Decisions...

[SaturnVUEguy]

I work at a used car lot, which is affiliated with a Ford dealer. We have an '02 Mustang GT on our lot, which with my employee discount I can get for $12k. My Saturn is worth $8k to them and my payoff is $9800. With all these numbers, I can get my payments to be $300/mo for 60mos. I'm currently at $400/mo with roughly 2yrs to go.

My wife insists we keep the Saturn. I myself love the car, but have always wanted a Mustang. I'm also tired of having a fwd auto. The Mustang is obviously rwd and is stick.

I've told her before that if she refuses to let me get the Mustang, I'll pick up a project car to work on with our 3 1/2yr old son and/or supercharge the VUE. Supercharging would require money and time, as would a project car. I have my mind set on an Opel GT. I just have to drive up to Wonder Lake to see if the car is still there. Around '01 the car was there and had been sitting since the mid 80s, guy only wanted $100 for the car. I could use my mom's Durango to pull the car home, but I'd need a trailer for it, which wouldn't be too hard to come by.


What to do? Sign the papers on the Mustang behind her back, supercharge the VUE, buy a project car?

[69LT1Nova]

Don't do anything behind the wife's back. Unless you want to be murdered or divorced...

Mustangs suck anyway, IMO. And yes, I've driven a couple of them (including a '00 GT), and they are nothing to brag about.

Keep the Saturn stock and don't rip into it. That way you have something reliable to drive around, and no down time.

The Opel sounds cool, and you sure don't see many of those driving around! Plus... with a project car you can SLOWLY put money into it instead of making a big purchase and getting reamed on payments. My $0.02.

[Jimmy Sean]

My Saturn is worth $8k to them and my payoff is $9800.

Sign the papers on the Mustang behind her back, supercharge the VUE, buy a project car?

My only advice is I would not eat the $1800 on the saturn for the mustang, essentially you would be paying another $1800 on the mustang. Another way to look at the $1800 is that you will be refinancing that amount over the 60 months. I'm sure another Mustang would come along when you and your wife can agree.

DON'T BE DISHONEST WITH YOUR WIFE IT WILL ONLY CAUSE MORE PROBLEMS FOR YOU AND SHE WILL RESENT THAT MUSTANG AS LONG AS YOU OWN IT! Just speaking from experience

[Young Gun]

keep the saturn stock...save the money, buy your wife something nice, and then save the rest of the cash for a project.

[Bow Tie 67]

keep the saturn stock...save the money, buy your wife something nice, and then save the rest of the cash for a project.

and let me know where that opel is?

[69LT1Nova]

Those Opels are the shiznit. My old man had one when I was a kid. I sure wish he had kept it.

A guy here at work drives his Opel GT to work every day. Ugly burnt orange paint, but it keeps on running!

[SaturnVUEguy]

OOPS, meant to say $330/mo for the Mustang, not $300.

I'm not saying where that Opel is, I don't want anyone else to go buy it before me, if its still there

[cheapthrillz]

Pro-touring Opel GT? HELL YEA!!!

Leave the mustang for the women to fight over... every girl I know drives a mustang... such a chick car...

[BA.]

quite the predicament. 330/mo for a saturn would make me want to get into something different.

I don't like that deal though. I think the fun will last a year or so and then you'll be like "damn, I'm upside down on a 7-8yr old Mustang with several years to go!".

I say get the project car, whether it's an opel or something else.

...and the idea of getting the wifey something when you get the Opel/whatever is a great idea!

[jerome]

Advice is often tough to stomach, but here's my take.

I love oddball builds, but the Saturn is not in buildable territory. It is a nice, new car without aftermarket support. Unless you plan on junking everything except the panels, it does not make for a good build IMO. You will spend retarded amounts of money for small gains.

Keep the Saturn, it is a good family car. Don't even think about laying a wrench on it.

Build something you love. Preferrably something you don't feel bad cutting up. Since you are considering payments and have a family, I would assume that the Mustang is a considerable expense.

I would buy a cheaper, older project that you can slowly work on with your son. Something that has cheaper, non-PCM, electronics based parts. Unless you are just adding little modifications like springs/SFC, and air intakes, new model cars don't make good, cheap projects that you can take pride in.

At one point, I really, really wanted to go all out with my 04 4wd silverado extended cab. When you're in the heat of it, you think anything is a good idea. I would have spend the same money on it that I have on my S10 so far, but I would still only have one car. New model stuff is expensive, and offers less creativity unless you are rich. Older stuff will allow you to innovate more, and spend less. I got my S10 for $200. And proceeded to dump 15k into it. All in all, it will be 20k. If you are building a ground-up project right, with decent parts, be warned it will cost at least 15k.

Rock on, oddball projects.

[SaturnVUEguy]

I'm bored with the Saturn, as I'm sure you've all picked up on so far. The Mustang wouldn't be a project car, it would be my DD. Maybe swap some parts here and there, but nothing radical.

I LOVE Opel GTs. Still kick myself almost every day for not buying the car all those years ago. Now that I have a son, I do want something to work on with him, since I never had that with my dad (he loves cars, but not to the extent I do).

There are all sorts of things to be done with an Opel GT. Targa, V8, Ecotech, the list is endless. I would love something to build from the ground up. The Opel is a small car, and not many people know what the car is. And with sites like www.opelgt.com and www.opelgtsource.com parts are not hard to come by

[69LT1Nova]

Alrighty then, it sounds like everybody is saying the same thing: keep the Saturn as your DD, don't wrench on it, pay it off. Yeah it's boring, it's a friggin' Saturn!

Leave the Mustang for a chick, because face it, real dudes don't drive Mustangs.

Find that Opel and drag it out of the weeds! Build it piece by piece, take your time, and make it bitchin'! Don't worry, there are lots of people who know what an Opel GT is, and appreciate the car.

[fastback]

Mustangs suck anyway, IMO. And yes, I've driven a couple of them (including a '00 GT), and they are nothing to brag about.

Leave the Mustang for a chick, because face it, real dudes don't drive Mustangs.

Wow dude. I sense a lot of pent up rage toward Mustang owners.

Maybe your ex-boyfriend owned one?

Did the guy who reposessed your trailer drive one?

I bet it was that damned store clerk who wouldn't let you put any more Pabst Blue Ribbon on your tab, wasn't it? Like you weren't gonna pay as soon as you find a job.

[Vegas69]

Reach down between your legs and grab onto those puppies. Get over there and buy that Mustang! Seriously, if your wife wears the pants get permission first.

[SaturnVUEguy]

Yeah it's boring, it's a friggin' Saturn!

You'd be surprised how quick this bugger is. With the Honda V6 from the factory with 250hp and 242lb/ft, it moves! 0-60 in under 7 seconds (or in the low 7s with the average driver)

[Chevrolaine]

5 years paying on a 7 year old car? PLUS the extra you'll pay in gas and insurance per month. Walk away very fast!

[Restomod]

Saturnguy keep the Sat and wait a couple days and I may have a clean black 96 Cobra forsale VERY REASONABLE!!!!

OH and 69lt1Nova keep it to yourself,us Mustang guys dont knock lt1 Novas on here!!!! And that is from someone who has had Chevy and Ford....................

[moparnate]

keep the saturn, pay it off asap and use it as your daily driver, get a project car and have fun building it!

[jaybee]

keep the saturn, pay it off asap and use it as your daily driver, get a project car and have fun building it!

What he said...and almost everyone else. Nothing wrong with Mustangs, but you can't look both ways at an intersection without seeing a late model Mustang. How many LSx powered, Pro Touring Opel GTs are there?

[cheapthrillz]

Pro-touring Opel GT? HELL YEA!!!

Leave the mustang for the women to fight over... every girl I know drives a mustang... such a chick car...

I just want to rephrase my comment from earlier so I don't get bitched out... It should say:


Pro-touring Opel GT? HELL YEA!!!

Leave the STOCKER, LATE MODEL mustangs for the women to fight over... every girl I know drives a mustang... such a chick car...

I love mustangs, just not boring old stock ones...