Can Someone PLEASE Help Me !!

[Maino314]

Well Im From St Louis Missouri & Im Looking To Purchase My First Car In About 5 Days .. I Have 2 Options & I Was Wondering If Someone Would Tell Me Which Cutlass They Would Choose

http://springfield.craigslist.org/cto/4611233852.html
OR
http://carbondale.craigslist.org/cto/4598327598.html

Right Now Im Leaning More Towards The First One *60k Miles* Vs *1k* Cause But Both Are 1500 So It Dosent Really Matter To Me I Jus Want My First Car Asap & It HAS To Be A Cutlass ..

 

[FE3X CLONE]

I'd be looking for a stock Cutlass if at all possible. For a first car its always best to start with something that is close to stock as possible so you don't end up with someone else's hacked together mess.

For what its worth, that '85 Cutlass with the ridiculous scoop doesn't have a 350 Olds engine in it. Looks to be a Buick considering the distributor is at the front of the engine.

 

[Maino314]

Thanks Bro ..

 

[Maino314]

Its Another Cutlass With A 307 But It Has 160k Miles &I Thought That Was Alot lol

 

[t01blaze]

I was just like you when I got my first car. You're first car shouldn't be a project car because it makes a terrible daily driver. If I could do it all again, I'd say find a nice small car like a 1998-ish and up Cavalier or Malibu and drive that every day. You should be able to find one easily in your price range. Be patient and keep looking a little more and buy a nicer project car. Deals are out there so don't rush. Ideally, you want to have two cars, your daily driver and your project car. Three is better if you can afford to have a 1 ton truck also. I bought a very nice and clean 79 Malibu from New Mexico with 80k miles for $1400 running and driving for my project car, and I drive an 04 Monte Carlo daily. You want something reliable and something to work on, but you can't have both.

 

[Fox80]

I was just like you when I got my first car. You're first car shouldn't be a project car because it makes a terrible daily driver. If I could do it all again, I'd say find a nice small car like a 1998-ish and up Cavalier or Malibu and drive that every day. You should be able to find one easily in your price range. Be patient and keep looking a little more and buy a nicer project car. Deals are out there so don't rush. Ideally, you want to have two cars, your daily driver and your project car. Three is better if you can afford to have a 1 ton truck also. I bought a very nice and clean 79 Malibu from New Mexico with 80k miles for $1400 running and driving for my project car, and I drive an 04 Monte Carlo daily. You want something reliable and something to work on, but you can't have both.

I agree 100%, and at least in my area both of those cars are overpriced, the first one needs a ton of work inside and out, the second one looks like a nightmare that someone has already started. My thought is the same keep looking after you get something to drive, and you will see there are still nicer cars out there for that kind of money.

 

[pencero]

When you go to look at the cars don't consider anything but the condition of the engine if you are going to use the car as a daily driver. If you see bad signs in the oil or transmission fluid don't buy it. 160k is not necessarily a lot of mileage. Sometimes people don't know what they have and the engine was rebuilt more recently than they may actually realize. If the engine vin# doesn't match the one on the dash than the car has 160 but the engine obviously would most likely have under 100k miles on it, for example.

 

[pencero]

I didn't look at the cars before I posted that advice but I see now they're both 350 engine cars. The white car I find suspicious. I doubt a person who goes through a lot of work installing a 350 rocket and then drives less than 100 miles but never gets around to removing the last little bits of the vinyl top and puts it up for sale? Sounds like the mind of a disorganized person with bad priorities whose engine work can not be trusted. That hood scoop looks like it does not function, and it's also out of place and attrocious. The blue car looks like a standard cutlass w/ a common chevy 350 swap serviceable with cheap parts from virtually any parts counter. I vote for the blue car. I also don't see a 'lot of work' to do inside of it. The dash could use repainted so what? put a dash cover over it and use it as daily driver until you can afford to do that at some later time. Daily drivers should not be perfect cars or else your level of vanity will interfere with other parts of your life anyway. Just beat that car to death getting back n forth to work until you can afford to invest in something else and put it to the side and restore it properly. Don't listen to these guys with the ocd. It's better to enjoy a car as it is and live with it's flaws and focus on your life and focus on putting money away to restore all the flaws at a later time in your 20s. It's never good to be driving around in a 'work-in-progress' and it can be unsafe too.

 

[axisg]

neither car does anything for me. I too would look a fuel efficient vehicle to DD. Then once you have some spare funds purchase a Gbody for a weekend toy / project. I know some guys DD their Gbody but unless its a really short commute its just not a good option as a "first" car to me.
Any 2000+ Wbody ( monte, impala, regal ect ) would be my #1 choice. They are little bigger and harder on fuel but they are tough as nails. The 5 star crash rating saves both your life and in insurance savings vs a cavalier, neon, civic, ect... My daughter is looking for her first car. I will feel safer with her in a W-body vs any Gbody

 

[pencero]

I think the blue car with 350 chevrolet engine would be better than buying a car with a 307. With the 307 you are wasting the same ammount of gas and not having as much enjoyment as the extra horsepower the 350 provides. Parts can be expensive if you start modifying everything, but if you stay stock parts are very cheap and manageable to buy from almost anywhere. If you break down with a 307 there are lots of parts there you might not be able to get same day and be back on the road right away. I also doubt the safety ratings of newer cars to be better than that of a Cutlass Brougham with large chrome bumper front and back... and suspect crash test ratings at the time as not being very accurate. I'm disappointed in you guys dis-recommending to the OP to buy a g-body as a 1st car. I thought this was gbodyforum.com; not to mention the OP said ad lib 'my 1st car has to be a Cutlass'

What is really wrong with that?

Also, I think a Cutlass is a Cutlass; with the exception of the super cool 442 / hurst olds/ darth vader and all that. I fail to see what criticisms are on the blue car besides price? It looks very similar to the 2 cutlasses I do / have owned... except that I would say it is priced higher than cars I bought in similar condition.