Just wanted to update anyone who was wondering, friends/family came together to find me an opportunity to purchase a well maintained older, 1998 Ford Explorer.
Since it’s 1998 I won’t need to worry about getting inspection :). I’ve been told it has some roof leaks but friends are saying they have plans to fix that for us so thankfully I should be able to travel to the datacenter as early as Wednesday as I am going to pickup the explorer tomorrow.
Thank you everyone that helped with this, I appreciate you all so much.
-Kirstyn
Comments
I had a 1988
explorer that I drove until it reached the point where the cost of the repairs it needed greatly exceeded the book value of the car. I think that engine would still be going if the rest of the vehicle had held up. If it's two wheel drive you'll want some weight in the back end in winter. I kept a pair of fifty pound bags of dog food over the wheels. I rotated them so the dog had fresh food and if you do get stuck dry dog food is as good as sand for traction.
Minnie Mouse Themed?
She’s 4WD with brand new, good tires. Has a solid frame, some body rust and the sunroof and back windows leak and 146K original mileage. But she’s ours now.
Sunroofs have a tendency to leak……
Especially on older vehicles as most people don’t maintain the gaskets properly. The rubber in the gaskets will dry out and decay if not kept properly maintained, which leads to them leaking. The same is true with the gaskets around doors and windows.
It is a good idea to treat the gaskets every time your car is washed - if not more often, depending on how often you wash your car. For someone like me, who washes my car pretty much every other week while the weather is good (and runs it through a car wash weekly during the winter), doing it when I wash the car is easily often enough.
In order to maintain them properly, clean them regularly as dirt and sand get on them and will abrade them over time through simple vibration from the car running. Once that is done, you should treat the gaskets with either a preservative like ArmorAll, or with a light weight machine oil. Just put the preservative or the oil on a rag and wipe down all of the gaskets once they are clean. You should leave a slight sheen on the gasket from coating them with the oil; this will prevent dry rot, keep the gaskets flexible providing a good seal, and make them last much longer. It should also be done for any silicone gaskets, like the seal at the fuel filler cap; for many cars, if that seal fails you will have an issue with the engine sensors as it is part and parcel of the emissions controls.
It is something that the vast majority of people ignore but should not. It takes a few minutes out of your day to do it periodically, but it pays off in the long run. For anyone who has spent time on a Navy ship, or even more so a submarine, maintaining the gaskets as well as the door edges on watertight doors is a regular and very important task. Worn out gaskets or nicks to the knife edge on the doors (commonly referred to as knee-knockers) can result in a poor watertight seal should the door need to be sealed.
Good luck with your “new” ride! Hopefully it will serve you well.
D. Eden
“Hier stehe ich; ich kann nicht anders. Gott helfe mir.”
Dum Vivimus, Vivamus
Used Cars
I'm happy that you're fixed up.
For future reference we found that a good source of cheap vehicles was a funeral service. Although it's many years ago now, we bought a 1929 Railton hearse for 10 pounds sterling, then a 1935 Packard for 30 pounds and lastly a 1953 Humber Super Snipe for 60 pounds (cost shared between six flatmates). Funeral services keep their vehicles in good condition and the mileages are low.
Spacious as well?
But perhaps not that many places for sitting passengers.
Depends on how bad the client
Depends on how bad the client's back was. You might need a logging chain to hold them flat.
Hearses make fantastic 'travel the country' cars, because the back is always long and flat enough for sleeping. Weirdly enough the ride is very smooth as well, so I understand. Not like the corpse would feel being bounced around enough to turn over, and they lock or nail the coffin shut...
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Where I live at present Explorer is
75 proof and very popular.
In future, you could look at
In future, you could look at Pontiac Vibe or Toyota Matrix. Even with huge amounts of miles, they tend to just keep running reliably, with minimal repairs.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.