Jenny bought a 4x4 today! ('86 325e)
I've been telling Jenny (my girlfriend) to sell her '95 Acura Integra for quite a while now to pay off bills and restructure her finances. She finally let me sell it a few days ago, and so began our search for a cheap daily driver. I was trying to talk her into buying a Toyota Camry for a daily driver because her budget was less than $1500 and anyone who's ever owned one can verify that they're excellent cars for the money. We looked at a few online but they sold before we were able to contact the sellers. I think she was secretly a bit happy because she's been telling me she wanted an E30 for a couple months now, though we were unable to find any in her price range.
Yesterday an '89 325e 4-door 5-speed popped up and I contacted the guy, who turned out to be a dealer. I usually don't deal with dealers but the car sounded like it might be decent, and it was a recent trade-in. We get up early (10am!) and head to the guy's lot, which turns out to be adjacent to a tow yard in a shady part of town. I told her to forget it, we'll keep looking, and drove past. She begged me to just turn around and check it out to spare her from the "never-know-what-might-have-been" feelings. I said ok, reluctantly, and turned around. To say I was ready to pick this car apart would be an extreme understatement. As we were walking up I was actually really surprised it wasn't a total roach.
After throughly checking the car it looked like a clean little eta, perfect for Jenny. I took it for a test drive and was very pleased to find that it handled well and ran like a top. It did have a couple minor issues: both passenger side windows won't roll down (already verified it's not the switches), the left front blinker doesn't blink (though the bulb lights up and works), and the driver door lock needs to be rebuilt. The only thing I was really worried about was the car didn't have plates or tags and we were unsure if it would pass emissions. We decided to take a gamble, went to the bank, brought the man cash, and drove it directly to DEQ (emissions for Oregon). I can't tell you how happy we were to find it passed the test with flying colors.
I drove home and snapped these pics after a quick stop at Baxter's for some floor mats, which we scored on clearance for $5.00/set! The car has 190k on the clock and we got it for $1250. Apologize for the book guys, I'm just really happy she's part of the family now :)
Cliff Notes: Jenny bought a 1986 325e 4-door 5-speed with 190k for $1250.
Lets hear what you guys think...
Yesterday an '89 325e 4-door 5-speed popped up and I contacted the guy, who turned out to be a dealer. I usually don't deal with dealers but the car sounded like it might be decent, and it was a recent trade-in. We get up early (10am!) and head to the guy's lot, which turns out to be adjacent to a tow yard in a shady part of town. I told her to forget it, we'll keep looking, and drove past. She begged me to just turn around and check it out to spare her from the "never-know-what-might-have-been" feelings. I said ok, reluctantly, and turned around. To say I was ready to pick this car apart would be an extreme understatement. As we were walking up I was actually really surprised it wasn't a total roach.
After throughly checking the car it looked like a clean little eta, perfect for Jenny. I took it for a test drive and was very pleased to find that it handled well and ran like a top. It did have a couple minor issues: both passenger side windows won't roll down (already verified it's not the switches), the left front blinker doesn't blink (though the bulb lights up and works), and the driver door lock needs to be rebuilt. The only thing I was really worried about was the car didn't have plates or tags and we were unsure if it would pass emissions. We decided to take a gamble, went to the bank, brought the man cash, and drove it directly to DEQ (emissions for Oregon). I can't tell you how happy we were to find it passed the test with flying colors.
I drove home and snapped these pics after a quick stop at Baxter's for some floor mats, which we scored on clearance for $5.00/set! The car has 190k on the clock and we got it for $1250. Apologize for the book guys, I'm just really happy she's part of the family now :)
Cliff Notes: Jenny bought a 1986 325e 4-door 5-speed with 190k for $1250.
Lets hear what you guys think...
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