Message text written by "Garner, Joseph P."
>Hi everyone,
I need some sensible (and perhaps sobering) advice.
Here's my problem....
In my search for a used car on a tight budget, I have happened upon a 1974
spitfire 1500. Every sensible nerve in my body tells me not to be so silly
and to go and put the money down on that tercel i saw earlier in the week,
but this is the first car i have seen which I am really excited about.
Perhaps it is because i am an englishman in california and it is a
beautiful
reminder of home, but at the moment i am sturggling with the urge to
purchase with my heart and not my head.
I have done as much research as i can (the TVR website was so helpful!),
and
have enlisted the help of a friend of mine who is a better mechanic than i
am to go and give the car a first look the car over in the flesh. I would
not buy it if there were any mechanical or body problems of note, and i
would get a professional mechnic to check it over first. But my main worry
is that if the car does turn out to be sound, then i have to decide where
it
really is appropriate.... in short, I hardly drive anywhere, living within
cycling distance of work, my only major trip is a 2 and a half hour drive
(sacramento to palo alto) that i make there and back maybe twice a month.
Am
I crazy to think of doing this in an (albeit) mechanically sound spitfire?
Or in other words, am i crazy to consider buying a mechanically sound
spitfire for the purpose of making that round-trip twice a month? My
particular concerns are mechanical reliability, and crash-safety (which is
why i said it was a head-versus-heart tug of war going on here!)
All honest opinions would be very much appreciated!
thank you all for your time
cheers
Joe
<
Joe,
It is YOUR DUTY TO QUEEN AND COUNTRY to buy that car!
Actually you have to ask your self: what will you do if the car is not
running when you need it? What if it is in the shop when it comes time to
make your semi-monthly trip? Can you find alternative transportation?
The car is likely very reliable. Compared to a Tercel it isn't all that
reliable but for twice a month required transportation and the
discretionary rides it will perform flawlessly except that the car might
fail on you once in two or three years. Bear in mind that when the Trecel
fails it will likely cost more than the car is worth to fix whereas the
Triumph can be repaired quite economically since it is from the old school
of auto design.
The Spit will retain more value over the years, too. And if you don't buy
it you will forever pine away for it henceforth.
The car can be quite reliable so have a professional who knows the car look
it over thuroughly and fix the suspension bits that need it, the brakes,
and sort out the drive train. Anything else will be non-life threatening
(switches and the like). Carry a cell phone and a AAA card if you feel
nervous. But consider that I took my TR6 out of 7 months storage, changed
the oil, put in a new battery and drove it 4000 miles round trip to Maine
without so much as a hickup. These cars are not as bad as they are reputed
to be.
Buy it.
Dave Massey
St. Louis, MO USA
57 TR3
71 TR6
80 TR8
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