I Got Me A Car! (Not 56k Friendly)

GuardianAsher · Post by **GuardianAsher** » Wed Nov 19, 2008 8:50 pm

I usually just drove around my uncle's truck, but with the 5.0L V8 under the hood, and the way gas prices were (are going to be?) I figured it was time to get something that didn't eat $80 in gas a week. Mind you, I travel a good 75 miles a day to and from work, so the 9mpg my truck got was murder on my wallet.

A friend of mine was selling an old 1995 Cavalier, and when I started learning more about it, I couldn't say no.

Original owner purchased the car in 1995, with only 50 miles on the odometer. I was really impressed, because not only did she take damn good of the car, she kept maintenance records of EVERYTHING. Oil changes to tires being balanced and rotated.

In 2005, she ran over some debris on the interstate, and punched a hole in the oil pan, but she didn't know, kept driving, and seized the engine. Took it to a Chevrolet dealership and had them install a brand new $4000 Chevy crate engine into it. Mind you, the car only had 88000 miles on it at this time.

She picked herself up a brand spanking new Lexus, so decided to sell the Cavalier just recently. Mileage: 92000 miles, so only 4000 put on the engine in three years.. The price? $1800 XDD

She needs some work... the clear coat is peeling like crazy, and it has plenty of door dings, rock chips, you name it. But the engine runs beautifully, has brand new wheels and tires, the suspension is nice and tight, and she handles like a dream. Not bad for _my_ first car which I can call my own. I've already done some modifications to it too, small touches. New muffler, and I added some fog lights into the front bumper.

nitro237 · Post by **nitro237** » Wed Nov 19, 2008 10:18 pm

Congrats, looks like you got yourself a nice little ride

mile

GuardianAsher · Post by **GuardianAsher** » Wed Nov 19, 2008 11:33 pm

One of the best things about getting this car is that parts are plentiful. From 95 to around 2000, the Cavalier is basically the same, and not only that, but the same basic car was also produced as the Pontiac Sunfire, with a crapload of the parts being interchangeable.

The car still needs some work, as I said. When I got it, there was a big nasty dent in the rear passenger fender, and I managed to get a good deal of it out, but it still needs to be bondo'd over and smoothed.

I just replaced the muffler with a Cherrybomb Turbo, but when I get the money, I want to put a performance exhaust and intake on it. The car has a 2.2L 4 cylinder engine, which in and of itself is not very powerful, but still has a good deal of get up and go to it.

I also want to put a fiberglass hood with a small scoop on it, maybe making it actually functional if I can. Plus the speakers are shot and the AC compressor leaks, so those will eventually need to be replaced. Especially the AC, before these texas summers kick in >.>

Qui Gon-Jinn · Post by **Qui Gon-Jinn** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 1:27 am

Nice.. how much.

I think I posted pics of my $500 truck..

drive it daily.

and.. If Midnight Sin ever gets around to it..... Post pictures of the death of Bertha.

Lmandrake · Post by **Lmandrake** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 6:36 am

Nice find. With that new engine, it should go until the trans needs a rebuild...

Enjoy!

wvjohn · Post by **wvjohn** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 7:29 am

nice ride...fuzzy dice pls.

GuardianAsher · Post by **GuardianAsher** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 9:41 am

While I was reading through the maintenance records, it looks like they had just serviced the transmission when they put the new engine in, so she's set for a good number of miles hopefully. I also put some Lucas Transmission Fix into it, even though it didn't need fixing, but I hope it helps prolong the life of the transmission. My mom had a 96 Sunfire that had the transmission go out at 150k miles, but then again, she never took care of it. Of course, it never hurts to do a bit of 'preventative maintenance.'

I only paid $1800 for the car, cash out of pocket, but I've thrown a bit more money into it since then. It needed a registration, title transfer and what have you, plus the muffler, and various little things I've done to it so far, I put another $200 into it or so. I also changed the oil over to Mobil Clean 7500 semi-syntheic and put new Bosch Platinum +2 spark plugs in, so I hope to see some good things out of that engine. The fog lights I picked up at a garage sale for $3, bulbs included. One of the mounting brackets was missing, but I was able to make a new one out of a piece cut out of an old Compaq case side panel XDD. That and an afternoon to install them.

Then putting insurance on it, which is $100 a month for me, since I'm a teenage male who's had an accident >.> But the car gets a good 30+ MPG, takes about $20 in gas a week for me to drive, so I think it's a pretty fair trade off.

Oh, and no room for fuzzy dice XD I have one of those smelly things shaped like a dragon hanging off the rearview mirror. I call him Sparky XD

ZYFER · Post by **ZYFER** » Thu Nov 20, 2008 9:48 am

I believe it is 93 Cavaliers to 2000 that share alot of exchangeable parts. Good price for what seems to be a nice car.

renovation · Post by **renovation** » Sat Nov 22, 2008 12:29 pm

don't forget to buy a set of curb feelers, and a jack in the box antenna balls,and 1/2 set of spinner hub caps for the passenger side to impress your friends and all the ladys for it

Key Keeper · Post by **Key Keeper** » Sat Nov 22, 2008 8:16 pm

Also, dont forget to get one of those big loud chrome mufflers, some of that chrome stripping to put around the door edges, fuel cap edges, and truck edges. Top it off with one of those 747 looking spoilers and youve got a wannabe fast and the furious replica....j/k

normalicy · Post by **normalicy** » Sun Nov 23, 2008 2:11 am

Plus the speakers are shot

Did I hear someone mention speakers? I do speakers

One of the best things about getting this car is that parts are plentiful. From 95 to around 2000, the Cavalier is basically the same, and not only that, but the same basic car was also produced as the Pontiac Sunfire, with a crapload of the parts being interchangeable.

Actually, it's funny, the first thing that I thought when I saw that is that I see tons of them in the junk yards right now (they go through phases) & that it would be handy to get replacement parts for.