The Pup’s down to $16,500 and that’s about where I’m willing to go on the price. Hopefully, that’ll get us some hits in the next month. Other than that, I’m taking her to the slaughterhouse (i.e. Carmax). We have things we need to do with this money.
Whitney and I are back to having 2 cars, as the MINI hasn’t sold yet and we got it dirty the other day during the snow we had. Ran an ad in the Lex Herald-Leader last week and got no nibbles except from a fella wanting a good $500-$600 car. Uhh… Looks like the resale on these is waning quickly, and we may have to look at dropping the price again.
May Zep forgive me for a pun… * * * The Pup’s still glorying as our garage queen of January, awaiting his next playful buyer with more money, affection, and less debt. We’ve lowered the price from our original $18,500 to $17,500 and we’ve yet to have one serious interested buyer. We’ve advertised on autotrader, cars.com, roadfly.org, NorthAmericanMotoring.com (MINI club site), and in the Lexington Herald-Leader (regular classified ad), but no bites yet. ...
I WANT THIS CAR - under 200k miles - it’s an iS model with all the sport goodies (Limited Slip Diff, etc.) - it’s from Napierville, Illinois, which is the ultra-posh part of chicago (A BMW is like a Honda Accord there…) Only thing would be underbody rust. Thing should sell for ~$5k in that condition.
The rather depressing link The Pup, my one and only, my truest automotive love, my daily driver, my autocross mount, my introduction to all things BMW, is up for sale. Rationale I’m trying to cash-out the equity I have in it, pay off CC’s and Whitney’s Intrigue (“Sharkey”) and get something fun, but lots less pricey. Full coverage insurance + $600/year in property taxes suck. I really don’t want to begin the new year living AT my means the way I have been. When you’re a Dave Ramsey follower, and a Christian in general, there comes a time where you have to make hard decisions–decisions about following God and securing the lives of your family. ...
So, 9am this morning found me at Beechmont Toyota, looking at a 1984 318i with 173,000 miles on it. Yes, this car was made when I was in Kindergarten, here I was, trying to decide how much rust was acceptable on my new “project car” / Daily driver. Answer: Not this much. No way. The 1984/1985 318i has the same engine (BMW’s M10) as the previous 3-series and the 1970’s BMW 2002 (yes, it’s alot of numerical designations…please try to keep up). Anyway, this lump of iron produces a bulletproof 101 hp and likes to rev, despite its lumpy cam. ...
Ah, the glorious cold virus…it’s been with us for millenia and for the last 3 or 4 days, it’s been with me. For the past couple of days, I haven’t been able to talk (and all the people rejoiced…) * * * Biggest, bombshell news of the past week is the revelation that the 5-speed British Midlands transmission in the 2002-2004 Minis is a ticking timebomb–after a certain amount of time the gearbox will fail, resulting in a $3-4k repair. The problem seems to be the gearbox was engineered for England, where it’s never much below 20 degrees F. In America we routinely see 0 degrees F and below. ...
Last weekend, Whitney, Joey, and I ran in Phil Schneider’s 60+ mile TSD rally south of Lexington. Whitney tried her hand at driving, I navigated, and Joey held court in the back of the Pup. It was a very intense rally, but Whitney and Joey were both magnificent. We ended-up with an aggregate score of only 230 after 60 miles, which was good enough for second place. But for an error on my part, we would’ve won :-) ...
The new Golf and Jetta weren’t just late to the U.S. they were several model years late. And to make matters even worse, VW dealers were fending-off irate customers who were saddled with quality problems from the get-go. And those customers rewarded VW for their callousness by abandoning the brand in droves - never to come back. taken from: Peter’s latest Rant I am Volkswagen’s ideal customer. Or, at least, I used to be. I really wanted a BMW, but I couldn’t afford one. (I argue no one can really afford a new one, but that’s another topic for another day!) The VW Jetta Mk.IV was like a baby 3-series, solid, serene, teutonic, and just snobby enough to be above the rice-burners from Honda and Nissan. ...
I love buying tires. I imagine I feel the same way about buying tires that women feel about buying shoes. Each tire has its own engineering qualities, balancing wear, noise, cornering, bad weather, and price. After consulting ConsumerReports, I chose the Yokohama AVID TRZ, 225/60R16, with an 80,000 mile warranty and good ride, noise, and bad weather characteristics. Not a performance tire, but why do you want one on a regular sedan? ...
As reported over on Gabe’s Blog, here’s a snap of the new, extended wheelbase mini: * * * Had insomnia last night so I finally decided to watch Sin City This stylized movie version of Frank Miller’s graphic novels by the same name stars nearly everyone in hollywood who’s under 40 and who’ll work for under $2 million: Brittany Murphy, Rosario Dawson, Jessica Alba, Josh Hartnett, etc. Dark and surreal, the “plot” is actually 5-6 vignettes that occur in “Sin” (short for Basin) City, a land of angels, demons, murderers, and corruption, with the normal Film Noir inversion of sympathentic/antagonistic chracters–the “officials” are mostly evil, and the ex-cons and prositutes are the “good guys”. ...
link 220 hp Super tight suspension Limited slip transmission Weighs 2200 lbs (400lbs LESS than the Pup) Carbon-fiber body panels 2000 of ’em worldwide Of course, it’d be difficult to drive a CF car with acrylic windows as a daily driver, but what a MACHINE…would prolly run with a Lotus Elise or a C6 Corvette on a Road Course; just crank in some negative camber. :-)
… More fun dreams last night. Something about the wedding going wrong and me getting arrested for marrying my cousin…? I mean, I know Bella and I are close, but I’m pretty sure the family tree converges around Adam and Eve, but not before. :-) Anywho…lots of excitement going on: Twenty-six days to the wedding, the MINI’s been in the shop for diagnosis and it goes back as soon as parts arrive (burnt-out power-window on driver’s side + bad idler pulley + serpentine belt), and work’s, well, bananas (as ever). ...
I filled-up the MINI for $36.63 this morning…yike On the bright side, my MPG indicator is reading 37.9 currently :D
From the GM Fastlane Blog Therefore, we are introducing the 2006 lineup this month with an emphasis on value. We have cut prices on 30 of our 76 models. For instance, the Chevy Silverado Crew Cab was $31,045 in 2005, but the 2006 is priced at $27,990. We are launching new models at prices that are aggressively competitive, such as the Pontiac Solstice at $19,995, when we could sell them all at twice that much this year. Also, we are extending our warranties on certain models and adding former options as standard equipment. ...
I confess. I’m a parking lot slut. Most people park in the same parking place every single day, without fail. Makes them feel comfortable and safe. Not me. Oh no, some days I’m in the mood to park in the very front, where everyone can see my shiny MINI; other days, I find a spot in the very back of the lot, away from those who would ding the Pup. ...
It sucks to be 36.5" tall. That’s what I learned taking Joey and Whitney up to Kings Island on Friday in Sharkey. Sharkey’s our Olds Intrigue. I name my cars…sue me. Digression…The names of all my cars and those I’ve been in contact with: Li’l Green My 1995 Nissan 200SX SE-R. It was Teal, a tint of green, and it saw me through every stupid thing a 16-20 year old can do with a car, including a bad accident with a deer. ...
i bought a car, a 2001 Olds Intrigue. It’s sweet and navy blue. I went to Kings Island with Joey and Whitney. It was fun. I laughed, I cried, i got mad. I bought some tires for the MINI yesterday before we went to PKI, Bridgestone Potenza G009’s 195/60R15, mounted on my regular MINI wheels. The budget didn’t quite allow for the 15x7 Kosei’s that I wanted, but this is a decent compromise. ...
Susan came to town and complained that I post too much car crap on my blog. Yeah, and??? :-) Check THIS out. In my never-ending quest for the sweetheart car that’s been babied since day one, I was cruising 502StreetScene.com and happened upon this jewel. This is a ‘Classic’ Sentra SE-R, with the original 140hp engine swapped for a Japanese SR20VE pushing at least 190 hp, probably more. Black and very clean, this thing could probably go for years, if we could keep the rust away. ...
Bella reports that the MINI’s current tires are about worn-out (well, the 3 that are original…had to buy a new one when I took it to Cincy a few weeks ago), so I’m looking around. Rather than buy another set for the 15x5.5" rims I’ve got on the car, I can do this: Get a set of Kosei K1 Racing wheels, 15x7" And the wrap them with a set of Kumho Ecsta 711’s in 215/55R15: ...