1964-1974 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Tough call- it really depends on the extent of the rust. If it's the trunk area and some spots in the floor, then it's probably not a bad deal. However, if it's the rockers, that is a more extensive fix. If it's the rear axle tunnel- a ton of work.
Also consider that with a car that hasn't been driven, the brake and clutch hydraulic systems will most likely have to be redone. You may have to sleeve the master cylinder, which is not cheap these days.
Can you hear the motor run? Can you check the compression?
What about the transmission? That tends to be a weak point on these cars and a rebuild will cost you around $1200.
All that said, if it runs, has good compression, the trans seems okay, and the rust isn't too bad, $1500 is not a bad price with parts car.
One other thing to consider- these are old cars. They require tinkering and working on them quite a bit to work out the bugs. Be prepared to have little things act up every week for awhile as you sort it out. I bought a very nice VSaab about a year and a half ago that I absolutely love. Great car, great price- I love it. However...alternator went bad. Then the inner drivers were wicked noisy so I changed those. Then the radiator started to leak, so I fixed that. Then the heater valve got stuck and I changed that. Then the brake pads wore out. Then the transmission was getting really loud, so I changed that out. Then I had a short under the dash that took forever to find. Then the speedo started jumping and I put in another cable. Then the odometer quit so I put in a spare speedo. Then I had crud in the tank and changed a couple of fuel filters and drained the tank in the process. What am I missing? Probably a couple of things. And this car was being driven regularly... I accept this as part of keeping these cars on the road. So you have to have some patience, they can't be your primary vehicle, you have to have parts and some mechanical aptitude, and some tools, and you have to be willing to deal with these little problems that crop up. I love these cars and I enjoy (for the most part) working on them. Most things are fairly straight forward to troubleshoot and fix.
So you have to deal with this if you buy a cheaper VSaab. If you want one all sorted, then you have to pay somewhat more!
Eric in Vermont
posted by 68.142.40...
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