Yes to the above.

I mean, don't get me wrong here- I went without a car for a few years when I was in a place in life where I didn't strictly need one, and I also bought a brand new Camry with all the options a few years ago as a gift to mom, because:

A: She loves Toyota (I cannot understand why),

B: Her existing Solara had about 240,000 hard, rural miles on it, and was really, truly at end of life, and

C: Despite the fact that she's well past retirement age, mom just... refuses to retire. Props to her, as that's her thing.


But I paid cash for the car. As in, I brought an envelope full of cash with me to the dealership. It turns out that this is not something which they are accustomed to. It took three different people counting the cash and counter-signing each others' counts before they'd accept that this was a real thing and proceed with the transaction.

My sister drove me to the dealership (which was in Fort Myers, about 30 miles from their home), and on the way back, we took turns one-upping each other on the phone with casual references to new-car tech (at the time, she'd recently purchased an off-lease Chevy SUV.) All of it was foreign to me, as my NB has basically just enough electricity and computational power to run the engine. But we wound up encountering a friend of mine who I'd not seen in years while driving north on US-41 (she recognized him out the window) and we stopped for beers at a local pub. As neither of us had his phone number, she very gently ran him off the highway into a side-road, at which point we stopped to converse.

So that was nice.

Nowadays, you’d better not take more than $10k in cash. The paperwork triggered by anti drug money laws is not welcomed by the dealership.

Yet another one.

For context, he posted this in the "Windy City Miata Club" forum. Chicago is not in Indiana.


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...6634e61d36.png

Retardus Maximus chimes in:

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...117b6ddb7b.png

I thought you could register it.. OBD1 cars dont have to pass emissions soo checkengine on is irrelevant.
I didnt see what year the car was. edit, nvm 99. still i thought you can sell it, just cant pass emissions as a new owner :D


Also

https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net...ab&oe=614C2AAD

Ha. Actual scenario from 2 months ago: wife's $5300 KBB value Rav4 waterpump breaks. $1007 for the part/labor from the dealer (they were nice enough to quote it over the phone). $71 for the nice Gates pump, $25 for the 'asian vehicle' red antifreeze.

It only took me 2 days with an air ratchet to swap.

Now when the electric steering rack went last winter, we ate the $3k cause I wasn't about to remove the dash and all the steering components in the frozen driveway. They were going to give us $7k in trade in on a Highlander but she was too busy with work to consider it.

She likes those $80k Rivians though.

I'm currently waiting on a heater core for the MX to arrive, shipped 3 Sept, estimated delivery 6 Sept ... and I could have thrown a rock onto their roof from here, but covid lockdown. I know the delivery driver for that courier, and am pretty certain it hasn't got to him, the tracking says it has been received, not even 'in transit' - the last one that went astray took a 600km scenic detour, I wonder where this one has gone?!

Not paying a shop the labour to pull the dash, but at least they would have had it same day and I would have the car running now.

That's annoying.

Thanks to Amazon/FedEx screw ups, a local charity will now be receiving a nice king mattress this week. They lost the first order, sent us a replacement which we now have, and apparently have found the original shipment that is supposed to be delivered later this week.

Heater cores cause amazing problems. I know of 3 people who have werfed cars due to estimates associated with heater core replacements, helped 2 more people replace them and "saved" the vehicle.

This is also how I ended up with my Shady 80s Mercedes. PO ran away from the job and after doing it myself, I understand why. Replacement of the core in that 190D was a nightmare.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d38be57dd9.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d843d7ab7e.jpg

What a nightmare that was, lol.

I also know one guy who totaled a Mustang II due to a blown core. It let loose in spectacular fashion while he was driving in the Sierras during the winter and the steam instantly froze over the inside of the windscreen, then he ended up in a ditch.
I think he just abandoned the car at that point 😂

You are crazy. God I hope I never have to remove a dash in my life.

I've had to do it several times. Once was a 1977 Corvette, which really wasn't all that bad. I did have to reposition some clips which someone else had missed entirely, but it went back together surprisingly easily.

Still, it could be worse. Some cars require removal of the windshield. :facepalm:

:bowrofl:
I had a similar but more fortunate experience, with a lower radiator hose in an OTM. Cruising on the highway at 110-120, I happened to look in the mirror at the right time and saw a big cloud of steam coming out the back - immediately switched off and coasted to a stop. I can't remember how I got it fixed, must have been towed to civilisation as it happened miles from anywhere.

You guys got me thinking about this so I had a sit and a think last night. As far as my own cars and direct family goes, I've done heater cores and/or removed the dash to replace a heater core in:

• 3x 60s Mustangs
• 74 Bronco
• 74 F250
• 2 foxbodies
• 94 Jeep YJ
• 87 Mercedes 190D T
• My Dad's GMC Jimmy (what a colossal piece of shit)
• A Honda Accord of some ilk
• An 80s Tercel
• 95 NA Removed the dash to remove/clean/flush/inspect the core
• 02 Tacoma Removed dash to clean stuff and chase rattles, no core work

...and I know I'm forgetting at least one. On older vehicles it can be super simple, but things like the GMC was needlessly complex. The Merc was very labor intensive and very, very German but didn't make me want to kill myself.

​​​​​​FML that's a lot of goddamn work. :facepalm:

There's always something relevant here. Me last weekend, learning German.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...09367cb8be.jpg

HAHAHA! Yesss!
Be careful with those goddamn vacuum servos on the HVAC. Depending on the vintage they can be really fragile and some are NLA. I found some replacements via Pelican Parts but ended up one short. RIP defroster. I wish I'd have been able to find a can of R12 for mine, just to see how well the automatic climate control still worked.

Ooo! Does yours also have the plastic fiber optic light pipes for the button and switch backlighting? Finding that in a car built in 1987 surprised the hell out of me.

Heater core went in my '95 Ram. Dash was amazingly intact, but I knew if I farted too hard the dash would disintegrate, so I just sold it.

Yes- I was absolutely stunned to find it. Fiber optics for dash lighting, yet 15 individual connections to the gauge cluster. I often work on the Miata as therapy after spending a weekend on this car.
Here's the "feed" and fiber optic leads from the right side of the cluster.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...591a9a035a.jpg

So we are moving after 13.5 years.

It is exhausting.

And my car is in pieces in the garage.

That is all.

I feel your pain.

On average, I have moved once every 1.8 years over the past two decades. It's been a source of personal pride that I am so efficient at it. And, truly, I have really enjoyed the coast-to-coast moves. They've tended to be highly cathartic, despite the many follies.

This time, however, I am really starting to feel my age. The back, the knees, and the neck are competing with one another to see which can cause me the greatest agony.


Fortunately, my car is in one single piece.