Alright Veeky Forums, I'm in need for some honest advice here

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.

I already daily drive a 2001 Sequoia, 4.7 liter v8. So I expect the suburban to be a little worse on gas, but not by much

I'd say go for it. They're remarkably easy to work on, parts are cheap and plentiful, and cost of ownership is very low.

The argument about fuel economy is valid, but you exclude insurance and maintenance. Any vehicle in that price range will need issues. The cost of fixing a Suburban; especially if you do it yourself, is much less than a Civic; the same can be said for insurance. Ultimately, the net difference will be negligible and is irrelevant when compared to your satisfaction and the value of what you'll learn.

I envy that your dream car is so cheap.

>30mpg
>shitbox $2000 Civic
Yeah, no. 18mpg is more realistic according to people that actually daily drive 80s/90s FWD shitboxes.

>10mpg
>88 Suburban
Maybe if it's a 454. 12-15 is more realistic for the much more common 350. I went with 12.

>$2.20/gallon
It shot up to $2.20 after the pipeline rupture from $1.80. It's right around $2.00 right now and still falling.

When Dracula gives a lead sled the okay you can take it to the bank

>It's right around $2.00 right now and still falling.

I want to be where you live. It's $2.31 and going up around here.

A $2000 civic is not from the 80s. A late 90s or 01-05 can be bought for that much and you will get more than 30 unless something is wrong with the engine.

That thing is a piece of shit. Buy the cleanest one you can find. If you can't afford a clean one, don't buy one at all.

It'll get 30 if you're rolling down a perfectly level highway at 55 with no stops. I could probably squeeze 20mpg out of my Suburban if I were driving like that, and mine's a 3/4 ton 4x4.

You're comparing highway economy under ideal conditions of an econobox to driving the Suburban like you stole it in town. Swap the conditions and they'd likely be the same on gas.

>need to respray hood
>looks like it's already been sanded
neat, you can get color matched rattlecans at some Napas and local auto paint stores
that looks way better than OP pic also, no need to bondo
wrenching on it will be a dream, the engine bay is huge and you don't need jacks or stands to get under it
if it's mechanically sound now and you invest $1-2k in it wisely it will be worth $5k

>That thing is a piece of shit.
You're a piece of shit. Also confirmed for judging a book by its cover. Sorry that a little surface rust totals your tinfoil nipbox.

Looks nice to me OP.

All depends on use. If REALLY poor as fuck, buy tools or something useful instead of a cost center since you have a vehicle that's much better. (I have that style C-20 crewcab with a dually rear as a wrecker and have worked on many.)

If moderately poor as fuck you need to learn to be a mechanic and those old Chevys are good platforms. DO NOT dump cash into it. Do have fun and go to Chevrolet truck forums for detailed advice. This is not a Chevrolet truck forum. What you learn will be worth a lot more than you spend. Everyone who likes trucks should learn to wrench. It changes your life.

>i'm a stupid 18 year old that wants to make a shitty decision.
It's a bad decision no matter how you slice it. Money is tight when you're 18 so you should spend as little as possible on necessities so you can save for things that matter like education or moving out or buying a house.

It's $1,000, probably $700 with a little negotiation and he should be able to make it reliable with a few hundred more. He'll have experiences in that thing that are impossible in your Civic.

My first vehicle was a Suburban. The ONLY thing I wish I did differently when shopping for my first vehicle was look for a 454 or diesel instead of a 350.

Not that the 350 is bad, I just want more torque.

You know what, can't argue with that. It's a really good deal on a really good shit box though. You make a good point but I'm on the fence about this

[for any car...]

is the vehicle free and clear of fines, tickets, etc..? (you can ask your local dept of motor vehicles)
have you figured out cost to register (i.e. do you need some state inspection certificate) and insure?

will the owner let you test drive? take it to a mechanic to check the engine, tranny, drive train, brakes, steering, cooling system, wheel alignment (can you afford to pay a mechanic $80 to check the car out?)

[about the 1988 suburban]
I've got no problems with an '88. It's an early year for GM's throttle body injection, you might get 10mpg-city and 15mpg-highway maybe even 20mpg in the flatlands with highway tires and under 60mph (you have the aerodynamics of a brick). You're pre-ABS brakes so less complexity and computer shit. A suburban is too tall to fit inside many home garages. There's so much room to wrench under the hood compared with the super-sushi-mini-engineering with Honda.

[price of gas]
Trump's Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, and his family, might have a Billion dollars of Exxon/Mobil stock. I wouldn't bet on the USA getting Venezuela-like $0.38/gal prices. Maybe $3/gal is politically tolerable, but $4/gal would trigger strong feelings of betrayal.

>18mpg is more realistic according to people that actually daily drive 80s/90s FWD shitboxes.

only if something's wrong with it, like running rich or the thermostat is stuck open.

its a toy. do you really want to spend a grand on a toy? yo obviously aren't going to be using it for anything important because it's a horrible choice for anything practical, aside from the fact that it's falling apart

Honestly man, I would recommend against it. Shitbox projects always sound good in theory but then once you actually try to work on it, everything imaginable starts going wrong. Bolts will be rusted out and stripped or snapping off, rust will have eaten up too much of the frame making it useless for towing, interior is complete shit, and a million other trivial problems. It isn't worth it

1k a year is nothing for someone with a job
but op is a poorfag in over his head.

>be cletius
>have old suburban that was traded to my brothers girlfriends baby daddy for a case of beer
>got dat GM motor I tell you what
>who cares about maintaining the vehicles, long as it runs right?
>push it to the limit and beyond like every previous owner
>sits on my land for a few years
>repeat previous steps a few times over a 30 year period so that it never racks up more than 70,000 miles
>decide I want to buy a case of beer
>its worth more if it runs
>do the bare minimum to get it to turn over and stay running
>put it on craigslist
>hey lookie kids, its only got 70k miles! And its made in Murica! What a steal, you're robbing me blind! They built these things to drive to the moon and back I tell you what!

>OP is retarded kid, sees ad, and falls in love somehow
>I-It's a project, it will be fun! Im so poor but I can work hard!

Well, im my experience anything that is even an "easy" project can quickly become a cursed object. I've had vehicles that were gifted to me for free, racked up hundreds of dollars in parts, then were dumped on the next person.

If you want a real project vehicles that is fine, but have a heated/AC shop full of tools and a schedule full of free time. Otherwise buy something else.