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when is it time to ditch a car


98gpgt
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The thing is the Lumina was 17 years old when I bought it, 40k less miles, but in it's entire lifetime it didn't have as many issues. Oh and I replaced rear rotors and pads. And I start it infrequently for the past month. Gasoline is accumulating somewhere, you can sometimes smell it but the engine revs upon startup.

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I tend to have a hard time retiring some cars. Others I get a flat tire and I don't want to fix it. Just depends on how much I like a car. Ones I like/Iove I don't quite on until rust kills them.

Structural rust.

Cosmetic rust happens. I can't really prevent it. It's where I live. I do everything I can but it still happens.

 

Also depends how much time passes in the course of replacing parts. If I just replaced half the suspension a month ago it'll get fixed. But if it was a year ago then it's a Toss up. Anything beyond a year I don't factor into it.

 

Mind you this is all on my dailys. My collection cars mostly will get whatever they need no questions.

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The thing is the Lumina was 17 years old when I bought it, 40k less miles, but in it's entire lifetime it didn't have as many issues. 

 

As someone who has shopped at the bottom of the market as well, I don't know why one cheap car was better then the next, it was a $300 car for a reason  :shrug:

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I would ditch a $300 car at almost any time. It's extremely rare to get something that cheap that will not need a ton of repairs. The only time I would buy something that cheap was if I inspected it first and the cost of the repairs didn't exceed the value of the car...so I could potentially make a little profit off of it if/when I did part with it.

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Bargains are even much more common on Long Island where I'm from originally. You can sometimes find exceptional deals here in NJ. Or anywhere. Sometimes people just want to get rid of something. She wouldn't let me drive it at all, didn't know about the roar from the wheel bearing. She wanted 500$ and took the liberty of telling me the coolant was gelling. I said uh oh oil and coolant mixing. She said take it for 300, she mixed orange and yellow. If it wasn't for screwball little issues I'd have a lot of faith in the car. Now I only have a little. Suspension, brakes, etc. it happens. I need to understand more technical issues better then I won't groan when my already festive holiday dashboard becomes more lit up and festive. Someone told me these cars (Pontiac?) were made cheaper then ... not sure what. I can't help but wonder if he was right.

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People who live outside the rust belt definitely see rust differently.

I know I do.  I wouldn't touch rust unless it was on a 23 window VW Deluxe Microbus.  Now THAT I would be willing to work with.

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  • 1 month later...

Jumping in here on the ditching a car for rust. My 95 gtp had got so e serious rust issues in the rear a few bolt on parts are bad. Rear bumper mount the entire rear wheel assembly is pretty surface rusted but...my floors are good except the very far edges like idk 5 inches in. Amd my to rear (frame rails) have some cracking and holes but there seems to be alot of good metal all around the affected areas except the rear trailing arm mounts they are pretty bad. now I have fixed this type of stuff on a unibody jeep sort of. What do u guys think should o try or just turn a 3.1 into a gtp?

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Jumping in here on the ditching a car for rust. My 95 gtp had got so e serious rust issues in the rear a few bolt on parts are bad. Rear bumper mount the entire rear wheel assembly is pretty surface rusted but...my floors are good except the very far edges like idk 5 inches in. Amd my to rear (frame rails) have some cracking and holes but there seems to be alot of good metal all around the affected areas except the rear trailing arm mounts they are pretty bad. now I have fixed this type of stuff on a unibody jeep sort of. What do u guys think should o try or just turn a 3.1 into a gtp?

 

 

Just ignore me jeez lol

 

A GTP is worth saving if you have the ability. It's tough though because there are a lot of super clean southern ones that get scrapped every year because people down south have no respect for a rust free car.

If you love the car and can weld, hell yes, save it. If you just want a clean GTP there are other cars that can be had cost effectively to give you a rust free core.

 

Bottom line is there is no black and white time to scrap a car, it's a decision based on cost effectiveness -vs- emotional attachment and it's different for every car and every owner.

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A GTP is worth saving if you have the ability. It's tough though because there are a lot of super clean southern ones that get scrapped every year because people down south have no respect for a rust free car.

If you love the car and can weld, hell yes, save it. If you just want a clean GTP there are other cars that can be had cost effectively to give you a rust free core.

 

Bottom line is there is no black and white time to scrap a car, it's a decision based on cost effectiveness -vs- emotional attachment and it's different for every car and every owner.

Well said.

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I 2nd that. I own a Z34 that was hit. It had frame damage but it being a Z34 (they're harder to find than normal Lumina coupes) I decided to have the frame pulled instead. Long story short it still needs some body work done but I'm in the process of saving it.

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A GTP is worth saving if you have the ability. It's tough though because there are a lot of super clean southern ones that get scrapped every year because people down south have no respect for a rust free car.

If you love the car and can weld, hell yes, save it. If you just want a clean GTP there are other cars that can be had cost effectively to give you a rust free core.

 

Bottom line is there is no black and white time to scrap a car, it's a decision based on cost effectiveness -vs- emotional attachment and it's different for every car and every owner.

For me I love the 5th Gen regardless having a gtp one is just soooo nice. But there is another one about an hour from me I could prolly pick up for 1200 to 1500 been in the owners family for 20 yrs garage kept for the last ten. Problem is I don't have that kind of cash the guy says the underneath is spotless has some dents here and there but otherwise the whole car is clean.
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Been doing some work today still alot to do but I'm getting there gunna fix the biggest problems so it's safe to drive for now until I either buy another one that's clean or get a beater dd then disassemble the underneath of this car and another se coupe and cut and paste lol. What do u guys think I have more pictures but my phones memory is 2 low to upload them for some reason. I cut a good bit out and I also got my trailing are and mount bent back into place.

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Here is a few morw. I'm doing this lol so if anyone else is having some problems with this I can help and I will let u know how I do it and will upload more pictures as I progress.

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You always have a car payment. Wether it's money outright on a newer car or repairs on an older car. I'd love to see pictures of it, that's a survivor.

What sucks harder is having car notes and paying for repairs unless under warranty. Double penetration right there. I'm cheap

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Been doing some work today still alot to do but I'm getting there gunna fix the biggest problems so it's safe to drive for now until I either buy another one that's clean or get a beater dd then disassemble the underneath of this car and another se coupe and cut and paste lol. What do u guys think I have more pictures but my phones memory is 2 low to upload them for some reason. I cut a good bit out and I also got my trailing are and mount bent back into place.

A few of us have welded second gen trailing arm mounts on instead of the first gen ones

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