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Any "older gen" original owners out here?


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I was browsing my Z-car forum (zcar.com) and noticed a guy posting who owns a 1979 280ZX, he is the original owner, and he has 400K miles on the car.

 

I found that impressive on SO MANY levels... I am sure the car has seen alot of work (the thread I read was about oils and he mentioned "his last camshaft change") but the fact that he was the original owner was a point I was envious of... I dont like any vehicles that arent older than me (not a prejudice, more of a summary of fact) so I can never know that idea.. not for a few years yet.

 

That led me to the question posted as my subject header. Is anyone here the original owner of their vehicle? I suppose loyale and older is all I am really asking.

 

It just seems like it would be neat to buy a new car and NEVER get rid of it. That is wise purchasing there.. If you could go back in time and persuade yourself to buy any new car to keep for 500K miles... hmmm.

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Closest I ever came was our 90 Loyale. Bought it when it was 2 years old. It only had 15K miles. I prefer to let someone else take the big hit on the price, and the higher taxes.

 

With all the older ones, (price range from $150 - $5000) I never had anything wrong that was even close to the difference of buying a used vs new car.

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My US history teacher has owned his 1987 Subaru GL Wagon 4WD D/R Carbed since it was brand new. Its got a 3200$ paint job, brand new headlights, the interiro is PERFECT, it has 122k on it, and it doesnt have a flaw, it even has stock fog lights, and factory clear headlight shelds that go over the headlights. Original Cassett deck and all, very nice car.

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My US history teacher has owned his 1987 Subaru GL Wagon 4WD D/R Carbed since it was brand new. Its got a 3200$ paint job, brand new headlights, the interiro is PERFECT, it has 122k on it, and it doesnt have a flaw, it even has stock fog lights, and factory clear headlight shelds that go over the headlights. Original Cassett deck and all, very nice car.

 

awesome, tell him I said congratulations.

 

My dad would probably still have his '89 XT6, if the bank hadn't wanted it more. bad times.:mad:

 

but who knows.

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Ha yea me and him talk about subarus all the time, lol. I showed him mine and he liked the black interior, Told him he could take it for a drive, but he said, Oh no, i would get jelous of that Turbo power you have, my little wagon is sooo slow! Such a nice car, he says he wont sell it because its not a worth a thing, hes put too much into it.

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im not the original owner of my '84, but i am the second, and im good friends with the original owner and he still sees the car regularly. its great because i know the complete history of everything that happened to the car, and have all receipts from any work the was ever done to it! ive only had the car since september, so he had it from then till back in '84 when it was new!

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a fellow I went to highschool with and then later on, to the community college, had an '84 GL 4wd wagon. His dad was the original owner of it, had the engine go out at roughly 30k due to an oil pump issue, had another engine put into it due to another defect, and when he started driving it, it had over 400k miles on it. All original, d/r 4-speed, white exterior, blue interior, white wagon wheels that were almost perfect. The car was in nice shape for an older GL with that many miles on it. This was of course, back before I was into Subarus but I remember it had the rotted vents like the EA81s had on some years. He ended up selling it right before he graduted from highschool and bought an '85 CRX with a '98 Accord v6 stuffed into it with a 5-speed... After that, he sold the CRX and bought a FWD '83 EA81 wagon. 5-speed, maroon with a tan interior for $75!

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Bought my '88 GL 4X4 wagon new. Still have the window stickers (~$13,000), manual, finance paperwork, ownercard, tire pamphlet, etc. Currently at ~ 256,000 mi.

 

Jon

Seems weird that someone paid that much for these things back in the day...when you can get them now for a couple hundred bucks...

 

I guess it's because I'm young and don't remember when they were new.

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Seems weird that someone paid that much for these things back in the day...when you can get them now for a couple hundred bucks...

 

I guess it's because I'm young and don't remember when they were new.

 

I was younger. Didn't know how to dicker. Is still my daily driver for work commute. (4 mi. round trip) :)

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I'm the original owner of my 1986 Brat which is currently undergoing a complete restoration from the frame up.

 

It's got about 160,000 miles so far, and is running flawlessly . . . mechanically.

 

I'm addressing some undercarriage rust issues and replacing some body panels, including installation of two brand new OEM Brat rear wheel wells/tubs in the cargo area. Still lots to do and the $$$-meter keeps ticking!

 

After painting, I'll install one of my own custom sets sets of Brat stripes . . . the full 9-piece "horizon" decal set.

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Seems weird that someone paid that much for these things back in the day...when you can get them now for a couple hundred bucks...

 

I guess it's because I'm young and don't remember when they were new.

 

Base sticker on an '88 GL 4WD would have been around $11.6k...

 

I have vague memories of my parents buying their '82 DL FWD wagon brand new (well, it was a demonstrator, anyway... had a couple hundred miles on it). I was 4 years old and I saw the new BRAT and was in love with it. Played around in one the whole time they were negotiating. They ended up getting it for like $4800... which was $300 off sticker. We ran it to 160k miles (and replaced an engine at about 130k), then sold it to my GF (now wife). She drove it for over a year before the HG's started leaking, and her dad didn't want to fix it... (big mistake given what happened to her next car).

 

Mm... vinyl seats + trips to Eastern Washington = teh suck.

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Seems weird that someone paid that much for these things back in the day...when you can get them now for a couple hundred bucks...

 

I guess it's because I'm young and don't remember when they were new.

 

I am the second legal (last didn't have it long enough to register) owner of my hatch, still had the orginal CO. title; the payoff of the car was on the title and it was somewhere in the $13,000 range...... terrible for a car that didn't even come with carpet or a day night mirror.

 

Subarus seem to hold their value great for about the first 5-10 years and then go into the tank; 19 years later the hatch cost me $200

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Ok, its far from a Subie, and I didnt get it new, but I have owned my '68 Fairlane conv. for 31 years... Henry is part of the family and will never be sold. I have put him in my will. Im very jealous of the man with the '79 280ZX..I actually had a brand new Datsun/Nissan that year, my very first brand new car..it was a 310GX coupe. Long, long gone... So to have kept his 280 all these years is awesome in my book. Keeping any car that long is awesome!

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... Henry is part of the family and will never be sold. ...

 

We think the Same ´bout our 1969 Mercury Comet Caliente (It´s a Sports Coupé) Dad own it since it was New, in 1969, and also of Our Subies.

 

My 1985 White Wagon Loyale, is part of our Family since it was New, in 1985... but our Yellow Wagon Loyale is another Story... It first was our "Parts Car", then became our Project Car... now both subies are Great Runners! :burnout:

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wow!! congrats on the respondents!

 

My parents still have a 1987 for Econoline-150 Conversion van that they bought new, just before my old man got the XT-6... that van was my taxi/bus while I was growing up. I have four brothers, and we were ALL soccer players gorwing up.. living 20 miles outside of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina (middle of nowhere, basically. but theres IS a NASCAR track there, woo.:rolleyes:) The van blew a motor at about 60K (along with the XT-6 and a lawnmower.. bad case of oil, :dead:) and its got blown headgaskets now.. i think.. the headgaskets were put on upside-down by the engine rebuilders, again, :rolleyes:

 

Honestly, new car purchase is almost alien to me.. it just doesn't make SENSE to me to take a hit like that, unless you KNOW you will drive the car for 10 years or more. If it isnt something like a Jeep Wrangler, or another model that has remained virtually unchanged for decades.. how can you know that?

 

As for the "second owners" out there.. shaddap, you are the ones the rest of us envy. :-p You only paid $200, BUT its almost as good as having owned it the whole time yourself.

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I am not the first but second owner of my 84 touring wagon. I still see the owner once a month and he loves it. This car was mint he had it for 22 years, all subaru service and history, digital dash, power windows everything. It's great to have the full history of the car and to hear things like "never, ever been on the beach" and "the wife washed it every wednesday" when you go to buy it after hounding him for so long to get it!!!! :) :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm the original owner of my '83 GL 4X4 Wagon.

This thread got to pulling out my receipts, I seem to have lost my original sticker and purchase paperwork. It seems like I paid less than $9.8000.00 but I can't remember.

My '85 cost $11,000 I remember that.

 

I have pretty much replaced everything (except the motor, it has never been open) once in 250,000 miles. All I've had to do is the usual maintenance and replacement stuff, water pump, starter, clutch. ETC.

 

Right now the car is apart in my garage because I'm rebuilding the front end and the motor is in the shop for a reseal job to close up nagging leaks (but it ran perfect).

 

I redid the rear of the car a while back. I figure that the car will be good for another 200,000 when I get it back together this time.

I plan on respraying the paint this summer

 

I will never sell this car, It's a family member! :)

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I am the second owner of my Brat (107,000 miles). I have a neighbor a few blocks away that owns the other Brat in town and he is the original owner of his Brat (1986 I think). He is up to about 150,000 miles. Both are nice, clean units.

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I bought my 2WD 5 SPD 91 Loyale new, $9,999.00 Dark red outside, gray inside. It's got 199,000 miles now, been as dependable as you would expect. Inside is in really good shape. Outside, no rust, but the clear coat is cancerous looking. I drive it to work every day, and rev it past redline all the time. Still has the complete original exhaust, although I'll have to replace it soon.

 

Compression is good, but it has a steady miss which makes it fail emissions. I'm getting ready to fix that and also replace a badly leaking tranny.

 

In the past 2-3 years it has started having things wear out due to the killer sun here in Phoenix. Almost anything made of plastic (which is a LOT) is getting brittle and falling apart.

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