my beloved and neglected 95 thunderbird has become BROKEN . i went to move her last saturday from my north drive to the south drive and the left bottom ball joint broke and down she went right in the middle of the road . no clue from her either that there was a problem with it , no squeeks nothing . this is on top of it needing another ( 3rd ) radiator , another maf , the remote entry , and interior lights quit working , and my little oil leak on the right side cylinder head feed tube is getting worse ........... and now a complete front end rebuild !!!!! she's been dependable as hades , still starts and runs great , the body is nice outside of two small rust holes in the rockers in front of the rear wheels , and a dent in the left front fender , and when all the dain electronic engine controls are working she's a peppy littl sh1^ runs a 15.10 in the 1/4 mile at 93 mph , and gets 18-22 mpg in town and 34 to a high of 35.7 mpg on the road . i want to fix her but is it really worth it as it's never gonna be a classic like my 53 effie , and i don't have the funds since the wife lost her job of 19 years , and i am paying through the nose for body parts and bodywork for my 53 , and as such my quest for a new car is kinda on the back burner too . so what do you do ???? she's a great car , but ..........................

 

You call THAT dependable?!?! Sometimes you need to admit it is an inanimate object that does not love you. It's used up, you probably can get a few hundred for it from a scrap yard.

 

I hate buying replacement vehicles. Refuse to buy anything new. How many miles are on it?
Personally I would fix it if it was mine. 3 radiators is normal for Fords. They have some of the worst radiators on the design. The last good Ford radiator was when a Ford engineer thought outside the box & added a steel rod in the center of the radiator to keep them from separating under hot & cold changes.
I drive old junk. I have put way more money in both my 95 Ford F150 & 90 Honda Civic than they are worth. But they run great. I had an 88 T-Bird 302HO it got similar mileage & was one of the better Fords I have owned. The cheapest used vehicles I have ever owned are DODGE Trucks. My 99 Dodge 2500 is following suit. In three years I have put almost nothing but maintenance cost in it. The jury is still out on if my 95 Ford will be the money pit my 86 F250 was.
So unless you have way too many miles fix it.
I fixed my 92 Lumina with 260,000 miles until it blew a head gasket or cracked a head then it went good bye.

 

We have 95 T-bird with the 3.8, it has been ROCK solid dependable, EVERYTHING still works on it, still looks and runs great, and gets mpgs like rice burner import.

I say fix it!

If nothing else, it has style and stands out from all the toyota look-alikes they pound out these days.

 

Once you fix that stuff, it's good though, right? How much will it cost you to fix, and if you were to replace it for that price what sort of issues would a car in that price range have? As long as it doesn't have a rotted body I'd fix it and run it.

 

Where you see that rust....there is more.

CL all day long:

1997 Thunderbird LX ### low miles ### With Warranty ###

 

the only rust is two small spots in front of the rear wheels in the rockers , it is solid underside and top , just lots of peeling clearcoat and paint so she's kinda ugly ,i imagine my remote entry etc. is a dain fuse or breaker , and all the parts too fix it are gonna run me about 1,100 . it's still cheaper than buying a new one , and i do like it a lot , but i am still trying to figure out when too much is enough . she has over 350,000 on her , and as i said runs like a champ and until the ball joint issue i could fire her up and go anywhere i pleased without issue . i suppose i am just going to fix her as like mentioned i like the car a lot , that 4.6 is a heck of a motor , and with the mileage it gets and until now it's dependability , i can't justify another car payment , but it sure would be nice to have a NEW car or truck and not have to fix it period . she is what 18 years old and still packing most of the oe parts so it breaking shouldn't be a suprize i suppose . i originally bought it as a temp driver while my beloved 53 was being rebuilt from the ground up , but it has kinda wormed it's way into my heart . and it still can give some of the so called new fast cars a bit of a shock in a stoplight gran prix as it is quicker thaan expected , and when it's not running in limp home mode the aftermarket chip has no speed limitor and a red line of 6 grand and can theoretically run 175 , and i have had it over 120 mph a FEW times well now back to the debate ............

 

I had a '95 with the 4.6L. That damned thing was a rocket and got incredible hwy MPG's.

However, this car was a fricken electrical nightmare. Numerous sensors, the multi-function turn signal stalk, lights and a host of other gremlins made us lose confidence in this beast. We replaced it with a '99 Taurus and put 140K trouble free miles on it.

I wouldn't rub two nickles together for it, it's time.

 

yeah but if i was to replace it , with no budget , and i'm a known tighta$$ i may inadvertently buy something worse !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i dunno . hades i have played with the idea of replacing my beloved flatty in my 53 with the 4.6 and auto from the bird , but as you said seekins it's a freakin' electronic nightmare !!!!!!!!!!!!!! so i will continue to mull it over . it's not eating anything sitting in my south drive , and not in the way so i can debate it's future for awhile without it being an issue . only problem is my only transportation is my wifes CHITTY uplander as i sold my 52 customline this past april ...............

 

well for those who want too know , i am going to fix it . can't find a decently priced car anywhere as everyone thinks their ten year old cars and trucks are worth mega bucks . i only got maybe 1700 in it so it isn't gonna hurt to put a little more in it , and i still own it outright and it will be back to the excellent status it was at one time and be as good as any new car . so i geuss i'm gonna draw the line way the hades out there for now , and i don't , despite wanting a NEW vehicle , wan't freakin' car payments on top of hers ...............

 

If you like the car, no work is too much. You can step back, look at it and say:
Hmm, rebuild the engine, throw in a new transmission, change the rear axle, replace the hood, deck lid, and doors, pick up a windshield and it will be as good as new!

If you don't like it, a broken fan belt will make you say it's an unreliable piece of crap.

 

ya know merc2dogs that be one of my problems . i buy a car { cheap too 200 bucks } to be a beater and i find myself liking it . criminy i'm even finding myself liking my wifes chitty uplander ..................... it be a sickness with these old cars and trucks .