shopping for a school car

[K5dreamer]

yeah, i didnt see the jeep till it had completely failed. but she said there wasnt any warning until the coolant started coming out. i traced the leak to the weep hole on the bottom of the pump, coolant was coming out as fast as it was going in. but she said up till that point the only warning was intermittantly it would run really rough and sometimes stall, then it broke down on the side of the road and steam was coming out around the hood. by the time i saw it it was parked and not running, so cant really vouch for previous behavior, but from what she said, it sounds kinda similar to your issue. could also be any number of the pullies on the front with a bad bearing. a bad pully can act like a friction brake on the engine, which would make it run really rough and possibly stall out. id pop off the belt, and start spinning the pullies by hand, feel and listen for bad bearings and see if you get lucky

 

[howdiy]

I'm thinking about getting a VW TDI for school, seems like the best choice

 

[blazinzuk]

youve gotta spend about $5000 for something that will be worry free, and reliable.

Not if you know what to look for. I have only bought one car that was more than that. It was new and that was years ago and mainly cause my wife wanted a new car. In fact the last 6 cars or trucks I have bought have been less than 2500 my current Jimmy is the most problematic but I knew it would be somewhat of a project

I realize they have a bad rep but if you can work on your own stuff a Chevy malibu (the newer ones) are great cars. You will need to replace the intake manifold gasket. My last one had 285k on it still got 29 mpg (it got 32 when new) still had plenty of get up and go.

You certainly don't have to spend 5k for something reliable you just got to be able to get a feel for the car before you buy it.

My current grand prix was a bit of a gamble but I was nearly positive what was wrong with it. I was almost right, cheap to fix and it hasn't given me any problems at all.

 

[K5dreamer]

Not if you know what to look for.

you left off the "in my experience..." bit from my quote.

$1500 for the M1009 - has needed a new starter, both alternators rebuilt, and a few other maintanece items, and yes, even after trying its best to eat a jersey wall for lunch at 40 mph, it still fires right up and will drive without issue. but it needs major suspension, and body work. whos cost would be substantial.

$2300 for the IROC-Z - purchased from a guy in arkansas, dumped at least $2000, and quite a bit of elbow grease into it to make it pass va inspection and be reliable enough to drive, then the additional work i did to it, and finally it burst into flames and burned to the ground.

$4700 for the jetta - outside of regular maintanence, its cost me $20 for a coolant temp sensor... and has slashed my commuting bill, as well as insurance, and with only 90hp i havent gotten a speeding ticket since i bought it. the 155lbsft of torque and manual trans means its still fun to drive though.

 

[oakknight]

http://wichita.craigslist.org/pts/2087736024.html

http://wichita.craigslist.org/pts/2118472273.html

would be fun .lol

 

[blazinzuk]

second add in the first car. boo yah

 

[oakknight]

Well you were close. the water pump is just fine. but last week , my fiancee tells me there is a loud squeal coming form under her hood. Using a metal rod I isolate the noise to the power steering pump. the bearing in there was shot... This weekend i replaced the pump and a new belt.... no stalling out no rough idle ... 1-3 instant mpg increase....

Seems any abnormal parasitic drag on the 4.0 causes idel issues..lol