Mr CHI

iTrader: (3)

I was thinking about the whole "Buying Another Car to Save My LS1" and thought:

If you buy a cheap car. $2,000-3,000
Cant you just save that money and drive the LS1 till something gives?

Transmission you can get for around $2,000 or Forged/New Engine For $2,000-$3,000.

Then you can drive the LS1 all you want, right?

Anybody that can tear apart the theory, or is it pretty solid?

TAtoad

iTrader: (22)

well yes, but then you have to worry about regular wear and tear, paint chipping/fading. and if you spend 2-3K on a little honda and get 25+ mpg in the city, 35 mpg on the highway, on regular gas, it's evens out things in my mind. replacing 185/50/14s will be a lot cheaper than replacing 275/40/17s. just my .02

cookba

iTrader: (10)

My opinion is, unless the F-body has less than 10k miles, you should be driving the damn car. I understand a winter vehicle for salt ridden roads but other than that, drive your car.

98LS16T56

I agree with cookba. Drive the mother f'in car. It's a f-body not a 1 out of 10 $200,000 car! I drive my ls1 6 speed all year round. After a snow storm, I wash it! It looks great and shows NO signs of surface rust or anything.

98LS16T56

lifes too short to drive a honda. You cant take yourcar with you when you die. You might as well enjoy it while your on this earth

Sommer86

iTrader: (46)

I'm with the OP, cookba and 98LS1.... These are just f-bodies, nothing too rare.... Why spend 2-3K on another car that needs: insurance, gas, wear and tear upkeep, registration, etc and just isn't fun to drive?

Just drive your Camaro,T/A, 'Bird or whatever.....at least that way you'll be guaranteed to LOVE what you drive.

At least that's what I considered before I just decided to drive my favorite car.

lemons12

iTrader: (71)

I would like to have a decent something to pull my car with.. But if I have 2500 extra right now I would pay some debt off... If I didn't have the debt I would buy a beater.

It isn't easy keeping a car clean.. And if I had something to drive when it rained/snowed/etc I would do it.. Also if I'm just going straight to work and straight home, I wouldn't want to drive the TA because of the miles/wear and tears (rock chips) on it.

More miles on a car the harder it is to keep things solid and what not.

98TAjwh

iTrader: (4)

if you drive long distances to work everyday it may be a good idea to have a car with better fuel economy. i have a beater dd that i use to go back and forth to work and only drive my TA to work once or twice a week just because it's more fun than a sunfire. it's also nice to have an extra car for when you are working/modding your fbody so you don't have to get everything done in one day.

71novaguy

iTrader: (2)

I agree with buying another car. If its a low mileage, good condition f-body, why not preserve it while you can? The rest of you can drive your f-body's till they stop moving, then do a rebuild. But I'd rather drive it lightly now and have minimal repairs in the future for the day's I take it to car shows...

Mumbles

iTrader: (5)

I know I wouldn't want to have to drive my rear wheel drive muscle car in any type of Winter weather. We get plenty of it here in Southeastern Iowa and I can only imagine the lake-effect snowfall you have to deal with in Chicago.

My vote is to do the responsible thing and have an extra set of wheels. Whether its primarily a Winter/Shitty weather car or "I broke my OPSU while pulling my intake and need to run over to Autozone" car, having a second vehicle is never a bad thing.

Depending on your daily commute, you should look for either a good mileage front wheel drive car or, the route I chose, a reasonable mileage 4 Wheel Drive.

Good luck, man.

Finkledbody

It wont be long before the underside of your f-body is a rust bucket. It doesn't matter how much you wash it. Trust me I do know. My v6 f-body isn't going through its 4th winter, I wash it every other day religiously and it is rusting like god hates these cars and wants them to die. I put it though an auto washer and do the under carriage blast. I wax it at the beginning of the summer and at the end. Bother rear quarter panels have paint chipping and surface rust starting.

Your sig says you also own a pontiac bonneville. Well I'm guessing thats a bunch of otherwise you wouldn't of made this thread. Might want to update that. Its leading people into a false position to help.

But really, if you still have to have fun and preserve the life of you 02 T/A. Buy another f-body with a 6 banger. Yes there slow, but you wont care when your taking a corner side ways with the engine reving at 6k rpms and that engine blows. Low mile 3.8l v6s go for $250 to $500 all day long in comparison to LS1's that go for $1500-$3500. Trannys for the 3.8l are again $250-$500. The LS1 4l60e goes for far more again.

Sure with a second car you have to put gas in it, register, mantain it but in the long run. It will save you money. Again, I do know this from direct experience. Its dirt cheap to keep my v6 firebird on the road cause I care less about it than I do my z28. Basic maintaince is cheaper cause I dont' have to go get performance replacement parts. I just buy some used parts of a fellow forum member, or I go to a junk yard. Again it doens't matter cause its a daily and its only a 6 banger.

For those that said these are just 4th gen f-bodys and not 1-10 $200,000 bentley/ferrari/lambos. They dont' need to cost a fortune to mean a lot to a person. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Every day you make your car less numbers matching higher mileage cars. The more mine will be worth

Same thing with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd gens. All it takes is time.

Mark my words. In 20-30 years, a 50k mile or less numbers matching 4th gen LS1 f-body will be worth 50-100k dollars. Its going to be us, the current owners of these f-bodys that will pay that kinda money when we get older, after selling our current cars to get our feet back into one of these beast cause we're ganna miss them so ******* much. Its called late on set sellers remorse

Mr CHI

iTrader: (3)

The hell is your problem?

Read my initial post. I had a thought about the argument and wanted to know what everyone else thought so I made this thread.

That's got nothing to do with me also having a Bonneville, so check the bullshit calling, because there is none. I never said "I'm thinking of buying another car."

PGUFF

iTrader: (12)

I have a beater which is a 93 civic. It's not any more fun driving my camaro when my drive to work everyday is stoplight to stoplight with 30 mph speed limit

Finkledbody

Umm. Is it bs or not? You still haven't answered, I'm trying to help but theres still this misunderstanding whether or not you acutally own that bonneville. If you do own it; drive the **** of of that for your d/d and keep the miles off your t/a. If you don't own the bonneville. Update your sig (You don't have to if you don't want to) but it is leading people into a false sense of understanding. Like I said the first ******* time. I want to help, I gave lots of good info from direct ******* experience. You seem to be stuck on just the bonneville part. Read through the rest of my post if you get a chance.

But again. Buy another car and keep the miles of your T/A, Its a beautiful car and deserves to be driving for fun. Not to get to and from work. Miles on a car serverely decreases the value. Expecially now that no one wants these 4th gen f-body's for right now. Ya know. Since the 5th gens came out.

I only own both 6 banger and 8 banger f-bodys. WTF do I know?

lemons12

iTrader: (71)

What the hell are you talking about dude? Is what BS? Who gives a flying **** if he owns a bonneville or not? You are talking about something that is totally irrelevant to the thread, simply because he was asking others opinions, not if he should or shouldn't own a DD. He has obviously made his mind up. He was by no means asking what he should do.

Mr CHI

iTrader: (3)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Dude I know you can read, so please read my posts. Please?

I read the rest of your post and it makes a good point, just like everyone else. Thanks for your input man, I guesss it boils down to how you feel about it.

I edited my post to take out the profanity/insults, so try and do the same and chill bro. No need to start arguments and all that stuff.

This thread is actually interesting, so lets not get it locked fighting with each other. Thank You!

lemons12

iTrader: (71)

And you think this makes you special? I bet 75% or more people on here have. I have owned 2 V6s and 3 ls1s, some at the same time and some different times. Does that make my word the end to all? Hell no, just like yours is no more important than anyone elses. Chill out a little bit man.

spoonraker

iTrader: (5)

Whether or not you should buy a dedicated daily driver has nothing to do with what car you drive, but what the purpose of the car is and what would be the most advantageous to what your goal is for it/yourself. Ultimately, it's still your decision.

Stock f-body, 8 second dragster, honda civic, monster truck, $250,000 lambo, doesn't matter. If you bought the car to drive every day, by all means drive it every day. If you have the money for gas, tires, maintenance, etc, who am I to say you can't drive what you bought?

If you bought the car to be an all-out race car, or as a collector item/investment, it could easily be reasonably argued that it would be advantageous to you to buy a dedicated daily driver. However, when it comes right down to it, it's nobody's car except yours. If you want to rack up miles on a mint condition rare car, or go get groceries in your 1,200HP dragster, do it.

Finkledbody

Again half of my post qouted to make me look like an half an ***. Thank you sir. Qoute the whole thing next time if you can to make me look like a complete ***

All I wanted was the gaps to be filled in. Is it the swearing? Are we not all men here?

Fine; my bad..

xchaosx

I say get another, get a truck every guy needs a sports car and a truck, thats how i feel. Dont have to worry bout it gettin messy and your car is always cleaned up and ready to go whenever you are. Thats what i do, of course im a brickmason and get a little muddy and filthy at work, its nice to come home clean up and jump in the clean car and haul ***