1979 malibu on CL W/ONLY 20k

[melloelky]

1979 Chevrolet Malibu - cars & trucks - by owner - vehicle...

Hey there Craigslisters! I would like you to meet Marge! Marge is a 1979 Chevy Malibu 4 door Sedan. The Ol Girl is Young at Heart with Only 20,000 ORIGINAL MILES Yes, You Read That Correctly 20,000...

boston.craigslist.org

 

[Dayzedandkonfuzed]

It's very clean, but judging by the wear on the B pillar trim, and the rust on the speedo, Imma call BS on 20k miles

 

[ck80]

It's very clean, but judging by the wear on the B pillar trim, and the rust on the speedo, Imma call BS on 20k miles

Could have been poorly stored. Seats show signs of poor storage on the edges as well.

 

[Dayzedandkonfuzed]

Could have been poorly stored. Seats show signs of poor storage on the edges as well.

You could be right.

One thing I can't wrap my head around, the dash looks like it has been sun baked for 30 years, but the clear coat (edit - single stage lacquer) does not. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but I was pretty sure 78's had the emblem on the grill, whereas 79 had it on the header panel (80 went to an ornament)

Oh and the black seatbelts. Also weird. I just keep finding stuff the more I look at it.

I dunno man. Seems fishy.

 

[oldsmobile joe]

What clear coat? There's no mention of a repaint, and 79 factory paint was single stage lacquer.

 

[Dayzedandkonfuzed]

What clear coat? There's no mention of a repaint, and 79 factory paint was single stage lacquer.

Fair enough. Either way, these things don't match.

I'm also leaning towards a repaint, as there is an obvious tape line in the rear door jamb.

Which brings me to my biggest autobody pet-peeve: Paint your jambs/inners. Please. For the love of god.

 

[ck80]

You could be right.

One thing I can't wrap my head around, the dash looks like it has been sun baked for 30 years, but the clear coat (edit - single stage lacquer) does not. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but I was pretty sure 78's had the emblem on the grill, whereas 79 had it on the header panel (80 went to an ornament)

Oh and the black seatbelts. Also weird. I just keep finding stuff the more I look at it.

I dunno man. Seems fishy.

The color fading to the molded in black color is pretty easy to explain.

Back in the middle 1990s we cleaned, foolishly, the dash pad in an old car with.... something? I don't remember what. But it took the coloring right off and you saw the black instead of red.

As for the cracking, dashes on these cars have been doing that for a long time and plenty of them were already cracked in the 90s.

What you need to remember is once the plastic trim on these cars degrades, you can rub it ONCE and leave a deep wide groove..... it just kinda falls right off to a deeper level with barely a touch

 

[Ribbedroof]

10K for a sedan with a 267....good luck with that

I know in 78 all belts were black unless you bought the deluxe belts, then they were color matched to the interior...might be same for 79, especially in the low-line base Malibu, as opposed to the Classic

Odometer drum looks iffy for a professed 20k.

 

[ELCAM]

The odometer has rolled over the numbers are not level with each other.

 

[Dayzedandkonfuzed]

The color fading to the molded in black color is pretty easy to explain.

Back in the middle 1990s we cleaned, foolishly, the dash pad in an old car with.... something? I don't remember what. But it took the coloring right off and you saw the black instead of red.

As for the cracking, dashes on these cars have been doing that for a long time and plenty of them were already cracked in the 90s.

What you need to remember is once the plastic trim on these cars degrades, you can rub it ONCE and leave a deep wide groove..... it just kinda falls right off to a deeper level with barely a touch

I dunno man... this trim is just as degraded as mine, also the same colour, and I have 100k more miles, most of which have been outside I'm sure.

These things can all be explained away. The tape line I referred to could have just been a Friday on the assembly line, the rusty speedo could have been coffee splashed and not cleaned up, the black seat belts I was schooled on by Ribbedroof. But I would certainly be going through this with a fine tooth comb at that price, if I were in the market for a crew cab, that is.

I just don't believe that an unmolested car can look that good on the outside, but have so many signs of age on the inside. Really the only things that look good and aren't covered up are the seats and seat belts.

The pedals would tell the real story.