Question...which cars did the ex get
?
I gave her the '88 LeBaron, and $3,000 to make her go away. It was a turbo coupe, leather interior, pretty well-loaded, so it was a nice car, but it was getting up in miles...had about 90,000 when we split. My family was miffed, said I should have given her the Dart, but I knew what I was doing. The Dart, at least, was cheap to fix when it broke. The LeBaron, not so much.
I think the LeBaron made it to around 115,000 miles or so, but along the way the power antenna broke, the a/c compressor seized up, the transmission started leaking fluid, a few other odds and ends I can't remember, and it ended up warping the head and blowing the head gasket. Her mother helped her pay for a new gasket and a used head, but the car still ran like crap. I was still in touch with her at the time, and we were on a somewhat friendly basis, so I took the car to my mechanic and had him look it over. It turns out that whoever put the head on did a bad job reattaching all the wiring and vacuum hoses that were disconnected in the process, so they got it running, about as well as could be expected, for $75. They also said compression was really bad in two cylinders, marginal in the other two, and the turbo was shot. And not to put another dime into the car!
One night, it finally died in her grandfather's driveway, which was where she was staying. And then one of the tires went flat. I ended up buying it back from her for something like $90, because she wanted two tickets to go see Faith No More at the 9:30 Club in DC or something like that. Pumped the tire up, managed to jump start it, and it was blowing white smoke out the tailpipe, and I could smell antifreeze. So apparently the head/gasket had gone again. Managed to limp it over to my grandmother's house, where I was staying at the time, and ultimately sold it for $800, to someone who wanted it for parts. It still looked like an almost new car, except for one spot in the roof where the paint was just starting to wear through to the primer...a common issue with cars of that era.
As for the Dart, it made it to around 338,000 miles, and as time went by I drove it less and less. Eventually, it wouldn't start one morning. I think it was just the fuel pump, but at the time I was still tight on funds, so I didn't have the time or money to fool around with it, and just let it sit. Eventually sold it for $400, back in 2009.
I ended up selling the Bonneville for parts, as well, and now that I think about it, I believe I got about $400 for it, too. Finally paid my uncle for the LeBaron in late 1999...4 years late, but better late than never I guess. Still got the DeSoto, although we registered it in my name years ago. It's undergoing restoration and is actually costing me more for that than the ex-wife did! But, at least I can afford it now. Still got the Catalina convertible too, although I did get the top fixed. Still keep it indoors though.