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F*ckin used cars...


Scruit

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So I can't drive my stickshift for a while due to my broken ankle. Rather than rent (recovery could be up to 3 months) I bought a cheap used car intending to sell it once I'm done.

I bought an '89 Park Avenue for $1400 (plus tax, title and other crap). Electric everything. New tires and cat/y-pipe. All works except for the AC, driver's electric seat, and the front passenger window motor is weak. Paint it excellent, just a couple of bits of peeling clearcoat the size of a dollar bill. Interior or clean and smoke-free. All the other electrical goodies work great. In other words, easy to resell once I've used it (and fixed the broken bits)

So I do the test drive, all looks well. Drives nice. Engine and trans are smooth, brakes feel great. Works for me. As-is, of course.

I'm driving it home and figure I'd better tank it up. Arrive home with a full tank of gas and my kid complaining of a funny smell. The gas tank is leaking from above the seam. It's weeping through pinholes through the rust.

So now I'm stuck with a car I can't drive AND I now have to keep the rental until I can get this car fixed.

Fuck this. I'm not going quietly. Lucky for me I work on cars in my spare time so I had the tank out of the car in a couple of hours. Tore up a gas line doing it but I had the parts and tools on hand to fab up a new gas line. Autozone are rushing me a new gas tank, $109, for tomorrow. With any luck I'll be back on the road tomorrow night and still be able to turn the rental in on time.

Really, you can't check for everything How do you even check for a leaking gas tank??

Once that's fixed I just need to charge the A/C and it should run just great. On the bright side I can see it has new all new brakes and lines.

Edited by Scruit
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Obvious screwover from seller? Or did u buy it auction style?

Obvious screwover from the guy to traded it to Route 36 Motor cars. It was running on fumes when I bought it, so I'm sure it was traded on fumes so Route 36 would have had no idea.

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had a similar thing happen..i was 17 and bought my first car on my own (second car - but the first i actually paid for)... 99 mustang gt...my mom said since it was my first car i paid for she wanted to buy my first tank of gas...she fills it up for me and when i got in it the next day to drive to work, it was at half a tank...the filler neck grommit was bad and anything over 1/2 tank would leak out if parked at an angle...sucked! only $17 part instead of $100 though

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what no JB weld on the holes in the tank. you did mention that its only a temp vehicle

I don't have the heart to sell a known bad vehicle. If I JBwelded it I would hate myself for selling it in that condition.

Plus, it is "weeping", not leaking. I'd have to jb weld a 1' square area. And I had to remove the tank anyway to get at the area that is weep.

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had a similar thing happen..i was 17 and bought my first car on my own (second car - but the first i actually paid for)... 99 mustang gt...my mom said since it was my first car i paid for she wanted to buy my first tank of gas...she fills it up for me and when i got in it the next day to drive to work, it was at half a tank...the filler neck grommit was bad and anything over 1/2 tank would leak out if parked at an angle...sucked! only $17 part instead of $100 though

This is the second time I bought a used vehicle with a leaking tank. :nono:

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I don't have the heart to sell a known bad vehicle. If I JBwelded it I would hate myself for selling it in that condition.

Plus, it is "weeping", not leaking. I'd have to jb weld a 1' square area. And I had to remove the tank anyway to get at the area that is weep.

I can understand that, I'm the same way when I sell vehicles. I did however sell one with a fix that I did and let the other party know about it and let them know that it was just a temp fix. Hey go for it let us know how the new tank work out.

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Fuck this. I'm not going quietly. Lucky for me I work on cars in my spare time so I had the tank out of the car in a couple of hours. Tore up a gas line doing it but I had the parts and tools on hand to fab up a new gas line. Autozone are rushing me a new gas tank, $109, for tomorrow. With any luck I'll be back on the road tomorrow night and still be able to turn the rental in on time.

$109 isn't much for a tank. Although, now that I thnk about it, they have become much cheaper in the past few years.

Once that's fixed I just need to charge the A/C and it should run just great. On the bright side I can see it has new all new brakes and lines.

New brake lines is a good thing! They rust out BAD on those cars!

had a similar thing happen..i was 17 and bought my first car on my own (second car - but the first i actually paid for)... 99 mustang gt...my mom said since it was my first car i paid for she wanted to buy my first tank of gas...she fills it up for me and when i got in it the next day to drive to work, it was at half a tank...the filler neck grommit was bad and anything over 1/2 tank would leak out if parked at an angle...sucked! only $17 part instead of $100 though

Oooo. I know EXACTLY the grommet you're talking about! The third and fourth gen camaro and frebirds have a similar setup, but they're tougher to drop the tank!

My roommate had a leaky tank on his oldsmobile. My 90 integra would never do something like that to me. I'll buy an American car when they make a decent one.

Because Honda products never rust, or have any other problems... :rolleyes:

I saw an Integra recently that had something like 320,000 miles though. It REALLY LBTS too.

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Hey I had a Ford probe with 430,000 mileage before I ran through a puddle with a Cai and hudrostatically locked a cylinder and bent a rod. That eZ the original motor and tray too. I never had any issue with that thing.

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that's why most cars have plastic tanks now.

if it was me, for a 1400 car it's getting this,

http://www.permatex.com/products/Automotive/specialized_maintenance_repair/radiator_fuel_tank_repair/Permatex_Instant_Gas_Tank_Repair.htm

I'm doing a frame-up restor on my old '87 Bronco. It had rusted through it's second tank, so the replacement I got was plastic.

I'd need several of those permatex things to seal up the tank... *and* I still would have had to drop the tank to get at the worst areas as they were on the top half of the tank. For $109 I'm not going to cry myself to sleep about it. Plus I know the repair is solid and I'll not feel like a schmuck selling it on with a half-assed gas tank repair.

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Hey I had a Ford probe with 430,000 mileage before I ran through a puddle with a Cai and hudrostatically locked a cylinder and bent a rod. That eZ the original motor and tray too. I never had any issue with that thing.

The only thing Ford about that car is the badges.

Before trying to recharge the AC, you might wannna find and repair the leak.

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The only thing Ford about that car is the badges.

Before trying to recharge the AC, you might wannna find and repair the leak.

I have a manifild guage set, so the first thing I'm going to do is check pressure, then draw a vacuum and make sure it's not leaking. If it is, then I'll charge it up with some UV dye to look for the leak.

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My roommate had a leaky tank on his oldsmobile. My 90 integra would never do something like that to me. I'll buy an American car when they make a decent one.

Yeah...whatever....my Civic had the EXACT same problem.....I'll by another Japanese car when I lose all passion and excitment for cars...

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I'm doing a frame-up restor on my old '87 Bronco. It had rusted through it's second tank, so the replacement I got was plastic.

I'd need several of those permatex things to seal up the tank... *and* I still would have had to drop the tank to get at the worst areas as they were on the top half of the tank. For $109 I'm not going to cry myself to sleep about it. Plus I know the repair is solid and I'll not feel like a schmuck selling it on with a half-assed gas tank repair.

Post up some pics of your Bronco. I just sold an 84 that I had intended to restore but I ran outta steam and cash. lol

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Got the new gas tank in the car. My wife has named it "The Gimpmobile". (In honor of its sole purpose, transporting me around while I have a gimpy leg)

So, the squeaking alternator has stopped squeaking. Seller said it was a glazed belt and would go away. Well, it went away. Cool.

So, back on track. Returning the expensive rental tomorrow and will be commuting in the Gimpmobile. I actually like the car a ton - it's just like the car my friends had when I first visited the US in 1984 and that car was part of what was so different about America. From that point on after going back to the UK I was obsessed with American cars. Getting in this car is truly a blast from the past. I'm actually going to be sad to see it go.

Edited by Scruit
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I don't have the heart to sell a known bad vehicle. If I JBwelded it I would hate myself for selling it in that condition.

Plus, it is "weeping", not leaking. I'd have to jb weld a 1' square area. And I had to remove the tank anyway to get at the area that is weep.

This country needs more fella's like you, I'm the same way - feel obligated to do the right thing, but sadly I know to rarely expect it back........There's just too many fux out there anymore that lie their way through a sale........whereas I get no satisfaction in puttin' it to people

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