{"id":125,"date":"2021-08-29T19:08:06","date_gmt":"2021-08-29T23:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blarg.tinkernet.ca\/?p=125"},"modified":"2021-08-29T19:08:06","modified_gmt":"2021-08-29T23:08:06","slug":"used-blue-car-or-is-that-used-car-blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blarg.tinkernet.ca\/?p=125","title":{"rendered":"Used Blue Car (or is that Used car Blues?)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

So\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After giving up on my 2010 DGC (Yes. It finally realized it was a Dodge.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I went hunting for a suitable replacement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Had a pretty good idea what I wanted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van, SUV, Pickup with a topper. In that order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Less complicated to troubleshoot than the Dodge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gotta have roofracks & a trailer hitch already installed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4×4 would make me happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh yeah\u2026 Not another damned Dodge. (Have I ever publicly mentioned my intense dislike of Dodge? Probably\u2026 A few times\u2026)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jumped on Kajiji & started shopping. Specified $1,000-$2,000. Lotsa junk available. Changed to $2,000-$3000. Changed to $2,000-$4,000. Some actual cars started showing. (Why do used car lots advertise cars “as is”? What’s the point?)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apparently, All used cars have spntaneously been converted to pure platinum recently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anywho\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Found a 2007 Chebby Trailblazer.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First time listed: $2,600 as is or $3,100 certified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thought about taking a look, but the listing was taken down before I got the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few days later, Same car gets relisted for $3,000 certified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Made the call & drove an hour to take a look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Externally, it looks reasonable. No rust, not too many dents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mirrors have both been snapped & badly repaired. Both bumper covers are coming apart to some extent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tires are shot & alloy rims are nasty. But, there’s a second set of wheels in the back & they do look better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far, no deal breaking issues visible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On to the interior\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

O\u2026M\u2026G\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This truck has been molested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both front seats have burn holes ALL OVER them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The centre console has been beaten apart. (& the cup holder inserts are complely missing.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The headliner was torn apart in some sort of failed attempt to fix the front reading light switch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The front door panels have been reinstalled wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the vents is totally out of whack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Passenger front seat\u2026 Side plastic has been smashed off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have no desire at all to know what is soaked\/ground into the carpets\u2026 EVER!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still\u2026 No deal breakers yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Test drive time!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starts like a dream. Seems to be running smoothly. (But the exhaust is a bit loud\u2026 meh\u2026)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seller wanted to drive. WTF dude?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stuck him in the passenger seat. Quickly realized he was even more annoying in that position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discovered the shifter is sloppy as hell. hhhmmm\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Got her rolling & drove around a bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transmission seems to be slipping a bit, but not too badly. Probably needs a fluid check. Maybe a flush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seems to handle well. Alignment seems good. Brakes are good. Lotsa power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Little bit of whining noise. Maybe power steering pump, maybe not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comfy truck\u2026 Beats the heck out of the dead Dodge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stereo is toast\u2026 \ud83d\ude41<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\/C definitely needs a recharge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still\u2026 No deal breakers yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bullet Biting\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being late in the day on a Saturday, a little difficult to get hands on the cash to buy it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But did have $500 on hand. So offered a down payment. He accepted it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scrounged up the rest overnight by calling in favours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drove out on Sunday with plates to get her home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was selling it for his uncle, so had to wait for uncle to figure out how to get to the parking lot to do paperwork. But, eventually, I became the proud new owner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uneventful trip aside from the weather suddenly turning ugly. Discovered this truck has a feature I haven’t had in a while\u2026 WORKING rear wiper! Holy crap!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only potential concern during the trip was the TPMS light coming on. Since it was pouring down rain & the truck felt like it was ok, decided to ignore that until I got home. (Turned out RF tire was low, but not desparately so\u2026)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Stay tuned & I might even write up a part 2<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

So\u2026 After giving up on my 2010 DGC (Yes. It finally realized it was a Dodge.) I went hunting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blarg.tinkernet.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blarg.tinkernet.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blarg.tinkernet.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blarg.tinkernet.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blarg.tinkernet.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=125"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blarg.tinkernet.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":131,"href":"https:\/\/blarg.tinkernet.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125\/revisions\/131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blarg.tinkernet.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blarg.tinkernet.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blarg.tinkernet.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}