Should it stay or go?

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74 DART'

74 DART'

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Thinking about selling my dart due to lack of funds right now. Just bought our first house in may. Work has been slowing a little the past couple of weeks, and my bills have gone up with the new house. Have not done much to it in the two years ive had it except drive it(daily to work). It needs alot and i don't know if ill ever honestly get to fix it. Any advice? I really want to keep it but am tired of it looking like crap, but family comes first. Just curoius what you guys think.
 
i would hate to see you sell it right now, but like cudaspaz said family first, hopefully you can work it out
 
agreed, family should always come first. but if you sell it, and things turn around, are you going to be looking for another one? they aren't really getting easier to find, and seller's remorse sucks.
-tim
 
well im not sure you will get much for it, but family comes first. Maybe cut down on expenses then see if you sell it how long it will hold you out for.
 
How much do you think you'll get for it if you sell it?

bad time to sell, IMHO.....and if it is just an issue of how it looks, look at stuff you might be able to do to tide you over....spray bomb paint jobs get no respect but I have seen a few that are at least ok.

I dont have the extra cash right now to dump into an interior, so I dyed my factory velour (baby blue) black and I have to say it looks pretty good for now...and it was cheap (relatively speaking)

I ride a motorcycle and have seen the same thing with friends.......you lose interest for a bit or finances get hard and the first thing to go is the toy.

Is it costing you anything to hold on to it?

If you really dont have interest in it anymore, sell it and be done.

But if you still want to see her shine, keep her if you can.
 
Do you have another daily driver for work and such. My ol' 73 4 dr. Valiant looks like crap inside and out. It doesn't run very good either. Always gets me from A to B. I wouldn't turn it loose for anything less than that 4500. 00 voulcher that may come from Governments clunker bill.
I agree family comes first. My wife and passengers travel with shoulder belts, air bags, etc.. in a 04 RAV4. I'm sure it will go into the shop for some expensive repairs someday. I can only hope my Valiant will be with us to fill that void.
There was a time when I had a pickup truck to drive. The Valiant sat here more than 2 years with no tags or insurance. It did get cranked and moved around though. The crack head vandels never knew if there was anyone home or not. When problems with my back took me out of work and made it impossible to climb in and out of the truck or use its clutch pedal, I was sooo glad the Valiant was still here.
Everyones situation is different. Good luck
 
Thanks for the responses. We have a blazer that my wife drives and is our family vehicle. I drive the dart to work, and maybe to the store if ness. but its nice to have a backup vehicle if the blazer breaks. My plan was to buy another used suv in the future, i drive the blazer and put the dart up in the garage to start working on. The only problem is another vehicle means payments again and that would take whatever money i might have been able to put towards the dart. We need something a little newer since the blazer is a 96 and is getting some miles on it. Its fine for us now and is perfect for me to drive to work but want the wife and kids to be in something newer/nicer. Thanks alot for the input.
 
i think that right now is a very good time to get a used vehicle. it sounds like you are mechanically inclined so i would recommend searching your local classifieds for vrhicles. there are some fantastic deals to be had right now as long as you dont mind some dirty work repairing occasional small problems.
 
I would say take advantage of the clunker bill and trade the Blazer for a new RAV4 or similar.
 
A first house or first baby is always a really big deal at first,I wouldn't sell or buy anything for the first year and see how things blend out.IMHO
 
bumnround said:
A first house or first baby is always a really big deal at first,I wouldn't sell or buy anything for the first year and see how things blend out.IMHO
Click to expand...

I agree. Imagine how much you would be spending on another vehicle (plus tax, registration, insurance) anyway.
 
Things are hard for me right now too, and I'm getting ready to go back to school after being laid off for a while.
So I'm selling all my cars but one.
And those cars are my Jag and Corolla, in other words my daily drivers.
I'm keeping my Duster.
It's reliable, and even though it could be a lot better on gas, I know it will be much harder to replace, plus I know if I marry my girlfriend (Whom I adore) the car will have special meaning to us, as both of us love it, and it was the car we went out on our first date with.
Toys don't exist, cars do. Call it a toy, but if it can carry you from A to B, it's transportation.
There's no reason it can't be a daily, parts are dirt cheap for our cars, and can usually be found in stock at Napa, Autozone, or pepboys.

I know you feel the need to cut back, but there is no reason to punish yourself by getting rid of one car just because it happens to be cooler than the others.
I made that mistake by selling my Satellite to pay for a new motor for the Corolla to use as a daily, and I really regret it.
I won't make that mistake again with my Duster, and I hope anyone in the same situation will really listen to their heart on the matter and come to the realization that sometimes it not worth giving up something you love if you really don't have to.
It may look like crap, but things will get better, and you will be happy you kept it.
I'm living with 36 year old Rallye Red paint that's faded to orange with this in mind.
Good luck with everything.
 
I agree. Family first.

Suggest a long run perspective. If you dump the car, you're still going to need a DD. How much do you expect to pay for another DD and where are the $s going to come from.

If the problem is that the car looks crappy (but runs ok?), it will run about $500 for a fix. A quick-o paint job and a set of seat covers will change the look of the old clunker plus give you an opportunity to check a color scheme you weren't sure about. When things settle down and motivation to work on the car comes around, put a real paint job and interior into it.

The attached photos are of my 73 DD. I put a $500 MAACO paint job, carpet, seat covers, and headliner into it. Oh yeah, I did a little rattle can work on the grille and a vinyl applique on the dash. Total invested in appearance improvements, just under $1K. It was basically a crap-o car that runs okay. It's the same car, just looks a little more presentable.

Sell the car and you're not sure about it, inevitably there is a nagging regret that says "I shoulda kept it." This intensifies after looking at "good" cars that look like junk compared what to what you have now.

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Thanks guys, i would drive the wifes blazer and give her the newer vehicle which would mean payments, plus extra insurance etc. but would also give us a better family vehicle, trips, more room etc. The dart runs good but needs lots of body work, its a 6 and iwant a v-8, i know that can wait but ive already waited two years, im just frustrated and knew you guys would understand!
 
I decided to keep the dart. I do need a strut rod bushing for the left front, if anyone has a good used or new one laying around for relatively cheap. Also looking for a blower motor , its an ac car. Gonna get it ready for this winter, i don't have any heat right now. Thanks alot for all the responses guys i appreciate it!
 
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