Just the four of us

["Paul Gable" <pdgable@xxxx>]

Hi all and thanx for joining the Gremlintime list. You're all lucky
to get in on the ground floor before the list be becomes so big that
I will have to turn down memberships because the list database can't
handle the load!!!LOL Anyways, I thought that I would post my
thoughts on something that happened to me last week. I saw any ad for
a Gremlin in the San Diego auto traderr and being I'm always
interested in getting another Gremlin I thought that I would take a
look. First of all the writer of the ad kinda turned me off by
listing the car as a Wayne's World Gremlin when EVERYBODY knows that
was a Pacer. Anyways the car was selling for 1375 and was described
as running great and being reliable. So I drove over to Imperial
Beach to take a look at the beast and was at first pleased at what I
saw. It was a yellow 76 Custom model with tan bucket seats that were
only torn slightly. The body was clean and rust free and the carpets
had been recently replaced. That was where the good news ended
however. The owner's father began by saying the battery was dead as
they had left the radio on. Okay I would give them that but later the
said they hadn't started the car in six months so they couldn't keep
their story straight. When they finally put a battery from another
car in the thing, it took like 10 tries to get the engine to start.
When it did, the car ran terrible. I mean missing, sputtering
stalling,etc. Add to that the fact that the engine had a huge exhasut
leak. I mean basically all the exhaust was coming out of the engine
compartment. As it stood this car would not pass California emissons.
No way. Then I noticed that the heater hoses had been bypassed which
means nine times out of ten that the heater core had a leak in it.
This job is a total pain as I'm sure all of you know. When the car
finally warmed up to the point where I could actually drive it, the
automatic transmission would not shift, period. Checking the fluid, i
found that there was none! I asked if the tranny had a leak which of
course it did, and received an idunno response. Anyway, when we made
it miraculously back to the house, the owner asked me if I had an
offer. I told the guy that I didn't want to offend him but this car
was only worth about 500-600 bucks the way it stood. he of course was
taken aback but give me a break. The car had potential but it needed
way to much work. If the car had been an X model with a V8 it might
have been worth the asking price but there is no way a base model six
with an automatic and power steering and nothing else in that
condition could be worth more than 600 bucks. Anyway, are any of you
interested in this car? That's what I thought.
Peace
Paul