Flew South, now driving a clunker home

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Woke up at 3 am to a Screech owl. My cat was out and he's so fat and out of shape I was afraid he was a goner. Nope, and he came in, looking like he'd seen a ghost.

Well, I was going to get up for my redeye flight anyway so I had at it. Called a cab, a 15+ year old Mercury Villager that used duct tape to hold the sliding door window in, and had an ABS light on. Driver bragged that their cabs were better than the "other company".

Got all checked in, the yuppies on "A" bench got to board. Then the plane had mechanical difficulties and the yuppies were trapped for a while then released, to a one forming a line at the gate agent, who, of course, knows nothing.

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We're still here?

Predawn turns into day and my flight's two hours late. I change planes at BWI and inquire about a flight loading *right then* to Raleigh-Durham, but they're full. Not one to be shown up, my checked luggage (a toolbox full of non-carryon 7+ inch wrenches and knives, mostly) caught that flight and lingered without me.

I had an appointment to see my dream car, a 93 cavalier with 38000 original miles. My two internal questions were

-- does it have a cheezy 5 digit odometer and
-- is it really rust free underneath?

The answers are no, and YES!

So I buy it; it was some sort of Duke University fleet car. My initial impressions are that the struts are utterly shot, the transmission TV cable needs tightening, and the (R12?) AC still works and/or has been maintained. The thermostat is also likely stuck open, but TCC locks up, so I'm happy there and not gonna mess with it until I get home.

BTW, after a long winter in New England, it's nice down here. Sure, it's humid, but the trees are all leafed out and folks are cutting grass.

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My trees are barely budding out.

So after my flight delay, getting my tools, buying the car, it's about 3:30 PM and I want to get temporary tags before the DMV closes. I hit up the Northgate Mall, that houses a DMV, but it has no staples/ kinkos/ mail boxes etc. I need an insurance card for tags. I go to, bear with me, a vacuum cleaner store that also runs a USPS post office. They point me to a staples 3 miles up the road. Go up there, print my info, then beat feet back to the DMV. Get this at 4:55.
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PS, gas is cheap down here, 2.29!

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So tomorrow early I return the rental car and take a bus back to this hotel and then hit the road northwards!

PS yes I'm lame and have no pics of the car. It's utterly like every other 80s/ 90s cavalier, except for this year it has a goofy "modern" ignition key with notches on both sides but still a classic round-headed door & trunk key.
 
So what's the story, why are you so interested in a '93 Cavalier? For the price of your travels, couldn't you have found a similar car for a similar price closer to home?
 
Guess I'll ask the 2 questions on everybody's mind-how much, & why are your dreams so-well, a LITTLE underwhelming (I at least dream of an SRT-8 Challenger, or at least a G8 GT)?
 
Good for you! I almost did the same thing a week ago by accident, I was on vacation in Florida and saw a clean vw beetle there. Interior was shot and all it had was a drivers seat, and it would have been [censored] to drive back to Minnesota, but man it was clean and the floor pans were intact
 
I dreamt of an 80s cadillac fleetwood with tailfins, I want something cool to take to the drive-in movies.

But this first trip, I hope, will serve as proof-of-concept.

I did my research and found that NC

-- does state safety/ emissions inspections, so the cars will have been maintained.

-- issues temp tags

-- doesn't look that snowy/ salty.

I'm also semi-familiar with the things, having had myself or supplied my BIL with an

82 cadillac cimarron
96 cavalier
04 cavalier ecotec
00 cavalier (for an engine for the 04)
93 corsica (cavalier in costume)
07 HHR (Cobalt with dorky roofline)

important, when many miles from home.
 
Oh come on eljefino, tell us how much you paid for it!

Sounds like a decent car and after plenty of fluid changes and undercoating it should last you quite a while up north!
 
Originally Posted By: FirstNissan
^^^LOL to above picture. Doors open nice and wide!


LOL!
 
I did have to look up what a 93 Cavalier looks like. Hopefully your trip back is boring too. Are you going to drive it yourself, or sell it?
 
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Are you going to drive it yourself, or sell it?


He REALLY likes these cars so I doubt he will sell it at current market value ($500)
 
Originally Posted By: bubbatime
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Are you going to drive it yourself, or sell it?


He REALLY likes these cars so I doubt he will sell it at current market value ($500)

Its got to be worth far more though once its certified, and a simple clean running car is $2k with reasonable mileage, and with a rust free body, working AC and super low miles? $3k maybe to the right buyer I guess, maybe a retired GM mechanic will get it for his grandson or something like that?
I like the idea though, bringing up an old southern car, I'd rather have something a bit more interesting, but they don't come as low mileage fleet vehicles.
 
I grew up near that area. Actually that shot of Hillsborough Rd near the 15-501 exit is very familiar and about 48K of my 2002 truck's miles were traveled on those very roads before I took it to Charlotte, then AL. Chapel Hill didn't have anything other than a Carquest until recently, so my friends and I would go over to Durham to get things from the Advance and Auto Zone. It was also the closest Cook Out (an NC fast food staple).
 
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