Silly family car decisions

[exranger06]

Originally Posted By: expat
I was talking to our cleaning lady just last week. She drives a new F150 extended cab, 4 door, 4 WD, 'loaded to the gills' truck.
I noticed that it had some damage affecting the rear of the cab and the box, and asked her about it.

She told me it was a great concern to her. She had the accident cutting into a tight parking spot and hit a lamp post.
The problem is, the truck is leased, and she will have to get it fixed. The truck costs her $1k per month including a $39 per month mantenance agreement.
She says the truck is heavy on gas and the lease agreement had a limited millage clause (that her boyfriend had exceeded when he was working up North on the oil patch. he has since left her). She will soon have to park the verhicle because the extra milage charges will soon become excessive.
When she got the truck, from the Ford dealer (that always gives her a good deal) she wanted a small, economical car. But her credit would not allow that, but the dealer was able to sign her the lease on the truck.
The truck seemed like a good idea because it was suitable for the boyfriend to take up North, plus it had room for gear when they go camping. But the open box prooved no good without a canopy, and a standard, used, canopy would not fit the short bed of the extended cab truck.

Thread winner.

 

[earlyre]

Originally Posted By: earlyre
I highly question ALL of my father's auto buying experiences...

when my folks were still newlyweds(ish), and shortly after my brother was born, dad bought this brand new sports car chevy had just put out, called a Camaro. first year, base model.

about 5 years later they have my sister, now, with 2 kids, time to replace the camaro with a better "Family Car" (seems sensible enough) so they trade the camaro in on a....Beetle. yes, that's much more family friendly...

by the time i came around 8 years later they had been through more vw's, a Fiat wagon, and were driving a Dodge aspen Wagon. which eventually was traded in on a 1985 omni that was SO basic, dad had to take it to get a radio installed(AM only of course)


Mom still shudders at some of the shenanigans dad got up to in that camaro... She's in the passenger seat, holding the baby, while Dad is laughing and blasting through snow drifts.

Few years later, they were living outside of zanesville Ohio, and dad was managing the rinks in Cambridge. Blizzard came through, and dad gets a call from the Cambridge PD that the windows on the front of the store had blown out, and he needed to get them boarded up. Says OK, hops in his beetle, and zips over there via I70 plowing through drifts as he goes. When he gets there a state trooper asks how he got there, dad told him, trooper responded that that highway had been closed for about 12 hrs at that point. No one was supposed to be out there...

Didn't give him a ticket though....

 

[Schmoe]

Dad was single a lot when I was growing up...I got 4 step mothers....but in Germany in '69, he shipped his Buick Electra over from Fort Gordon. Back in those days, roads were tight. There were many places the car simply couldn't go because it was too big. But Dad was proud of that thing and refused to sell it. He bought another one while over there when a soldier was heading back to the US. I remember one thing, Dad would load up on weekends and we would hit the road. Went all over Europe during those 5 years and I had the backseat to myself. Plenty of room. Anyway, before we moved back, he SERIOUSLY wanted to buy a Pacer....yuck. He said we could see more out the windows because they were bigger than the Buicks'. Oh Lord....even at my age of 9 back then, I KNEW that was a bad decisions. Thankfully he never did. He was always buying and trading, he even worked part time selling used cars around Fort Campbell area. But I did learn one thing, one day he showed up with a two year old Lincoln Continental. Looked nice and all, but he bought from a local rental car company. What???? I was older then and doing a lot of TDY with the military and always got rental cars and know how they were treated. Dad said to me....just who in the #ell do you think rents out these? Young kids? NO...OLDER PEOPLE that aren't going to be jumping over curbs.....that was one of the best cars he ever owned.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Originally Posted By: IndyIan
There are only 4 of us so almost any car would do, also it was pre car seat days so 2 door cars were fine as well. . . .

There was only the 4 of us, Mom, Dad (the only driver), my brother, and me. So Dad's 2-doors, the '47 Cadillac fastback, '58 Chevy Impala, and '66 Super Sport Impala all worked fine. They were full-sized cars (and in those days full-sized was big!), and the front seats unlatched and inclined forward, so we kids could climb in back.

As far as I know all his cars were reliable. He complained at one point of the SS's engine (the 283) stumbling and killing from time to time while driving in the French Quarter, where we lived. But he kept the car from late '65 to about 1974 and had it repainted at one point, so it must have served him well.

 

[hattaresguy]

Growing up my dad had a regular cab pickup which worked just fine. We had no issues moving around with me and my sister when we were little.

My mom always had either an Oldsmobile or later an XJ6.

 

[KevinP64]

Originally Posted By: JustinH
Family of 4, my father bought a dodge omni.

All 4 of the door handles broke off, they would freeze and we would rip them off the car.

He had one of us kids go in the hatch of the car, to release the doors.

Then he bought a subaru legacy GL. 1988 model.

Car got so rusty, and the door latch would not close. My father had no money so he "secured" the door by screwing it shut with a 2x4 and drywall screws.

Another time the exhaust fell off my father's 1979 mercury cougar. He decided to remove the factory speakers and use the copper wire from the speakers to hold the exhaust up.


This has to be one of the best posts I have read anywhere and I used Compuserve in the 80's. Your Dad sounds like my kind of guy. I drive my brother crazy with stuff like that. I have been using a zip tie for a belt loop on a cheap WM belt for 5yrs. and having lost a good bit of weight I just cut the end of it off to keep it from flopping around. Should last a few more yrs. I have hats with Duct tape on them to keep them going--my fave is at least 12yrs old. I do wash it every couple of yrs. Gotta ask, Did your Dad like Bondo?

 

[Alfred_B]

You do what you have to do.

 

[Alfred_B]

A silly decision was when we went to get an AWD car for my wife and came home with a RWD roadster for me.

Had to get the AWD later that year.

 

[TFB1]

WOW some real beauts out there...

Pop mostly owned 4dr sedans for most of my & sisters life... There was a '63 2dr Ht Galaxie 500 Fastback with 390 that he owned while I was first driving... Still held four comfortably... I really wanted that car but he swapped it for a '65 Impala 2dr with 283 & Powerglide, yeeech, dog... A year later I bought my own 2dr '64 Galaxie 500 just after graduating HS, was 289 & three on tree, within 6 months I'd swapped a 390 into it...

Still had that car when married, no problem when first born came along a year & one day later... Three years later I bought the 4-speed 428 Cobra Jet Torino I still have, took it to IA in '76 with two kids, no problem... The family pooch loved to ride, but when he got in the Torino, fast learned to lean against the seat or get slammed backwards when I dumped the clutch...

In addition to the Torino I almost always owned a station wagon(cars came and went at a fairly rapid pace, but I always figured the Torino was forever)... Favorite was Falcon with vinyl seats and rubber floor mat, along with P/S, P/B & A/C(even had the two way opening tail gate)... Kids get sick? Easy wash out...

My kids??? One owns a Pilot, other Outback & Forester.. Uhhh not for the old man...

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: KevinP64
Originally Posted By: JustinH
Family of 4, my father bought a dodge omni.

All 4 of the door handles broke off, they would freeze and we would rip them off the car.

He had one of us kids go in the hatch of the car, to release the doors.

Then he bought a subaru legacy GL. 1988 model.

Car got so rusty, and the door latch would not close. My father had no money so he "secured" the door by screwing it shut with a 2x4 and drywall screws.

Another time the exhaust fell off my father's 1979 mercury cougar. He decided to remove the factory speakers and use the copper wire from the speakers to hold the exhaust up.


This has to be one of the best posts I have read anywhere and I used Compuserve in the 80's. Your Dad sounds like my kind of guy. I drive my brother crazy with stuff like that. I have been using a zip tie for a belt loop on a cheap WM belt for 5yrs. and having lost a good bit of weight I just cut the end of it off to keep it from flopping around. Should last a few more yrs. I have hats with Duct tape on them to keep them going--my fave is at least 12yrs old. I do wash it every couple of yrs. Gotta ask, Did your Dad like Bondo?


The elderly lady across the street from me had one of those. It was always interesting watching her take off.

She would start it and immediately put it in gear and it would stall. Repeat this about 3 times until she got it out on to the road where it would refuse to start while crossways in the road - every time. Then after playing with it, she would get it to start, move 3 feet and stall again.

Eventually she would hold the pedal to the floor and just neutral bomb it and take off. It would misfire horribly and hit 2nd gear 1/2 mile up the road (with her foot on the floor).

This was a daily occurence for many years.

 

[SLCraig]

My folks growing up I don't think ever made any real bad car choices. They tended to keep cars so since I've been alive (I'm 34) They've only had I believe 6 cars total between the 2 of them.

They had an 86 Celebrity Eurosport wagon when I was young. It was a pretty good car (ate alternators) but was not comfortable. We drove it to Florida and it worked fine, but again, not comfortable.

They had an 88 LeBaron GTS hatchback which was one of my favorite cars ever. Super comfy interior and was also a really good car. I dont remember that car really ever having any problems and I drove it when I was a teenager, I loved it, and I miss it.

Then about 2 years ago they traded in their much loved 2000 Nissan Maxima which my mom claims will always have been her favorite car. They had only the common issues with that car (MAF sensor and 1 or 2 coils) but was overall rock solid reliable. The VQ30 will probably always be my favorite V6 engine. So good that thing. They traded in at 14 years old.
I ended up buying a 2002 SE 6 speed because of their car. I loved it, but it was too much of a barge for me in the overall driving department. Great in a straight line though, and mine was also a good car, oil burning in the early 3.5L though. Not the end of the world.

They now have a 2010 Infiniti EX35 and other than it being small (and with bad blind spots) it has not cost them a dime, oh that's not true, the battery started going so my dad replaced that a few months ago. But it has been 2 years and an excellent vehicle. Theirs has all the bells and whistles, and I really enjoy driving it. It's just tight as a drum. My folks wanted to stick with Nissan since they loved the Maxima so much, so I urged them towards the EX series since they were one of the last good quality and fairly problem free Nissan products. So far that has been true with it.

They had a 77 Impala wagon and an 82 Chrysler Newport when I was born, but I barely remember those. The Impala had a 350 in it my dad said, and I know the Newport had a 318. Only memory of them is one day my mom got into a "fender bender" with a compact car in the Chrysler (this was probably 1985 or so, I was young) and the small car had some pretty bad damage, the Newport only scuffed. Gotta love that big American iron.

If you ask my folks, I bet there are no real regrets on any of those purchases, but my parents would both say they wish they could have bought a brand new Maxima to replace theirs, just like the one they replaced.

 

[01rangerxl]

Oddly enough, it has been the most practical of my parents' cars that have given them the most trouble over the years. My mom and dad both seem to agree the worst of all their cars was a 1978 Mercury Zephyr wagon they bought new. They got it when my older sister was born because they wanted a four door car with features like AC. It was apparently more unreliable than the Fiat coupe it replaced though. Later, a couple years after I was born, they got a new 1990 Taurus to add to a 1984 Cherokee and 1986 Ranger. The Taurus had AC issues and repeated transmission issues before it was 8 years old and was traded in late 1997. My parents were actually mostly fond of that car except for the terrible transmission. I liked it when it was broken and we had to take the Ranger instead though.

As for that 1986 Ranger, it was a real odd ball that made poor sense as a family vehicle on paper, but we got a ton of good use out of it for 13 years. My parents bought it from a dealer in NC, who had to get the truck from a dealer in Northern VA, because apparently they wanted no AC, dark gray non-clearcoat paint, red vinyl interior, 2.3L, Super Cab, vinyl floor, and to top it off factory tinted rear windows. The trim level was literally called "Custom." As miserable as that truck could be in the summer, I loved it and it sparked my love of Rangers and Ford trucks in general. It was also probably the most reliable vehicle my parents have ever owned, only ever needing an ignition switch outside of maintenance. It filled in whenever one of the other cars took a dump, and when my sister started driving, it basically became my mom's daily driver for a few years. Unfortunately, it was traded in on a Saturn for my sister, who "couldn't" drive a manual and didn't want to drive a flat gray 1986 Ranger. Collateral damage of the Taurus eating its transmission for lunch again.

My parents have a 2011 Ranger now. I was surprised when they bought it, again because of the options they chose, but for completely different reasons this time. I thought they'd buy one like the old 1986 one...a 2.3 in kind of a neutral color, and I sent them numerous links to trucks equipped like that in their area. A good sensible small truck for people entering their retirement years whose other vehicle is a Civic Hybrid (now a Subaru XV). Nope...they bought a bright red 4.0L V6.

 

[AZjeff]

Originally Posted By: expat
I was talking to our cleaning lady just last week. She drives a new F150 extended cab, 4 door, 4 WD, 'loaded to the gills' truck........

The truck costs her $1k per month including a $39 per month mantenance agreement......

She will soon have to park the vehicle because the extra mileage charges will soon become excessive.......


Can't even imagine paying $1K a month for a parked truck. Her best play may be to just use the truck and buy it out. No excess charges and won't have to fix it. Also can't imagine not wanting to fix a new truck...

 

[dishdude]

Originally Posted By: Miller88


The elderly lady across the street from me had one of those. It was always interesting watching her take off.

She would start it and immediately put it in gear and it would stall. Repeat this about 3 times until she got it out on to the road where it would refuse to start while crossways in the road - every time. Then after playing with it, she would get it to start, move 3 feet and stall again.

Eventually she would hold the pedal to the floor and just neutral bomb it and take off. It would misfire horribly and hit 2nd gear 1/2 mile up the road (with her foot on the floor).

This was a daily occurence for many years.


LOL I remember being at the bus stop as a kid and listening to people starting their old carb'd cars and have them stall and sound terrible as they sputtered to life in the middle of winter. Usually as soon as they started they would floor it and go right to redline. Of course by that time fuel injection was popular so the few carb'd cars left were old.

It sounds like a lot of bad decisions were made by young families that didn't have a lot of extra money to spend on a larger car.

 

[expat]

Originally Posted By: AZjeff
Originally Posted By: expat
I was talking to our cleaning lady just last week. She drives a new F150 extended cab, 4 door, 4 WD, 'loaded to the gills' truck........

The truck costs her $1k per month including a $39 per month mantenance agreement......

She will soon have to park the vehicle because the extra mileage charges will soon become excessive.......


Can't even imagine paying $1K a month for a parked truck. Her best play may be to just use the truck and buy it out. No excess charges and won't have to fix it. Also can't imagine not wanting to fix a new truck...





The bottom line is : She has no money!
She cannot buy the truck, no matter what the buy out price may be.
She cannot aford the deductable to get the truck fixed on her insurance. She also fears there may be a penalty on her lease agreement if it is known the truck had an accident.

What gets me is, she didn't want the truck in the first place, her Boyfriend (at the time thought it would be cool, and suitable to take up North to work on the oil patch.
( boyfriend has since lost his job, left her with 'her' truck and buggered off who knows where)

Myself, I did not even want to get into it with her and offer advice.
Some people are beyond help.

 

[eljefino]

My dad always inherited off-lease Ford wagons from his dad's company. These were full size 70's tanks because that was the thing. He decided he'd get one of those midsize Fairmonts. For those not in the know, you could get a Fairmont for about $4300 but his was $6000. This added power steering, brakes, and the 6 cyl engine but almost nothing else. Stick shift, crank windows, no AC, vinyl seats.

It didn't even have a radio, so dad got a "sparkomatic" from k-mart, with two speakers he hacked into the doors. To rewind a tape, he had to eject it and fast-forward it on the other side. If we were on a road trip and he saw a billboard for an easy-listening radio station, he'd find it and subject us all to James Taylor. This radio started going out, so he'd turn it off and on again to make it work. Sometimes dozens of times. He eventually got another [censored] radio at a yard sale, saving us all. He thought the "Ford presents: sounds of the 80s" demo cassette was legit music and proudly displayed it in his tape case.

I was about 3 or 4 and I rolled down the rear window-- it stopped 2/3 of the way down. (Better than malibus that don't roll at all, I guess.) I was immediately disappointed b/c the old car let me go all the way.

Ok, so the car was serviceable. I even drove it on my learners permit; it drove good, had good sight lines, a good clutch, whatever. Eventually the transmission called it quits (plastic shift forks) and pops wanted another stick shift ford wagon.

So he marched us all down to the ford dealer and asked for a stick shift taurus wagon. I already knew from "Consumer Reports" that no such unicorn existed and told him in front of the salesman. In hindsight this was probably his "protest vote" and his way of showing the salesman he lost a $16k Taurus sale to a $9500 Escort sale.

So here we all are, growing geeky teenage me, in a yet smaller car. Dad kept this one around until it seized a caliper at 170k and he called the junkyard, seizing the excuse to get rid of it. I'm sure the yard flipped it back on the road for a few more years.

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: eljefino

It didn't even have a radio, so dad got a "sparkomatic" from k-mart, with two speakers he hacked into the doors.


The 1984 Cherokee my parents bought didn't have a radio at all either. Didn't last long...they had an AMC accessory radio installed a couple months after buying it.

 

[dishdude]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Originally Posted By: eljefino

It didn't even have a radio, so dad got a "sparkomatic" from k-mart, with two speakers he hacked into the doors.


The 1984 Cherokee my parents bought didn't have a radio at all either. Didn't last long...they had an AMC accessory radio installed a couple months after buying it.


My parents bought an '84 Accord, no radio - no A/C. My dad had a company K-car so we mostly drove around in that, it had A/C and FM - analog with a needle that went up and down the dial. Oh life in the 80's!

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: AZjeff
Originally Posted By: expat
I was talking to our cleaning lady just last week. She drives a new F150 extended cab, 4 door, 4 WD, 'loaded to the gills' truck........

The truck costs her $1k per month including a $39 per month mantenance agreement......

She will soon have to park the vehicle because the extra mileage charges will soon become excessive.......


Can't even imagine paying $1K a month for a parked truck. Her best play may be to just use the truck and buy it out. No excess charges and won't have to fix it. Also can't imagine not wanting to fix a new truck...


Or just walk away from it and tell them to come and get it.

Or park it in a bad neighborhood for a couple days.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Originally Posted By: eljefino

It didn't even have a radio, so dad got a "sparkomatic" from k-mart, with two speakers he hacked into the doors.


The 1984 Cherokee my parents bought didn't have a radio at all either. Didn't last long...they had an AMC accessory radio installed a couple months after buying it.


My wife's 86 Cherokee Pioneer had a stereo...the factory Am/FM/cassette, complete wirh the AMC logo on the head unit. And it worked very well.

She still misses that Jeep.