Son bought his first vehicle today...

[jplinville]

My mechanic called me to let me know that he thought he had found the perfect starter vehicle for my son. He had a customer that had owned this vehicle since new, and he had recently passed away. Since nobody in the guy's family wanted it, and nobody thought it was worth much, it was given to my mechanic. My mechanic has been the only person to have his hands on the vehicle other than the owner. It was brought to him twice a year for check ups, oil changes, and anything else the owner wanted. Once a year, the frame and underbody was sprayed down with used motor oil...an old school method to protect the metal and stave off rust. It's a pretty effective way to do it, apparently, since the frame is rust free under the grime.

My son and I went out the mechanic's house to take a look at what he had...a 1992 Chevy S-10 4X2 with 4.3L and automatic. It's nothing spectacular, but it's very solid and runs like new. 80,002 miles on the odometer with a solid cab, and a bed that only needs one corner replaced, due to rust. The passenger fender was dinged pretty good by the original owner's grandson while pulling it out from under the carport. The paint is badly faded, which seems to be quite typical of these trucks...I used to have a 1990 version and the paint was fading before the last payment was made. The mechanic has a fender in his barn that he's going to swap to the truck. He did the brakes and brake lines a couple of months ago when the old man brought it in for service...the first set of brakes he remembers the truck ever needing.

My son and the mechanic settled in on a price. Since the mechanic didn't pay a dime for the truck, and is only performing minimal labor to adjust and clean a few things (basic pre-winter work) he's selling it to my son for $1500...a great price for a vehicle that's not rotted out around here. I took it out for a test drive first, and it's a good running and handling vehicle...one I'd be pleased to have as a grocery getter/town runner.

My mechanic and I had already discussed pricing, and had an agreed upon price, but I wanted my son to get some time negotiating with him, so I sat back and watched the two of them bicker a bit. I was rather pleased to see my son step back from the truck and threaten to walk away over $50 on the price. My mechanic gave me a wink before he finally folded. At least my he got that practice. He did a pretty good job on his end of it, and even negotiated the first oil change into the deal.

He'll get to pick it up around Thanksgiving, after the passenger fender and headlight is replaced. The dent isn't bad at all, and could be bumped out, but the mechanic wants to make it straight. The sealed beam headlight has some moisture in it, so it needs replaced. It's also going to have the differential drained and filled, as well as the fuel tank cleaned before it's signed over.

The interior is super clean, and only needs the headliner replaced...it's dropping in the corner. Other than that, it's nearly perfect inside. My son will have to have the windshield replaced due to delam in the bottom corner. Overall, not a bad vehicle for $1500.

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