Author Topic: Anybody know something about cars?  (Read 904 times)

Offline Drew

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Anybody know something about cars?
« on: January 06, 2006, 09:59:09 PM »
So,  I'm looking at this car in the "repairables" section of a local dealership and found what looks like a decent deal.  Except that I have no idea what they mean when they categorize the problem as theft/bad head.  Theft I understand.  Bad head I understand all too well, but not in this context.   I'd like to know what exactly they mean by this.  If anyone can shed some light on what this means I would be appreciative.
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Offline Bons

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Re: Anybody know something about cars?
« Reply #1 on: January 06, 2006, 11:46:08 PM »
"Bad head" would be a damaged cylinder head or the head gasket, I'd guess. A bad cylinder head would mean damage to the engine itself, and the car will be sad until repaired. The head gasket would mean damage to the oil/coolant seals leading to the engine - if it leaks, the engine will overheat or suffer friction damage, and the car will be sad until repaired. If the car was stolen, it was probably used for some mega-serious joy-riding. The first car I owned was an ancient Buick when I was a young college co-ed--it was hotwired, raced around town (I don't know how; it was a total granny car) and, after the police retrieved it and I replaced the steering column, it had problems with a damaged gasket. Oil and coolant became my life. It would have cost more than the Buick was worth to fix. I rode the bus everywhere for a couple of months until I got my next sad car. :)
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Offline Ghreyfain

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Re: Anybody know something about cars?
« Reply #2 on: January 07, 2006, 01:45:41 AM »
That story reminds me of the way the guy at the dealership drove when he picked me up from work.
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Offline Drew

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Re: Anybody know something about cars?
« Reply #3 on: January 07, 2006, 02:38:00 AM »
In other words.....unless they've garaunteed the cost for repair, I should probably look elsewhere.  Thanks.
Poor baby. Couldn't find a fight anywhere else so you had to come here, huh. -Cybersquirt

Offline Lord 342

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Re: Anybody know something about cars?
« Reply #4 on: January 07, 2006, 02:45:06 AM »
You don't want a theft car unless you really know what you're getting into.  More often than not, they're more trouble then they're worth.  And the more these shitheads "yard drive" the goddamn thing, the harder it will be to repair.  Bad heads mean coolant in the combustion chambers, which means scoring of the block, which leads to  stroking, boring, cussing, pissing, shitting of bricks, and purchasing new autos.  And valve jobs as well.  Poor thing is probably beat to shit from the joyriding; don't discount the possibility of weakened brake lines, warped rotors, damaged suspension comonents, flat spots ground onto tires, and all the other oddments that result from grossly unskilled balls-out motoring by the class of lowlifes who steal vehicles for this purpose rather than beat their own machines, since they most likely drive '87 corrola wagons that would steadily lose parts if taken over 70 MPH.

@ Bons:  My Buick LeSabre is an "old man's car" (or so my friends tell me) but it cranks out 10 more HP than my '84 Corvette (that's factory, nevermind my K&N low-restriction air cleaner and platinum plugs, etc) and is perfectly capable of being driven madly, although the passengers are gauranteed to get seasick thanks to it being sprung like a Barcalounger.  (Rather than lay rubber, the front end bounces like a basket ball if you tromp on it real good; peeling out requires a touchy foot.  Tell me it doesn't have an excess of torque!?!)  But one keeps a careful eye on the tach and an ear for the tires when one drives one's own car briskly; when it's somebody elses, they could care less.  Very sorry to hear your Buick met a sad end, mine has proven indrestructible; after a bit of a bingle with an idjit who followed his wife through an intersection and ignored my 5,000-pound charriot, a buddy of mine dubbed it the "B.U.I.C.K.: Big Ugly Indestructible Car Killer".  I drove home, he went to the hospital(moral: Always wear your safety belt, especially if you have soft tissue injury in your back) and his car left on the flatty.  
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