[David Jones]

My son is searching for a "work car". Something that gets 35+mpg. I saw this ad while I was looking at a few for him. I do appreciate the honesty, both in picture and in verbiage. "Here it is....a piece of ****. I'm done. Who wants it?"
https://shoals.craigslist.org/cto/6073130530.html

[GTOnly70]

Originally Posted by David Jones

My son is searching for a "work car". Something that gets 35+mpg. I saw this ad while I was looking at a few for him. I do appreciate the honesty, both in picture and in verbiage. "Here it is....a piece of ****. I'm done. Who wants it?"
https://shoals.craigslist.org/cto/6073130530.html

One too many zeros in the price...

[68ragtop]

Originally Posted by GTOnly70

One too many zeros in the price...

Probably a lot of zeros on the odometer too. Never understood why people don't include the miles on a car.

[Chris65LeMans]

Originally Posted by David Jones

My son is searching for a "work car". Something that gets 35+mpg. I saw this ad while I was looking at a few for him. I do appreciate the honesty, both in picture and in verbiage. "Here it is....a piece of ****. I'm done. Who wants it?"
https://shoals.craigslist.org/cto/6073130530.html

The "race" muffler and black stain on the bumper from running too rich make that one to avoid.

I see that the 4 cyl. Hondas have the same "limp mode" problem my 6 cyl Acura did. It's an easy fix - but you need to figure out what it is. The computer will just lie to you.

[Greg Reid]

Tell him to get a Tacoma. My '02 with 220K on it gets 28mpg and it's a TRUCK...everybody needs a truck. The thing runs perfect all the time. No room though for anything but myself and whatever is on the passenger floorboard and seat.

[Greg Reid]

Looks like a solid project... No pics of the data plate and VIN?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1969-Pontiac...3D232304492055

[David Jones]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

Tell him to get a Tacoma. My '02 with 220K on it gets 28mpg and it's a TRUCK...everybody needs a truck. The thing runs perfect all the time. No room though for anything but myself and whatever is on the passenger floorboard and seat.

Greg, I gave him my 2005 Tundra crew cab 6 years ago. Right now it's just over 190,000 miles and in great shape....and he loves it. My son (Daniel) lives across from JSU's stadium (the 4 way behind the Italian restaurant Effina's) and still has about a year to go at JSU on his robotics manufacturing engineering degree. He's ending a semester at school this week and will start his second semester of a co-op "job" at the Honda plant in Lincoln in May. One semester in class at JSU and one at the plant.... He made $18 an hour the first semester at the plant and they'll pay more for the second stint and once he's done and graduated he's pretty much got a lock on a nearly six figure job at Honda right out of school. He'd like to keep the Tundra (forever, he says) and add this cash car (he's buying) to ease the gas burden (15-16mpg) on his 4:30am trip to the plant. He's thinking a Civic or a Corolla with high miles and a manual transmission for less than $4K.

[JG'SGTO]

Look at this one?????

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1988-Mercury...VY9SQV&vxp=mtr

[Chris_dog]

Originally Posted by JG'SGTO

Look at this one?????

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1988-Mercury...VY9SQV&vxp=mtr

haha,.. you know this thing pops wheelies..

[Lightfoot]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1988-Mercury...VY9SQV&vxp=mtr

Originally Posted by Chris_dog

haha,.. you know this thing pops wheelies..

I don't think I've ever seen a 4-door to 2-door conversion via removing the Front doors and B-pillar. He probably eliminated the front seat in favor of the rear seat, as well.

[Lightfoot]

Originally Posted by David Jones

He's thinking a Civic or a Corolla with high miles and a manual transmission for less than $4K.

Originally Posted by Chris65Lemans;

The "race" muffler and black stain on the bumper from running too rich make that one to avoid.

I see that the 4 cyl. Hondas have the same "limp mode" problem my 6 cyl Acura did. It's an easy fix - but you need to figure out what it is. The computer will just lie to you.

Well, the ad you (David) posted does say 4000 OBO. And it doesn't say he drove it to NH more than once. Even if he did, highway miles are not hard on a vehicle unless you do it after you've already put more than 5,000 miles on the oil. High miles is just a number when you're doing a lot of freeway driving. Maybe this little ****box has less than the 190,000 your Tundra has on it.
Why not give him a call and feel him out if he seems honest?

Perhaps the carbon stain on the bumper is from when the Civic periodically goes into limp mode. Like Chris said, it could be a simple fix.
You could also use it as a bargaining chip to get the car for less than the 4000.

just some thoughts

[Chris65LeMans]

Originally Posted by Lightfoot

Perhaps the carbon stain on the bumper is from when the Civic periodically goes into limp mode. Like Chris said, it could be a simple fix.
You could also use it as a bargaining chip to get the car for less than the 4000.

just some thoughts

No - on a grocery-getter Japanese car, that's the tell-tale sign of someone who has modified the fuel system. (Once had a turbocharger put on it, for instance.). A sign of a car that's been driven HARD. The manual transmission and "fart cannon" muffler are enough evidence, really, to confirm that diagnosis.

I've driven 600,000 miles spread across three Hondas, and think that a Toyota is a better buy for a "high mile, cheap" used car. Honda 4 cylinder engines are very underpowered, and they've got weak electrical systems that start failing at advanced age.

My '04 V6 Acura is the best car I've ever owned, but -at 170,000 miles - the electrical system has been failing and getting worse for a couple of years. Also - the car is on it's third auto transmission (very poor design on the V6 autos). Some stuff for your son to work on when he lands that job.

[Greg Reid]

Shouldn't be too hard to find a better car than the one in the ad. There a literally millions of these things out there in the $3000- to $4000 range... well, maybe not millions but a bunch.
If I see anything that looks good, I'll let you know David.

[The Boss]

Originally Posted by David Jones

My son is searching for a "work car". Something that gets 35+mpg. I saw this ad while I was looking at a few for him. I do appreciate the honesty, both in picture and in verbiage. "Here it is....a piece of ****. I'm done. Who wants it?"
https://shoals.craigslist.org/cto/6073130530.html

May want to broaden your search to Subaru's David. There are plenty of used ones on the road and they too have an excellent reputation. I realize it's newer but our Crosstrek gets 36mpg on a regular basis during commuting and has an overall total mpg of 33 (which includes a lot of time warming up on the remote start).

With the roof rack we can load all of our needs for a week out of town with the dogs including their beds and everyone is comfortable.

[David Jones]

Originally Posted by Lightfoot

Well, the ad you (David) posted does say 4000 OBO. And it doesn't say he drove it to NH more than once. Even if he did, highway miles are not hard on a vehicle unless you do it after you've already put more than 5,000 miles on the oil. High miles is just a number when you're doing a lot of freeway driving. Maybe this little ****box has less than the 190,000 your Tundra has on it.
Why not give him a call and feel him out if he seems honest?

Perhaps the carbon stain on the bumper is from when the Civic periodically goes into limp mode. Like Chris said, it could be a simple fix.
You could also use it as a bargaining chip to get the car for less than the 4000.

just some thoughts

I thought the ad was interesting because of the guys description and the fact that he didn't even bother to scrape out the inside for his interior shot. He has no interest in it.

Daniel is working on a deal on an 07 Corolla with 118,500 miles. He thinks he can get it for less than 4K. A local new car dealer (Cadillac) has had it a while (asking waaaay to much money) and even tried to auction it with no success. Clean CarFax and the car looks good. I talked to him last night about it and he has one of the best things working on his side. "Dad, I'm going to offer $3500 and maybe bump that to $3750. If that doesn't work, they can keep it even longer. I totally don't need it...."

[David Jones]

Originally Posted by The Boss

May want to broaden your search to Subaru's David. There are plenty of used ones on the road and they too have an excellent reputation. I realize it's newer but our Crosstrek gets 36mpg on a regular basis during commuting and has an overall total mpg of 33 (which includes a lot of time warming up on the remote start).

With the roof rack we can load all of our needs for a week out of town with the dogs including their beds and everyone is comfortable.

He's looking at Toyota's, Honda's but would entertain a Nissan, Subaru or other it the price and story sounded good and the car fit the small 4 cyl, manual transmission and 30+ mpg theme. Keying in on the Honda's and Toyota's though. I'm amazed at the number of small cars out there with multiple hundreds of thousands miles on them. 200,000 is nothing apparently.

[Greg Reid]

I can vouch for the Subarus also. My son has an '05 that he bought in San Diego 5 years ago. Been his daily driver since and he drove it all the way back to Georgia when he got out of the Navy. Not a hiccup.

[400 4spd.]

As the ad states, it's rare.

https://tricities.craigslist.org/pts/6069699641.html

[hurryinhoosier62]

I saw that ad and chuckled. Apparently, the seller doesn't know the difference between an RAIV and a 455HO

[DanC]

Originally Posted by JG'SGTO

Look at this one?????

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1988-Mercury...VY9SQV&vxp=mtr

Now even the driver is a "back seat driver"!

Looks kinda cool, but must be hard to get in and out of.