What to do with this 318ti...

[cracker red]

Bought my car for super cheap, have little in it (around 1K)

Pro's -

Drives OK
A/C blows cold
Nothing leaks (for now)
Everything works

Cons

Auto-tragic
Paint has crows feet all over horizontal surfaces, scratches on doors
auto-tragic
SLOW

I'm contemplating selling it for what I can get for it (maybe 1500?) and buying a clean E30 (budget 3K).

I'm not sure what a re-spray would cost for my car, but I'd hate to drop a lot of coin on something that isn't ever going to be worth much (even with a swap?)

I've owned a E28 before and never had a problem with it. Anyone out there an E30 fan? I found a super clean 318ti out west for under 2K, but spending 1K to bring it over here isn't somthing I want to do.

Seems like E30's with swaps can bring big money if they are clean, so I'd have the potential of getting back a decent chunk of my money should I chose to sell it in the future.

Then again, I could just wuss out and get a 02+ 330 sedan and call it a day....I just hate having car payments!

Thoughts?

[amancuso]

Yours sounds like mine did when I first bought it. auto tragic no problem for me in a DD. If I want to go fast I'll drive one of my other rides. I ended up plunking down 1100.00 for a complete respray. Very happy with it now. 156,000 miles.

[cracker red]

Re-spray for $1100, I'd keep it in a heartbeat. Maybe I should start shopping for a paint job I was figuring more like 2500+

[amancuso]

Originally Posted by cracker red

Re-spray for $1100, I'd keep it in a heartbeat. Maybe I should start shopping for a paint job I was figuring more like 2500+

I went for the Maaco base clear job. plus it's warranteed for 5 years. Best advice I can give for using Maaco is to remove any trim you don't want overspray on.

[submart]

The best advice for using Macco is don't use Macco.

[ajoystick]

Originally Posted by submart

The best advice for using Macco is don't use Macco.

True.

[amancuso]

Originally Posted by tavish

love this !

but that red car looks pretty nice.
does maaco just do a quick mask and spray?

yeap pretty much. The way I see it is it 1000X better then when I bought it. It had peeling clearcoat, a few dents, pretty nasty. The car is an OLD car thats not worth anything, with 150k+ on the odo. The bonus is that it runs like a top, with all the A/C and everything else still intact. It would have been very foolish to drop 2500.00+ on a paint job for this car, so the Maaco deal worked quite well. This ain't no show car, but at least it doesn't look like the heap I bought 9 months ago.

[b.u.ti-ful]

My understanding of the "crows feet" you mentioned in the paint is because something was resprayed at some point and they got it too thick and you get a star shaped cracking happening. Unless you have some other condition.

Anyway, that is one reason not to go with a cheap paint job.

Also, if you want a ti with stick for a good price, my advice is to be patient and one will show itself. I have often bought too quick and then the right car suddenly pops up after I have already spent my money.

Good luck.

[cracker red]

Black car parked outside in TX sun for all it's life = crows feet

It's only the vert surfaces, and black gets hot as hell in the sun. Thats another reason why I didn't want to paint it (black anyway).....it would look great until it was rubbed/scuffed/ding'd/etc.

I'm thinking if I keep it a flat olive drag or dark green paint with some powdercoated black wheels, dropped to the ground. Might as well get obnoxious with it since it's worth about 1500 at best.

Originally Posted by b.u.ti-ful

I have often bought too quick and then the right car suddenly pops up after I have already spent my money.

Good luck.

THAT happens EVERYTIME I buy a car and then think...."I'll just look and see what might have been had I waited".. LOL