Prepping for Your Used Car

My first car, a 1972 AMC Matador, orange and black.  Known by most as the toilet.  It took $23.00 to half fill the tank.  And, that was when gas had been under a dollar a gallon.  If you found yourself turning onto one block your back end would still be on the last block.  It seated 10 people.  It rode uncomfortably loud.  And, on a booming New Hampshire thundering night, I could get radio stations from Canada on the AM dial.A Mother Jones Classic: For seven years the Ford Motor Company sold cars in which it knew hundreds of people would needlessly burn to deathMother Jones has studied hundreds of reports and documents on rear-end collisions involving Pintos. These reports conclusively reveal that if you ran into that Pinto you were following at over 30 miles per hour, the rear end of the car would buckle like an accordion, right up to the back seat.Burning Pintos have become such an embarrassment to Ford that its advertising agency, J. Walter Thompson, dropped a line from the end of a radio spot that read "Pinto leaves you with that warm feeling." Millions in damages, lies to the government and just to hurry up and get the job done.The Edsel, named after Henry Ford’s son, had enough fan fair to be an up and coming movie star.  Unfortunately, the car couldn’t get itself out of second gear, literally.  Billed as a luxury car for the middle class, the price still left Middle Americans with sticker shock.Strange fact, the Edsel, had been researched and most of the Jack and Jill’s of Small-town, USA, hated the name.  It was commonly associated with dead batteries or a brand name of a tractor.  Edsel, born and breed in the USA. View the list ยป
When life hands you a not drivable lemon...sell it to someone!

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New Hampshire has an attraction to tourists that many states cannot boast. To the north, the mountains. To the south, the ocean. And, in between, a carload of Junk Yards, Salvage depots and Parted Out Parts, graveyards.

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Every used car jockey's dream. When I step onto a salvage lot I feel a great sense of 'go have fun' and a strange calmness engulfs me.

Question is, what of the saying, they just don't make cars like they used to? Well, some of the cold case facts are as follows:

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  • The Edsel, named after Henry Ford’s son, had enough fan fair to be an up and coming movie star.  Unfortunately, the car couldn’t get itself out of second gear, literally.  Billed as a luxury car for the middle class, the price still left Middle Americans with sticker shock.Strange fact, the Edsel, had been researched and most of the Jack and Jill’s of Small-town, USA, hated the name.  It was commonly associated with dead batteries or a brand name of a tractor.  Edsel, born and breed in the USA. 
  • A Mother Jones Classic: For seven years the Ford Motor Company sold cars in which it knew hundreds of people would needlessly burn to deathMother Jones has studied hundreds of reports and documents on rear-end collisions involving Pintos. These reports conclusively reveal that if you ran into that Pinto you were following at over 30 miles per hour, the rear end of the car would buckle like an accordion, right up to the back seat.Burning Pintos have become such an embarrassment to Ford that its advertising agency, J. Walter Thompson, dropped a line from the end of a radio spot that read "Pinto leaves you with that warm feeling." Millions in damages, lies to the government and just to hurry up and get the job done.
  • My first car, a 1972 AMC Matador, orange and black.  Known by most as the toilet.  It took $23.00 to half fill the tank.  And, that was when gas had been under a dollar a gallon.  If you found yourself turning onto one block your back end would still be on the last block.  It seated 10 people.  It rode uncomfortably loud.  And, on a booming New Hampshire thundering night, I could get radio stations from Canada on the AM dial.
  • Is it wise to buy old and leave the new to the young-ins?  Possibly.  Used Cars depreciate in value less quickly then a newly purchased, financed for life Hybrid.The age of the internet has made Used Car shopping outrageously fun.  The old man going through an old age crisis can find that ’69 Mustang he always wanted. 
  • At last count there were well over 100 Automotive Salvage Yards in New Hampshire.  Some and/or most of these yards are called green yards.  Similar to being a politically correct junk dealer.
  • One favorite amongst Junkyard Junky connoisseur is: U Pull It, Auto Parts, Candia, NH.  Miles and miles of every vehicle known to man or woman.  A backyard mechanic's dream come true.  Just sign a waiver.  Promise not to sue and you get handed a bucket to carry the ancient but still in good working order parts, back to the cashier in. 
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, Manchester Prepper Examiner

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