1979 Chevrolet Caprice Classic

For sale on eBay by original owner. Appears to be in excellent condition.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1979...6?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item3a75f49b52#v4-37

 

Nice looking wagon for very high mileage. Looks like AC compressor was upgraded from radial type to axial, axial was much more reliable back in the day.

 

Nice, straight looking wagon. Those PIAA's on the front are a suprise but probably help light up the night for sure.

 

I think he's out of his mind on the price. I get that it's clean, but it's high mileage and uses a quart of oil every 3,000 miles. Sounds like a 1,200 dollar car.

 

Also, if you look closely at the photos, there is some rust on the body. Check the photos of the open rear passenger side door and the open tailgate.

 

Good eye, JWD.....

Rust inside the tailgate area didn't appear too bad, but that stuff down at the dog leg would have me troubled. Needs a thorough underbody inspection.

 

A quart every 3000 miles does not worry me, as I would be changing the oil every 3,000 miles.

A quart every 1000 miles is a mere nuisance.

A quart every 500 miles is actually better for me, if it has a big fuel tank and it goes 500 in between changes, then every 6th fill-up I can throw a new filter on it. It's easier to keep track of, my tank of gas costs me $80, my quart of oil is $4, and a spark plug is $2. So it's an $86 tank of gas as far as I'm concerned. Doesn't bug me so much.

A quart every 200 is starting to get annoying as I have to add oil in between fuel fillups, change oil filters more often...every 5-6 quarts added...and I start noticing fouled plugs often enough that I consider purchasing a full case of them.

It's when it gets to be a quart of oil and a gallon of coolant and a spark plug or two every 50-70 miles that I start looking for a replacement motor. That's why my Gran Torino now has a 351C in place of the original 351M, well, that and I switched engine families to ease an AOD swap later on. This engine has been driven about 3500 miles in the last 9 months and I've changed the oil once, and it never got below full, so it's not burning yet that I can tell. If I don't start driving it more, then because I will change the oil every 6 months instead of waiting for 3000 miles, I may NEVER notice if it starts until it gets to the 500 to 1000 miles to a quart rate.

My wife's Durango has 223K on it and gets about 2500-3000 miles to a quart of oil, hasn't got any worse since we got it at 172K and we change only every 6K to 8K miles, I top off 1-2 quarts in between as needed.

Other than the Torino, the worst I ever had was a 1980 Caprice with a 267, I seriously overheated it between Cheyenne and Laramie and it consumed 2-3 quarts a day after that (about 20-30 miles of daily use). Later discovered it was only leaky valve covers and plugged up return holes, and that the guy who bought it from the dealer I traded it to was getting 900 miles to a quart of oil, still had cold AC, and was still getting 18-20mpg. He was also adding a half gallon of coolant twice a month (about those 900 miles) and he was OK with that. So I would have been as well. For a $300 car it was a darn good car and I wish I had kept it and not bought the '79 LeBaron instead.

 

Sold for $4000. Seller should be pleased as that is good money for a very high mileage wagon.

 

There's a sucker born every minute.