1993 Formula LT1/Auto Hardtop $1500

[93formulalt1]

Nick why not start the bird get it driving in current state, run it to dealer and trade it for your choice of vehicle.
Since your looking for practical why not consider a mini van then you can haul all you want. I know they are not cool but they beat the hell out of a small pickup because you can haul stuff in bad weather.

The bird will run and drive, but you know dealers want to buy cars for nothing and sell them for 300+% profit. And a minivan is only going to get marginally better mileage than my S10, I average between 19 and 21mpg's in the truck. I drive 2 hours each way to work, I need something that's going to save me money on my commute.

[meissen]

Not to get off topic, but holy hell -- 2 hours to work each day? Where in the world do you work?

[93formulalt1]

Not to get off topic, but holy hell -- 2 hours to work each day? Where in the world do you work?

Birmingham. They pay me my regular hourly rate for my commute, so it's not a bad deal. Who else gets paid for travel time to/from work? I work 8 hours and get paid for 12.

[meissen]

That is a good deal - just need a car that sips fuel and you're gold.

[93formulalt1]

That is a good deal - just need a car that sips fuel and you're gold.

Yep, that's why I'm looking so hard at the HHR. I'm not sacrificing cargo space that much, my 6' bed in my truck is only about 4' of usable space because I have a toolbox mounted in it. The problem is gas mileage, I average about 20mpg highway, and figuring about 145 miles takes around 4 hours drive time, that's about 7 1/4 gallons of gas. At $3.30/gallon, that's $24 for the trip. That's just under half of what they are paying me to make the trip. Bump that up to 32mpg, I'm only using 4.5 gallons of fuel, for a total expense of $14.85. That's almost $10/day I'm saving on fuel alone. Figure 4 full weeks of work/month, that's $200/month I'm saving.

That's not including the fact that my 170k mile S10 is having parts fail more often than a newer car with 1/4 the miles would, I'm saving even more on upkeep. Honestly, the fuel savings alone are going to be worth it to get a newer vehicle that gets better mileage. It would basically pay for itself. Full coverage insurance on an '08 HHR is about $32/month more than I'm paying right now, the payments will be around $220/month, and I won't have to worry about being late to work or having to call in because my truck had something break.


Trust me, I don't want to sell my Firebird to get an HHR. Who would? But it's going to benefit me a lot more in the long run than my current situation is going to.

[bri2203]

You have to be patient, which is difficult when you want to sell something fast.

This fall I was selling a 1994 Formula 6 speed w/ 201,000 miles, bald tires, rust on the quarter panel, but it drove fine. I had it on craigslist and I thought It would sell in a day for 2200! I also had it listed on this site for $1,850 for two weeks and no one steped up. The day before I was going to part out it I recieved an offer for 1,950.
I would be interested in buying it but I can't justify the current purchase price when it has many expenses to get it safe and relieable.
Its a shame LT-1 cars have become so cheap in the past 2 years.

[Darren]

Birmingham as in by me? Off of Woodward? Where are you working?

[93formulalt1]

Birmingham as in by me? Off of Woodward? Where are you working?

I work for a facility management company maintaining office space in the Birmingham/Royal Oak/Troy area. I'm out there about twice a week, but once the other property I manage out in Monroe is sold, I'll be working in Birmingham full-time.

As of now, I've given up on getting an auto loan. Combination of less-than-ideal credit and my "Self-Employed" tax status are causing major headaches.

Now I'm combing craigslist for newer GM vehicles (Bonneville's '00+, Grand Prix's '04+, etc.) that I know are reliable and relatively fuel efficient, while still providing plenty of cargo space (read: big trunk). I LOVED my '98 Grand Prix GTP, plenty of power, good on gas (I've seen 30+mpg on the highway several times), and very few issues, even at 140k+ miles. My sister is driving that now, and she is having relatively few issues with it (aside from backing into everything because she doesn't pay ****ing attention). If I get the truck sold, I can come up with about $2500. If I sell the Firebird as well, I should be able to do closer to $4k. Paying cash for the car, or even contemplating putting it in the bank and taking out a secured loan against it to improve my credit. Whatever happens, I need a reliable, economical car to get to/from work, or I'll be out of work.

[meissen]

Can't you get someone in your family to cosign the car loan with you?

[93formulalt1]

Can't you get someone in your family to cosign the car loan with you?

I could, but I will still have to verify my employment with the bank. My best friend has phenomenal credit (Think 700+) and agreed to co-sign, but I don't even know where to apply. Most places won't touch anyone who is self employed, and my best friend is also "self employed", so I don't think that is going to help at all.

[98blackbeauty]

Wow Nick, did not realize you drive that far, you would be better to rent some place in royal oak, ferndale, berkley. I would think the savings in gas would pay your rent then keep your cars that you have. I'm sure your truck would do fine driving 5 miles to and from work. You have to be spending $800-$1000 a month in gas.

[93formulalt1]

Wow Nick, did not realize you drive that far, you would be better to rent some place in royal oak, ferndale, berkley. I would think the savings in gas would pay your rent then keep your cars that you have. I'm sure your truck would do fine driving 5 miles to and from work. You have to be spending $800-$1000 a month in gas.

I don't work out there full-time yet, I work 3 days in Monroe and 2 in Birmingham. When I start working in B-ham full time, I'll be looking to rent a room or something, since I'll still be going home on the weekends. When I drive just to Monroe everyday, I was spending about $500/month in gas. Now, it's about $650-$700, and when I go to B-ham, it'll probably be close to $250/week until I find someplace to crash out there.

[masterfab]

just got my w-2. getting taxes done tuesday. just to let you know im still interested. do you have any pictures of the rust spots.

[93formulalt1]

just got my w-2. getting taxes done tuesday. just to let you know im still interested. do you have any pictures of the rust spots.

Yes I do, I'll send you a PM when I get out of work. I'm actually holding the car for someone else right now, if that doesn't pull through, you're up. haha

If the car does sell, are you interested in just the Corvette rims and tires in my sig?

[killa89trans]

waitin for my car to sell and i maybe interested in it for a good old winter project... but ill pm you when my car sells, if it's not to late.