Conundrum

[miradoblackwarrior]

Hi, all,
I don't post very often, but I've been racking my brain. I wonder if you'll indulge me with your thoughts. I saw a 1996 Saturn SL on Craigslist. I've been looking for a while, mostly dreaming. Now, I'm a big girl, and I don't actually need a car. I've been walking to work and market for some 3 years now, begging rides when I could, and using a zipcar when I had a big shop, ached too much, or just got lazy. It isn't that I can't afford the car, but I've been feeling pretty sore lately, and I'm wondering what you all thought. It's a standard, with 88K on it. The clutch was replaced in 2012, and other repairs a couple years ago. This is Boston, home of 120+ inches of snow last year. Yes, there is good public transportation, and I can well afford it. The thing is, this car could be a dream come true, or a vast disappointing nightmare! I want a car, don't need a car, but my 60 year old body is starting to feel it!

Does anybody out there have advice, yea or nay, to help me! Or, am I going back into my hippy days and seeing shiny stars in my eyes? Please, help me out!
Susan

[catherine]

Price?
Could you park it easily and cheaply?

[JaneV2.0]

My advice is to follow your heart. Always.
Remember, you don't need permission or rationalizations; it's a visceral thing.

[Teacher Terry]

WE have had 3 Saturns that were all very reliable & didn't require many repairs. They all went close to 200,000/miles. They were fine in snow. We are sorry they no longer make them.

[rosarugosa]

I retired my 1995 Saturn last year. It had pretty low mileage (nowhere near 200k), but at 19 years old, there were way too many things going wrong with it and it no longer felt reliable, constantly needing something done. It was an automatic, so that might make a difference. In retrospect, I should have retired it 1 - 1.5 years earlier. When I finally did retire it, it seemed like we had recently replaced almost everything so surely we were good, and then something else would go wrong. So I personally would be reluctant to buy a car that old.

[bae]

I wouldn't enter into a loving relationship with a 20 year old car if reliability and expense were concerns.

[rosarugosa]

I think it also could make a big difference if you're into DIY and tinkering with cars. I am not, but that could make an old car a more viable prospect.

[rosarugosa]

Which reminds me - where's Packy?

[freshstart]

my brother lives in Boston, has for years. Has a driveway now, but parking was problematic before that. If you're going to have to walk a long distance from where you find a spot to home, will that be a problem for you?

I personally wouldn't but a car that old but that's because all I can do on a car is change a tire and I want the security of not having the potential of big things going wrong. Good luck whichever way you go!

[razz]

What are some other options? Until you look at all the options available, you are not making or able to make an informed choice. One car is not a choice. A viable Saturn is often sold to friends who are hankering for one and this one being on Craiglist tells me that no one else wanted it.

[ToomuchStuff]

An older car with low miles can be just as bad as a high mileage car. Rubber and gaskets can and do deteriorate over time, so taking a lightly driven car and all of a sudden going on a long trip with it (for example) and you could have an issue (saw this with an old Taurus that had around 40K and was taken out to the highway, driven hard, and blew a head gasket). Your rubber hoses and belts could be examined (not sure if this has a timing belt or if it is an interference engine or not), as well as the UNDERCARRIAGE. (did you say Snow, well do you have salt used?) Those were a plastic body (from memory) but that doesn't say anything about the frame, floor boards, brake lines, etc. that are metal.
Also how does it look? I had someone that was stupid enough to try to sell me a Porsche, when I worked in a shop, that the odometer had stopped, but you could tell between its body and the interior, that it had been rode hard and put away wet.
That doesn't cover the electrical stuff that can go wrong thermally or just from age.
It would have to be looked at by someone there, not us interrnet guessers.



Which reminds me - where's Packy?

Banned.

[mschrisgo2]

There is also the issue of tires on an older car, or any car that hasn't been driven much. They may look fine, have plenty of tread, but have side-wall fatigue from sitting in the same position for a long time. Put it on the highway at 50+ mph, and you will have blow-outs. Not fun at all, BTDT.

[miradoblackwarrior]

Thank you all for your advice. I guess I was going through a midlife crisis. Instead of the shiny red torpedo that men seem to like (��), I wanted the bomber of my youth! Maybe some day I'll get a car today, but not on this day, and not in Boston. I'll invest in new sneakers (and a bottle of aspirin) and regress to pre-hippy days for now! ��
Susan