Screw
01-03-2004, 06:43 PM
Yall aint gonna believe this.
I spoke to Ron A. aka Gyro Ron last week or so about him wanting a beater car for for really dirt cheap.
He said he wanted something in a torbo diesel because they last forever. I agreed with him and began looking. Knowing that whatever I find, if he didn't want it, I could sell it. I'm just stating for the record that at No Time did Ron tell me to go buy him a car.
I found one ;D A 1987 Meredes Benz 300 Turbo Diesel for cheap, not dirt cheap but cheap for the car, years, and 204k miles....Advertised to run good the works and the body was in reasonable shape. Contacted the seller and requested specific pics to make sure everything was all right. The catch:
The car is in Chicago, IL. Best I could do on a transport was $700. So I said to myself: Self, this is a turbo diesel...Ron says they run forever. An Airtran ticket to Chicago was $100. Take the wife and make a "Road Trip" of it since good ole Mon-In-Law was in town and could baby-sit. We'll fly to Chicago, pick up the car, eat dinner in Cincinatti, and drive, drive, drive. If things went well, $200 for tickets plus diesel fuel and meals. Alot less than $700 bucks right?
We fly up, everything is well, I asked the guy (dealer) about his inspections prior to placing vehicles for sale and was satisfied. So satisfied with his checklist that I recieved a copy and off to the paperwork and transfer of title. Within 15 minutes, my wife and I were on our "Road Trip."
Within an hour of ownership at 80mph on I57s about 2 miles (I had my Garmin III Pilot ;D) outside of Bradley IL. my oil light came first, and a second later, the car felt like it began braking. I quickly shifted into neutral, and listen to to the engine sounding like it was running fine. I don't know what it was and the oil light turned off, so I shifted back into "D." I get the feeling that was a mistake.
The car did something similar to a Cat coughing up a hairball. I looked in my rearview mirror, and the car was smoking the prettiest and heaviest white smoke I think I'd ever seen. Sean Tucker would have loved to have that kinda smoke comming from his plane.
I pulled over and opened the hood to find that the oil stick was partially out of it, tube and there was oil everywhere. The engine didn't lock up and we were able to make it to Bradley and park it safely.
I called the dealer and to make a 20 min phone call short, "AS IS. Best of luck to ya."
$100 dollar cab fair back to the airport we came in on. $426 for last minute airfare back to Atlanta on Delta, the last flight of the night. Remember, $200 airfair to get there in the first place...I'm already $700 bucks in on top of what I paid for the car and now, the best transport I could fing is closer to $850.
$1550 on top of what I paid for the car when I should have had it transported for $700 to begin with. And now, I got to fix it!!!
My Mechanic says, "I'll look at it, but it don't sound good...I hope it just a clogged fuel injector. It'll cost and arm and a leg to rebuild it if I threw a rod, but maybe I could find a used engine and swap it out."
I haven't recieved the car yet, so I don't know what's wrong with the motor yet. When I find out, and decide to swap motors, I sell this one for dirt cheap.
Maybe Brent Brown will have an aerial application for a MB Turbo Diesel in a gyro.
Ron, I tried man. I really tried.
John-
P.S. Barbi and I took the last flight to Atlanta by way of Cincinatti....We did eat dinner there ;)
I spoke to Ron A. aka Gyro Ron last week or so about him wanting a beater car for for really dirt cheap.
He said he wanted something in a torbo diesel because they last forever. I agreed with him and began looking. Knowing that whatever I find, if he didn't want it, I could sell it. I'm just stating for the record that at No Time did Ron tell me to go buy him a car.
I found one ;D A 1987 Meredes Benz 300 Turbo Diesel for cheap, not dirt cheap but cheap for the car, years, and 204k miles....Advertised to run good the works and the body was in reasonable shape. Contacted the seller and requested specific pics to make sure everything was all right. The catch:
The car is in Chicago, IL. Best I could do on a transport was $700. So I said to myself: Self, this is a turbo diesel...Ron says they run forever. An Airtran ticket to Chicago was $100. Take the wife and make a "Road Trip" of it since good ole Mon-In-Law was in town and could baby-sit. We'll fly to Chicago, pick up the car, eat dinner in Cincinatti, and drive, drive, drive. If things went well, $200 for tickets plus diesel fuel and meals. Alot less than $700 bucks right?
We fly up, everything is well, I asked the guy (dealer) about his inspections prior to placing vehicles for sale and was satisfied. So satisfied with his checklist that I recieved a copy and off to the paperwork and transfer of title. Within 15 minutes, my wife and I were on our "Road Trip."
Within an hour of ownership at 80mph on I57s about 2 miles (I had my Garmin III Pilot ;D) outside of Bradley IL. my oil light came first, and a second later, the car felt like it began braking. I quickly shifted into neutral, and listen to to the engine sounding like it was running fine. I don't know what it was and the oil light turned off, so I shifted back into "D." I get the feeling that was a mistake.
The car did something similar to a Cat coughing up a hairball. I looked in my rearview mirror, and the car was smoking the prettiest and heaviest white smoke I think I'd ever seen. Sean Tucker would have loved to have that kinda smoke comming from his plane.
I pulled over and opened the hood to find that the oil stick was partially out of it, tube and there was oil everywhere. The engine didn't lock up and we were able to make it to Bradley and park it safely.
I called the dealer and to make a 20 min phone call short, "AS IS. Best of luck to ya."
$100 dollar cab fair back to the airport we came in on. $426 for last minute airfare back to Atlanta on Delta, the last flight of the night. Remember, $200 airfair to get there in the first place...I'm already $700 bucks in on top of what I paid for the car and now, the best transport I could fing is closer to $850.
$1550 on top of what I paid for the car when I should have had it transported for $700 to begin with. And now, I got to fix it!!!
My Mechanic says, "I'll look at it, but it don't sound good...I hope it just a clogged fuel injector. It'll cost and arm and a leg to rebuild it if I threw a rod, but maybe I could find a used engine and swap it out."
I haven't recieved the car yet, so I don't know what's wrong with the motor yet. When I find out, and decide to swap motors, I sell this one for dirt cheap.
Maybe Brent Brown will have an aerial application for a MB Turbo Diesel in a gyro.
Ron, I tried man. I really tried.
John-
P.S. Barbi and I took the last flight to Atlanta by way of Cincinatti....We did eat dinner there ;)