Yesterday, arguably, had no losers. Both cars were wonderful and sketchy in equal proportion and both were really worthy of saving. If I had to choose one I’d probably be tempted to take the Opel, merely for the novelty, but the well-loved MG just edged out a victory. Someone should buy one of these cars. No one, especially not me (right?) should buy one of the next two cars. Here are life’s great ontological questions, in this order: Let’s test at least two of those today: Engine/drivetrain: 3.0-liter Duratec V6, probably, AWD, five-speed manual Location: Port Jervis, New York Odometer reading: 185,000 miles Runs/drives? Both, apparently I am equally attracted to, and repulsed by, this car in roughly equal measure. Black, sedan, with bad custom aftermarket wheels is really doing all you can to make this car unappealing. But then it has an AWD setup and five-speed manual transmission. That’s great! It’s the inside that counts, right folks? Here’s what the seller says: Can one expect rust? Oh yeah. It isn’t particularly noted here, but just look at this thing. It lives in Port Jervis. This thing has seen road salt at those miles and the pics of the door sills don’t leave much to the imagination.
But then…look at this:
That’s nice. Engine/drivetrain: 3.0-liter Duratec V6, probably, Five-Speed Automatic Location: Bensonhurst, New York Odometer reading: 185,000 miles Runs/drives? Both, apparently* This also isn’t the ideal color, but I’m a sucker for a wagon. Is it AWD? I have no idea. The seller doesn’t say much: That was 27 days ago. So either today came and went and the owner is keeping the ad up, or it didn’t actually sell. The motor is “perfect” but the transmission “needs transmission fluid.” Hmm… let’s just look inside.
Automatic aside. That looks pretty clean. I’m torn. What should a sane person do?
Photos from Craigslist ads here and here. But I’m not, and I don’t, so therefore, I’m going with (C) None of the above. It’s worth the extra $500 to not need any repairs immediately, and I prefer the stick. Gimme the sedan. The Wagons are rare, something like 1,600 sold in the US. But all were automatic… but there’s nothing preventing them from becoming manual. Seems others in this thread agree with this assesment. I went through this when I chose to buy an ‘03 540it sport wagon (auto only in the U.S.) instead of fronting a bit more for an e39 M5. The wagon has done an admirable job of hauling people, dogs and stuff, but after many years and miles, a real shifter (and less germane to this post, 100 more horses) would have been worth the splurge and a more minimalist take on what to carry. I guess where I’m going with this is that, as a longtime wagon driver, I can say that the promise of “one car to do it all” has rung a bit hollow. Saddle a great sport sedan with a mediocre automatic and a couple hundred more pounds of glass, steel and such over the rear axle and you lose a fair amount of what you wanted in that platform. Not that the manual looks great but it doesn’t sound like it needs a major powertrain component replaced immediately. No one’s buying these to restore or spend real money on and there’s better daily drivers for the money so that leaves people who want a cheap Jag to play with. I’m pretty sure those people want one that works out of the box and with the fun transmission.
