If it were me, I'd cash in the Bike AND the Malibu, and spend the Malibu money on a car, and the Bike money on mods. That way it'* still separated into practicality and fun, sorta.

Personally I'd keep the bike, mostly for gas mileage.

I was thinking that if the car is as good as it sounds, I would keep the 2 cars and truck till the Malibu is paid off ( shortly after x-mas) then sell the Malibu. The money made from the Malibu could go towards bills or the wedding.


I see many opinions, but some haven't read my question

more specifically a Bonneville, seeing how once you get into a Bonneville, it'* hard to get out.

being in the same boat as you, i know how you feel.

i plan on working 50+ hours a week next summer in order to buy myself another bonneville. im crossing my fingers that i can get 60 hours a week but who knows yet. it will be very hard but i know it will be worth it.

that is what i would/will do for a bonnevile

I do have that option of working overtime. Right now we have a mandatory 8 hours a week, but you can always work more.

Only problem is that by the end of the regular shift it'* hard to stay when you are so tired already.

1337ssei'* dad used to work for the city of Indianapolis, and the cars given to everyone then were the late 80s Bonnevilles. Considering this, his work partner bought a 16K-mile mint 94 SSEi from the son of the owner of a large car dealership. He drove it for 262K miles and used it mainly as a beater for his son, who beat the crap out of it, and he also used it to tow his yacht (over a ton) while he smoked cigars and pot. Having enjoyed the late 80s Bonnevilles and also appreciating the 94, 1337ssei'* dad bought his son the 97 SSEi he now drives. It'* because I rode around in that car that I fell in love with Bonnevilles, though I knew from 2 friends before then that the cars were comfy, and I really badly wanted one.

So, the other family had determined it was time to stop slapping around that poor 94 SSEi with 278K miles and instead just donate it for scrap for a tax refund. 1337ssei and his dad offered to buy it from him for the tax refund cost and sell it. Normally, such a beaten up pile of tobacco and who-knows-what is not necessarily my first choice, but I had "few" other options. I wanted really badly to get the car purely because it was a Bonneville, and I had so many dreams and aspirations about it. But my parents had seen it, and that was enough for them to let me know I may be insane and should consider never looking at that car again.

I had asked my parents to skip a birthday present or two and instead get me a car. They bought a black, 2-door Nissan Sentra XE (the 1.8L model with no luxuries). The seller told us his daughter had taken great care of it, and it was hard for him to let go of such a valuable "family member." What a turd that car was. Five days after I got it, I was driving my dad to the doctor and listening to some CDs on the rear speakers - the non-stock ones that could actually handle playing audio. Some Dodge Stratus driver was looking right over at his girlfriend, gunning his car, and not having a care in the world when he smashed into this little Nissan. Irony... The guy sprung out of the car, apologized, wanted to see if everyone was all right, and then continued to check up on us and worry incessantly. However, when a policeman came by, the guy changed his tone and made us out to be the bad guys.

I actually wasn't feeling all that bad because of two things: Primarily, this was my first car accident, and it was cool. Second, I figured I was that much closer to owning a Bonneville. But I didn't have enough to buy this because had I picked it up, I would have immediately had to sink into it about a grand just to get it moving. 1337ssei'* family did this in the hopes that someone would buy the car, and I kept driving that beater of a Sentra to work and back with a leaky transmission seal (tranny fluid all over the driveway) and a leaking valve cover (engine oil all over the driveway). Also wrong with the Sentra was that the exhaust manifold had completely come off of the engine block and made my car sound like a ricer. These few things were completely unrelated to the accident.

I gathered up all the money to buy the Bonneville and to fix it up, and as soon as I started, I realized I was broke and didn't have a running Bonneville. The few months before I joined BonnevilleClub.com, my car was up on cement blocks in the driveway of my house in a small, suburban neighborhood. I don't know anymore if the neighbors have the smallest bit of respect for my mechanical skills given how many times I've taken apart my cars. So, I kept driving this horrible Sentra and hoping I could get the Bonneville running.

The owner had a 10 year-old (or older) lien on the title from when he had bought the car. It took a few weeks to take off the lien and get a new one, but it finally came in. I got the title and put it in my glove box. However, my dad said I'd lose it and I would be better off putting it on a shelf in the house. No one has ever seen that title since, but we suppose it may be in the vicinity of the shelf. I asked the owner to get another title, so no big deal. But the waiting sucked.

The Bonneville to this day looks a bit beaten up, but it'* a lot better than how it started off in my hands. My first few posts showed the car with ricer seat covers because they were the only things thick enough to keep me from getting attacked by the seats. If any Photoshopper wants to try, take any picture of my car, throw in dog urine, pot, pipes, cigars, cheap tint twice over, dents, brake dust so dark that the wheels are black, some cracks in the body, and slime all over. Make sure to make it seem like a nuclear waste facility.

That'* my somewhat overelaborated story about how I got my car. It'* a process to ruin a good car so much, and turning all that back takes a lot of time as well. At least with the purchase price, I got all new brakes, exhaust, a welded exhaust manifold, a cleaned supercharger, a new coupler for the snout, and all new gaskets. That was pretty nice of them.

I think you just missed the answer.

What did I do to get mine?

Well, first off, my first car was a bonneville that I made my parents drive an hour to go look at at 8 pm at night so that it wouldn't get sold on me. We looked at it, drove it, took it to a shop that was closing and gave a guy $20 to stay open 15 minutes longer and put it on the lift for us to look at. We then went back and told them we'd take it. 3 years and 45k later I sold it. I then went almost 2 years without a bonneville.

Well, I had decided that I wanted another bonneville, and not having a lot of money for a second car, and not owning the car I was driving myself (at the time) made it difficult. I started saving money, watching ebay and autotrader, and checked out all the local ones. I started noting the prices and the costs for parts and the cars themselves. I also started trying to save some money.

I had saved up about $1200 from working over the summer, and taking a job while at school and finally one day I saw this 93 SSEi on ebay with a minumum bid of $999 and no reserve. The car was about 3 hrs from me, which was close, so I watched it. No one bid on it. I talked with the seller a bit and asked lots of questions. I knew the bumpers were missing paint, the motor possibly had a knock and the passenger fender was broken. I also knew that the seller was selling it for a friend, and it had been sitting at his shop for 3 months.

I waited on the car after the auction, and sure enough, it went back up again. After another 7 days there were no bids again. I was talking to the guy about getting the price lower if I buy it outside ebay, and the costs it would take me to go get it and to get it fixed (I described a pity party to him, which he decided to attend) After about 3 weeks of talks with both my parents(who weren't real keen on it) and the guy, I had a plan of action. My father, thinking he'd found an easy way out of it, told me that if I could get it for $400 that he'd go get it. I wasn't happy, but it was a starting point. I called the guy while visit my (now ex) girlfriend in MA and told him that I talked to my parents, and they said that $400 was the best we could do, and we could get it in a week or two. To my surprise (and more so to my parents when I told them) the guy accepted saying he just wanted the car gone and any money was better than none. 2 weeks later, we made a round trip down to pick up the car, stop and pay last respects to my great aunt, and then back home she came.

Now, I then spent a year and a half buying replacement parts for the car, including a 4 hour drive(one way) in a blinding snow storm to pick up a 28k motor for the car, and numerous trips to the junkyard. I bought a parts car to get some of the pieces I needed, and sold parts off it to buy others.

It'* not 3+ years later and I still have it, still drive it occasionally, and am still fixing the car. And yes, I still love it and am still glad I have it.

How is this for a kicker. I get called into the office today at work ( 5 minutes to 3), usually that is when they let someone go. I sit down and he mentions that my contract with the temp agency is over.....Would you like to come on board ( permanent employee).

Biggest draw back. they are on a 2 week pay period and I won't get a paycheck for 4 weeks!!!!


So let'* just hope I can still sell the bike.

I wouldn't stretch a financial situation just to get a different car. If you find something you like, and it'* not a problem money wise, then sure go for it.

I guess i'd keep the 'Bu as the DD, truck as the project, and bike for fun/summer/mpg...