zeitgeist57

Interested!

Is there ANY CHANCE I can take my 6yo son out with me? Boy is 4'4" and about 60lbs soaking wet. I'd put him in a neck collar and helmet, not like my 4-cyl BMW is going to rip any new records anyway

I still want to go out there sometime, but I've got a ton to catch up on this weekend and don't want to leave C-Bus at 7am.

3-C was turned down by a GOP Governor. This isn't as political as it is pragmatic. Plus, Ohio may be red-neck, but C-Bus is far more moderate/progressive of a city. This town would definitely support it. Keep in mind that part of the plan would be to have it elevated/or go underground as needed. ROW is no doubt a challenge, but it's better than rail, where you need to own the land or have 99-year leases on wherever the rail is laid. I'm more concerned where someone might think its funny to shoot holes in the tube. However, the fact that billions of air miles are flown every year gives me faith that not everyone is going to use it as drunk target practice. Chicago to Columbus would be a relatively straight, level shot through farmland. Columbus to Pittsburgh introduces some decent elevation changes...as anyone taken 470 through Wheeling, WV??? Will be interesting how they work that all out.

I WOULD SAY SO!

I like that Satoshi grille mod. Been thinking about something like that for my truck: ditch the "egg-crate" grille for some DIY mesh....that's item #587 on my list of things to do. https://www.ford-trucks.com/g/album/2525527

Thanks for the feedback, guys. Just finished watching the I Diana win their 22th consecutive...this deal is no skin off my back, and I appreciate everyone's input. If I hear anything else from my uncle or the seller, I'll let you guys know in this FS thread.

I'd keep the boards and bumpers. Let off-road damage determine what gets removed and what stays.

From my uncle, after a few of you texted me... "Thanks. Don't think I m going to be able to get the Vin since the car is in ct and the owner is in Wisconsin for a while. If you look at Craigslist in nyc there are 2 listed. This looks like one of them. You don't have to put any real time in on this but let me know if you run across anyone that would be interested. I have a feeling that he's going to want top dollar for a car in really fine condition. Thanks again."

Yup. Oddly enough our buildings all have power (close to the beach) even though nicer areas further inland are going to be without electricity for another 5-10 days. I told my FiL he shouldn't go down, but they want to see what's up anyway. Will figure out what the Cavy looks like.

A little bit of a different spin on a FS thread: Just got this email from my uncle who lives in Philadelphia. Would greatly appreciate CR's knowledge on this one. "Also wondered if you would have any thoughts or ideas on the proper price, how to get the best price, or if any of your car buds might be interested in a special car. My childhood friend is a doctor that takes meticulous care of all his stuff. ( I would buy a used car from this man.) He has a 1993 Mazda Rx7. Its the R1 (racing) package in yellow. Supposedly only 350 were made and only made in that one year. It has about 60K. Rotary engine and reportedly is really quick. Located in CT. Let me know if you have any thoughts (I suggested going through the Mazda owners club) or know anyone that might be interested."

I don't think the Eos is that cheap, yet.

I heard about that as well. As someone who thought the "3C High-speed train" was a stupid idea: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_Hub - Has too many stops and not enough meaningful distances to get true speed - You're connecting 3 "okay" MidWestern cities that are just as easily accessible by car. - Why would people go this way anyway? What happens after Cleveland? Buffalo? and what happens after Cincy southbound? Louisville??? ...I have to say I think this is a far more viable artery to connect. Chicago is a major midwest business hub, for itself and points west, and Pittsburgh has surged as a solid, new-age industrial/technical city in itself, and could be a great bridge eastward to NYC and DC. There is a lot going on in Columbus, so I would rather be connected East and West rather than north and south by this. Now...whether this will work is ultimately a wait-and-see option. I can promise that if it is set up, I would certainly get to Chicago more often by this method. I would love to see this happen but it's not my dollar (yet).

Did OSU tickets re-sell for over face value last week, before the Okla loss?

*sips coffee* Convertibles would be great (Saab, Chrysler come to mind as cheap cruisers that look good) but I worry about the tops getting damaged in storms, and the ones I see parked outside definitely do get tattered pretty quickly. I see some interesting folks driving around in a beat-up 15yo convertible with mismatched wheels and duct tape on the soft top...not a good look. My other problem is I'll never forget my first trip when I began working in Naples for 5/3 Bank in 2005. I was 27 and happily rented a convertible (ooh! Look at me enjoying the corporate card!:lol:). It was a Chrysler Sebring (of course. It's Florida) and the thing was...THE. WORST. DRIVING. CAR. EVER. I thought it was a 4cyl, with what gutless performance it had. Opened the hood? 2.7L V6. I tried manually shifting the automatic. It was depressing to put this much effort into an automatic and not get anything in return. Plus, the cowl shake - on flat roads, mind you - was terrible. Lastly, the interior was OK, but the visibility was horrendous. That said, a $2000 Sebring would be about all I'd want to spend on one, and NB's post looks pretty good! I can heat-gun the Camry Bump in the rear bumper and push most of it out. FiL and MiL are going down tomorrow afternoon to assess damage to their unit, our unit, and SiL's unit (we are all in the same building complex). He's going to look at my Cavalier. It's got a full tank of gas so I told him to siphon it out for his XJ8L as necessary. We'll see if Caddilier is trashed or not.

CPA ended up trading it in last month. It was a mess...200k miles and he hadn't done any maintenance since 120k. Shocks were blown, brakes bad, tires bad, timing belt would have to be done, oil leaks. I would've gotten it if I sold the Cavalier, but happy I didn't. It ran well, but jiggled on the highway like it was going to fall apart. I was hoping that he had MAINTAINED it up to 200k miles, but I was wrong.

FiL has a 1999 XJ8L I found for him to keep at their condo in our same building complex. It's a great runner, but MAN...the electrical gremlins have been a pain. $1500 starter repair (he took it to a Jag dealer:rolleyes:), RockAuto alternator I replaced, eats batteries, mysterious turn signal indicator death that I cannot trace back to a fuse....the thing has 5 FUSE BLOCKS throughout the underhood, dash, under-seat, and trunk! I like that Lexus though. The Lincoln and my BMW convertible are a little more temperamental...both run great, but need a good amount of maintenance. Plus, for the Lincoln the big thing is the A/C doesn't work. Plus, I just love the Lincoln too much to send it down to FL where it will die a fiery death under the sun. Definitely keeping my eyes open. I almost bought a Lexus ES300, but couldn't dump my Cavalier on CL before I left last time I was down there in July. Tried to get $1400 for my Cavy, and the guy wanted me to do some sort of payment plan. I was like "Dude...first, NO...secondly, I've got a 9pm flight this evening." For FL, you still get some rust, but what you get a lot more of for non-garaged cars is serious sun damage to paint and interiors. It would be a great blend to get a relatively low rust Ohio car that's already up here so I can fix up whatever's needed.

Quite frankly, the cheap aftermarket stereo and photos-in-front-of-a-cheap-stripmall gives me pause about how the car was driven/maintainted in the past. I get that a WalMart headunit gets AUX/iPhone integration to a car that didn't have it, but still....

The Roadmaster and S60 are great suggestions. Thanks for the ideas so far, everyone...KEEP THEM COMING! I should also mention that not too scared of higher-mileage cars - as long as they are decently maintained - because this thing won't see 1k miles a year once it's down in FL. If a Volvo has 140k miles and it makes the price right, then all the better as it won't see 145k miles for a few years.

I've had a condo in Naples, FL since moving back to Columbus from the area in 2008. We rent it out in the wintertime and try to go down in the summer and long weekends when we can. Since 2012, I've also kept a car down there to use, instead of renting. Usually something I already own, or I buy in OH, make easy repairs, then permanently drive down. It works out really well. The only downside is that we are very close to the Gulf of Mexico and, despite the lack of winter/road salt, the hot sun and sea breeze will destroy a car's interior, paint, and expand any open rust areas quickly. My Passat had 180k miles on it when I drove it down, and within a year there were visible rust bubbles, the leather interior was discolored and cracking, and eventually exhaust flexpipes failed, making it miserable to drive. The car I've had down there since last year - a 2004 Cavalier LS Sport - has actually fared well. After buying it up here from a neighbor, I tuned it up and drove down there; the only real problems were the need for new tires, and rusty brake lines failed which I had to replace. The problem is it's a black car, and while it took a polish before I drove it down, the clearcoat is GONE on the roof and trunklid...starting on the hood. It looks like sh!t. Last weekend, Hurricane Irma went directly over our area, and while my friends and our homes sustained amazingly little damage, my Cavalier apparently took some debris and "damaged the body". I don't know what that means, but my friend said it "definitely looks driveable". So...given that my wife kinda hates the Cavalier anyway (despite it being a solid performer), I'm taking this opportunity to look for a replacement fun ride. I welcome your thoughts: REQUIREMENTS: - Less than $3000. It's not that I'm that cheap, but please trust me when I say that cars in our parking lot (no shade) just get brutalized and I'm not down there enough to justify any more money. I don't mind putting money into it (I put around $500 into the Cavalier before I sent it down) but I need total cash invested to be around $3k. It's likely to be a disposable car; good for 2-3 years, until a major repair need comes up. - MUST HAVE A/C. It's Florida...need I say more? - Be either reliable, or easy/cheap to maintain. I have access to a good mechanic and some car guys with tools, but I'd like to avoid having to work on a car while I'm down there. - Seat 4 people. I don't need a van/SUV, but it's gotta have seatbelts and legroom for 4. - Be somewhat fun??? I'd love a convertible, but after Irma, I don't like the idea of a storm wiping out a cloth top. T-tops or a huge sunroof would be excellent. Naples is a 45mph town, where you get around on a few main drags but mostly city streets...don't need a ton of HP. - Be attractive to women. I gotta sell my wife on this one...meaning, it's got to be more upscale from a 2004 Cavalier. A 1992 Mustang won't cut it. What will it be used for? Groceries/errands, going out to restaurants. Meeting friends. Taking my 2 kids fishing at the Naples Pier. A few highway excursions but nothing far or requiring a lot of storage space. Things I've considered: - Buick Park Avenue Ultra (Thanks, 2 Sweet ), or Northstar FWD Cadillac - 1998-2002 Firebird/Camaro T-tops - V6, auto, RWD is still better than Cavalier 4cyl FWD auto. - Saab - little more "upscale" with RockAuto access to parts and service center familiar with the brand. - Pickup truck? Maximum simplicity/reliability for ease of maintenance, and utilitarian if necessary. What I'm (my wife's) not ready for: - Mustang convertibles - wife is not a fan - Jeep Wranglers - ultimate "beach car" but you get sh!t for $3k, no A/C. - Other SUVs - if it's in OH, it seems to be used in winter and already rusty. The Cavalier may soldier on, but I'm planning on going down to Naples again for Thanksgiving, so if I get a car now is the time to do so, fix it up, and drive it down.

Northend Wrench? Would Sean (Crossle) do something like that?

WHY would you breathe new life into this thread?!?

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