Yeah..I'm a dumba**

I just need to get this off my chest because it pisses me off everytime I walk outside and get in my car. About a month ago I decided to go car shopping I was driving a 95 stratus and needed a new car. Had about 12,700$ to get something and needed it to be reliable. So I decided that I wanted a pontiac trans am and found a 95 with 60k on it. Well it seemed like a good idea at the time but turned out to be a piece of junk mechanically and had a damaged frame, you can read all about that if you want in another thread a little down here under dealer run around.

Anyway I had to get rid of it. So I went shopping for a more sensible car. Wanted a sleeper problem was I had to get a car from a dealer so I was limited and couldn't loose too much on a trade in. Can't sell privately for various reasons one being I live in a condo complex and only have 1 parking spot. Ended up looking and finding nothing had to get rid of the T/A as soon as possible so I figured what the hell i'll get that cavalier. Ended up with a 2003 cavy 5 speed with 30k on it and it runs fine thats not my problem.

The issue is in my head. First of all I went from a bad ass trans am to a 4 banger cavalier which kinda damaged my ego a bit. Ended up rushing the whole process and getting a mediocore car because I had to get to work and had been borrowing my fathers car and bumming rides off people while the trans am was being fixed. I was just sick of not having a car and bought the cavalier as soon as I could, thinking back I fucked up a few times here.

For the money I lost I could've had a huge down payment on a nice car like a 02 WRX or something I would have liked. Easily could've put down altmost 12,000$. There are also other cars I coulda bought and modded to hell for the amount of money that i've lost in this process. Live and learn I can't do shit about it now since I fucked up buying the lemon in the first place but still I kick myself in the ass all day about it. Everytime I walk out and fire up that little ecotec I think about how retarded I am. But than again i'm glad I ain't walkin to work. I can't complain about the cavalier so far its been good to me and is basically new but I still feel retarded. End of rant.

:loser:

Yeah you messed up big time there, definately a lot better cars you could have gotten for the money. How do you go from Grand National > T/A > Cavvy.....damn man..

I went from GN > Stratus > T/A > Cavy, the GN had its share of problems, than the Stratus became my daily driver for a while, than I got the T/A which I loved but that car was majorly fucked, and now I'm stuck with a 2.2L ecotec...blah..

As for why I got the cavalier, problem was the T/A had been purchased so recently that I did not have plates, a title, or a regular registration everything was temporary. The car was barely drivable so unloading it on a dealer was an issue. I wanted to grab an older camaro or firebird after but I live in a valley and we get heavy snow I figured FWD would be a smarter choice too before the snow comes again.

Pics included to make the point that i'm a dumbass. :evillol:
http://xs28.xs.to/pics/05190/sidebysidecars.jpg

Still.... :disappoin

Yeah I know I know, only way to fix this..i'm moving in a few months..than I won't have a parking issue and can use a few grand I have saved up get myself something decent and use the cavy as a daily driver.

Man for 12k you could have gotten a lot of things. You could have gotten a nice Prelude or Maxima. Something along those lines with some pep and are reliable.

Yep, problem was I had found a car I wanted the TransAm was great but than I got screwed. Same thing could have happened if I bought a Maxima (which I couldnt find one with low miles in my price range I had to spend more like 10k because of taxes in my state are yearly, they can kick your ass if you don't have some money saved) and there were mechanical problems.

12K to spend, so ya shop like nada around cuz ya want speed. Hey, got a car for ya, sheesh. Ever hear of Consumer Reports? Kelly Blue Book? Or is it just some ego ya wanna flash to other egos, when most folks would buy a runner that lasts years for that cash.?

No sympathy here, in my opinion, you brought it on yourself, and shouldn't waste the post, whcih makes me wonder why I even bother to respond to someone whining about>>>>>>.. fuck it.

For 8000$ I got a car that I wanted, kelly blue book told me that it was below value, consumer reports obviously wouldn't mention the fact that the frame had damage from an accident. Research only goes so far. Where you get the idea that I didn't shop around I don't know because i've been driving a 95 dodge stratus for the last year while I looked around for a trans am, if it hadn't had all the problems it would have ran for years and i'd be happy with it.

I may have been over-harsh, but didn't you even have a mech. look it over? An underside inspect. would likely have shown the sub-frame hassle.

I had it inspected when I got it home because the car was purchased hours away from where I live in an area I'm not familiar with, not many mechanics are open late at night. Traveling back and forth a couple of times would have been a problem trying to work around my schedule working 14 hour shifts.

12K to spend, so ya shop like nada around cuz ya want speed. Hey, got a car for ya, sheesh. Ever hear of Consumer Reports? Kelly Blue Book? Or is it just some ego ya wanna flash to other egos, when most folks would buy a runner that lasts years for that cash.?

Is it just me, or can nobody else read that?

Is it just me, or can nobody else read that?

Its just not you but I tried to translate it, I think he is saying someone is a idiot while he's the true idiot for not making sense. Leave the pore dude alone it was a simple mistake.

Make ya a deal: look up pore in the dictionary (dictionary.com) and while you're doing that, I'll leave him alone :P

It made perfect sense, so allow me to phrase it into terms some persons can understand, sheesh.

1] Original thread, very little shopping stated to look for a car. speed was mentioned, primarily.

2] 12K to spend, found a speed ride, got ripped.

3] Ended up with a reliable ride, which doesn't have speed.

4] Implication is speed and "style" was more imoprtant than substance. Thus, it could have been the bad ride purchased may have been to "impress" others, rather than making a good purchase.

5] For 12k, I can find a reliable runner that will last for years, certified and checked, and even with a small 30-day warranty.

6] Actually, I can find you 1k cars all day long that will last for years, even though they won't "impress".

That was the gist of my elucidation.

Is this clearer? And, btw, I did state that I may have been over-harsh, in that the thread-starter came back as cool dude, so I probably could have re-phrased it all. My bad.

So pay attention.

Or pay the price, sheesh.

well look at it this way, you have a reliable car im guessing it really just a commuter car, a small engine translates into better fuel economy, wont the insurance cost less too ? i know it sucks you got screwed over with the trans-am but life's a bitch you live an learn. to be honest i would like a fast car, but i dont really trust myself driving one (bad experiences) when i get a car im buying a cheap one, if it gets dented i wont bother fixing it cost it'll cost more than the car, i'd use it as a commuter car, im not a "poser" with these cars, but if you think of it this way, how much do you SAVE with the cavy ? uses less fuel? lower running an repair costs ? lower insurance ?

Hope you got everything off your chest fellow miserable Cavalier owner. Has your dasboard started to squeak and rattle yet? If it does, don't worry. 4 trips to the dealership partially fixes the problem.

Best to you, and be thankful that you have a car to get you from A to B.

LOL, people have to know how to learn to buy a ride. Or, better yet, surf the makes around the forum for fixes or opinions.

Two examples~~~~~ Needed some daily daily driver, found a 85 Celebrity, rusty as hel, but after checking it out, it was solid runner. $400. Ran me well for three years, and over 90k miles. Point a to point b, run/stop/start.

After it died, and do the math, I got my money's worth with only expected maintanence over the 90k I put on it [it finally died at 200, 570 miles, not bad].

K, it died, looked around, found an old Eagle for $200, an '89 with 94,000 on it. Actually, a great luck buy, I must admit. Now has over 175,000 on it, normal maintenance only, and it is a reasonably good shape car.

Moral of my post, point a to point b, dependably, minimal cost, I actually laugh at all the '05 owners who are losing $$$$ every mile they put on in their "negative" equity. Though I know that the sight, sound, smell, and feel of a new or newer ride is intoxicating, it still boils down to dependable point a to point b driving.

hey cavaliers can be made pretty fast on stock internals. If you want to check a few out, go to www.jbody.org. GM is releasing a supercharger package for your ecotec cavalier pretty soon, should put it at around 200HP.

Well I'm pretty happy with the car as a commuter car, I can't complain it runs just fine and doesn't give me any headaches. Still have 3000 miles on the factory warranty too..

Gas mileage is great i've filled it up once during the month and drive it constantly can't complain there either.

Insurance is actually higher..only around 20$ but that was because the trans am was a 95 and classified as a hatchback while this is a 03, don't ask me how that works out but according to allstate it does heh. I was paying 135$-TA now its like 155$-Cavy.

As for why I didn't just buy an older car that can be dependable, i've been ripped on so hard by used cars that i've become gun shy. Yeah I could find a 89 something and it may run forever, but the last 4-5 cars I bought haven't. The 95 Stratus I was driving was a mechanical disaster. I wanted something newer without all those problems so I grabbed the newest car I could find with low miles and its all good now

At the time I was getting over the shock of losing my dream car (the trans am) and transitioning to a Cavalier. Jayson, I know they can be sick little cars and I'm slowly getting used to it, having a B&M Short Throw installed, ordered my 18" Gunmetal Rims and its all good, I just had to adjust to drivin a 4 banger again.

hey cavaliers can be made pretty fast on stock internals. If you want to check a few out, go to www.jbody.org. GM is releasing a supercharger package for your ecotec cavalier pretty soon, should put it at around 200HP.

Agreed. I was just talking out of my ass, aside from the squaky dashboard (fixed), I really like my car. I think the styling is great and the performance is decent for the money. If I was a former Grand National or Trans Am owner going into a Cavalier, then I am sure i could find something to bitch about. But Cav's are not as bad as people make them out to be.