[V8] car searching
Karl D. Middlebrooks
benzeenprophet at hotmail.com
Mon Feb 9 22:00:31 PST 2009
A couple of years ago, a friend owed me some money, and in lieu of cash, she
gave me an 88 Jeep Cherokee Laredo with the 4.0L I-6 engine, and I gotta
say....it wasn't bad; I did a lot of in-town driving in it, it was pretty
easy to work on, and with the I-6 engine, it had decent power and mileage.
I still see them around in reasonably good shape for around $1k (some less,
some more expensive). The thing had about 300k miles on the original engine,
and it hadn't been babied at all. When I got it, it was spraying oil into
the airbox, but a $30 part took care of that. I sold it a few months later
to buy parts for the old Lotus Esprit, but all things considered, I'd buy
one of that vintage again if I had a need.
--------------------------------------------------
From: <diemarthadie at aol.com>
Sent: Monday, February 09, 2009 8:59 PM
To: <dsaad at icehouse.net>; <v8 at audifans.com>
Subject: Re: [V8] car searching
> The problem I have with 90% of SUVs for us is that they are very big but
> poorly packaged so they don't actually hold much for their size.? I'd
> rather a smaller vehicle with better space use.? I'd never buy an
> Explorer.? 3 friends with them ALL had to replace transmissions and/or
> front hubs in less than 60k miles... And I'll never buy a Ford with a 3.8L
> V6 again either (head gaskets fail constantly).? 3.0 V6 is fine.? I'm
> leery of the Subarus as well since we are currently borrowing a Legacy
> that required $3500 in valve/head work at 60k miles!
>
>
>
>
>
> The other SUV issue is that 90% of the driving for this car will be in
> town, short hop driving.? I couldn't do that in the V8 and get better than
> 13mpg.? At least the Legacy is steadily in the low 20s around town.
>
>
>
> John
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> From: Dave Saad <dsaad at icehouse.net>
>
> To: q - V8 <v8 at audifans.com>
>
> Sent: Mon, 9 Feb 2009 11:14 pm
>
> Subject: Re: [V8] car searching
>
>
>
>
> I can't remember your preference for SUVs :-) So if I were me, I
> would go with the Explorer. They are practically free now, and meet
> all of your requirements but gas mileage. About all you have to do to
> make them ride like a car is put on good shocks and tires. The only
> negative I have with them (beside 15MPG around town - that sucks) is
> they eat up front end parts. Even at that, mine have been remarkably
> cheap to own. My '98 is at 150K miles now and going strong. I am very
> likely to get another when this one is done. I bet you could get a
> nice one with under 100K miles for the money you are talking. As for
> the rest of your list, the Subaru is the only one I would stay away
> from. I don't know why those things have the reputation they do. All
> of my data says they get relatively crappy mileage, have no power or
> room or capacity to do anything more than haul your snow board up to
> the ski hill. Oddly, everyone I know that has one is happy as can be to
> replace head gaskets every 50K miles - because they are such darn good
> cars. Dave On Feb 9, 2009, at 8:53 PM, diemarthadie at aol.com wrote:
> > So I find myself in need of a new family hauler.? I'm pondering the
> > bazillion possibilities and trying to decide what makes the most
> > reasonable sense (yes I know Honda Accords make sense, but then so
> > do V8Qs after a couple of beers).? I've decided to enlist you as my
> > assistants in the search since I can't make up my mind...? Here's
> > the scenario: > > > > * You have $4000 to spend on a
> car. > > > > * You do not want a car payment so no more
> than $4000 total.? > > > > * It is possible that you will
> need to spend some small additional > amount state inspecting the
> car if it needs it. > > > > * You need the car to be a
> wagon or large enough hatchback to haul 5 > people (3 are little
> kids) with bikes (3 fit on the tail rack, 2 > probably on roof)
>
> > > > > * 3 kids haul a lot of supplies even just to the
> store, and these > kids might be camping and stuff so too small a
> cargo area is a no go. > > > > * 3 kids can trash an
> interior faster than rabid monkeys so ideally > the car would be
> fully tiled inside and have a drain hole for easy > hosing ;) >
> > > > * You do not want a truck, SUV or Minivan.? I will
> repeat, you do > not want a truck, SUV or Minivan. > > >
> > * AWD is a plus but not a requirement. > > > > *
> Manual is fine, Automatic is a bit better when the kids are >
> singing and poking each other and generally vying more for your >
> attention that the jacknifing tractor trailer up ahead. > > >
> > * You are capable of doing reasonable maintenance at home and have
> > owned German, Swedish, Japanese and American cars.? Your tools
> > include more than 'both kinds of screwdriver'. > > >
> > * You would like said vehicle to survive 3 years and 30,000 miles
> > without exploding or making you homeless.? You are ok with it ending
> > its life in a junkyard in 3 years if it has not made you homeless in
> > the interim. > > > > * You would prefer it came from
> the era of shoulder belts, despite > how cool a Nomad would be as a
> family car.? Airbags are ok too. > > > > * You would
> prefer the car was not a POS, rusted out, 300k miles, > beater.?
> Your family will be seen in this car and your neighbors are > snobs.
> > > > > * High mileage with good maintenance does not scare
> you.? Lack of > verifiable service records scares you. > >
> > > * The dog will be in the car sometimes too... He likes to nose
> the > windows.? > > > > * You would prefer to get a
> lot more than 20mpg in any conditions.? > Deisel or Unleaded is
> fine.? Leaded is not ;) > > > > So, given those parameters
> I've see
>
> n all sorts of things, but the > common items in that range are
> Volvo 240/740/960/850/V70/XC, Subaru > Legacy/Forester, Ford
> Taurus/Focus, Honda Accord Wagon, Toyota Camry > Wagon, Saturn SW2,
> older Mercedes 300 Wagon, Oldsmobuicrolet Wagon, > Audi
> A4/A6/200/100 Avants, etc... The Matrix/Vibe looked possible > but
> they lack cargo space when full of kids and current laws keep me >
> from strapping the kids on the roof rack.? I'm still looking for the
> > right car and could use some additional suggestions or info if you
> > have direct experience with any of these models good or bad.? >
> > > > In other words, given all of the above parameters, what
> would YOU buy? > > > > I know Roger would buy an A4 Avant
> and swap parts with a V8 and such > but I don't have THAT much spare
> time ;) > > > > > > -John > > > >
> > > _______________________________________________ > Audifans
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