THE STORY
It was the beginning of August 2012 and I had a road trip coming up soon. My wife, my brother in law and myself were planning to drive a few states over in my brother-in-laws blazer. Weeks before we were set to head out his blazer took a shit. My 94 Taurus definitely couldn't make it so I figured now was as good a time as any to buy a car.I checked craigslist and from the beginning I saw an ad for the 1990 Mercury Grand Marquis with 71,000 miles on it. I loved it, it reminded me of what my grandpa drove when I was a kid, but I tried to look at something a little more... practical... I guess... but I couldn't stop thinking about the Grand Marquis. So I went and took it for a test drive with my wife and we took it to a shop for a pre-purchase inspection. I loved it the second I sat down, my wife enjoyed it as well.
The shop I took it to (not my usual guy, who was too far away) said that it had a gas leak on the the seam where the fuel pump housing sits against the tank and that the suspension in the back needs replaced. They even said they could fix the fuel leak for 3-400 bucks so I thought, that's not too bad, but considering the cost of repairs the car itself was not worth what they were asking for it. I went back and tried to get the price down. He took off five hundred but wouldn't go any lower, I said I'm sorry I can't do it and left... or so I thought.
I literally dreamed about that car when I went to sleep that night and it was the first thing on my mind when I woke up... I had to have it. I went back the next day and bought it from the stern old man and his wife. They had inherited it from the wife's mother (the original owner) who had passed away in 2009. I soon found out that in the few years that this car was in their possession they apparently let it go to shit. It could have been worse though.
After purchasing the car, registering the plates and switching my insurance I drove away with a big ass smile on my goofy face. The first place I stopped at was an Arby's and as the guy who worked there came up to the window he stopped in his tracks and said "Hold up... that's a nice ass car man!". Within an hour or two of buying it I got my first compliment, sweet.
I drove it straight to work then straight to my regular mechanic ZB. I told ZB about the fuel leak and right away he told me that, depending on how bad it was, it might cost more than the car is worth to fix it and that if I had taken it to him he would have told me not to buy it... that goofy smile on my face turned into a look of serious concern very quickly. So I left it with ZB and I know that he is usually very busy with customers lining up at his smaller sized shop so it usually takes a few days.
A few days go by so I called to find out he hasn't even looked at it yet, his head mechanic is in the hospital dying of lung cancer, smoked his whole life. Damn, it was unfortunate but the clock was ticking and I needed this car, and FAST! Eight days went by and he never looked at it, I don't blame him, the walls were closing in on him, he was doing his best. I had to pick it up and take it somewhere else, problem is NO ONE WOULD EVEN DO IT! The guys that originally quoted me said they couldn't do it (WTF???) and that I should call a dealership. Dealerships were all the way across town, no way that was happening if I couldn't afford to take anymore time off work before my trip. Other people were saying they don't work on those models or that if its the fuel lines then they don't sell them anymore. I had already bought the damn car AND a new tire and other bs for it, I was almost broke. I considered putting that gas tank putty crap all around the seam temporarily but I didn't want it to cost me more in the long run when I have to replace all of that shit. I was fucked. I kind of rushed into buying this car so I could take it on this trip and I WASN'T EVEN GONNA TAKE IT ON THE DAMN TRIP! I was pissed. Right about this time I was pulling out of an Advanced Auto Parts while examining every major mistake I've ever made in life and wondering if buying this car was the biggest of them all, and that's when it happened...
Coming from my left I saw a grand marquis driving down the road in front of me. It was the same beige color as mine and from my perspective it was nearly identical. As the car came a little closer I could see that the owner was an older man with the same big smile across his face that I had across mine. But that's not all, this old man was a white man with a shaved head a long beard on his chin and a pair of sunglasses. Now this may sound weird but that's my fuckin style! I've been wearing a long chin beard shaved head and shades for years now, it's just my look. But also there was a female in the passenger seat, she too was older and she had long straight dark hair... my wife has long straight dark hair... I felt reaaallly funny all of a sudden, like a twilight zone moment, like I'm looking into an alternate dimension at my future self. Then he honked at me and both of them waved and smiled. I just sat there with a dumb ass look on my face and waved back as they drove past.
It may sound weird, it may sound like hippie shit to you, but that's when I knew that buying this car wasn't a mistake. That's when I knew that this was my car and that I was going to do everything I could to get it in tip top condition and keep it that way. As for the trip, we wound up getting the blazer up and running, no AC but we rocked it.
When I got back from the trip it didn't take me long to pick a suiting name for my beast. In reference to the famous "Buffalo Bill" I chose to call my car Bill Bison because it reminds me of the grace and brute strength of a big mean bison.
Great post!
and the wife's car needs a little attention
"you spend all this time and money on your car but you leave me driving around in a piece of shit!"... damnit, she's got a point.
Also the first traffic violation I've had in.... hmmm... well, about 6 years. It cost me $142 going 64 in a 50 (I thought it was 55). I had a passenger in the car and I always get a heavy foot on open roads when I'm distracted. I'm just glad I had the cash to pay it. Cruise control homies, use it.
I'm also starting to study up on brakes as they are getting squeeky and probably need to be taken care of soon. I'm also about to get catalytic converters and hopefully some lincoln log headers so I can install a whole new (errr usedish) exhaust system. And I really need to patch up these rust spots on the rear quarter panels before they bite me in the ass.
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