OK, I already have another thread out there on the 9-5 section of the forum. I guess I missed this part where you are supposed to introduce yourself first.
So, I was born and raised in rural Southern Iowa, grew up cutting, baling hay and mowing yards in the summers, and learning how to fix stuff as money was tight. Our family had an acreage where we raised cattle, we didn't have any row crop ground. I married an Iowa gal whose family were big row crop farmers, they have since retired and sold the farm. We have been married 24 years.
I was in residential construction for 20 years, in 2008 everything went to crap, and I was pretty much out of work for 3 years. Just this spring I took a job with another construction company that does backhoe and trenching work as well as other things, I was supposed to be a 'Project coordinator' when I got hired on, but in reality I never get out of the office much.
I'm a car nut, and everybody that knows me thinks I'm pretty much crazy. My sister attempted to put a number on the vehicles I have owned over the years, we stopped at 50, I know there are at least 10 or so we forgot about when making the list.
I usually have a constant stream of vehicles coming and going. I buy them, fix them up and flip them, sometimes I make money but most times I just break even. I have been burned by a few over the years. I am not a dealer nor do I have my dealers license. I just like to fix cars as a hobby, drive them for a few months to a year or so then flip them and find something else that needs fixing. My wife says we are the 'Car Hospital'. Mostly it's getting harder to find stuff that just need a few things fixed, as it seems with the economy most people are keeping them until they just drop.
I have owned 6 Mercedes, 2 Jaguars, 2 Volvos, 2 VW TDI's and now 1 Saab, over the years as well as too many domestic cars and trucks to list here. I never really got into the Asian cars at all. Not saying they don't make a good car, just never bought one, I like the European cars too much. My wife's current ride is an 1987 Mercedes 300D that was purchased from the original owner in as new condition, with only 64k on the clock. She drives it everyday in the summer, in the winter she drives a VW Jetta Tdi and I drive my 98 Dodge Ram/Cummins, I have owned my truck for 13 years and it now has 385k on the clock.
Anyway, with my new job I commute 55 miles 1 way to work, I bought this Saab in hopes that it would get good fuel mileage and with only 112K on the clock I figured it had a lot of life left in it, and was thinking I could alternate between it and my truck depending on the weather conditions.
I have looked at Saab's several times over the years but never bought one, I found this one with a blown water pump (PO said they told him power steering pump and cracked timing chain cover) so he decided not to fix it. The timing cover did have a little groove ground in it from the water pump going bad but it was not all the way through.
I'm hoping to keep this car longer than most, and I may have to as I may be the only person in my area that wants it.
Sorry for the long post. This forum is great and people are mostly very friendly and helpful.:)
So, I was born and raised in rural Southern Iowa, grew up cutting, baling hay and mowing yards in the summers, and learning how to fix stuff as money was tight. Our family had an acreage where we raised cattle, we didn't have any row crop ground. I married an Iowa gal whose family were big row crop farmers, they have since retired and sold the farm. We have been married 24 years.
I was in residential construction for 20 years, in 2008 everything went to crap, and I was pretty much out of work for 3 years. Just this spring I took a job with another construction company that does backhoe and trenching work as well as other things, I was supposed to be a 'Project coordinator' when I got hired on, but in reality I never get out of the office much.
I'm a car nut, and everybody that knows me thinks I'm pretty much crazy. My sister attempted to put a number on the vehicles I have owned over the years, we stopped at 50, I know there are at least 10 or so we forgot about when making the list.
I usually have a constant stream of vehicles coming and going. I buy them, fix them up and flip them, sometimes I make money but most times I just break even. I have been burned by a few over the years. I am not a dealer nor do I have my dealers license. I just like to fix cars as a hobby, drive them for a few months to a year or so then flip them and find something else that needs fixing. My wife says we are the 'Car Hospital'. Mostly it's getting harder to find stuff that just need a few things fixed, as it seems with the economy most people are keeping them until they just drop.
I have owned 6 Mercedes, 2 Jaguars, 2 Volvos, 2 VW TDI's and now 1 Saab, over the years as well as too many domestic cars and trucks to list here. I never really got into the Asian cars at all. Not saying they don't make a good car, just never bought one, I like the European cars too much. My wife's current ride is an 1987 Mercedes 300D that was purchased from the original owner in as new condition, with only 64k on the clock. She drives it everyday in the summer, in the winter she drives a VW Jetta Tdi and I drive my 98 Dodge Ram/Cummins, I have owned my truck for 13 years and it now has 385k on the clock.
Anyway, with my new job I commute 55 miles 1 way to work, I bought this Saab in hopes that it would get good fuel mileage and with only 112K on the clock I figured it had a lot of life left in it, and was thinking I could alternate between it and my truck depending on the weather conditions.
I have looked at Saab's several times over the years but never bought one, I found this one with a blown water pump (PO said they told him power steering pump and cracked timing chain cover) so he decided not to fix it. The timing cover did have a little groove ground in it from the water pump going bad but it was not all the way through.
I'm hoping to keep this car longer than most, and I may have to as I may be the only person in my area that wants it.
Sorry for the long post. This forum is great and people are mostly very friendly and helpful.:)