Car hunt update: I got to ride along on two test drives today. I say ride along since I had Jeff drive them for me! I suck at manual so I didn't feel like embarrassing myself. First was the '89 Mitsubishi Colt. The exterior was decent with just a few bit of rust along the faded paint. The interior, on the other hand, was well aged. Not well aged like a wine, cheese, or whiskey, but well aged like that a high school cafeteria mom. Bits of plastic were broken in just about every spot, including the turn indicator. It was so broken that Jeff could barely get it to work at all. The engine was in pretty good shape, but the clutch was really soft.
Next up was the '92 Camaro. The owner was about 10 minutes late, but all was forgiven when I saw the quality of this car. There is a slight dent just behind the driver side door that is starting to rust and there is a modicum of rust above the rear passenger wheel well. Other than that, the vehicle looked practically new! The interior was a bit worn, but no damage. The clutch was in good shape, the stereo is brand new, the tires are new, the battery is new and most of the suspension was new. Needless to say, I was pretty impressed. It was only an RS, which means that it has 140 HP but 180 lb-ft of torque (and still better than the 130 HP and 135 lb-ft in my Focus!). Since the car is in such good shape, I really doubt that I will be able to talk him down from the $2,000 price.
Considering how impressed I was with the car, I called up my insurance agent. If I add a second car to my policy, it will drop the price on the Focus from $672 to $637. Full coverage on the Camaro would be $298 and just the basics will get run me $198. Not that bad at all! I was originally considering paying for a parking spot in a lot near my apartment, but then I realized that I should be able to park at work. As long as I swap cars at least once a week and move the cars around every other day, I shouldn't get in trouble from security. As soon as they say something, I will pay for the lot ($50/month).
If I don't think of anything I've forgotten and no one else says this is a dumb idea, I think I'm going to buy it on Monday. I'd love to have it for the weekend, especially while Kat is gone, but I really shouldn't make a rash decision.
Next up was the '92 Camaro. The owner was about 10 minutes late, but all was forgiven when I saw the quality of this car. There is a slight dent just behind the driver side door that is starting to rust and there is a modicum of rust above the rear passenger wheel well. Other than that, the vehicle looked practically new! The interior was a bit worn, but no damage. The clutch was in good shape, the stereo is brand new, the tires are new, the battery is new and most of the suspension was new. Needless to say, I was pretty impressed. It was only an RS, which means that it has 140 HP but 180 lb-ft of torque (and still better than the 130 HP and 135 lb-ft in my Focus!). Since the car is in such good shape, I really doubt that I will be able to talk him down from the $2,000 price.
Considering how impressed I was with the car, I called up my insurance agent. If I add a second car to my policy, it will drop the price on the Focus from $672 to $637. Full coverage on the Camaro would be $298 and just the basics will get run me $198. Not that bad at all! I was originally considering paying for a parking spot in a lot near my apartment, but then I realized that I should be able to park at work. As long as I swap cars at least once a week and move the cars around every other day, I shouldn't get in trouble from security. As soon as they say something, I will pay for the lot ($50/month).
If I don't think of anything I've forgotten and no one else says this is a dumb idea, I think I'm going to buy it on Monday. I'd love to have it for the weekend, especially while Kat is gone, but I really shouldn't make a rash decision.