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#1
12-10-2013, 02:24 PM
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in need of a vehicle
I find myself in a quandry and in need of a vehicle thats reliable...if anyone here has one thats newer, willing to sell (I'm broke) or willing to work with me on one... please let me know...
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hum..... 1987 300TD 311,000M Stolen. Presumed destroyed 
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#4
12-10-2013, 03:32 PM
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Wish I could, J. And "reliable" rules out any of my current fleet.
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 1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15 '06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)
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#5
12-10-2013, 03:38 PM
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"newer" ...count me out...
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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)
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#6
12-10-2013, 03:39 PM
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A little known way to get a good cheap running car.
I agree with the Crown Vic/Lincoln Town Car/Mercury Grand Marquis option.
Absolutely dead reliable and dollar per mile the cheapest safe and roomy car you can buy. ~~~~ The BEST secret place to grab a car cheap that RAN good when last driven are the auctions of cars ABANDONED at long term airport parking lots. Obviously every single one ran when parked. The municipal employees try to keep these auctions a secret as they are supposed to be open to the public, but few people know they even exist. Hardly ever publicized, ever, at all. The airport and city employees who know about these can get a good car for totally cheap, to keep or flip for a quick profit. In San Francisco, they do a sweep of SFO every 3 months or so and pick up a couple of dozen cars. One in awhile, I was told, by a plumber at the airport who was my landlady's b/f back then, they even snag a Rolls Royce, a nice Mercedes or a Jaguar. Cars like that are left there by rich people with the mafia, IRS, or other kinds of bad guys HOT on their tail, they had to leave the country QUICK. Like right now! Just hopped in their car, sped to the Airport, parked the car in long-term, and immediately flew away from the USA forever. It happens. Really. Nab a decent car at the airport auction, have a set of keys cut, and you are on your way.
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 1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ... 1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold) 2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp 1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k 2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive  (sold)
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#7
12-10-2013, 03:43 PM
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Quote:
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#8
12-10-2013, 03:49 PM
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I've picked up a number of decent cheap cars at auction...and agree that the Crown Vic is a cheap car to maintain and quite comfortable. The last car I bought at auction is still running after 3 years...I picked up a '89 Vic for my daughter.
Now, if I could just get her to keep the danged thing cleaned out of garbage on the floorboards...
__________________
 1987 560SL85,000 miles Meet on the level, leave on the square. Great words to live by Were we directed from Washington when to sow and when to reap, we should soon want bread. - Thomas Jefferson: Autobiography, 1821.
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#9
12-10-2013, 04:13 PM
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How a CA. auction works (San Francisco style) my story: from about 2002
Quote:
When you pay the auctioneer, in cash, for the car, the title is cleared, any outstanding parking tickets or liens are erased, and you walk away with the DMV paperwork.. An ignition key can be cut on the spot by on-site vendors for about $25 - $35 or so. You have to get your vehicle out of the impound yard by 5pm that day - no exceptions. I actually went through this one and got a running little 1986 Chevy Cavalier wagon with the 2.0 4 cylinder engine that had been towed for tickets ($1,200 of them unpaid) in San Francisco, for $325. (Obviously it was not worth paying the tickets to get the xcar back). Actually for $225 because each auction of 100 cars lasts 60 seconds, they move fast and I got outbid. But approached the winner in the line and gave him $325 so he gave me the paperwork then and there and made a fast $100 for doing nothing. They remove the license plates off the cars before the auction now, because before, people would buy them and never bother to register them. So you then go to the DMV with the smog certificate, pay the tax, and plate fees, and you get a title and new plates and you are on your way! In the auction you have ONE hour only to look at all 100-110 cars so there isn't much time. What I would do, though, was go to the ones that interested me, open them and honk the horns and turn on the lights, to see if the battery had enough juice to turn over the engine. The little Cavalier wagon did, so I had the key cut there, and the engine came to life with a lusty 4 cylinder roar (the muffler was shot and the muffler bandage wasn"t holding up very well, it was flapping!). My wife was livid I bought such a horrible looking dirty car, but I cleaned it up and got it running. The onsite DMV paperwork got me on the streets of San Francisco, but as the buyer in this case *I* had to get it to pass the smog test, though in other cases, it is always the seller's job to have the car pass smog. The Cavalier wagon needed tires, and a tuneup but little else. I ran it or a few years in SF then gave it away to a friend that needed a car, and he kept if for a couple of years then sold it maybe ten years ago to someone in Monterey, CA after first offering it back to me, at which point I did not need it. One thing about the car, was wonderful. When that thing came roaring into an intersection, NOBODY argued right of way with me. Especially amusing were the faces of little old Chinese ladies driving newish Mercedes diesels when that thing came next to them or at them. The look on their faces was sheer terror!  Which made it a supremely satisfying low stress daily driver in the big city. A different towing company runs the auction now. Here are pic's of some of the cars up right now (the lineup changes weekly) and more details of how it works: (This is not the airport auction though). Municipal Towing Management and Logistics Solutions | AutoReturn
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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ... 1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold) 2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp 1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k 2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)
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#10
12-10-2013, 05:17 PM
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there are no auctions here of such things. abandoned airport cars are towed out by 3 companies in town, if not claimed via registered letter, they are COD'd and shredded. the auto auction you need to be a broker to get into..... my budget is under 1000 if possible...
__________________
hum..... 1987 300TD 311,000M Stolen. Presumed destroyed
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#12
12-10-2013, 05:35 PM
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Reliable for under a grand is going to be tough. At this point you might do what I did in high school: Buy the cheapest running and driving POS you can find, do only the most minimal maintenance on it, drive it until it dies, then repeat.
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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar. 83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles 08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles 88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
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#13
12-10-2013, 05:40 PM
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under a grand is all I Got unless someone finances it to me. that'd be the only way
__________________
hum..... 1987 300TD 311,000M Stolen. Presumed destroyed
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#14
12-10-2013, 08:01 PM
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I got nothin' in those categories.... but I don't mind doing some online searching for ya if you want.
All my cars, except for my wife's, are old and require fairly constant maintenance to be considered close to reliable.
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On some nights I still believe that a car with the fuel gauge on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. - HST 1983 300SD - 305000 1984 Toyota Landcruiser - 190000 1994 GMC Jimmy - 203000  https://media.giphy.com/media/X3nnss8PAj5aU/giphy.gif
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#15
12-10-2013, 08:28 PM
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Search Craigslist.
__________________
1987 560SL85,000 miles Meet on the level, leave on the square. Great words to live by Were we directed from Washington when to sow and when to reap, we should soon want bread. - Thomas Jefferson: Autobiography, 1821.
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