Need help choosing fun used car for $8000 Update: I bought it! Picture inside!

[jlee]

Damn, that sucks.

 

[DaTT]

Day 4: Spun out and jacked the rear axle/suspension. And who knows what else.

Oh well. It was a wonderful 4 days.

Oh man, I feel your pain. Same thing happened to me in high school when I bought a CRX. Like 5 days in I hit a curb and wrecked the front end. Just drove it like that for a few months then traded it for a 240SX. But it sounds like yours is not driveable. Any pics of the aftermath?

 

[JCH13]

If it was slippery enough that you fell on your ass getting out of the car, your car didn't have a prayer without really good tires :\

Good luck with the repairs, glad no one was hurt!

 

[ballmode]

Now you got $6600 for your next car purchase + what you can get for the BMW

 

[ViviTheMage]

It happens, like you said, at least you didn't do it on an M3...even with comp. your insurance would probably just go up.

 

[hanoverphist]

tis but a flesh wound, hehe

get it fixed, the car was cheap enough to warrant that. then get good tires on it.

 

[Throckmorton]

One time that happened to me with my 240sx. Huge storm and I was getting on the highway from a cloverleaf ramp and the rear end just started sliding. I went right into the guardrail. Of course I had pretty well worn summer tires without much void space.

 

[mvbighead]

Pics?

 

[alfa147x]

At least you're not hurt

 

[DougoMan]

Pics?

It's worse than I thought. The left side of the differential housing got torn off. You can see that in the second pic if you look closely.

Didn't realize it but I damaged the front passenger wheel as well. So who knows what that did to the front suspension.

 

[Throckmorton]

This is going to cost more to fix than the car cost you

 

[bwoody2016]

This is going to cost more to fix than the car cost you

Ouch... thats gonna hit the wallet hard. Sorry man see if you can return it. ()

 

[DougoMan]

Ouch... thats gonna hit the wallet hard. Sorry man see if you can return it. ()

That would be nice.

I'm a little spooked by the car right now. That spin out caught be totally by surprise. I was not driving aggressively at all.

I'm thinking of dumping this car and maybe getting an E46 just to have traction control..

 

[RavenSEAL]

That sucks :\

 

[goobernoodles]

At least you didn't buy an $8k car. That really blows though.

 

[xSkyDrAx]

Are you able to sell it to someone who would want to do the repairs themselves? Since it was only $1400 you can probably recoup at least a few hundred from a willing buyer no?

 

[arcenite]

I'm obviously not used to driving a powerful RWD car.

:whiste:

 

[halik]

Nah nobody got hurt, it was just my dumb ass in the car.

I was just starting to accelerate up an onramp when the rear got out from under me and it spun into the curb. I'm obviously not used to driving a powerful RWD car.

First rain of the season, crappy tires and about 200lbs missing from the back of the car probably didn't help matters. It was so slick that when I got out of the car I fell on my ass.

Still was my fault, should have been more careful.

No body damage, but the back right wheel is bent in at a 75 degree angle. I can roll it in neutral, but get a horrible grinding sound if I put it in gear.

I'll take a look under the car tomorrow. Though this is definitely not what I had in mind for my first repair job as an amateur mechanic.


Oh well, I'm glad I learned this lesson in a $1400 car and not an M3 like I almost bought. Of course I probably would have bought comprehensive insurance with the M3..

190hp

Rain = accident ... you must be in california or washington.


Is it the diff housing that ripped off, or the subframe mounting points? If it's the former, it's NBD - just get a new diff and new wheels.

E36 LSD for $550 shipped
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-E36-3-2...ies&vxp=mtr&hash=item35b8d19e82#ht_500wt_1157

Or used for $320 shipped
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-E36-3-1...ies&vxp=mtr&hash=item2318d63f8d#ht_500wt_1157

~$100 bucks for control arms
http://www.ebay.com/itm/92-98-BMW-3...ries&vxp=mtr&hash=item1c1ceae373#ht_500wt_923

Also that horrible grinding is most likely because you pulled the axle out of the cv joint and it's just barely catching on the splines. You can see it in in the picture- the black grease covered stuff. Fix it up!

 

[LTC8K6]

Yeah, 8 seconds to 60.

Maybe he already supercharged it...

 

[manimal]

Go to car-part.com and price out used parts. I bet there is a similar car with damage to the other side you can piece together.


I bet a flipper would buy it off you for 900 bucks on CL. List it as a mechanics special.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Be sure to check it thoroughly for bent rear subframe, it almost looks like your lower a-arm is bent...


Same thing for the front strut towers



Suspension components are easy to find in junkyards, figure out what models cross over - you might be able to end up with better suspension than you started out with.


I wouldn't be worried about driving it, it was a relatively inexpensive lesson. You really do have to be careful in the rain/snow with light rwd vehicles but once you get the hang of thing it's not that much worse than fwd.

 

[PhoKingGuy]

I went from a 136 HP Jetta TDI to a 340ish HP RWD JB4 335i.

Just be careful the first week or so, after that its all weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

 

[DougoMan]

Go to car-part.com and price out used parts. I bet there is a similar car with damage to the other side you can piece together.


I bet a flipper would buy it off you for 900 bucks on CL. List it as a mechanics special.

Probably what I will do.

I'm just not familiar enough with the suspension in this car (or any car) to be able to tell what is and is not tweaked. I'm worried I'll replace the diff and control arms only to find out that I need a new subframe.

 

[manimal]

Probably what I will do.

I'm just not familiar enough with the suspension in this car (or any car) to be able to tell what is and is not tweaked. I'm worried I'll replace the diff and control arms only to find out that I need a new subframe.

Know anyone you could bring in on a consult? You could also ask for a diag at a shop and pay their diag fee. A reputable shop could point you in the right direction if your honest with them.

 

[JCH13]

190hp

Rain = accident ... you must be in california or washington.


Is it the diff housing that ripped off, or the subframe mounting points? If it's the former, it's NBD - just get a new diff and new wheels.

E36 LSD for $550 shipped
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-E36-3-2...ies&vxp=mtr&hash=item35b8d19e82#ht_500wt_1157

Or used for $320 shipped
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-E36-3-1...ies&vxp=mtr&hash=item2318d63f8d#ht_500wt_1157

The LSD will make it more tail happy, I'd skip it for now.

That would be nice.

I'm a little spooked by the car right now. That spin out caught be totally by surprise. I was not driving aggressively at all.

I'm thinking of dumping this car and maybe getting an E46 just to have traction control..

Traction control will help in some cases, but it can't defy the laws of physics. Good tires will be a much better investment IMHO. With good tires on I rarely trigger TC with my MS3, rain or snow. Ice is a different story.