Posted on 08/31/2007 10:27:15 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Beware the new Vue is a hybrid!
>>The point I was trying to make was: Isn’t it excessively risky to be driving a car that is likely to break down if you are in a place where the outside temperature will kill you in a short time if you break down?<<
Joking aside... all good Alaskans carry a sleeping bag, food, flares, flags, and other cold weather gear in case they are stranded for any length of time along the highway in the winter. The other guy above me here writing about Minnesota winters is correct, too, although our winters are more severe and lengthier than theirs.
The balance we have to make up here is this: the elements quickly destroy cars. Rubber seals crack; plastic breaks; metal gets brittle; glass shatters (happened to me once hauling water in Palmer); tires deflate. Buying a new car certainly forestalls those problems for a while, but they haven’t built anything automotive that can really withstand the winter here in the Alaskan interior without some damage. That truth is even worse for me, since I’m 300 miles away from the North American road system on gravel streets and worse weather than most places, even in Alaska. My car is a 1994 Subaru Legacy station wagon, which has an engine that can stand the winter (although I’ve replaced a bunch of those plastic parts and tires; I go through at least one CV joint a year). I bought it used, but not so used it was a wreck. However, seven years out here and it’s turning into a wreck. I figure I can get another 10 years out of it before the dents turn into big rust holes. It’s a balance between spending enough money on a car that works and too much money on a car that will get ruined quickly. Besides, most of us out in the Bush live with the fact that we have to fix things ourselves, so we’re ready for that, too. It’s just a way of life out here.
Yes, the weather can kill you. That’s why those of us who like it here prepare. Hell, I don’t even go on a plane ride to Fairbanks without wearing a parka and boots rated to -80 degrees; if we had a crash, I’d hate to be a survivor and lose my foot to frostbite before the rescuers arrived. I also go way out into what you guys in the Lower 48 would call Godforsaken wilderness on my snowmachine in -30 and -40 degrees, too, and I’m ready to camp out if I have to, and even survive a plunge into water and lose my machine. You got to watch out for all contingencies.
Hope that answers your question. You should actually come up in the winter and check it out; it’s an awesomely beautiful place. Wear wool socks, though.
Got one too, with 94,000 miles.
The car looks really good. It’s been painted but it looks like an unusually good paint job. They say they had it stripped, then media blasted, then painted with factory quality paint. Color is kind of a darkish metallic grey with a light tan interior. Looks really sharp. Plus it’s a stick, which I like, and which seems to be pretty rare.
$4k was my gut on it. Kelly Bluebook for a private seller has a car of that year and condition at just under $4k. So your sense of it is right in the same ballpark.
How does a 633 stack up against a 635? Does the 3.3 liter engine in the 633 have as good a reputation as the 3.5(?) liter engine in the 635?
I’d hate to die with five million dollars in the bank, with my last drive taking place in a 15 year old car, on the way to the mechanic for the upteenth time.
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I can understand that, fortunately I am in no danger of dying with five million in the bank anytime soon!
Yes, excellent choice...
Driving the Volvo will hurt for a couple of days after an M car flash back...
1973 Alfa Spider 2000 Veloce, belonged to my wife's older cousin, a retired art professor. She was the only owner and wanted it to go to some one who could fix it up and applicate it. Needless to say I was happy to oblige her. 71,000. Body is great, and the engine is sound but needs all the rubber bit and a brake system. I am rebuilding her from the ground up, she's apart in the shop now.
The thing you want to watch for on the Big 6 M30 motor is get them after about 82 or 83 when they switched to the Motronic engine control system and got away from thermal reactors and their heat. Also even on later models, if the owner has used standard Antifreeze then it is possible the cooling passages in the head have been clogged. The head is aluminum and reacts with stand coolant forming a soft fluff that clogs things and overheats the head. Bad news, but fixable. If the car is running good, just flush, fill with real BMW anti freeze or its equal and hope. Also there are banjo bolts that hold the oiler bar above the cam that can back out and starve no 1 cyl cam lobs causing them to wear. Again fixable and preventable.
If you get to the point of leaping, mail me, I can give you the hints you need for years of care free driving in a mid 80s BMW. They are worth investing in.
Well, same for me too. I guess perhaps I don’t lean far enough on the frugal side of things. Perhaps my comments are meant to justify my own behavior LOL.
With three master cylinders, brake bleeding was a major event..
While most of the guys were fooling around with huge, heavy, clumsy cars in high school, I was driving sleek, agile cars and spending more time sober with girls in them than in a garage full of grease and beer...
This is the Alpha I would like to find...
You think BMW got some ideas from Alpha???
I would give up non-driving body parts for an Iso Grifo like this:
Thanks again for the good info. I just learned on one of the BMW forums that the 3.5L is just a bored 3.2L. Apparently both are highly regarded by the bimmer crowd.
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