has a clean interior,
of course ! fingerprints ? forensics ?

only joking, looks nice

azriel wrote:It has very worn tires that I need to replace
on account of speeding from the police
possibly some shocks that need replacing on the front left (at least),
on account of the dead body weight

and the former owner wore too much cologne.
to hide smell of said body
, has a clean interior,
of course ! fingerprints ? forensics ?

only joking, looks nice

or a woman owned it. which would account for the smells and clean interior.

It may be, in fact, that a ball-bearing thingummy just needs some grease, so not the shocks.

I asked about the timing belt, and it was not replaced, so that's something I'm worried about yeah. 

Darn Azriel! I've practically just aided and abetted a murderer!

Ask if it's the type of engine for which a belt breakage does little damage, or if it ruins it. If it does little damage you could perhaps wait for something else to go that requires lifting the engine out. I've had a belt break on me on the highway, it's not a huge deal, you just coast to the edge and call a tow truck.

But if it will ruin the engine, best grimace and shuck out the money to have all belts and the water pump replaced. And do any other maintenance that's easier to do then.

Forest Shepherd wrote:and the former owner wore too much cologne.

Much better than the former owner being a smoker! *cough* *cough*

My Fusion was totaled in a hail storm this past June. Decided to get a 2015 Buick LaCrosse and tell Ford to pound sand. This is the nicest car I've ever owned. Love having heated leather seats, and the remote start is going to be really handy when I'm getting ready for work with below freezing temps.

The most luxury I've ever had in a car was cruise control, and that crapped out after 2 years. Of course it would help if I'd buy cars less than 10 years old to begin with...

That sounds very nice, bungo. I hope your insurance covered hail storms though. We don't get a ton of hail around here and I don't think I've ever seen hail larger than shotgun pellets at most.

I can't afford to run a car, and even if I could I wouldn't need to for day to day life, public transport round here is pretty reliable (and I regularly walk the 70+ minutes to town rather than fork out for the bus anyway) and I do much of my shopping online anyway.

But it's a moot point as I don't think with my combination of partial colour blindness, self confidence issues, rather wonky eye/hand coordination and what I'm becoming convinced may possibly be a minor case of un-diagnosed Asperger's Syndrome, that it would be a good idea to even attempt learning to drive at the present time, frankly I'm not sure I'd trust myself with a car, a moped perhaps...maybe I should get a new bike instead...

My parents/siblings and Uncle don't drive either, it's probably a bit odd, but not that unheard of in the UK (especially in London, many residents don't own a car) kinda glad I don't live in the US as the public transportation system seems...crap...for the most part outside the major cities. Given the size of the country/cheapness of petrol and the power of the car manufacturing lobbyists I understand why but it would take some getting used to.

I think Eldo you said once, there was only one major passenger train route for Baltimore?

Yep, only one train line runs through Baltimore; the east coast train line is the most heavily travelled in the US, and I believe it's the only one that actually makes money.

I can understand not wanting to pay for a 20 or 30 minute walk, but 70 minutes? how much do these bus tickets cost?

halfwise wrote:

I can understand not wanting to pay for a 20 or 30 minute walk, but 70 minutes?  how much do these bus tickets cost?

I think a return is about £4.80, all day ticket (unlimited travel across the whole county with that company) £6.50 (which is actually rather good value i.m.o), looking at google maps it's apparently about 4.1-4.6 miles into town  depending on the route i go (didn't realize it was that far actually) so that's a 8 mile round trip, maybe that's just me being cheap, but I enjoy walking (basically the only regular exercise I get anyway) and usually walk around quite alot whilst doing shopping or meeting my mates in town anyway (and if I'm meeting a mate in town we might end up getting a train somewhere, no point in paying for two tickets).

halfwise wrote:Yep, only one train line runs through Baltimore; the east coast train line is the most heavily travelled in the US, and I believe it's the only one that actually makes money.

I suppose the major touristy cities on the east coast are relatively close together by US standards, the midwest and south seems to be more spread out?

I take that locally subsided public transport isn't a thing then?

I grew up in Houston, the busses would come every 20 minutes or so. But in a culture where nearly everyone has access to a car, almost nobody would be willing to wait that long for a bus. The more spread out cities moving west are mainly served by private bus companies. I've ridden them quite often and am a fan. But that's only a fraction of transportation: most people will use their own automobiles, and can't really function without them even in the suburbs of big cities.

I could walk 4 miles north to the county line and catch a county transit bus that runs 4 times daily to the nearest town 30 miles away. From there I could branch to other transit lines that would connect to other surrounding communities, some of which only run twice daily. Or I could catch the bus to Olympia, the State Capitol, which would be something like a 3 1/2 hour bus ride but would connect me with the major train and bus lines. Altogether, it would take me about $5 and 6 hours to get to Olympia, or I could drive it in an hour and a half...

Malick's L6.90 (they must have a different keyboard with a script L) sounds quite reasonable. I assume those run at least once an hour. Actually I almost prefer once an hour if it's consistent over more frequent but the times keep changing throughout the day and you have no clue how long you may actually have to wait.

I live 5 miles away from the town center & the bus service where I live is crap ! The bus is meant to come every 20mins but often there's no bus at all, & if one comes along in 45mins count yourself very lucky indeed. Fares are the same for me as with Malick. High priced, especially for the service we get. Winter is a misery with no bus shelter to hide from the rain & wind, &, by the time the bus arrives you are feeling ever so slightly like Hannibal Lecter !!

Yep, give me once an hour with a time you can depend on. That will cover 80% of people's needs. I doubt busses fill up so much they can't cut down on service time for the sake of dependability, saving money in the process. All a bus needs is a few places it can stop and wait for the schedule to catch up while the driver takes a much needed break. Then leave on schedule. If stuck in traffic, shorter breaks until the schedule is caught up.

Every half hour would catch 95% of people's needs. Put big times on each bus stop so you don't have to wander over and squint at the schedule.

I'm not recommending this for the interiors of big cities where people expect nearly instant transport, but out in suburbia and town-to-town routes.

I think Dave's 4-times-a-day boondocks schedule probably has flex time built in so you can reasonably count on it being close.

Eldorion wrote:That sounds very nice, bungo. I hope your insurance covered hail storms though. We don't get a ton of hail around here and I don't think I've ever seen hail larger than shotgun pellets at most.

My insurance does cover hail damage, and I think I got a fair price from my insurance so I used that plus a little extra for the down payment.

We were getting golf ball sized hail that day. I was at work, and the storm was so nasty, you could hear the hail pounding on the roof. Everyone who was at work that day had bad hail damage, and I only heard from a couple coworkers whose vehicles were not totaled.

I've lived in rural areas for most of my life, so I could never afford to not have a car. I like having the freedom to go where and when I want, but I find on my days off I'm usually just taking it easy and not going anywhere, which I'm fine with.

1961 Buick Flamingo with flip round front seat

Looks like you have to open the door for it to spin around?  It's a nice idea, actually.  The only reason they don't have it now is safety issues, I suppose.  But so long as you have a headrest it's safer to crash turned around, so that shouldn't be it.