[AGL] life-style advice from abroad and at home

[Michael Eisenstadt]

Thanks Byron for your detailed suggestions. If I may respond - some of 
your suggestions are impractical and may be based on your residence 
abroad (in Indonesia, I believe). Here in the good old US of A, there 
are of course millions of cars from the era you speak of in the hands of 
do-it-yourself owners. Also unlike elsewhere, there has been a drastic 
shrinkage of auto repair operations due to the switch to computer 
governed autos requiring specialized equipment to service. I have a 
brother-in-law who is restoring a Ford Fairlane from the 50s. This is in 
the realm of a hobby. For transportation, he drives a Cadillac of recent 
vintage. As for me and wife Madelon we have been driving a 1998 Mercury 
Grand Marquis which has a blown cyclinder and cannot pass the State of 
Texas auto inspection. Luckily, there exists a waiver system from the 
DPS for cars which can't pass inspection. In practice, the car is 
drivable. Recently it developed a noise from the suspension. That is 
what inspired my asking the list for auto suggestions. For the moment, 
we have going to hang in there with the Merc. It is computer driven as 
are all cars since the late 80s. We bought it when it was 10 years old 
from the original owner. It only had 36k on it, now about 75k on the 
odometer.

Estate sales, as you say, is the best way to get a good deal. 
Unfortunately, estate sales are usually conducted on the premises and 
unless one lives near by, it is not a feasible option for 2 to drive 
huge distances in a semi-crippled car carrying a large sum of cash to 
buy a car. The best route I know of are the listings in craigslist.org  
We spoke recently to a couple here in Austin selling a 2010 Merc Grand 
Marquis with 98k on the odometer. Apparently they just bought a new car 
and wisely chose to sell their old one privately rather than take the 
rip-off dealer's allowance of maybe $2500 for what they could sell 
privately for more than twice the $2500. We decided the mileage was too 
high for us.

We'll keep on looking for Merc Grand Marquis on Craig's List. Maybe a 
deal will show up.

A fact that you may not be fully aware of from personal experience is 
that contemporay cars require much less maintenance than a pre-computer 
car: for example, no tune ups required. No fiddling with carburetor 
settings.
Your current arrangement is admirable being chauffered about in a Toyota 
by your house boy. They say that the best thing about foreign countries 
is the cheap servants. Nothing like that in the US. The wealthy import 
foreign house servants, au pair girls, nannies. In our debile dotage 
when we will need help around the house, we will be lucky to find a 
Mexican lady to do for us. Currently that would cost $15 and up an hour. 
I should point out that the new HEB home delivery service (we've used it 
4 times now) is a godsend. The one thing they don't deliver so far is 
beer and spirits which they do sell in their stores. We buy beer at 
Whole Foods just down the street and wine from the Wine Merchant on 6th 
street just across the alley from us. I have this tip about wine: most 
wine stores will order Louis Jadot Beaujoulais-Village for you by the 
case. It costs only $9 a bottle and it tastes like the French red wine 
which it is: smooth and subtle. The dollar being strong, imported wine 
is cheaper than California wines of comparable quality.

If you can find one with low mileage, I do recommend a Mercury Grand 
Marquis: comfortable ride, relatively quiet engine, huge trunk as is 
typical for traditional full-size Ford-made sedans. Also since millions 
of these cars are in use along with their twin the Ford Crown Victoria, 
spare parts are not a problem. Unfortunately, as I said, repair shops 
are few and far between nowadays and not particularly trustworthy. Sears 
Auto which was reliable is no longer. Thanks to a tip in this forum, we 
got our tires aired up at Firestones close-in right across the river on 
S. Congress. Perhaps they are a good place to go for car repairs.

On 11/22/2019 11:29 AM, Byron Allen Black wrote:
> My considered advice is to talk to people and roam the web looking for 
> specific models */NOT /*to ever buy.
>
> There are certain models with 'birth defects' that will inevitably 
> emerge (often with second owners) and end up costing a huge amount - 
> more than the care is worth.
>
> A 1960s sedan has a lot going for it, if it has been well-maintained 
> by a reputable mechanic. A careful visual inspection will often 
> confirm such TLC invested in a family car. Estate sale is often a good 
> deal, as a sedan might not have been driven much at all in the 
> twilight years of the owner.
>
> Another reason to choose a 1960s or 1970s car is that they pre-date 
> the era of whiz-bang electronics and automation, service for which can 
> be both difficult and expensive - or in some cases (smaller Euro or 
> Japanese brands) circuit boards etc might be unavailable. Do not 
> expect an owner eager to unload a vehicle to tell you this. That's 
> where patient and deep-level internet research will save money and tears.
>
> Fuel does not look to be shooting up in price any time soon so a 
> gas-guzzler will often turn out to be a bargain unless a gigantic 
> amount of driving is contemplated.
>
> Most of this you may already know; if so, sorry for the time-wasting. 
> Hard sometimes to keep my ancient motor journalist spirit down.
>
> (Final Note): I seem to remember the 1970s as a "time of plague" for 
> American cars in general, where the bean-counters took over from the 
> engineers and automobiles were seen as "appliances". Terrible quality 
> problems in some of the Big 3 models. CAVEAT EMPTOR.
>
> from Byron in Jakarta, riding around in a 2017 Toyota Sienta the boss 
> gave him unexpectedly. Trained a long-term houseboy to be the driver.
>
>
> On Thu, 21 Nov 2019 at 05:34, Margaret Martone 
> <maggiemartone at hotmail.com <mailto:maggiemartone at hotmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     My son found me a 2005 Kia Sorento with 61,000 original miles, one
>     owner (3-1/2 years ago) with the Only expense before now being a
>     set of tires. Had to put $800 into O2 sensors, etc. last week. 16
>     mpg in town and 18-20 mpg on the road. He went through TruCar!
>
>
>
>     Sent from my iPhone
>
>>     On Nov 20, 2019, at 3:58 PM, Frances Morey
>>     <frances.morey at gmail.com <mailto:frances.morey at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>
>>     
>>     I have a friend who bought a 10-year-old, low-millage Cadillac
>>     that looks like last years' model, loaded, for $25,000. Me so
>>     jealous.
>>     Best,
>>     Frances
>>
>>     On Wed, Nov 20, 2019 at 3:31 PM Charles Loving
>>     <lovingigor at gmail.com <mailto:lovingigor at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>
>>         My daughter drives a used 2010 BMW. Expensive to fix but a
>>         nifty car.Very zooty.
>>         Son has a 2005 Toyota Prius which is nice but costly to fix.
>>         I have a 2002 Ford Sports Trac. Not too bad but doesn't get
>>         good mileage. Standard xmsn Carries lots of stuff and can
>>         haul a big load of gravel or dirt.
>>         The wife has a Mazda pseudo SUV four door thing and it is
>>         reasonable to drive but the road noise is pretty bad. Also a
>>         standard.
>>         My 1984 Bronco is in running condition except when it catches
>>         fire, nothing serious but lots of smoke. No AC or radio
>>
>>         On Wed, Nov 20, 2019 at 1:44 PM Michael Eisenstadt
>>         <eisenstadt0 at gmail.com <mailto:eisenstadt0 at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>
>>             Hi all,
>>
>>             Wife Madelon & I need to get a new used car. Looking for
>>             a full-sized or
>>             near full-sized sedan. Anybody have any recommendations
>>             regarding make
>>             and model which they've had good experiences with?
>>
>>             Thanks in advance for your advice.
>>
>>             Mike
>>
>>
>>
>>         -- 
>>         Charlie Loving
>>

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