Maybe buying another car... 1992 Lincoln Town Car (rental, lights, reliable)

[Tennesseestorm]

There has been a bit of a breakthrough.

The guy with the 91 Caprice for $2100 said he would drive it anywhere. There was an email from a guy whos grandpa has a early 90s Town Car locally that I want... awaiting more info on that one.

Also found a 1993 Town Car Cartier... 90K actual, like new, but its $3400 - which is a little more than I wanted to pay, but it may be worth it. Photos of it below... It was one owner--- elderly lady... passed away.
http://www.dealercarsearch.com/Media/1497/00101_20.jpg (broken link)

ALSO - a man called... his mother in law (older lady) has a 1991 Caprice Classic - white with maroon interior. Very nice for $1600. Going to look at it Sunday.

[las vegas drunk]

Originally Posted by Tennesseestorm

I know right. What about Yugo though... simple, but left much more to be desired.

It has to be well built though as a Yugo was pure junk from the start. All of my most reliable cars were very simple cars with NO air conditioning or power steering, power windows, etc. This includes my 1991 Escort Pony car.

[las vegas drunk]

Originally Posted by Tennesseestorm

There has been a bit of a breakthrough.

The guy with the 91 Caprice for $2100 said he would drive it anywhere. There was an email from a guy whos grandpa has a early 90s Town Car locally that I want... awaiting more info on that one.

Also found a 1993 Town Car Cartier... 90K actual, like new, but its $3400 - which is a little more than I wanted to pay, but it may be worth it. Photos of it below... It was one owner--- elderly lady... passed away.


ALSO - a man called... his mother in law (older lady) has a 1991 Caprice Classic - white with maroon interior. Very nice for $1600. Going to look at it Sunday.

That Town car looks to be very clean, almost like new. However, I would pass on owning a car owned by an elderly person. They normally have low miles, but they are almost all city miles which is bad. They also have a habit of not maintaining their cars very well.

[Lux Hauler]

Originally Posted by las vegas drunk

That Town car looks to be very clean, almost like new. However, I would pass on owning a car owned by an elderly person. They normally have low miles, but they are almost all city miles which is bad. They also have a habit of not maintaining their cars very well.

I disagree. Especially about them not maintaining the vehicle.

[Tennesseestorm]

Well, it has 90K and I think he said she drove alot between Knoxville and London KY. He said he had all of the maintainence records... so thats a good sign. I just wasnt wanting to go $3400 right now. The $1600 91 Caprice sounds more attractive.

Originally Posted by las vegas drunk

That Town car looks to be very clean, almost like new. However, I would pass on owning a car owned by an elderly person. They normally have low miles, but they are almost all city miles which is bad. They also have a habit of not maintaining their cars very well.

Originally Posted by Lux Hauler

I disagree. Especially about them not maintaining the vehicle.

[las vegas drunk]

Originally Posted by Lux Hauler

I disagree. Especially about them not maintaining the vehicle.

All of my grandparents were terrible with car maintenance. They also were afraid to drive on the freeways. I never meant all seniors fit this profile. I just meant there is a good amount that do.

[las vegas drunk]

Originally Posted by Tennesseestorm

Well, it has 90K and I think he said she drove alot between Knoxville and London KY. He said he had all of the maintainence records... so thats a good sign. I just wasnt wanting to go $3400 right now. The $1600 91 Caprice sounds more attractive.

I actually think you should get that $900 Oldsmobile. Since none of these cars are going to have a warranty, I would go with the cheapest one provided the mechanicals check out ok.

[knoxgarden]

Originally Posted by las vegas drunk

All of my grandparents were terrible with car maintenance. They also were afraid to drive on the freeways. I never meant all seniors fit this profile. I just meant there is a good amount that do.

I wouldn't apply that to East Tennessee. I get passed by too many seniors in Town Cars and Caddies on the interstates -- even when I was driving the Saabs.
And a little old lady is going to have sons or friends or neighbors who will make sure that car is well maintained and she probably knows her way around an engine anyway. It's just the way things are here.
I like that Cartier Town Car if you want to go up in price.

[Tennesseestorm]

Thanks. Yeah, I really like it as well. I may go the extra dough on the 1993, even if I can get an as nice 1997 for $400 less.

I want to check out the 91 Caprice Classic too. My only dislike on the Caprice is that the wiper speeds seem to be too slow, whereas the Town Car seems to shine in this area. Even when on intermittent, the swipes are fast. I wonder if there is a way to increase the speed of the swipes on the Caprice? I am not talking about how often they swipe on intermittent, but how fast they swipe.

[sean sean sean sean]

Wow....23 pages! I wonder how many it will get to before TS buys a new car LOL....

I haven't checked in for awhile, but I just got caught up to date from p15 to now, so I'll toss out some thoughts on the possibilities. BTW, sorry I had to go and hijack your thread for a minute last week, Tennessee....but my trusty BS-O-Meter was off the charts and about to explode. I couldn't let that insane amount of hogwash go unchallenged.

On the Town Car front, I really like the '93 Cartier from a few posts back (those were my favorite stock-TC wheels) and the white '97 from a few pages ago. The gray leather interior on that '97 looked superb. I can definitely understand not wanting to pay over $3k for one of these cars, though. Not that I don't think you'll get your money's worth, but these vehicles are such a better value when they're closer to $2k...or less, even. Reading through these posts I realized I like the larger '90-'94 headlights a lot better than the '95-'97 restyle. Not a huge difference, but it really changes the whole stance/profile of the car....especially from a 3/4 view.

Do you have any more info on the '91 Caprice? What motor/trim/etc.? I know we've already discussed those cars to death in this thread and a couple other recent ones, and I really think you can't go wrong with the last of the fullsize, RWD GM offerings. Like Lux Hauler mentioned, they also seem to be getting rarer than the big Fords, which would be a bonus (to me, at least). Mechanically, I also consider them ever-so-slightly sturdier than the Panther cars. The only thing is, considering the other vehicles you initially expressed interest in (Town Car, Fleetwood...and this is replacing a Lexus LS400) most Caprices are kind of utilitarian in the trim department. I also prefer the looks of the Town Car, but that's just me. Great deal if you can get it for $1,600.

That '87 Oldsmobile 98 is also an interesting choice! Seriously underrated cars, IMO....they were built like a tank. As someone else mentioned, I also routinely see them with over 200k miles in excellent condition. I've even seen some on eBay north of 300k and no worse for the wear. Performance and comfort won't exactly be on par with a Town Car, but not very far off. You actually won't lose much in interior space, if I recall correctly they are exceptionally roomy. The big downside is that they're fairly pedestrian and run-of-the-mill looking, not really much externally that sets them apart from GM's other mid-size FWDs from the late 80s. The interior is also a big step down from the Town Car. Nice enough materials and trim for the time period, but the dash, seats, door panels, switchgear, etc. are all just a set of big rectangles. It's a different type of purchase, though. If you look at it as a replacement for a Lexus LS you'll be disappointed. If you look at it for what it is, which is a great, reliable, roomy car for $700, you really can't lose.

BTW, if you were actually "in the market" for an Olds 98 of that vintage specifically, the one to seek out would be the '88-'90 Touring Sedan.



These ones got a much nicer interior: