"Why was this car so cheap" and other dumb games with your host, I like cars!

Illustration for article titled Why was this car so cheap and other dumb games with your host, I like cars!

As you may have seen in my last post, I purchased a 1994 Saturn SC2 from a fellow Oppo. I got title and plate squared away and drove it from his house to mine last night around 7 pm. I drove around a bit with my mom (just to scare her) and experienced no issue at the time. I am officially 19 hours into Saturn ownership. Boom, blown coolant hose.

Advertisement
Illustration for article titled Why was this car so cheap and other dumb games with your host, I like cars!

Just a little blown. Replacement from RockAuto will be here by the 5th, plus a lower hose because it’s probably not too far from popping if the upper popped.

Advertisement

Disclosure: this was not an unknown issue. I was warned that it had puked coolant from somewhere last winter while parked- I’ve yet to look too closely at the radiator, so as far as I know this is where it probably puked from. For now, I’m just driving it so problems present themselves so I know what needs fixed. So far:

  • Radiator Hose(s)
  • Exhaust (it’s ungodly loud, but in a good way)
  • Front shocks- it shakes a fair bit if I hit a bump in a corner. Not ideal!
  • Headlight motors- these actually function, but when I put the lights off/down, they make a grindy/clicky noise and come right back up after I let go of the switch. They’ll probably just stay up, honestly.
  • Steering wheel- kind of gunky, leaves black residue on my hands, is generally a little beat, as expected for a 25 year old car (a classic!). I might replace it with a Momo or something, I don’t see the ancient airbag doing me much good in a crash anyway
  • Odometer doesn’t work- non-issue, but I like to use it to calculate fuel economy, so I might pull it off and figure out the issue/replace it with a junkyard unit
  • The whole interior is kind of beat, but to an acceptable level. The clutch pedal squeaks. That’s the only interior bit that I have plans to touch.
  • AC is broken. Crank windows work fine, though, so this is a non-issue.