Geeto67

I don't really know if it qualifies as "fast" but mark v and mark vi GTi VWs are pretty nice. It's a lot of useable car for the money. My brother loved his '06 and my wife loves her A3. I know it is wrong wheel drive but if you are the kind of person that is worrying about rwd in snow then maybe you need a cheap rwd winter beater to get you acclimated to driving in the white stuff before spending on a nice car. I drove my wrangler all last winter in 2wd without an airbag, traction control, or ABS (it's a 1995 and the transfer case was busted) and never once gave it a second thought but then again I have been doing it all my life. I once drove my GTO 6 hours through a blizzard to get to a Bruce Springsteen concert so...either you fear weather or you don't. Just had a new camaro v6 auto as a rental last week. I can't say enough nasty things about that car from the cheesy 1980's limo lighting to the weak as wet toilet paper and poor shifting auto. Cheap and cheesy was the order of the day. I really wanted to like this car I really did, and it has some great stuff when you look at it from the outside but if I had to live with it? No thanks. Wrx is a good car. They are out there for under $20k but you really have to look. Don't buy a modded one.

who determines "nicest car in the show" and what is the criteria? not that I am a contender, but more just curious to see.

There are certainly a lot of C&C around town. Apparently there is a "B.S. and Bikes" at Marysville Honda motorsports at the same time.

what about that "other" cars and coffee group that's all exotics and stuff? where do they meet?

what Dublin C&C?

just so you know....here is a very high level basics view of how laws work in this country: The smaller you get in the government, the more narrow the laws can get not broader. The State can be MORE restrictive than the federal government, the County can be more restrictive than the state, the town or township or local government can be more restrictive than the county. But the smaller government can not "overwrite" the authority of the larger one, it can just build of what is already established. Completely fictional example just to make a point: the federal government says the state needs to track vehicle ownership, the state develops a license plate and title system and sets the rules for plates, the country can require you to not use a license plate bracket to obscure the registration sticker, and the township can tell you the plate must be a certain height off the ground and not placed on your dashboard. Each successive law is both enforcing what is already there, plus adding something. The township can not tell you you do not need a front plate if the county or the state already determined you do. So, to say local "trumps" state law is wrong - but local can be more restrictive. I have never been to H2O but from what I hear not ever ticket is undeserved, but at the same time the fact that OC MD has determined they don't want it their town and have written very specific laws to target this group via automotive violations is sending a pretty clear message.

where are you seeing this - I go to chryco's website and all I see is $5K in the incentives area? I must be missing something.

does any of this apply to the v8 models?

couple of things to add to your ad that might make it more attractive: - is it the original numbers matching engine? old cars like this are always more attractive and worth more as numbers matching than if it had an engine replacement at some point in its life. If you don't know how to tell here is some info - On the 390 Thunderbird engine the engine identification tag is located under the left front intake manifold attaching bolt, it if it not the original engine or you still can't tell don't mention it: http://www.fordification.com/tech/enginetagcodes_6572cars.htm - Is it the original exterior/interior color combo? Obviously the outside has been repainted but what does the data plate tell you? There are some T-bird guys who are looking for some of the rarer color Thunderbirds (emberglo, frost turquoise, Phoenician Yellow) cars and you might have one and not know it. It may not add value but it might get more people interested. If you need help decoding the data plate here: http://www.tbird.org/DataPlate/vdata.htm - Emphasis that the common rusted areas are solid. 64-66 T-birds tend to rust/rot in the rear floor and sill area as well as the base of the roof (esp if a landau top) , so if those are not thin, weak, or otherwise rotted then noting that the could seem more attractive. - Does it have A/C? I thought I saw A/C vents and a compressor under hood. Sometimes A/C in an old car is very attractive. if so - mention it. Good luck with sale.

60's power steering units are floaty. There should be an underdrive pully to take some of that out but I would consider a steering box upgrade as well as ditching your rag joint for a U-joint. As long as you have the wheels might as well put big disc on there as well. They measure stopping distance of those old land yachts in miles not feet. Though to be fair it looks like you have the best drums from that era - the big finned buick aluminum drums. 401's are thirsty mothers too...but nothing that a BOP bolt patterned built 200R4 couldn't handle.

I know it is not on the list but I've been considering a Nissan Frontier Quad cab for a while because manual transmission + 4x4 + base model crank windows + 4.0L v6 + MSRP 1/2 of anything mentioned above. But then again I am a fan of "small" trucks like the S-10 and the ranger. Trucks have not been exempt from the "bloat" that model refreshes that come around - most "midsize" trucks these days are bigger than a 1990s fullsize chevy 1500. Then again - I imagine driving a girls truck in Texas would inspire your buddies to call you all variations of the word sissy. It's a real go big or go home bro trick state. FWIW anything aluminum bodied is hugely expensive to fix. You can't just slap some filler on it and call it a day if you get a dent since most fillers won't take.

I didn't know they made the M5 in america from a sound perspective I personally think the R8 v8 sounds better than the V10, an the Lambo v-12s better than the v10. Even the Lambo Jalpa v-8 sounds better. I have never heard a Carrera GT in real life so I have no comment other than to say Porsches always sound...distinctive. I don't really like the way the viper and the trucks with v10s sound, even though I know Mopar put a huge amount of time and effort into not making them sound like Ford's V10 (THE worst sounding v-10 of all time). Of course compared to a Honda Civic with a fart can muffler anything sounds better so it is a matter of perspective.

this is one of my favorite websites, but admittedly it is a little biased: http://photographyisnotacrime.com/

and they sound like crap. Seriously I have never heard a "good" sounding V-10.

E39 BMW m5 v8. From 1997-2003. A little old but they are far and away better than the v10 cars that replaced them. Easier to fix than the v10, and more in line with a 3 series in terms of repair costs. Plus manual transmission. An under 100k mile 2003 example should be mid to high $20k which shows how popular these cars are and how shallow the depreciation curve is on them. I like the e46 BMW m3, but run the other direction from an smg trans one.

I'm the complete opposite, if I could get roll up windows and a cloth interior on a platform I really like (like a BMW 3 series) I would. So it makes sense I don't understand the mentality. I've been burned too many times on expensive new gadgets that didn't last the year. Looking at the 200, there aren't a lot of useless options, though I am a bit cheesed off they make you pay for sun visor vanity mirrors. I was going to suggest you look at 320i bmws because stripped out you can get them right in your price range with AWD but if you need the auto dining opera lighting and the position memory seats you'll be over $40k in no time. fWIW, a charger RT AWD with all available options clocks in around $38k on dodges website, but that's not an R/T plus or max.

I'm curious, why fully loaded? there are some great platforms out there for enthusiasts if you can live without the toys, and some of these modern gadgets seem kinda like a waste of money. Not knocking your decision just seems strange you have to have "fully loaded".

I'm 6'5" and 300lbs. Skinny isn't in my vocabulary;)

bigger? really? why? damn Iphone 4 barely fits in my pocket now. Next thing you know I'll be carrying around a flat screen TV....oh wait.

I hear dodge is allowing leasing on the Hellcat. just in case someone else out there is looking for "company car" but must lease.

why would an owner do that? makes no sense unless the owner didn't have collision and would have been out the money either way.

Doesn't carfax offer a "guarantee" that covers this? I'm missing something.

I can understand the price premium when the viper was new and competitive with the C4 zr1, having a competitive price to that model made it clear it was more than just a "dodge corvette" but something special (both cars were about $50k in 1992). It didn't hurt that the original viper was more uncompromising exotic toy (no hard windows, no auto trans, etc) and less daily driver than the vette was at the time. But now? well it really has become a "dodge corvette". As per ChryCO CEO Rob Giles: "I want the new Viper to be a more forgiving car to drive and accessible to more people...". It just doesn't feel special anymore. It's still manual only, and it's still an un-driveable monster when pushed toward the edge, but it is no more or less uncompromising than the other, faster car in it's price market - the corvette ZR1/Stingray Z06. if you are going to steal customers from GM, you need to give them a reason to leave and buy dodge, and I don't think price is the compelling reason. FWIW, I would totally buy a 1992-1995 first gen car. For $25K-$30K I can have all the curb appeal of a brand new one with the scare factor of a 90's car with dodge dakota suspension and no ABS/traction control. Who needs windows.

From what my mustang cube mate tells me they have these issues all the way to 2007 with the 4.6 engines despite manifold design changes. but it is all hearsay. who knows why things break. for all you know you could be burning a plastic bag off the muffler that you picked up while driving. FWIW a lean condition can blow white smoke because the barrier layer and the piston are being burned up, or a melting spark plug could do it as well. This is why the simple things like reading the plugs (ie checking them for color) or doing a compression test are so important.

Steve-O is right, you need to know where you stand before you can take one step forward. for all you know your catalytic converter could be eating itself and it has nothing to do with a cracked block or blown head gasket (not saying this is a possibility, just giving an example of how something else could have you spend unnecessary money). White Smoke also is not exclusively coolant, Sometimes it can be other things. if you don't have the ability to perform simple diagnostics then take it some place and let them tell you what it is. Otherwise, start with a coolant pressure test, then a leakdown and compression test. Also pull the plugs and read them to see what each cylinder is doing. I'm surprised there isn't a CEL - for an 04 you would think either would throw some kind of code. Edit, I just asked an SN95 guy in the next cube from me and he said check your plastic intake manifold. These sometimes warp/crack and can drop anything from coolant to condensation into the cylinders. Says it is a common problem.