Alright Veeky Forums, I'm in need for some honest advice here.
I've found my dream car on Craigslist, it's a 1988 GMC suburban, 69XXX miles, and it runs, guy wants 1000 for it. problem is I'm poor as fuck, 18, and nobody thinks I should buy this car. Do I impulsively buy a project shitbox or pass up a great deal?
TLDR; do I buy an '88 suburban?
Can you afford 10mpg?
No you stupid fuck. That's an absolutely horrible idea.
Why does anyone think you shouldn't buy it? Is something seriously wrong with it?
This is the only concern but something tells me OP is mainly going to park in front of friends' houses, hang out in it and smoke weed.
At 10,000 miles a year it it would take two years to pay for the difference between a $1000 Suburban and a $2000 FWD shitbox in fuel costs, with the Suburban costing an extra ~$10 per week.
At 5,000 miles a year, it would take four years with the Suburban costing an extra ~$5 per week.
I don't know why many people seem to think getting a shitbox Civic over a shitbox Suburban will cost them $5/week in fuel instead of $100/week. The difference really isn't all that much.
>it runs
you didn't say well. that worries me. I hope you can wrench
I would also worry about the rust around the windshield, you may have to bondo after you clean out that shit
you're going to have to paint it immediately after that, rattlecans and a bunch of sandpaper should be $100 or so
ask him to knock off $1-200 because you're a poorfag and it's your dream car
even if it's junk, all that steel will get you at least $400
Do it. I bought an '86 f250 with a 460 when I was 18
Learned alot, had fun.
>The difference really isn't all that much.
It is if you do the math right.
10k/30 mpg = 333 gallons of fuel a year for econobox. At $2.20/gallon, that's $732.60/year in gas.
10k/10 mpg = 1000 gallons of fuel/year for suburban. At $2.20/gallon, that's $2200/year in fuel costs for the suburban.
Cost difference is $1,467.40/year in fuel costs between the two. It would take approximately 36 weeks for the civic to pay for itself in fuel savings alone at 10k miles/year with a fuel cost of $2.20/gallon, which is about the cheapest I can find around here.
For the cost difference you stated, gas would have to cost ~$0.78/gallon. Consumption difference per week is approx. 12 gallons, so the extra 12 gallons a week would have to cost $0.78/gallon for it to come out to ~$10/week, assuming 10k miles/year driven.
Here's a related pic. Should've uploaded this first.
I'm ready to work on it, and part of the reason I wanna buy it is to work on it. He said I can give it a test drive before I buy it, either today or tomorrow?
Dont buy a 2wd you homo.