So, the Slate price is out. And I qualify for a ton of Colorado incentives, brining my price down over $10,000! On the other hand, some $15,000 is still some $15,000 that I could better put towards more important things. And I don't have much use for a 2 seater pickup. I am trying to save fuel, but I've been combining that with addressing health issues by riding a bicycle instead. Oh well. Maybe a meteor will come crashing down on my Avalon tomorrow (hopefully without me in it) and I'll be in the market for a Slate. Or I'd try to save some money on a $5,000 Toyota with 365,000 miles on it.
A neighbor just a couple blocks up the road has a 58 VW Bug fully restored that I'm tempted to buy. $15,000 w/a freshly built 68 dual carb engine. Parts so simple you can fix anything yourself. Decisions decisions They are so light it could be towed behind our RV unlike many modern vehicles.
...and you need to! Just remember, you're doing a valve adjustment every 3k, setting dwell and or replacing points every 6k, plugs every 12k, suspension lube every 15k, repack the wheel bearings every 30k... That's not the whole schedule, but it should give you some reminder of what it was like. You probably wouldn't need to put that many miles on it, but make no mistake, there's a heck of a lot more maintenance to do on those, precisely because they are from the era of cheap labor and expensive parts. The opposite is now true, proceed carefully.
Yes - in high-school auto shop, we (team of 4) took apart & rebuilt a similar VW engine - that had a piston that had gotten punched thru due to getting speared by a valve.
@hill . And where exactly is this neighbor, or maybe a phone number? Just kidding! I loved my Bug. I rebuilt the engine on it. I even got the heater system working well enough to stay warm, even in the negative zero temps we get around here. Man! I miss my Bug. But I got to keep focused on what's practical and most important. Housing and health are kind of ahead of fun cars on the list of things to attend to.
Good question. I didn't ask seeing how I have over 50 years being a Colorado resident. Part of the qualification is also income. And I don't make a lot, which helps me meet the income requirement. And the nice thing about the Slate is if it's under some $30,000 or so then they add on another couple grand. And I inherited an older gas guzzling vehicle (full-sized SUV from 2006 pushing more than 230,000 miles). And they'll knock of another few grand if I hand that over, kind of like the cash-for-clunkers thing. But I guess I'll just have to wait. I can't see me buying one even though I want one.
