Lipstick on the pig: how to improve a cheap car?

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I made another post last night about possibly trading my Cavalier for something a little less.... bland
I gave it a good thorough clean and polish today and it really isn't a bad car, plus it's mechanically a known quantity. My primary gripes are how noisy the cabin can be on the freeway, part of that I'm sure is the lousy Oregon roads; but the dashboard and some of the trim panels are just flat out noisy. The car was pretty cheap new, it is an economy car after all and chevy isn't exactly known for their interior build quality. I went to town on the glove box with some 3M double sided foam tape to get rid of an annoying rattle. I was thinking of spraying foam in some of the cavities in the dashboard to muffle things a bit.
What are some things I can do to spruce it up a bit and minimize road noise?
Making the ride a little more comfortable would be nice too, suspension and tires come to mind... unfortunately the tires that came on it aren't even a year old but they were the bottom dollar cheapies from Les Schwab, so basically garbage. Some window tint is on the menu as well, especially as summer approaches.
 
Dum-dum, a sticky, putty like substance can be used as a sound-dampening material. I had a relentlessly squeaky door panel that I silenced with a few pieces of strategically placed dum-dum between the door and the panel. Dum-dum is very heavy, so it's not really suitable for adding sound-dampening to your car's whole floor pan. There you'd better use sound-dampening foam sheets with an adhesive backing. Dum-Dum is also great for weather-sealing holes in the firewall or for attaching wiring. Dum-dum is about as useful as duct tape, and you can find it at the HVAC section at your local construction products retailer.

hotwheels
 
New tires would help everything big time including noise and handling.

You can get some Dynamat if you want to remove the interior and give it some sound insulation, that would probably help big time too with the road noise underneath.

New shocks would help too, if the old ones are tired, but you are starting to add a lot of lipstick to that pig if you go that far.
 
Tires + suspension would be quite a bit of lipstick; I had planned on only having this car through the end of the year but from a financial practicality standpoint it makes more sense to hold on to it for a little bit longer, at least until my student loans are paid off.
I could probably sell all 4 tires for ~$100 since they're barely used, that would be the price of 1 Michelin Defender, which would be my preferred tire.
The struts themselves are ok, but the mounting hardware could have used replacing when the previous owner had the job done.
Just doing some quick pricing on rockauto I could get: ball joints, inner & outer tie-rods, coil springs, strut mounts, and stabilizer bar links for $250, not including an alignment. Then tires would come at a later date, or I could get tires and no suspension stuff, except for the strut mounts that actually need replacing.
 
Open the door. Sit in the seat. Put your knee against the bottom part. Grab the window frame and yank it towards you. This'll tighten the seal and make wind noise less. Also the door will close with a more satisfying clunk.

Inflate the tires to sidewall max, this'll make the car turn in better. If they squeal on accel/braking/cornering, even better, as the driver will think "wow this is peppy". Weigh this against all your clunking noises though as it'd make them worse.

Don't put money in it though, you'll never get it back. Make sure your air filter isn't shot, your spark plugs aren't totally gone, and your oil isn't tar. Beyond that, sell it as-is.
 
you might be amazed how much road noise you can get rid of by carpeting/dynomat-ing the undersides of the Hood, and trunk lid.
 
It's a cheap car that you're planning to sell. Don't waste any time/effort/money trying to make it something that it's not-you'll never recoup your investment.
 
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
It's a cheap car that you're planning to sell. Don't waste any time/effort/money trying to make it something that it's not-you'll never recoup your investment.


Exactly.

Anything much more than just keeping it well maintained crosses over from " lipstick on a pig" to "making a silk purse for a sow's ear". I might try some dumb at, if you've got free time and a few $$... But I wouldn't go much farther....
 
Do you have a scangauge or ultra gauge? When I was pounding miles into my 95 Neon, trying to get better mileage was a good distraction. You will see how much more 75mph costs over doing 65mph too, and just slowing down a bit will reduce a lot of road noise. Plus you just put it into your next car. Also you can read any codes and clear them, and see the real engine temp and voltage which are good to know in an old car.
With my Neon, I was autocrossing it and progressively made the suspension stiffer, the handling better which kept me interested in the car. A $150 USB deck and some decent speakers also made the drive better too.
There must be a few simple, near free power mods for that car too, try some if you want. The beauty of an old car is that you can do whatever you want with it(within reason), without worrying about resale value.
 
I like the look of plain Jane econ boxes.
smile.gif
 
Hello, You're selling a 15 year old appliance which has been discontinued for 10 years.
How much lipstick you got?

Make sure the weatherstrips are secure all around then clean them with plain silicon spray and a wipe-down.
Clean the windows for real.
Clean under hood.
Change the strut mounts as you expressed then drive it until your student loans are paid off as you said.
Put a FOR SALE sign in the car the day you send in your second-to-last student loan payment (BITOGers love a formula).

You must be a natural seller if moving the 4 "barely used" cheap tires is something you'd consider.
Then, almost immediately thereafter, you'd be selling a car with new Michelins on it.

Do you think you're going to find a buyer who'll value your premium tires enough to effect a sale?
Years ago the buyer of a '99 Honda Accord I was selling did notice the Bridgestone LSH tires in the ad.

Do the sound deadening thing and the strut mounts as mentioned.

Producing a coherent list of performed maintenance list of maintenance is likely your best route. Kira
 
I used to own one of these.........

Without spending too much money, the single most beneficial thing you can do is put a set of tires rated a 10 for a quiet ride.

The next thing is the weatherstripping around the doors. That tends to go bad over time.

After that, the exhaust tends to get louder over time. Might want to consider that.

If you're really feeling up to the task, Dynomat (or an equivalent) as mentioned above.

Also, remove the belt on the engine and turn the pullies by hand to see if anything has resistance. I replaced the alternator on mine because it whined pretty badly. Replacing the tensioner and idler pulley will likely quiet things down as well. Along with flushing the power steering pump with fresh fluid.
 
I owned 2 of these, a '95 and an '03. I didn't think they were too noisy, on par with other econoboxes of the era. Best low cost transportation you can buy.

Are you trying to fix it up to sell it? In that case I wouldn't do a thing to it, no one buying a 15 year old Cavalier cares how quiet it is, just that it runs. If you want to mask the noise to keep it - turn the radio up. Maybe I'd try some ventvisors - crack the windows a bit and let some fresh air in and mask the noise that way.
 
Every dollar you put in, is a dollar you will not see again. Keep it well maintained, fix anything broken, keep it clean.

If you don't like the car, sell it. If you like the car, then go down the suspension ($500), tint ($200), stereo ($200+ for a cheap deck, amp, box, sub), exhaust ($100 for a new muffler, more if you need a new catback), intake ($100), tires ($300). etc. ($100) route. You can make the car a bit nicer than it is now, but at the end of the day you'll have another $1500+ into the car.

When you go to sell it now...it will still be worth $2000, but you'll have another $1500+ wrapped up in the car.

If you're keeping it for another year or two, no problem, it's the cost of maintenance, the car is a little more personalized, and you probably have a more enjoyable experience with the car. If you're wanting to sell right away your only focus should be:

Fix what's broken.
Clean.
Fluids look good.
 
An affordable solution for squeaks and rattles in keeping with the price of the vehicle is an $8 caulking size tube of clear GE Silicone II. Much better than Great Stuff because it is reversible.

I'm a subscriber to the cheap car/loud stereo theory, especially as they are removable, but if <1 year ownership is what you're looking at, it may not be worth the trouble.
 
I usually do the normal stuff you would with any car. Fluids and anything that can affect safety, like brakes, suspension, and tires.

Fresh struts, balanced tires, and an alignment can do a lot to make an old car feel new again.
 
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