R.I.P. Marvin

[KatWoman]

Well this is certainly the last kind of post I expected to have to make

Last night I was driving along doing about 50ish, and all of a sudden the car lost power and dropped to 35. I hit the accelorator a bit and it wouldn't go past 40. So I knew something was up and started to pull off the road (very busy Phx street) and just as I got out of traffic and into the middle turn lane, the car died and wouldn't restart. Checked codes and only got a 55 (meaning end of codes or no problems). Opened the hood and there was oil all over the top of my tranny, oil coming out of the filter on my Iceman intake, and oil nicely pooled in my intake manifold and throttle body...aka oil in all sorts of places there shouldn't be I was right in front of an Autozone so someone there helped me get the car out of the turn lane and onto a sidestreet. Got the car towed home and did a compression test: 90 90 30 0 Not good news. 160-200 is normally what it should read for each cylinder and be within 10% of each other. There is also oil all over the pistons as well, you could see it shining a light down into the spark plug chambers.

Something went terribly wrong in the bottom end. At this point it's not worth dropping more $ to get it running only to sell it. A friend of ours was going to buy it, but I am glad this happened while we still had the car because I'd feel like **** if this happened after he got it or if he had given it to his daughter.....it would have been a first car for her.

So this is officially the end of the road for Marvin

[YogsVR4]

Sad news indeed Kat Its always tough to let something you've grown accustomed to go.

Marvin

[l33tc4k30fd00m]

Sorry to hear that. As you say, it's lucky that you had not sold it.

Hope you get a good replacement quickly.

[jon@af]

Marvin was a good car who served well for many miles. He will be missed. /minister. Bye Bye Marvin

[publicenemy137]

how many miles does marvin have??? I've always wondered how reliable neons are

[KatWoman]

161,xxx miles. Tranny is still strong, the body's still in great shape, interior is perfect. Just under the hood hasnt done so well. My first motor blew at 96,000 miles because my water pump seized and shredded my timing belt. The new motor had 400 miles on it when it went in....and never really did all that great. I think the longest I have gone without anything major is 6 months

Well all things considered the car did serve me well and if anything I learned alot about cars over the years. At least we tried

[Zcaithaca]

srry to hear...bring on the bimmer! (BTW did u decide on a new car yet?)

[KatWoman]

Originally Posted by Zcaithaca

srry to hear...bring on the bimmer! (BTW did u decide on a new car yet?)

Well for now the Bimmer Dreams are on hold. We could easily afford an E30 3 series (84-91) but after research the reliability is about 50/50 mixed reviews. The problem is if it has a major breakdown, that could cost more than we make in a month to repair. Plus it's kinda too old of a car to risk that happening. Alex has personally talked to a few more BMW guys and they all love their cars but confirm when a part does go, it's expensive.

I thought about a truck too, but Alex said he didn't really think I belonged in a truck, and that I may not be happy with it, since I am more a car person and like to drive alot. So I am now considering a '97 Volvo 850....which line I am not sure of, but at least something that runs well. I have been playing around on the Volvo forums at swedespeed.com and have gotten alot of help there. Friendly crew too. Alot of the 850 owners do their own work, and the expenses are moderate. Some parts cost more than Neon parts but they are solid cars. An attorney in my office has 4 Volvo's in the stable and has also owned 2 others previously. He had nothing but good things to say about Volvo in general. He told me if I found a 97 in good conditon, with 75K or less miles on it, he recommended it. I also ran into an old friend from high school at my gym the other day. His wife drives a 91 240 and they love it and want to look into getting another newer Volvo.
So that's what I am looking into now. Later on Alex might get a Volvo wagon to have as a utility vehicle, but first priority right now is getting me a running car.

[Zcaithaca]

sounds good...volvos are very reliable cars...good choice

[Spec2 Girl]

Poor Marvin. Bye bye and rest in peace.

[tonioseven]

Originally Posted by Spec2 Girl

Poor Marvin. Bye bye and rest in peace.

[publicenemy137]

if you want a good reliable car, you can never go wrong with Nissans!!

[Amish_kid]

Originally Posted by KatWoman

Well for now the Bimmer Dreams are on hold. We could easily afford an E30 3 series (84-91) but after research the reliability is about 50/50 mixed reviews. The problem is if it has a major breakdown, that could cost more than we make in a month to repair. Plus it's kinda too old of a car to risk that happening. Alex has personally talked to a few more BMW guys and they all love their cars but confirm when a part does go, it's expensive.

I thought about a truck too, but Alex said he didn't really think I belonged in a truck, and that I may not be happy with it, since I am more a car person and like to drive alot. So I am now considering a '97 Volvo 850....which line I am not sure of, but at least something that runs well. I have been playing around on the Volvo forums at swedespeed.com and have gotten alot of help there. Friendly crew too. Alot of the 850 owners do their own work, and the expenses are moderate. Some parts cost more than Neon parts but they are solid cars. An attorney in my office has 4 Volvo's in the stable and has also owned 2 others previously. He had nothing but good things to say about Volvo in general. He told me if I found a 97 in good conditon, with 75K or less miles on it, he recommended it. I also ran into an old friend from high school at my gym the other day. His wife drives a 91 240 and they love it and want to look into getting another newer Volvo.
So that's what I am looking into now. Later on Alex might get a Volvo wagon to have as a utility vehicle, but first priority right now is getting me a running car.

If you can try to see if you can find a 940, I'm pretty sure it was the last rwd car that Volvo made. Plus they are extremely reliable my mom has a 760 turbo with over 180 miles not km miles on it and it don't seem to be dying anytime soon and my brother has a 240 with around 270km's on it we have beaten the ever living shit out of that over the winter and the fall so they are cheap and extremely reliable.

[IntegraBoy2003]

sorry to hear that

[kittedb18bt]

bye bye marvin. kat, i wish you the best of luck with your next choice as a vehicle.