Good Morning Good Afternoon and if I don't see ya later Good Night I have nasy nasty weather and the day off WHOO HOO gonna try to run out in between showers to get s few things potted. The Jasmine tea last night was great and very relaxing that paired with a good painkiller and I woke up on the couch this morning still in the sitting position...LOL Oh I was also tired from working all day I used the massager/File last night works great on fingernails too. There are so many great gifts bring sent how in the world will we choose a winner?? maybe a message with all photos in it with a number?? How are you gonna chose? V

1929 Model A Ford, 4 dr with window shade, roll-up, style curtains on rear side windows. Color black - was there any other color? 1949 Plymouth, 6cy, 2dr, 3-sp manaul, column shifter, Blue, the last of the fast back designs. (Horrible rear visibility) 1954 Dodge, 4dr, w/ Red Ram V-8, 3-sp stick. This one was not a large displacement engine, rated only at 140 hp, but was the smoothest running engine that I have ever owned. Color: White top over Blue bottom. 1960 Plymouth Valiant, slant six, 100 hp, automatic, 4 dr, blue. Low torque engine - couldn't get out of the way of itself. Good fuel mileage. No power steering - didn't need it - very good handling. The next year, a longer stroke engine was offered with much more torque. This one was very driveable and became the engine of choice. 1964 Dodge Dart, 273 cid V8, 4 dr, automatic, white w/red interior. This one was a good compromise between, power and fuel economy and room. I wish that I had another similar car today. This one was well liked. The engine was a thin wall cast version of the 318, but with a smaller bore. The bore centers were the same as the 318, thus it was manufactured on the same engine line as the 318. Many engine parts were interchangeable with the 318. 1969 Dodge Coronet, 4 dr, 318 cid V8, blue Just an ordinary sedan to hold my growing family. EPA fix-ups began to appear and degraded performance a bit without any fuel mileage increase - lower compression and a low ratio rear end ( 2.71 to 1) Though I put 115,000 miles on it before moving on. 1974 Dodge Sedan, 400 cid V-8. EPA had struck this engine hard. It was based on the admired 383 V8, an engine upgrade option for station wagons and police cars. To meet EPA requirements, Chrysler lowered the compression ratio and installed a very mild cam. The resulting power was so embarrasing that chrysler bumped the displacement up to 400 cu in to gain back a bit of performance. (An earlier 383 in good tune would run cicles around it.) 1974 Oldsmobile Cutlass, 4 dr, V8. Bought used for a 2nd car and commuter. Had to put in a valve job after 1 yr ownership. As it neared the end of its life, sold it to a junk yard. I didn't want to see this on the road again as it had become dangerous. The body metal holding the rear body mounts had corroded away. The best part of this car: The radio. 1975 Buick Apollo, 270 cid V-8 (Oldsmoblie engine), 4 dr, Yellow. The smallest V8 made by GM. Not a good car. Was purchased as 2nd car for a winter-beater and comuter. Let my kids learn to drive with this one - they were not going to win any stop light drags with it. In fact, they were lucky go to get across a big intersection before the light changed to red. I bought this car during a period of runaway inflation. It was 3 yrs old and loosing value at a lesser rate than my hard earned cash in the savings account. That became part of my rationale for picking it up for a 2nd car. 1976 Buick Estate Wagon, 4 dr, 455 cid V8, Clam shell rear gate and window; 19 ft long! This one was the family land barge and vacation machine. The family had now grown to 5 and this station wagon held us all in comfort on long trips. This was the first year that GM put catalytic converter on all of the Buick line. (GM had put catalytic converters on a few select models the year before as a field trial.) With the converter, Buick put in a better cam and iginition advance curve and got better power plus 2 more miles per gallon. I garaged this one every winter taking it off the streets just before road salting began and it stayed off until next spring after a rain had washed away the salt. I kept this one 13 yrs and it was in very good condition the day I traded it in. It was showing signs of a catalytic converter plugging up, otherwise, the engine was in fine shape. 1980 Chevrolet Citation, V6, 4dr + hatch back, green, my first front wheel driver. A fair car. Had a very good useable interior layout and driver visibility - wished there was a car with those features today. Had too much braking on rear wheels compared to the front - gave the car a tendency to swap ends while braking on slippery surfaces. Over- sped the engine one time when the tranny failed to catch 2nd gear on a downshift - it went all the way to 1st gear at 45 mph. Loosened a rod bearing. GM got the steering geometry right on this one - no torque steer. The Chrysler K-car was plagued with torque ateer. 1983 Chevrolet Citation, V8, 4dr, white Engine was de-tuned a bit, but otherwise the same as the 1980. 1981 Pontiac Phoenix (twin of the Citation), 4 cy "Iron Duke", 4 dr., Brown. A dog. Served as a commuter. When climbibng a grade, engine vibration could be strongly felt in the steering wheel - each firing of the cyliners were perceptable. No. 2 son, a new driver, burned the engine up while driving home from a days outing with the guys. He had not been watching the oil level - it ran out. 1989 Dodge Dynasty, 4 dr, V6, Light blue 1st yr for Chrysler's new computer controlled transmission. It had issues - shifting algorithm should have been revised. It was programmed to give good results on the EPA fuel mileage test, but otherwise, was bad for commuting traffic. Car was too softly spring - people riding in back tended to get car sick. 1992 Dodge Dynasty, V6, 4dr, White. A much better car. Better handling. Held front alignment very well. Shifting algorithn improved, but still had glitches. I put 90,000 miles on it and sold it (cheaply) to my daughter. She moved out of state and later sold the car to her friend. By then, the rocker panels were holed out. I saw the car two years ago and it was still running with upwards of 140,000 miles on it. 1992 Jeep Cherokee, inline 4.0 L 6CY, 4dr, with part and full time 4-wheel drive, Red. Really liked this one. Gas mileage wasn't great, but it took us all over the lower 48 states and into places where an ordunary car could not go. We photograhed many interesting scenics using this vehicle. This one was my prime winter time driver - great in snow - can't beat it. 1998 Dodge Stratus, 4 cy, dual overhead cams, 4 dr, red. An OK car - not great, but OK. Its gets very good gas mileage on trips and that is what I bought it for. Runs great. I beem garaging this one very winter and there are no rust spots. 1998 Jeep Cherokee, in-line 6 cy, 4 dr, again with part and full time 4 wheel drive, Deep Amethyst Purple (appears black under many lighting conditions). Replaces the red Jeep which was getting body rust, but ran well - had 190,000 miles on it.

A person who owns a home can file a claim to the insurance company that they pay a premium to-THEY pay the premium and in most cases it is up to them as to whether they use that money for repairs or otherwise. If they have a mortgage, usually the check is made out to the homeowner and the mortgage company-and because the mortgage company is part owner, they want the damages fixed and will normally inspect the project to assure that something they are vested in is repaired. It's the same with owning a car-if you own your car and get a dent, insurance will pay you but if you don't have it financed, you can choose to fix it or not with the check. The down side to that is-if you do not have it fixed or the home repaired with the money, the insurance company can refuse to renew your insurance when the time rolls around.

I'll sidestep the questions on her driving skills and acumen. I assume you're satisfied that she is competent. Many older drivers are just fine and in fact better than younger. So 'nuff on that for me. Although yes there's more safety features on a newer car, that doesn't necessarily make a car safer. I'd feel very safe driving my old '62 Impala or one of the DeSotos my dad had. My point about fixing it is to try to avoid nickel and dime thoughts or compare to "what you could buy". I suggest comparing to what it would cost to replace and what you would pay to replace it. If you're looking at a $5,000-$15,000 replacement car, then that's your budget point, even if the value is, take a guess at about $1500. I'd guess if you put both cars in front of her and said $5000 and you can have either car, which do you want? She'd take "her" car. You probably could buy the car from the insurance company for, say, $500? Maybe less? Maybe a little more. They vary a lot and depend on what they do with the cars. But if you paid even $1000 for it, then spent another $2000 to fix, repair, replace body parts (and I don't think I'd try to make it "new condition anyway) then you spent $3000 for a vehicle she likes. And maybe even saved some sales tax along the way too. Is the car *worth* $3000? No. But is it worth it to HER? I'd venture to say yes. My philosophy is that even when I had a 15 year old truck, 150k miles and it's quirks, it got me to and from my destination every bit as well as a Cadillac limousine and cost me a lot less. I'll let Joyful add more about value on older cars and if you recall several of his posts about his car experiences, you'll know what I'm saying. It's like things at an auction or garage sale. I'd never pay more than new price for that piece of garbage up there but to someone else it was worth it for whatever reason. I do see people pay a lot for sentimental value at times. The rule of selling is "it's worth exactly what someone actually pays for it - no more, no less". And of course insurance is cheaper on the older car, etc. However, if you're considering buying the car, let them know immediately. Better yet if you haven't settled if there's a payment coming you can make it $__ plus you keep the car. One caveat, I'm also assuming that you're satisfied the car is in otherwise good condition which is how it sounded. Good luck.