Old Valdez Trail
New Member
- Joined
- November 8, 2015
- Messages
- 4
- Reaction score
- 0
- City, State
- Fairbanks, Alaska
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 1992 Sport
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.
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.