Our "new" car

[catnapper]

Hubby's sister is moving to Alaska and had this clunker in her driveway. She offered it to us for free. Its a Toyota MR2 (I think - its something like that)



Some free car... it'll cost us a small fortune to get it up and running. I have the feeling someone wanted to charge her a disposal fee, otherwise we wouldn't have gotten it We DID need a third car because the kids need one - sharing 2 cars among 5 people has been a scheduling nightmare to say the least.

Who knows when we'll repair it. It might be a looooong project. Thank goodness its not an emergency thing we have to deal with first! We can buy little parts as we get them and have our friend put the parts in. It needs new tires, some radiator thingie, battery, inspection, something with the transmission..... basically the only thing its got going for it is that it moves forwards when you put gas in it. It might stall-out willy-nilly, but it does move! LOL

Anyhow, thats our "new" car.

PS: Like how its parked in the garden. Good grief, I swear we're turning more red-neck by the day!!!

[Laura's Babies]

If hubby is mechanically inclined, it will give him something to do and keep him busy. Eddie loves tinkering with stuff like that and he would be in heaven!

In order to qualify as as Red Neck, you have to take the tires off and put it up on blocks I think...

[sirrahbed]

Yup, MR-2!! That is the coolest model car, Kim!! Both my dad and hubby used to have one - we passed ours down to our son and he loved it also. They stopped making that particular body shape years ago. It will be great fun to tinker with I would think. Then when it is up and running, you will have a classic

[Hellow]

my whole family qualifies as red neck!

[catnapper]

Ahhh... hubby spent the day looking for discount parts. First off, he knows NOTHING about cars, except where to put the key and gas. He can't find any anywhere.... ecept Toyota and they want $300 for a little radiator cap!

I KNEW his sister was giving us a white elephant. Now.... how can WE get rid of it to some unsuspecting dope like she did with us? LOL

[Lady's Human]

Step one:

find a Haynes manual (or Chilton's) for the car


Step two:

STAY AWAY from dealerships when getting parts for old cars. Autozone is your friend.

Step three:

Join an owner's forum. In your case:

http://www.mr2oc.com/

and HAVE FUN!

[DJFyrewolf36]

I don't know, I'd have a lot of fun repairing and driving that thing but thats because I happen to know a bit about that particular car. You give those things some TLC and they'll run forever. If you have questions, don't hesitate to PM me because I have all of the repair info on the thing (plus I know I can find ya parts cheaper than what Toyota wants lol)

[Logan]

I think I would have said "thanks, but no thanks", if your hubby or you aren't capable of repairing it! Kim, she got you, girl!!!!

[catnapper]

LOL Logan. I knew it before we even picked up the car. Hubby on the other hand is the eternal optimist. I was talking to him about it tonight, he's insisting we'll be able to repair it. Now here's where optimism comes in: This car is gonna be shared by three teenagers, and if they want to drive it, THEY will pay to repair it. LOLOLOLOLOLOL now thats optimism for you! That car is gonna sit there for a long, long time!

And more optimism for ya, he thinks once these initial repairs are done, thats all it'll need. I say its the radiator and tires this month. Alternator and starter next month. Brakes after that. Then perhaps the heater will die just in time for cold weather to set in. Its gonna be a money pit. But hey, its not MY money -- its the kids' money!

Do men ever grow up and enter reality? Or are they all Peter Pan forever?

[cmayer31]

Do men ever grow up and enter reality? Or are they all Peter Pan forever?

I sure hope not.

Nice car too! I've always liked mid-engine cars and the MR2 is a great example. I agree that there is a lot of help to be found on enthusiast forums like the one that LH posted. They also typically have a parts area too.

[Karen]

Absolutely encourage hubby and the kids to look for a junkyard - a great source for parts for "not new" cars if such things exist in your area. Heck, my neighbor across the street when I was a kid built his teenagers a Mercedes by buying one car from a junkyard that had been smashed front and back, and a second car that had had a fire in the passenger compartment. It took him a while, but then they had a great car!

And I have to say that fixing and driving a clunker will give your teenagers more car knowledge than any kid who gets given a brand-new car will ever get, and it will hold them in good stead for the future as well. For example, oses that are cracked can be a simple (and not too expensive, often) repair, then you learn what hose connects what to where ... and what happens when the hose is disconnected. Stalling out when you go slow, for example, can be a cracked or disconnected vacuum hose (thanks "Bill" the 1974 Maverick), a screwdriver can prop a stuck choke open so you can start the car (thanks "Hal" the 197? Comet)., etc. etc.

[anna_66]

PS: Like how its parked in the garden. Good grief, I swear we're turning more red-neck by the day!!!

Welcome to the club!

Mark will take anything that's free
And yep, that's his truck (paint peeling and everything) sitting in our back yard

[sirrahbed]

Now.... how can WE get rid of it to some unsuspecting dope like she did with us? LOL

heehee - how about an old dad and his adult son who still pine for the lil car they once drove?? They have a trailer hitch and everything - don't live far from PA either

edit: this is the lil car they had...

[Vela]

Find a salvage yard, you can get the parts for nearly nothing. We got a free hood safety latch for a 1993 jeep grand cherokee that they wanted us to pay 60 dolars for at the repair shop. screwed it in ourselves. We got a new "used" engine installed in our older car, a 1998 Olds for the kids, AND a new flywheel for 1000 bucks, that included labor. Now they have a great car for next to nothng that's still n great shape. You can get a radiator cap for 20 bucks from there, and perhaps many other parts you may need.

Get the repair manual, as was suggested, and it's not that hard. Hell I'm a girl and I've worked on our cars. It's actually kinda fun. I didn't used to know anything about cars, but I do now. Sure saves me when I go into a repair shop too, they can't snow me anymore. They often look shocked when I take it in and tell them what I think is wrong with it and it is in fact that. I once worked on my husband's car, that same olds, while he was at work and had it working by the time he came home. He was shocked, as were all of his friends. It was funny.

Don't be so pessimistic about it, it might turn out to be a great car with a little TLC. It doesn't even have to necessairly be expensive TLC. If it turns out to have some serious problems you really dont want to deal with, a salvage yard will often come pick it up for free and pay you anywhere from 50-200 dollars for it. But I'd sure give it a shot first.

[catnapper]

I can't help but pessimistic... the car used to belong to my nephew. My nephew is a professional mechanic who builds cars from scratch or tears them apart to turn them into something cool like on that one show where they steal your car. He gave up on it for some reason, and knowing my nephew, its because he just couldn't keep up twith the repairs. Hubby is not remembering the time and money his nephew already put into it. I am rembering the trouble he had with it.

So call me pessimistic. Call me cheap. We dont have the money for necessities half the time, but somehow we're gonna repair a junker?!?! All I can say is the kids want it, and hubby's deal is they have to pay for it. He's been putting his foot down this summer thanks to his short-fused Blood Pressure problem. So maybe they will actually fork over the cash to repair it!

We'll find a junk yard for parts. Personally, I'd like to eave the car behind at the junkyard! If they need a car so bad, then let me borrow $5000 for one from a reliable second-hand dealership. The payments would be do-able each month and they'd have a decent car that doesn't always need something. Remember, we know NOTHING about car repair and would rely on our friend's good heart to put in whatever parts we get. My nephew has already stated he doesn't ever want ot even LOOK at the car ever again.