Originally Posted By: eljefino
I drove an $800 saturn 11 years then sold it for $500.
When it was time for me to let it go it had rust starting in the "tin" of the rear door sills. (Car was still structurally sound.)
The driver's window regulator slipped off track and I had to help align the window to close it the final inch.
The radio randomly switched to preset 3 if I slam-shifted into 2nd. I just made preset 3 my favorite.
The driver's seat was a different color from a different car as the foam was worn out on the original. It had 241k miles.
The exhaust was a series of patches, though it held. Flanges rotted out so straight pipe went in, which hinders future repairability.
Tires were used, and three different brands. One rim was alloy, the rest steel.
The spring for the rear wiper wore out, so it just sticks out and waves, not clearing the glass.
I put up with all this but when the clutch or synchro for 1st gear wore out and I could only snick it into gear when rolling 2 mph, I said enough was enough.
The car was good to me, I re-ringed the motor at 175k and did all the struts at the same time. It got a donor subframe with less rust, all new front-end. The AC worked until I sold it. It was a classical case of fix what's needed, but don't blink to get something newer when "X" happens.
Haha...this brings back some memories of the "personalities" of worn cars. I remember my dad had an old rusted 1980 something Nissan pickup that had rust straight through the drive door. The few times my older sister would be driven to high school she would duck out of view of the window so her friends wouldn't see her.
