Foo - of cars and bikes

It's a sad day indeed..

The thought of having to sell off some of my bikes to replace my car is just killing me. I bought my car 4 years ago (used of course) to get me through school. Unfortunatly, It's pretty much toast and I have one more year left. I could get by without it if I just had to commute to campus, but my clinical rotations are all over the place.

So, I'm stuck looking for a car in the $1500 to $2000 range right now. Craigslist is proving to be less than promising at this point. I work with 2 people who are looking at new cars and would sell me their old ones, but one of them has been saying that for 3 years now.

I just hate being dependant on a vehicle. Unfortunatly at this point in my life there isn't an easy way around it.

Bummer. Cars have their place, though; and it sounds like you need yours. What kind of mechanical abilities do you have? Any buddies with skills? I ask, as you'd be surprised at what you can keep going. One guy I knew in college had a few doozies over the years: one which would stall out if you used the brakes, the other would stall out on left hand turns. Many cars will make tons of noise before they croak--so small noises can be tolerable.

What is making you think your car is gonna quit anytime soon? Also, what makes you think that buying something newer but used is going to somehow be more reliable? If you are worried about the random failure, any car, even new cars can up and decide to not run.

So what is actually wrong with the car you have? Engine, gearbox, brakes or all of the above?! Realistically buying another car could just mean it has a range of different problems to your existing car. It may not of course but it could. I'm of the view, that depending on what is wrong with your car, a lot of the time it is better to fix up the car you have rather than to buy another one.

Yeah, what's wrong with the car you have now? What busted?

Look for a motorcycle? They're cheap and will take you the distance in less time than a bicycle.

You might want to try getting a Vespa; I don't know how expensive (or cheap) they are, but they are small, environmentally friendly and get you places.

I'm sorry that you have to sell one of your bikes. I hope it works out for you!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_F76ySzk48

Sorry for not responding...for some reason I never got an email saying anyone replied. I forgot to subscribe.

As far as the car goes, it's an electrical issue. My brother picked the car (1997 Mazda Protege) up in Florida for me and drove it up to michigan. it had 97k miles on it then, and has 142k on it now.

Since day one, the OBDII scanner would not link with the computer. Over time I've, doing maintainence, repairs, washing and such I've noticed many things. The engine wiring harness has been hacked up and piced together and all taped up. There are many wires under the hood with burn marks on them and many wires spliced in to replace old ones. Upon further inspection, the electrical tape the wires are wrapped in is caked with sand. The whole surface of the roof is bondo, and there are other signs that the car has hail and water damage.

The car runs ok sometimes, but hesitates and acts like it's losing fuel or spark when I try to accelerate other times. Many times keeping a constant speed it shakes stumbles and startes slowing down. If I push in the clutch and rev it, it will sometimes be ok for a little while. It's an intermittant problem that has gotten to a point where it's not very drivable.

there's also a 96 exhaust pipe that has rusted out.

in the last 2 years I have replaced the muffler, clutch (and all related parts), battery, alternator, struts, strut mounts, springs, tie rods, ball joints, one axle shaft and various other little things.

Those who said it may be better to fix it are right. For what I have to work with I will not find a car that has had all the work done to it that I have done to mine. I will become the owner of a new set of problems.

Luckily, my brother will allow me to use his Cherokee until I figure this all out. My sister also has a friend who is a mechanic at a Buick dealership who is willing to help me.

So basically I'm going to have to start by finding a wiring harness for the engine and cleaning up that mess. The problem being actually finding one for this car. If that doesn't solve the problem it may at lease allow the computer to link with the scanner.

THanks everyone