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One that's in our price range: 87 GMC Jimmy.
All I was told on the phone:
About 110,000 km on new engine (2.8 L) and 4 speed automatic tranny. 4X4. Maximum towed weight, a racing motorcycle on a trailer. Battery is new. 2 ball joints and power plant have been replaced within the last 1.5-2 years. Used regularly to and from work, guy lives in the country about an hour from here with family. Body fair, no holes, frame and floor solid.
Thoughts? Experiences to share about this make and model? I have many questions.
What's the durability like on the front suspension? It's a 4x4. Can I expect any problems? How hardy are the ball joints?
If I buy it I don't plan on using the 4x4 option much - perhaps in winter if needed for safety. I'm not into going off-road, I don't speed and I have nothing to tow, only I take family and my bass gear to shows sometimes.
Does the transfer case need much attention to maintain it? Should I engage it periodically to keep it lubricated or should I just pull the front drive shaft and completely forget about it?
Underbody - can I traditionally expect much corrosion on the frame and brake lines?
U-joints and wheel bearings - do they require regular maintenance?
How are the front brakes for durability? Do they warp easily?
What size of gas tank do they usually come with?
If you don't explicitly need one, don't buy it.
Everything from the transfer case forward is merely carried along with the rest of the vehicle when in 2wd operation. Even though it serves no function, in this particular case, you will still experience wear.
Speaking of wear and tear, it's difficult to assess the viability of an older vehicle unless you have a very knowledgable 4x4 junkie to look the thing over first.
If you're not going to carry things around in the bed, keep in mind that all that detracts from it's functionality. Can only carry one passenger.
Hey, the thing is 15+ years old.
I'm not a wealthy man (not anymore if I ever really was).....I'm bankrupt and unemployed for the last 15 months. No work here I'm qualified for (day job training is in electronics engineering as well as in music), many shut down businesses, and minimum wage burger jobs simply won't pay the rents here in this 40 year old building I've lived in for the last 14 years.
I'm just grateful for this but need to know the pitfalls.
Yes, I do anticipate carrying items in the back. I've been starting to try and make a living as a musician and my wife working at her business job part time in the banking sector (mailroom services).
I've never needed 4 wheel drive before but I don't have the luxury to choose. If it comes with something like this and it's in my price range (which is under $1000) then I have to take it.
I just need to get as much DIY maintenance advice from someone who has owned and taken care of one.
Get online and see if you can find one of those sites which catalogs accidents the vehicle may have been in (I hear the ads on the the tv behind me in passing, but can't come up with a site name right now - sorry!)
Another thing you ought to look up online if you can is what the actual fuel mileage is likely to be on a vehicle of that sort, and one that's that old.
The only other red flag I can think of offhand is whether the 4wd is any good at all still. If it hasn't been used at least a little every year, it may not function well or properly. If you don't ever NEED it, that's not a major problem unless the seals go. But if you get stranded in a ditch in a snowstorm and you NEED it and it doesn't work, well....
[edited by: lawman at 6:32 am (utc) on Jan. 19, 2005]
[edit reason] modified to conform to WW terms [/edit]
My car - the 84 Grand Prix - may have 1000 little faults. It's a pig on gas with it's V8. It's not getting any younger. The emergency brake release handle hangs loose, the front rotors are warped, the door bottoms and rocker panels are rotted, there's a couple of holes in the rear wheel wells, the front wheel wells are rotting.
The Jimmy's body was fair, doors needed some work but had no holes, there was a quarter-sized hole in the back pillar.
Soon as I started it though the roar was incredible. Too much ice and snow to see under it (or to even drive it) but it smells like a broken exhaust before the catalytic. Who knows what else might be broken along with that? Imagine trying to drive that back the 120 km under a temporary tag - I'd get poison gassed by the time I was 20 km away. It runs like crap too, the idle is all over the place and misfiring.
My old beast parked next to the Jimmy......the old beast runs so smoothly, no exhaust containment issues, plenty of power. It's just the issue of the body disintegrating and the busted passenger seat mounting stud.
If it wasn't for the exhaust problem I might take a chance.
I'll try spinning the wheel of luck once again.
You can have it for $950. I mean this sincerely. I inherited the car when my dad died, and we don't really need it - that was 3 years ago, and we've put maybe 2k miles on it (most of that taking it somewhere to be serviced!) Obviously if you live a million miles from here, it's a no go for now. But we still take the best care of it, we hardly use it except to keep it in good shape, so if life changes for you, you let me know, hear?
I live nowhere near Utah though - I live in southern Ontario, just outside of Toronto.
But bless you and thank you for your kindness and generosity! :)
I'll sticky you with an email addy off-list. I'll talk things over with my husband, and we'll see what we can come up with that's workable.
Never say never - and always give "hope" a place in your life.
mazda van 1993 - $200 - scarborough
[toronto.craigslist.org...]
or
1990 CHEVROLET CAVALIER ===CHEAP=== - $950
[toronto.craigslist.org...]
disclaimer - i have *nothing* to do with these postings.
Try to hold out and buy something relatively local. Someday I'll share some of my insider stories of people flying halfway across the country and getting a "fine piece of machinery" that amounts to junk bid above high retail on the likes of Ebay.
Once you've invested to the point of a long trip in a used vehicle, there is a psychological trap to go ahead and get it despite warning signs. A car is one of the biggest investments we make in life; marry in haste, repent at leisure. Or, would you be happy with a mail order bride, too? ;)
plumsauce - what I needed was a truck to help me move. But thanks for the link about the car. The mazda sounds like it's too far gone to be put back on the road.
