Friday Car Fun

Well, the search continues for the right TT, more on that in a bit.

First, after all this, don't think I've forgotten about my VW Things! Or VW Busses, for that matter! I need a daily driver, so that will have to wait (probably another 10 years, lol), but I still like to look.

Bus first: as the ad says, you aren't likely to find a bus that isn't a rusty shell for $5K, so I hope this finds a good home soon.

This Thing, on the other hand, is a little steep ($5500) for having no engine. I mean, yes, Thing prices are stupid high, but IT HAS NO ENGINE! :)

For example, there's this Thing that has an engine. And seats. And, well, pretty much everything. For a mere $1000 more, think of it, actually driving! Let me compare thee to a summer's thing...

This is a 1973 VW Thing. It runs and is roadworthy. In the past that has had floor pans replaced has some rust and dings (See pics). It could use some restoration and will need a new top. It has a roll cage and the heater, though I've never tried to use it. I put a new windshield, and master cylinder in recently. This car's a lot of fun to drive around!

I would so love to roll up to work every day in this...you see me rollin' in my orange Thing...

Compare again to this (very nice) $8900 Thing that is NOT ready to drive...

Don't forget about The Samba, I think the prices here are sometimes a little high (not like eBay, oy vey), but these are typically knowledgable folks on this site.  A nice online community, actually!

You will see ads there that are also on Craigslist and ebay, of course. There are definitely some that are asking a lot! I'm never sure if anyone ever gets what they are asking, of course, anywhere their ad may be posted! The one linked is actually cheaper on craigslist than the samba.

If you want to go large, here's a guy selling everything VW that he owns. $125,000.

So, I found a TT that checks all the boxes:

What are those, you ask? Quattro, Convertible, 225hp, Stickshift (6spd), not on runflats, not the green color I thought I liked till I drove one.

The guy had a problem, though, after the ad went up with the driver's door lock, and was like,  "call me in a week, it's not ready, we thought it was good to go, but now, no, uhm." He was super nice, not the usual used car feel to him, even though, yes, he's a used car guy.

He had 4 calls on it, he said, but I used the 'not the Dave Thomas from Wendy's" joke so he'd remember me. For this price, ($3550) I don't even care about the apparent tear in the driver's seat (I don't care for the baseball stitched look, but I can deal). I am ready to say "I won't even try to negotiate the price, I'll fly down as soon as I can get a flight."

On a side note, on my website, I've added affiliate links for photo stuff, here they are as well, if you want to buy anything and make me some small commissions! Thanks!

Stuff I own and use:

XT1: https://amzn.to/2BX0dOd

XM1(with XC16-50): https://amzn.to/2BZKYnU

XF 35mm WR: https://amzn.to/2UcWDXv

XC50-230: https://amzn.to/2GR3Jhm

Tripod Ball Head: https://amzn.to/2XntgUe

Soft Bag Inserts (make any bag a camera bag): https://amzn.to/2Ue3XSv There are color versions of this black insert, which I will buy if I replace these: the black makes it harder to see black lens caps, etc... :)

Newer versions of my "good" camera:

XT2: https://amzn.to/2Ud9mJI

XT3: https://amzn.to/2UenVMW

Car Curiosities

As you all know, I am in the market for a new (used) car. I have settled on the adorable little Audi TT Quattro, as I almost never transport more than one passenger, it's a stick, a convertible, and it's AWD.

Today's installment of my internet sleuthing (I am gathering comps to arm myself with a lowball offer to a local used dealer that has one that checks all the boxes, as he's asking about 1K too much, in my opinion) takes me to a car in Toledo, Ohio, that I spotted a week ago for the ridiculously low price of $2800.

They've listed it 3 different ways on the web, and while that's not that odd (their own site and those 2 craigslist ads), it gets more interesting....

I don't want this car as much, as it's FWD, but to double check I simply Googled the VIN and within a few clicks got this old Car Gurus ad:

What is remarkable that just a few years ago and only 3000 miles ago, this car was described as Original, Unmodified and Fully Maintained.

I have to go to Toledo for work on the 29th, so you know I'll do a drive by if it's still there!

Monday Musings

Plenty going on these days, not too much to write about, as far as I am concerned. Cars and house work, painting walls and assembling IKEA furniture, cleaning gutters, that kind of stuff.

We had a scare with a used car purchase, but the dealership handled it well and so did we, after initial freaking out! See, we've been looking for a car for my daughter (who is a college junior and living at home at the moment) as well as a car for me (my 98 Camry is approaching 250,000 miles and can't have much longer).  The day after we bought it (quickly) and traded in her nearly worthless Honda CRV (warped valves), we pulled the work history from our local dealership and they had recommended a new transmission just last September.

After much wringing of hands, we went and talked to the dealer and they were like "oh, that's crazy, we'd never sell a car like that, let's check that out independently" at the same time I actually called the previous owner to see if he'd gotten it fixed or checked out and determined Toyota had lied...which he had and they had. All is well, they handled it nicely.

Welcome to the garage, Toyota RAV4. We are now a 4 Toyota family, 3 of which all have about 140,000 miles, plus my high mileage Camry.

Unfortunately, we still paid more than I wanted to, as a part of the family plan wherein she gets a new-to-us car (used) and I replace my aforementioned Camry with something I've been wanting for oh, gosh, I dunno, 30 years: a convertible. This means that I either overspend or I don't get what I want.

Ugh.

See, I'm paying for this by taking some un-designated rollover cash before I allocate it, and after the taxes come out, I had to take out more than I anticipated. Stupid taxes. Oh, well, the kid has a safe car now.

If you come here for the fun, I should mention the other blog has been filled with updates about the weight loss, nearly 50 lbs as of today (49, but who's counting? ME. I'm COUNTING). Woot!