That's what I did to save my crossfire for the weekends. I bought a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.9 with 200k miles for $3000 and haven't regretted it at all. Now, my Crossfire only gets about 150 thoroughly enjoyable miles on it a month. (plus roadtrips to Crossfire meets)

 

Well first, thanks to everyone for the great range of feedback, definitely what I was hoping for. I've got a one-track mind and sometimes obvious solutions just aren't apparent to me.

Tulsa, I think you've got the right idea. Maybe I should be in the market for a used, reliable junker to get me from A to B, save the Crossfire for times when I can actually enjoy it. Although it would be hard to justify 3 vehicles that fiancee considers "toys". On the flip side, with a crappy daily driver I wouldn't have to worry about f'ing up the XF in all the winter driving that I'll probably be doing.

Any thoughts on a decent used car, preferably AWD, that can be had on the cheap? An old Audi seems to be the obvious choice, but a reliable one might be out of my price range.


Hah, Alexandria is my home town and its a bit deceiving, I should probably change my location as I live in Williamsport most of the year. My usual driving is between there and State, also pittsburg , and occasional trips elsewhere like WilkesB, Harrisburg, etc.

^thanks, I bring these things on myself...

 

Ditch the Vettes, they're money pits, plus everybody already has them. You're driving a distinctive, relatively rare car and I'm sure more than one person has come up to the vehicle and drooled on it. Right???
The only thing that could be better than having one XF would be to have two lurking in the garage.
Sell the Vettes to the first two damned fools that come along and get another XF. You'll finally be a man among men!

 

well, jimmyjet, I would not have agreed w/ you before buying my xf...in fact as my XF was setting in garage the 1st winter I owned it, I was still looking for another Vette. Finally, spring came, got the car out, fell in love with the way it drove, decided to mod it, and haven't wanted another vette since...so samuel...listen to Jimmyjet...sell a vette, get a decent beater to drive to and from work, then sell the other vette, get your girlfriend the autostick XF, and your toys will be her toys as well...I owned Vettes and Camaros my whole life...'84's are not collectors, if fact they had a bad rap, too many rattles, '76 was a good yr, but not a collector yr...unload those puppies...

 

I hate to say that your right, but you are, I should ditch em'. I just can't though, too much meaning attached to them at this point. The 76 was purchased by my grandfather and I as project when I was 17, I'll never part with it. The 84 was a similar situation with my dad, who sort of owns a share in the car due to the time he put into it with me. It's strange to say, but for all the issues and rattles, I love the 84's quirks.

It looks like I've got to find a POS car with the money in my pocket. Just something for winter driving and long distance/city trips.

 

I have two 2003 Audi's and using "old Audi" and "reliable" together is an oxymoron. They are great cars, but you have to take care of them and anyone who is selling an old one cheap is probably unloading a pack of problems.

Right now the price of 4wd SUVs is still pretty low. I'd look at a Jeep or small SUV. You may still run into problems but repairs are cheaper and mechanics are much easier to find.

 

Hmm, I guess I was lucky. I had a 90 v8 quattro that I drove for years, it was actually my first car. I finally sold it at 250k mi with no real problems other than a few random electrical gremlins (just in the fluff components, seat heaters in front, underhood lights, etc.). In any case someone got a deal as I sold it for a little under a $1000.

Right now I'm looking at some cheapo suv's/trucks. I found a land rover that will probably sell for 1.5k, but Im worried about repair costs for that beast (its got 118k on the clock). I also found a VERY good deal on a 4x4 isuzu, but I shudder at the thought of owning anything with isuzu branded on it. Also, they seem to have some reliability issues too.

 

Hey oledoc2u: I guess you too have discovered the futility of owning corvettes. When I was young and fuelish, I had a '68 coupe, 4-spd., 427 which was a firebreathing monster. As I recall it always seemed to need new brakes and alignment, plus there were some electrical issues. THE NEXT MISTAKE was a '80 coupe 350 auto. Everything on that damned car took a crap before I sold it in '85. (When I finally got everything to working, I traded it on two '86 Jeep products. I had to keep the cigarette lighter hidden in the back compartment because when it was pushed into the lighter socket, all the fuses would blow. I wonder who ever ended up with that turkey. If I ever burn in hell, That'll probably be the reason).
Folly #3 was a used '76 coupe. Issues with brakes. One of the systems would always go out. Bought it for 4M, ended up putting another 5M into it, finally sold it for 3M. Good riddance and never again! Maybe I had more money than brains, but I feel that UAW workers were the problem.

 

I'm new to the board but love to give my two cents so...

I definitely think you are on the right path to get a daily driver. I kept my PT for that reason - although to be honest, since I bought the Crossfire, I've driven it to work more often than the PT. But that's only because the snow hasn't really set in yet. Any front wheel drive with some good snowies on it should be fine for commuting in winter. I don't know how the Subarus are these days but back in the 80s/90s they had great gas mileage and you could totally drive them into the ground with nary a problem (I've owned two - a wagon and a Brat).

As for auto vs. manual - my first car was a '62 Chevy II, my first and last automatic. Only stick shifts since then. I much prefer the control I have in a stick plus I love manual transmissions for the very reason you mentioned - the full on engagement of driving. I just really like driving whether it's in the mountains for the day or making a grocery store run. And the more you drive that MT, the more it will become second nature. Not that I've ever nearly put my foot through the damn floorboards looking for the clutch when forced to drive an automatic, lol.

Oledoc2u nailed it for how to drive a stick in heavy traffic. But if that isn't the type of driver you are then you will be miserable. Lol, you think the MT Crossfire is rough in stop and go traffic - try an air-cooled motorcycle on a hot summer day...soooo not good, lol.

Anyways, best of luck with your decisions and may you be happy on the road regardless of what you're driving.