What car to replace my '87 4kq? (long)

[Kent McLean]

Andrew Buc wrote:
> Not sure what you mean by "treat them like refrigerators," 
> or how that relates to the difficulty of finding one in my price range.

They don't perform required maintenance, like oil changes. They expect
the car to run forever without having to care for it.  That lack of
maintenance may turn a "good buy" into a nightmare when you find that
the oil hasn't been changed in 50K miles, and the engine, usually good
for 200K, needs to be rebuilt at 100K.  Most owners are not like this,
but the nature of the beast ("I want an inexpensive, reliable car, as I 
know nothing about cars") means some of those owners really have no clue.

A stack of receipts for maintenance work done (e.g., oil changes at 
recommended intervals) goes a long way to removing that variable from
the picture.

Good luck with the search.

--
Kent McLean
'02 VW Beetle TDI, and a host of ex-Audis, including Bad Puppy