One Saturday every beater I looked at had a blown head gasket, then Sunday I found a clean Volvo for $600

I spent six hours on Saturday driving around Orlando to check out three different cars under $1500, and all of them had milky oil or overheating issues. Sunday morning I stumbled on a 1998 Volvo V70 with 180k miles that just needed a thermostat, and now I'm torn between flipping it or keeping it as a daily. Anyone else have a weekend that went from trash to treasure like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

miabennett3d ago

Man, that Saturday grind is the worst. I spent an entire day looking at a Civic that had a radiator full of what looked like chocolate milk and an old Taurus that would overheat after five minutes idling. It's draining, especially when you're just trying to find something reliable. Then you find that Volvo and it all feels worth it, like the universe finally gave you a break.

wilson.claire2d ago

Starting with a list of known issues like bad head gaskets and checking the coolant color before even going helps a ton. Also, calling ahead to ask if the seller will let it idle for 20 minutes before you get there saves so much wasted time. That Volvo find is the kind of luck that makes you forget all the junkers you sat in beforehand.