On the road again...

[GMTruckGuy74]

Well, after spending almost $1,700 of my hard-earned and long saved-up money, the '96 Cadillac Fleetwood is back on the road, just about ready for daily-driver duty this Wednesday (the AURA goes back to the dealer Tuesday night). A new starter assembly, a new fuel pump and strainer, an new idler arm, and four new Kelly Navigator Gold White-Wall tires have been installed by my local repair shop. Add in a AAA Plus Membership (used to tow the car to the shop this past Wednesday (not to mention a jump-start yesterday!) and a full tank of gas and I'm pretty much broke. It runs great, and with the four new tires, their balance & alignment and the new idler arm it rides like a Fleetwood is suppose to (no more wobbly ride and off-centered steering wheel).

And a BIG THANK YOU to one of our forum members, caddycruiser (aka Derek), that graciously travelled back to NJ for a second time per my request and fixed the passenger side windows (front & rear) so that they are fully operational, and most importantly, the rear window stays in place. He spent about 5 hours at my place, would not accept gas money, food, or anything else I could offer for getting his fingers/hands cut up to fix those darn windows. He felt personally responsible for the battery dying, and it's almost 4 years old so I told him not to worry (that's what AAA is for!) and when I get some money soon a new battery is on the list. Without Derek's knowledge of the problem, the parts to fix the problem, and his experience the windows would have not been fixed.

I will post some pictures of the car soon, as I need to clean off the "blue stuff" ont he 1.25" white walls and give the car a much needed bath. I think a 'sick day' from work may be called for soon so I can spend some time cleaning up the interior once I order the products Derek suggested I use to shine it all up.

The AURA's days are numbered, and while not very sad about it I will miss the car and it's modern features that the Caddy doesn't have. On the flip side, the Caddy is one hell of a car that has earned quite a few looks as I drove her around last night. It definitely is something unique and uncommon, even if I see a few on the roads from time to time.

[daves87rs]

Very cool!

I like the Navs myself (they're on the wife's Cav). Very smooth ride.

And they eat nails too!

Good to see the Caddy is ready to go....

[A Horse With No Name]

Won't it be nice to be minus one car payment???

Glad she's on the road!

Chris

[Camino LS6]

Glad to hear it!

[ocnblu]

Sounds like you're ready to ride! Good to hear, I hope she's bulletproof now. Look for a purple velour fedora and peacock feather in the mail soon, cuz you be pimpin', yo!

[Blake Noble]

Drive that Caddy 'til the wheels fall off, man. Good to hear you made the old ship sturdy as the Rock of Gibraltar.

[Chevy Nick]

Great story, good to hear nice things like that.

[daves87rs]

Sounds like you're ready to ride! Good to hear, I hope she's bulletproof now. Look for a purple velour fedora and peacock feather in the mail soon, cuz you be pimpin', yo!

LOL!

[caddycruiser]

Awe, thanks Roger--glad to help in any little way I could, finally. Just in time too, with the Aura ready to head back to GM.

Wish I could have done more, and otherwise, I think you're good with the few other odds & ends we discussed, and if not I like the trip to Jersey & back, so it's not out of question again sometime. The cut up hands have to be expected, hah, and thanks for the bandaids! Your son was hilarious to talk to in the garage throughout the day, too.

I had these in another thread, so until yours, the tank:

P.S., Again, thanks for the cruise around the development in the car...THAT certainly brought back great memories!

[GMTruckGuy74]

Thanks for the well wishes everyone!! The car is 14 years old (2010) and still has some quirks to be worked out, but nothing that should prevent me from using it as my daily-driver for now. Derek (caddycruiser) has inspired me to become more mechanically-minded now, and I'm excited to learn more about my car and how to work on the small stuff myself. I mentioned in a separate post back when I bought it that I wanted to take the Auto Shop I class at the local high school (adult ed/evening classes), but due to returning to work I missed the deadline for registration. A new class should start soon after the new year and I've taken some steps to not miss out on registration this time. The only way I'll learn is by taking a hands-on approach and getting dirty (and possibly cuts on my own hands!) myself.

While I did make a post about 2-3 weeks ago about selling it, now that I've sunk some of my hard-earned money into it, and I'm able to drive it around again, has reminded me of why I purchased it in the first place. I'm dealing with my 'used-car stigma' so far - not saying that I still don't want a new vehicle though! - but I've found a unique car (which I call the dinosaur) and like the fact I'm saving and using a car that still has TONS of life left in her.

BTW, those pics I promised will come later this week, as family took priority today and I didn't even get to clean her up (will have to as I want the blue stuff completely off the tires before Wednesday).

[regfootball]

i really love that car. awesome car!

[ocnblu]

Let's see, next we need:

Impolla SS wheels

Flowmaster exhaust

a SUPERCHARGER!

(kidding a li'l bit)

[GMTruckGuy74]

You can forget the supercharger, the LT1 350/5.7L V8 will do plenty to get me in trouble. For a 14 year old car, the engine (@ 116k) sure doesn't feel like it's old!! I press down on the gas pedal and the car takes off like a huge rocket. I really do like driving this car :smilies-38096:

And I just put out money for those four Kelly Navigator Gold white-wall tires. While the FWB does look especially nice with a set of sport/performance tires mounted on the '90s Impala SS rims, I'll stick with the luxury look for now. It will definitely fool some people I'm sure (thinking its an old fogey's car!).

But I am contemplating the Flowmaster exhaust. I love the sound of a powerful V8 engine and I can just imagine how my FWB wiould sound with a Flowmaster muffler. Nothing too fancy, I still want the 'luxo-barge" look to teh car, but a nice sounding exhaust to match the power of the LT1 would be a nice modification I'd consider. I wonder how much that would cost??

[gm4life]

Looks great, that thing is mint. Go out and enjoy an American RWD Luxury Tank! Don't smoke the tires to often!

[GMTruckGuy74]

Saying goodbye tonight...

Last time parked in the garage...

44,533 miles - lots of trips & memories!

Sitting on the dealer's lot...

Edited November 18, 2009 by GMTruckGuy74

[caddycruiser]

Awe, bye Aura. Have a good life

Funny, I never even got remotely close to that step on my leased G6 or Malibu...you know, actually having it the whole term. Heehee.

Hope you got my emails on the Fleetwood antenna & other stuff later, and good luck with the drive--enjoy!

[GMTruckGuy74]

Well, there was just one little bump in the road this morning with the Caddy... a DEAD battery!! Another call to AAA and off to work, 30 minutes late. Luckily I spoke with the auto shop teacher yesterday about installing a new battery on Friday, just had to move that up to today. $90 bucks lighter now, but a new NAPA Legend battery resides under the hood - started up without hesitation.

This was only the 2nd lease I had full term, all of my other leases I've taken advantage of the GMAC pull-ahead offer and got into something new usually at the 30 month mark (all but one of my leases have been 36 months; the first was only 24 months and is the other full-term lease). I have never gone over my allowed mileage, usually right at the mark I should be for the time (the Envoy in '08 and the AURA went back with about 500 miles unused by us). It was strange to go in and give the keys, sign-off on the odometer document (no longer just the little state-issued statement), get my plates, and then go out to my waiting ride. They did do a little sales schtick, but weren't too pushy and asked me to consider them in the future (for now, selling off the remaining 2009 Saturns and going to a used-car lot after that, and the used car mananger hinted that they might be buying a Chevy franchise in the near future).

caddycruiser - got your e-mail and responded. Feedback is appreciated, but no rush as I won't do anything until the weekend.

[daves87rs]

Good looking Caddy! Going to miss the Aura....

[NINETY EIGHT REGENCY]

Well.. I am glad you have friends here to help you. That was kind of Derek. That was a good decision you made, but as I told you privately, I did the same thing when I got my cars. You will save money and you will enjoy your cars more and learn to do things on them. look at what you spent as a few car payments. You would have spent that anyway. You will find fulfillment with your car.

Enjoy your car.

I am glad these people here helped you.

You are on the road once again.