Trading in a dead horse for an antelope

[hellziggy]

Well, the '89 Bronco that Rick bought 2 years ago died on Friday. Not too bad considering we expected the thing to just be getting us by for 6 months or so. And it still runs, it just dropped the transmission so it won't go anywhere. Hellbob really couldn't have picked a much better place for it to die. It was the bottom of the exit ramp near home and the gas station literally right across the street is the one AAA dispatches tow trucks from so he was able to just walk across the street, say it was dead, and get it towed on home. 
Saturday we went out in the lovely drizzle to look at cars. We went to the Saturn dealer first and we found a 2002 Chevy Impala for a good price and decided to get that. We go back tonight to sign the financing papers and Hellbob will have a functioning vehicle again! 
Of course, now he'll be able to sneak into the house all stealthy like since I won't hear him coming from a block away!

Comments

[hellbob.livejournal.com]

I checked most of those things but I don't think I did get a CarFax yet. Everything seemed to be on the up and up. Suspension was a little soft, but I've read that that's a common problem with the model. It's got the 3.8 engine, so that should be solid at least.

I'll have to check into the cooling system, thanks for that. I didn't go crazy checking but everything seemed to be working. I have a three day return option and 30 days to exchange, so it should all work out okay.

[shrique.livejournal.com]

Cool. I like the three day return. That way if you wanted to you could have a mechanic do all the fun stuff like check the compression etc.

I heard about the coolant just last week. Apparently if it's off base for way too long it can really do some good damage. This one isn't too old so I wouldn't be horribly worried about it. See if they will toss in the 100k service on the coolant. Couldn't hurt to ask.

Damn dude that thing is going to be like a Cadillac compared to your Bronco. (GRIN) That and your gas mileage should go up quite a bit. Ive heard of people getting in the 30's on the highway. They have a nice tall cruising gear that really helps.

[hellbob.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's a much sweeter ride, that's for sure. The MPG avg that the computer had on it was 24, so that seems pretty good. The mileage ratings in the guides put it on par with our Saturn, so that's fine by me.