tbird all gone!!!


  #1  
Old 02-27-03, 04:53 PM
J
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tbird all gone!!!

Hello--some of you are aware of my nightmare 3.8L 94 tbird.

Well, a short time ago, I transferred the loan balance of $4500 onto my credit car, and got the pink for it. Well yesterday I sold the car!!! Good riddens, but boy did I get the wrong end of the stick.

I gave the car away for $1150. Leaves me in the whole a little over 3 grand, oh well.

at the time I got rid of the car, the following problems existed:

-drivers side window motor busted
-air conditioning acts funny
-Extreme torque converter shudder, possible tranny slippage
-whole in radiator
-Tires unbalanced
-front brakes down to metal literally
-Bad Bad engine sputtering and misfiring after a warm restart.
-bad engine oil leak
-holes in catalytic converters--literally, need new cats

what did I miss.

That is not including the following repairs that I have done over the last two years:

-replaced both fluid filled motor mounts
-replaced the alternator twice
-went through MULtiple sets of brakes
-car would not align/tire wear
-water pump replacement-+ had to redesign cooling system(long story)
-rebuilt the tranny 1 1/2 years ago
-last but not least, I had to do a head gasket job on the car that wound up taking 9 months!!!!


You do the math! never never never buy a 3.8L ford powered anything!!! They start to self destruct at 80k miles and never get better.

Considering I walked away only owing 3 grand, I think maybe I got the better end of the deal.

Rant done
 
  #2  
Old 02-27-03, 09:45 PM
Joe_F
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Wow. That's a lot of green, but be glad it's behind you. As I mentioned my sister had a 1990 T-Bird, also a 3.8L that had a lot of annoying problems.

It was a smooth riding car, but had lackluster quality---and I kept up on this vehicle! My sister got about 3 grand as I remember back in 2000---she sold it t get the 2000 Jetta they have now.

I didn't shed a single tear the day my sister called me up and said, "SOLD to the first buyer!". It was a heap from day one and a heap through the end.

The 1981 Monte Carlo and 1979 Cutlass she and my brother in law gave us were 10 times the car for 1/10th the price. Neither let me down throughout the years.
 
  #3  
Old 02-28-03, 05:45 PM
fuller911
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I had a 96' Tbird which we sold to my father-in-law. So it's still in the family. Has 102,000 miles and haven't had a single problem other than warped rotors. It also has the 3.8. Just goes to show you, some are bad apples and some are good.
 
  #4  
Old 02-28-03, 05:53 PM
Joe_F
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Unfortunately, most of the apples are rotten on that one .

Poor Jeremy went for his lungs on this heap and got about what I got for the 1981 Monte Carlo in 1993 . Not only that, the poor guy virtually rebuilt the thing!

I almost passed out when my coworker told me he's selling his 1986 Cutlass Supreme 307 V8 for a 1995 Windstar 3.8!

I told him that he's going to regret it .
 
  #5  
Old 02-28-03, 06:55 PM
fuller911
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Maybe he needs the room. I plan on getting a minivan since me and the wife are having another kid in April. I already know I'm not get a Windstar because of the engines. Not getting a Mopar van because of the crappy transmissions. I've thought about the Pontiac Montana but I need to do more researce into the reliability and such. Or maybe a Honda Odyssey.

BTW, The 82 Olds Cutlass that I had was a total piece of crap. Amazingly enough, the T-Bird has been my most reliable vehicle. Maybe one day I will get a great vehicle.
 
  #6  
Old 03-01-03, 06:58 AM
Joe_F
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What engine size in the 82 Cutlass you had?
 
  #7  
Old 03-01-03, 08:34 AM
fuller911
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It had the 307. Visually the car was flawless. Mechanically it was costing me a arm and a leg. Starter, water pump, head gasket, carberator, radiator and alternator. All within the span of 1 and 1/2 years and the car only had 80,000 miles on it. I knew that the GM V8's were good so I was just assuming that I had one of the bad apples.
 
  #8  
Old 03-01-03, 09:21 AM
Joe_F
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What you mention aside from the head gasket is all routine repairs that mostly any car requires. The carburetor is cost effective to do when you do it yourself and do it right--but it takes some knowhow to do it. Depending on what you pay for parts, what you do yourself and who you bring it to determines how much it's actually soaking you.

However, Jeremy had a head gasket, a transmission, among other oddities that shouldn't happen on a car like that.

I can cite numerous other T-Birds with similar problems. I cannot however cite many of those GM rear drivers with all those problems. They are among the most reliable things out there. The Cutlass was one of the best selling cars of all time .

BTW: My 84 Olds 88 with a 307 has the original starter, alternator, and up to 1997 the original charge in the A/C system. I just changed the original drums and rotors a few years ago for safety. The vehicle has about 145k on it.
 
  #9  
Old 03-01-03, 11:32 AM
fuller911
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I'm not putting down the older GM cars, overall I think they're great. But like I said a car with only 80k on the clock was costing me too much money, especially me being a high schooler at the time.

Any input on the Pontiac Montana's Joe? I know that they have a transverse engine or whatever you call it. But my wife will be the one driving it and doesn't want some big Suburban or anything husky.
 
  #10  
Old 03-01-03, 04:48 PM
Joe_F
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Me personally? I'd drive an Astro/Safari. More like a truck and easier to fix.

The "Hoover" minivans are not my pick---although the Montana is a bit better looking than the previous Transsport it replaced.
 
  #11  
Old 03-03-03, 12:58 PM
H
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fuller - i have a 2002 odyssey and i love it. i know toyota is revamping their van so look into that.
 
 

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