Sentimental value

[Old Valdez Trail]

I picked up mine at a municipal auction in July 2014 for $675. It's a black 1992 Sport with 172,000 miles when I bought it.

Before I could even get it out of the auction yard, I had to run down to Napa and get a new battery for ~$120. She started right up, but had no lights. Apparently someone had pulled most of the fuses. Fine, another $5 for fuses. Lights work, and I drove it home 370 miles back to Fairbanks. Drafting behind a tour bus most of the way, I managed 23 mpg during that trip.

Since then, I've replaced:
Alternator - $95
Lower Intake Manifold Gasket - $70
AWOL Thermostat - $7
Door Hinge Pins - $30
and Front Brake Pads - $40


This is all due to the work people on this forum have done in documenting their repairs for (very) amateur mechanics such as myself.

For a long time, I had a habit of buying $1000 cars and just driving them for a year or two until they quit, but this thing is just so dang versatile and easy to drive that I found myself getting attached. I started thinking I might just take that $1000/yr and put it into one vehicle and see what happens. It still beats making payments on something newer.

The way I see it, if something goes out and I replace it, I know it's new. The longer I own it, the less of a crap shoot it is and the more reliable it gets. It's at 181k now, after 20 mi commuting every day for the last 16 months, from 80 above to 40 below, along with the occasional fishing trip. Still doing good, and if I have to replace a tranny or engine then fine. At least then I'll know it's new.

 

[Deleted member 128963]

Sentimental Value something awful...

I can understand the sentimental value of my first gen 1994 Explorer Limited 4X4 4Dr. I have always done most of the maintenance on it since I bought it in Massachusetts in October 1994. Yep, she was a newborn with that new car smell when I took delivery one snowy evening. My Explorer turned 21 in September and still runs strong. Here's something you don't see often, but it has the original engine and transmission after 193000 miles and it all works though there is just a little hesitation in the final shift. But, it did spend a lot of time in the snow and salt in Mass and New Hampshire. The problem I had was the roof rack began to leak. I am now 60 years old and after some serious health problems I just can't crawl over and under to maintain it my self anymore. If I knew I was going to live this long I would have taken better care of my self. So, I guess I will have to find it a good home and start looking for used car. I am sure it is not worth much as a trade in, but might be worth a little more to someone who will give it a good home. It will kill me to see someone drive it out of here, but I will have to hope they take good care of it. If anyone is interested, shoot me a message. I live in Lutz, Florida, just north of Tampa.
Sentimental? Yes. I have kept it this long because it has given me good service, but I think it is time to let go.

 

[YBCold]

me personally its just cheaper to fix to than to buy from dealer ship, i was gonna buy a 6,087 dollar escape at the dealership but because i am a student without credit they bumped it to 11 thousand and some change on a 2 year term at...27% so for the same down payment of 3000 i could get my engine and tranny rebuilt (I think).