My wife drives a 98 Honda Civic. Actually I drive it too, since I sold my pick up to fund our move accross country. She is understandably sick of this little turd-box auto. She has been working diligently to get her credit rating respectable (something for which I’m very proud of her, but I digress).
Here’s the thing - she wants to get a new car, or should I say a different car. That is to say, she wants to own a vintage auto. Now I like this idea myself. I have suggested a '68 Camaro or a '72 Charger, or some sort of muscle car. And she agrees that those particular cars would be really “boss” to own and/or drive.
Here’s the question - Neither one of us has ever owned old cars such as these, and neither one of us are particularly mechanically inclined. We can change oil and spark plugs and little things like that, but there’s no way we could do anything major, like an overhaul or whatever (I’m so much NOT a car guy, I don’t even know what might have to be done to it). It just seems to me that anyone I’ve ever seen who owns a really cool car like that, is the kind of person who has permanently motor-oil-staind finger nails.
Must one be a whiz-bang mechanic to own a vintage muscle car? Should we bite the bullet and trade the Civic in for a VW Bug? She we scrap the whole idea and buy bicycles?
Of course you’ll pay a lot more to have someone do most of the maintenance for you, but sure, you can find a mechanic. Here’s two ways to do it.
Look around town at various body shops until you find the ones that seem to specialize in old cars. Strike up a conversation with the owner and see which mechanics he recommends.
Once you decide on which old car you want, head over to the dealer (assuming you’re not looking at a marque like AMC that doesn’t exist anymore) and ask the service manager if any of the old mechanics who were really familiar with those models have their own shops.
Jack, I HAVE to ask: Are you serious? Your wife’s car is barely two years old. Is it all paid for yet? You mentioned in another thread that you were short on funds, right? Can you even afford a second car? Are you planning on selling your Honda for another car?
Dude!! Your wife might not like her car, but Hondas tend to run really well for a really long time. Unless you guys are in a position to afford the maintenance of an older muscle car, why don’t you guys just have a little patience? You know, they say you don’t really get your money’s worth unless you keep your car for 10 years. Obfusciatrist and I are still puttering around in my '93 Ford Festiva, and we fully plan to keep it two more years so I can get my money’s worth (and yes, it’s even fully paid for). We’re taking that time to save money so we don’t have to take out a car loan when we buy our next car.
I just got rid of my Camry for a Camaro, and I love it. I might suggest a 3rd generation Camaro if you’re on a budget. They are easy to work on, parts are cheap and plentiful, and they make great daily drivers. They are good-looking and fast, and mine gets 19-26 mpg, with a V8! Just something to consider anyway. They are comfortable and are easy to live with on a day to day basis. They make a nice hot-rod on a budget anyway.
Have to agree with Baglady on this one. You want to swap a reliable, cheap, safe, insurable car for a gas guzzling maintenance nightmare whose only safety feature is the sheer mass of its V8 engine? All for the sake of sheer horsepower? That’s a deal that only makes sense to a sixteen year old male.
I see the logic. Don’t you? They want something fun. To hell with safety and gas mileage, they want to exercise their rights as Americans.
Sounds good to me…
Those cars are a lot of fun and I hate to be a dream killer, ('70 'stang myself) but I would not get one for a daily driver, and I consider myself a decent car guy. First, cars back then were just not build as well(pre Japan auto revolution ) It was pretty much accepted that things would break almost monthly, but you would know how to fix it quickly. Second there are a lot of 30 year old parts on the car, and they will go bad fairly regularly. Third gas milage on a '72 charger is just frightining, if there is any lengthy commute involved. Fourth they have no safely equipment and the like, the only theory was if we put enough steel in the chassis you’ll probably live. Those cars were build for straight-ahead power, and not much else. Unless someone did some upgrades, they are noisy, uncomfortable seating, have bad steering characteristsics, out of date breaks, and don’t have a cooling system that was designed for todays traffic jams.
on the plus side, licensing them is real cheap, a car with a MSRP of $3000 depreciated for 30 years costs nothing to license.
So if your not experienced with cars, don’t get an old muscle car and expect it to take you to work uneventfully everyday like… oh say a '98 Honda Civic would. They are fun, but I would get confortable with any car like that as a hobby before I depended on it.
I appreciate all the input. I will take all into consideration and definetly inform my lovely wife as to my findings. But, I must address a few things.
BagLady - relax. Jeez, I was looking for a little advice not a mom-like thrashing. Yes, I am a little short of funds today. I.e. - I just paid all my bills and I have nothing in my pocket at the moment. But I do have a savings account and a job, as does my wife. And she has good credit and collateral for a loan, so a new car isn’t totally out of the question.
And what can I tell you. Yeah it’s a two year old car, but we hate it. No originality, no pick-up. She got it when she was just getting back on her feet, financially speaking, and it was just about the only thing she could afford. Now that she is doing much better, she want a new car. What’s wrong with that? I refer you to . . .
Bingo. God Bless America. And God Bless Rampant Consumerism.
DO NOT go to a Chrysler/Jeep dealer for anything related to pre-'88 Jeep…AMHIK…maybe I’ll start a thread about “times you want to kill the parts counter guy”…
Been there, done that, the 84 vette sits in the garage gathering cobwebs.
My bro just bought a 97 Honda Civic EX (means sunroof). It’s a great little car. He’s a professional stereo installer, so it is ‘booming’ now. He’s in the process of doing other little things, like addind a screen and DVD and things like that…
My suggestion? Upgrade your car. That Honda is good on the gas, especially when it costs more now than it ever did. Put a new exhaust, new intake. See about improving certain engine aspects. It will get more pickup and a little better gas mileage. Pick up a copy of Import World or something like that. THey are always talking about this stuff in those mags. You’d be surprised how much you could improve your car with only a little $$$.
Besides, those Hondas are like the most common import around, so parts are easy to find.
Jack Batty chided: “BagLady - relax. Jeez, I was looking for a little advice not a mom-like thrashing.”
Heh heh. It’s just the maternal side in me coming out.
I once almost bought a 65 Charger…for about $700.00 But did not. I just sit in the guys yard [the guy did a great job on it too] for a couple years later.
What changed my mind on that was having the cops pull me over all the time in that thing.
No offense taken, Baglady. In fact, you made me a little homesick. If you had reminded me to wear clean underwear everyday, I probably would have broke down in tears.
Wolfman called it right.
The wife of a friend of mine, who is used to driving a Triumph, decided that she wanted a “classic” Chevy. We all drove out together so she could check out a '57. She seemed a little disgruntled on the way home. “What a barge!” she said, “what a barge!”. I remember reading an interview with Elvira; someone asked her about the MacabreMobile (a '58 T-bird); she used almost the exact same words.
The old cars have charisma, but your Honda is probably twice the car the Camaro would be, from a reliability, gas mileage, and driving pleasure standpoint.
As an occasional, sunny-day car, sure, get the musclecar. For everyday commuter use, keep the Honda.