Thread: Goodbye to a friend.

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My decision just became a whole lot easier tonight. The engine in my daily driver Honda blew up big time. Dan had to come rescue me and tow me with his truck to the shop. I knew it was getting tired (170,000 miles) but a daily to me is just point A to point B, and I got over the "have to have a new car" thing years ago. But now I can start looking for a new car. Not sure what I am going to buy, but Don has been sending me ads for various brands and models, so I have a bunch to choose from.

Someone was looking out for me because this all happened in a way that could have been worse if the T hadn't sold.

Don

At this age I mean stage of the game I am going for warranty. I had been in sales for 40 years and except for a couple cars I bought right I was always upside down when it was time to change. GM 100K mile warranty sounds good and even the Hyundai has one. Both have some cool cars!

I thought 170,000 was just getting broken in for a Honda. I have nearly 190,000 on the 318 in my Dakota and except for a little smoke on start up it purrs like a kitten.

Originally Posted by NTFDAY

I thought 170,000 was just getting broken in for a Honda. I have nearly 190,000 on the 318 in my Dakota and except for a little smoke on start up it purrs like a kitten.

Yeah, Hondas do go further sometimes, but this one has been ridden hard and put away wet most days. It spent most of it's life with lowered suspension, mags, and ribbon tires, when my Son Dan owned it. It also towed a boat and utility trailer a lot, like two trips to Atlanta, bringing home a Model A and a 39 Dodge pickup. We also made a trip to Shreveport La and the Panhandle of Florida, bringing back a empty trailer one trip and a Model A sedan body the next time.

The worst thing though is that I didn't do anything to it other than put gas in it. No scheduled maintenance, and the timing belt was the original, at 170,000 miles. So for it to hold up that long being abused is quite a testiment to Honda.

On another subject, the new owner of my 23 picked it up today. Strangely enough, I really am fine with it. He owns 8 cars already, and it is a compliment that he wants mine for his collection. I guess the fact I had a week to adjust to it being sold helped too.

Here are a couple of pictures of the new owner getting ready to leave for Sarasota. He was heading right for a car show being held there tonight. The last picture is of Dan before it was picked up. As you can see by his expression, he is not very happy about the T leaving us.

Don

Dan don't look happy Don but the new owner looks stocked.

Paul

Yeah Paul, I really felt bad for Dan, more than anything. I know he is sad because he thinks I am sad, but I really am ok with this all. He keeps asking me "are you sure you are ok with selling it?" I enjoyed it for 3 years, it was a terrific car in all respects, and now it is time to move on. Dan has promised to help me build a new frame for the 29 RPU after New Years, and I am excited about that car a lot. Plus, the 27 is weeks away from driving it, so why should I be sad?

The new owner is a car guy and a nice guy too, so that makes me happy.

Don

Oh Paul, and I still have that flathead and all the other parts I got from you, so maybe I can still build the replica of this cool little roadster, that I have always liked.

Don

That's kewl ... I still post a "search" post for my Dads 1934 chop'd top p/u that he offered me but I didn't have the foresight to take it no matter what.

Oh well ... lesson learned.

From what I've seen you guys do ... anything you put your hands on will turn out well.

Paul

The two girls would have sealed the deal for me. HE! HE! HE!
As long as you got your money out of it you did good.
I always seem to take a loss, when I was younger.

Kurt, I know what you mean........I always take a bath on stuff too, but I was ok on where we ended up on the T. Things have been nuts the last couple of days though. First he was picking up the T, then I listed my old Honda on Craigslist and must have had 15 calls on it. Today a guy bought it and towed it away. He and his Son are taking VoTech classes and are going to fix it there........good for him, that makes me happy to see them going to fix it up.

Finally, I am SICK of looking at cars to replace the Honda! I must have looked at 30 so far, and nothing that I want to buy. Dan and I drove about 50 miles last night to see one that was advertised as "Grandmas car." When we got there we found out Grandma must have been an offroader.......there were dents everywhere. The check engine light was on and when I asked about that they told me their mechanic said not to worry about it, that is Honda's way of getting you in for service!

Luckily, my ex-wife has loaned me her car so I am able to go see potential cars. It's really a pain having the money in your pocket and not being able to find one you would buy..........but the search goes on.

Don

Hey Don isn't that always the case???

Good luck.

Paul

Yeah, I don't know why people can't just be more honest when describing their cars for sale. The guy who bought my Honda said it was the best Craigslist ad he had ever seen because I went into every detail about the good and bad of the car. (I've NEVER been known to be not wordy ) But I tried to paint a picture of exactly what the guy was going to see when he drove clear over to see it........no surprises. It's not like they are not going to see all the bumps and bruises with their own eyes anyway.

Sometimes I wonder if the cars I am looking at are the same ones in the ad. They all look so good in the pictures, and I have never seen so many cars with 40,000 miles that look like they have run the Baja 1,000. And some people don't even have the sense to clean up the car before they advertise it. I even washed and cleaned the Honda first, and it has a blown engine! Maybe that it why is sold in an hour.

Don

Don you might as well take your time. Nothing like rushing to buy something you don't really want. I know exactly what you mean about the craigslist adds. Far to many scammers and baiters out there. I now grill them over the phone, before considering a drive. You can usually tell by how willing they are to talk about thier car, or whatever, about what to expect, but every once in a while someone will pull a fast one, and get you out there to look at a total piece of @$#% that nobody wants!

Hey Don; I know exactly what you are saying.
I have given away better cars then some of these guys with nothing but junk are trying to get top dollers for. They wanna act like the car has a solid gold lining.
I gave away a 69 buick Le Sabre with a brand new Turbo 400 with a Doug Nash shift kit in it. The interior needed work mainly just the seats, Carpet dash and door panels were all good. Body was all preped for a new paint job there was not one ding in the whole car. It had true spoke rims with low profile tires, they were probably worth about 2,000 bucks. The chrome was all perfect and no rust either, side molding was remove and all the holes were filled in and smoothed out, nice. I was giving the car away to get it out of the drive. This guy says he wanted it and will be over to get it, when he gets there he starts telling me he needs something to tow it away. I just started laughing at him.
I said just leave it there someone else would love that car for free.
About a hour later I had another guy come up and almost passed out when he seen how clean the car was. It looked more like a old chevy Impala then a buick Le Sabre
Everything was there and everything worked except the engine was blown.
He tried to give me some money but I told him he was doing me a favor By getting it out of my drive. And off he went with a big smile on his face. Plus he had a little extra cash for his new rebuild. Kurt

yup. I know how it feels. a friend of mine, told me about a truck he used to own, and it was for sale fairly cheap, so I went to look at it.. it was a 1990 Bronco, looked good on the outside, started, ran good and transmission was smooth and tight.. but driving it down the road, it felt like the rear end was loose, and when I gave it some gas, the rear started to bunny hop like a ghetto vehicle. shocks were good, and shackles were intact and solid, so I'm not sure what was wrong... it's between that and the tire kickers I get with my Beetle.. lots of calls, and 1 guy sounded serious about it, and wanted to set up a time to look at it.. when I called him, he asked a couple questions, and then asked/ confirmed the price, and then asked if it was firm. and at that point, I knew he was a tire kicker. so I told him yes, it was and that is what I had in the car, and I had searched local craigslist and Thesamba to verify my price was fair before I posted my craigslist listing.. then I got the " yea, I know the old beetles are expensive ", and just said he would call back. but never did