I've always hated cars considering owning one an infringement on my
freedom to do as I pleased. When you have to make payments, you are a
slave to said machine. Consequently, I have always driven truly cheap
machines and proudly kept them waaaaaaay beyond reason. Of course, as
I have gotten older, being economically successful has made it easier
for me to drop $800 on a repair as I did today on my "new" Nissan 4wd
truck for routine maintenance.
Unfortunately, my son did not inherit my attitude toward cars. He
really thinks he needs to drive a cool car to be cool (sometimes I
wonder if he's my kid). So, when he saved about three thou, he
searched Craigslist for older Mustangs and found one of indeterminate
mileage about 150 miles away and went and bought it against my advice.
YES IT is cool. V8, more power than I am used to. That stick shift
is tight and 1st gear goes up to 30 mph, a true suicide machine, if it
would run more'n 5 miles between breakdowns. It is a '95 model GT
that looks good and sounds BAD and runs like crap.
He spent his entire reserve fund getting the wiring harness replaced
as soon as he got it home. Now, he's learning mechanics the hard way,
out of necessity. I showed him how to read an auto wiring schematic
when his stereo kept blowing fuses and killing all his lights, YES, a
300 watt stereo installed in series with a 10 amp fuse. Then he
learned about old plug wiring causing rough running and then how to
use a vacuum gauge (a great experience). Today, it was an idler
pulley going bad.
He is discouraged but I told him that is simply the nature of cars.
He did not buy it for reliable transport, he bought it cuz its just so
cool. Told him not to worry about the reliable transport issue, he
can always bum rides from me and eventually, he'll get all the likely
stuff replaced and will have a reasonable time before something else
happs. When I think about it, I never learned automotive stuff till
I simply had to and I suspect he will be the same. Necessity can be a
great teacher.