Got my new old truck last week!

This one had caught my eye before I'd even decided to take my 4Runner off the road. In the end, I went with my gut feeling on it and so far I'm very happy with my decision.

It's got 555k on it, so it's no spring chicken, but it has also been rust checked every year since new so the body still exists.

When I was researching it I discovered this truck has only had one owner. What I didn't discover until after I bought it was that the former owner spent 5 grand on a brand new engine in 2019 and it only has 27000kms on it! He also managed to change the oil 7 times since the new engine went in. That's the kind of surprise I can live with.

And full service records from day one. I keep good records on my cars and the records that came with this make my efforts look amateur. This truck was someone's pride and joy. I have to think they must have died because I don't know why they would trade it in after all the work they'd done on it right up until January of this year.

So far I've got new tires (on the winter wheels apparently. Guess I should have actually looked into the bags with what I thought were the winter tires. Whoops!) One day maybe I'll move the tires over to the nicer wheels.

I also ditched the class 1 trailer hitch and installed a class 4. And I spent the day today troubleshooting the 4wd. Pretty sure it only needs the pushbutton switch but either way now I have a good idea how it all works.

Now I can make use of my Father's day present!

Last shot of the fleet. It's outdated already though because I sold the Mercedes today.

We lost Tony, our cat, yesterday.

One day 3 years ago my spouse went to a roadside antique shop and Tony found and claimed her. The proprietor said that he'd been abandoned there a couple of days prior and living along a busy highway he'd surely be done in by a car or coyote in short order.

She convinced me to 'pick him up' which turned out to be me trying to catch a feral kitten and wrangle him into my car. "you gotta be fast!" was the refrain from the antique shop owner that still is an inside joke to this day. He disappeared into the rear hatch for the drive home. When I got home I gathered the family around and opened the hatch to reveal... nothing! Turns out he had driven home hiding under the driver's seat! The kids, particularly my youngest, were thrilled.

He lived outside at our house, quickly warming up to us and would spend a lot of time with me in the garage and out in the yard with the rest of the family. Sometimes he'd even be allowed into the house for a short time. I added a cat door to the garage so he could stay warm in the winter, but come and go as he pleased, which he did. He was always an adventurer and would sometimes disappear for days on end, but he'd always return 'home' to the drumstick or pork chop and neck scratches that would be waiting for him when he did. Sometimes he came home pretty beat up but I had confidence he could hold his own.

Contrary to popular belief, "Tony" was not a reference to "Tony the Tiger" but an esoteric reference to an old Kids In The Hall skit "Hotel la rut"

"I keep thinking about Tony. Where he is. Who he is with. What is he thinking? Is he thinking of me? And whether he'll ever return someday"

Yesterday morning I called out to him to see if he was around before I went to work. I hadn't seen him for a few days, but that was nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe he'll be here when I get home.

Unfortunately, I found him 4kms from my house. He'd been hit by a car along with another cat. I assume he was living his best cat life when he went. So in the end, he did return home even if I was the one who brought him there. I'm happy that I had the fortune to find him and bring him home for a second time. Otherwise I might still be wondering Where he was, and whether he'd ever return someday.

RIP Tony. You were a great cat, and I'm happy we could be part of your world.

@ttyymmnn You have 20 seconds to comply

@cb said in "You're too expensive! My mechanic will fix it":

@amgtech The problem is that we’ve conditioned people to not trust dealers, which is problematic when you’re owning a luxury automobile.

Dealers have conditioned people to not trust dealers to be fair.

I guess the trick is to find the good ones and stick with them.

@carsoffortlangley

And yes, I am aware of my negligence in prepping the trip so that it would be on 555.5

@rallydarkstrike He had the first gen before that one. The wheels were the only thing that didn't rust away to nothing.

@cb If I had a helicopter damn right I'd take it to DQ

@midengine I feel your frustration, but IMO credit scores shouldn't have a bearing on your insurance rates. You can be a perfectly good driver without a good credit score and vise-versa.

Set up this old relic at my son's request for him to sleep out in tonight. When I was a kid we used to take this thing on canoe trips. I think my memories of slogging it were correct.

On the other hand, I can stand up, put my pants and boots on, and get out of it without being a gymnast.

I thought my Dad had bought this when I was a kid but he told me tonight on the phone it was actually my grandfathers, so it's likely at least a good decade older than I am. I wonder if you can even buy a tent made in Canada anymore.

@huzer LTZ?

@stuckmtb that's a hell of a first car! Although I guess depending how long ago you got your license it could have reached beater status by the time you got it...

Good selection of 9000s here. I'll take the red '96 Aero

@hammerheadfistpunch Yes, even if the problem that caused the original light is fixed.

@musashi66 Lets say it's been well maintained and is ready to drive like a new car. 10 grand for a brand new full size sedan is a pretty good deal.

@carsoffortlangley I do all the time, actually!

"Hey that's a cool car, what's the cheapest one I could get."

Alternately, if there is a lot of garbage/parts/too many listings or whatever I will search high price first. Or if I want to see what the potentially best example of something is.

@exage03040 Not the kind of car I'd be interested in and I don't really care for either. The Mercedes has a way nicer interior, and that's where I'd drive it from. So, Mercedes

@st80mnd That boxer though. I could drive that for 8 grand.

Looks like the seller is dressed for a fancy dinner

@carsoffortlangley Yeah, they proofread right to the top of the list! Probably also listed for $0.32

@gettingoldercarguy

You can keep your rain though, I'm going camping after work.

@carsoffortlangley

I've driven a 65 vette but I am much older than you. My oldest was a '64 buick that I can recall, but that's only 9 years older than me.

Bonus points: I went to look at a car the other day and somehow the tires were 3 years older than the 16 year old car. 19 years is pretty good for a set of tires!