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| Convertible window leak ideas | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Oct 31 2013, 01:49 PM (2,724 Views) | |
| omniminded | Nov 3 2013, 05:45 AM Post #16 |
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So what kind of money are we talking about to replace the top? |
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| geogonfa | Nov 3 2013, 08:17 AM Post #17 |
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Tops range from $160-300 for the vinyl replacement (poor mans top)...or $350-450 for the canvas...support cables, if you need them, are around $50. personally I stuck with the vinyl, but that is my choice, I clean and protect it once a month, been 3 yrs. and still good, but of course canvas is the way to go for longevity...Installing one is not that hard and can be done in a few hours...here is helpful link... http://geometroforum.com/topic/4149910/1/#new |
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| omniminded | Dec 9 2013, 01:05 AM Post #18 |
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Does a new top include new window gaskets? And where is a new top obtained? |
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| clarkdw | Dec 9 2013, 09:12 AM Post #19 |
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New top does not include the window seals. The tops are readily available on ebay in all materials. Link to ebay convertible tops For the seals follow the link in my sig. They are not cheap. If you need more than just a couple of the seals it will cost more than the top itself. |
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| truckjohn | Dec 9 2013, 11:15 AM Post #20 |
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Throwing good money after bad.... I read your post above.. Coupled with several others.. and I think of the trouble my Brother had with cars... He was always fighting broke down, money sucking lemony leach cars... The turning point finally came when he QUIT looking for "Diamonds in the Rough" and just bit the bullet and bought a well respected, fairly new (3-5 years old) used car. Turns out that Most "Diamonds in the Rough" aren't actually diamonds at all... They are just rough.... Just to give you an idea of my Geo..... The starter failed the DAY I bought it... and it blew ALL the under-hood fuses 3 times while I was sorting out what was wrong.... The Alternator failed the day I got the Starter fixed...... The already semi-broken Ignition switch almost caught on fire.... so I replaced that.... The battery failed the DAY I got the Alternator fixed..... The Alternator/water pump belt slung off the DAY after that... The Head Gasket blew the DAY after I replaced the Alternator/water pump belt..... It wouldn't RESTART after fixing the head gasket.... Clogged up oil pressure relief valve and stuck lifters.... Figured out the root of the blown head gasket was a clogged up Radiator... Replaced the Radiator after fixing the head gasket.... THEN... The driver's side door wouldn't lock or unlock.... Took that all apart and found a broke off key in the lock along with about 3 pounds of dried up grease.... Then... The radiator hoses started blowing... 1 at a time.... After the first 3 hoses blew - I bit the bullet and replaced all of them.... THEN... The crank pulley key wallowed out the rest of the way and the timing went crazy..... THEN the vacuum hose to the Brake booster broke THEN... The passenger side door handle broke all the way... Took door apart to fix that.... THEN... the EGR system started throwing codes... Eventually replaced the hoses, Modulator, and rodded out the EGR system about 9 times... Finally settled down after a LONG drive on the interstate to burn out the crud.... THEN... the passenger side door lock decided it would quit working from all the dried out, goo and grease some wonderful soul sprayed up inside it before me... so Off with the Door... Again to fix it.... THEN... The O2 sensor took a dump (Probably from the head gasket) THEN... The driver's side door handle broke all the way... Fixed that with parts from the previously broken Passenger door handle.... NOW... The idle speed wants to run up at about 2,000 RPM again... There's gotta be a sensor giving it a funny signal.... but I don't know which one it is yet.... Trying to sort that out..... and I have owned it 3 months.... Honestly... This is where you are going..... Edited by truckjohn, Dec 9 2013, 11:39 AM.
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| omniminded | Dec 9 2013, 03:15 PM Post #21 |
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No it's not, that's all a drop in the bucket next to what mine needs. Rather than bloat this post with a long list, I put it all in it's own thread: My "Lemon Log" Don't put words in my mouth. I've never expected any such thing, nor implied that I did. I was prepared for problems, I was not prepared for a flipped lemon or outright fraud. No one would be. Stop trying to scare me off or pick at my scabs, or whatever discouragement you're going for. You've made other replies which has been helpful so I think you are trying to help, but I am telling you, nothing you said was helpful... also, nothing you said is going to scare me off or discourage me. I already addressed this elsewhere, despite its problems, I'm sticking with this Geo and repairing it. I am keeping it long term as I have most of my vehicles. Stop trying to spend my money or making assumptions about how much I have to spend. I had $5000 which is now spent and gone, everything else is as I can afford to. I'm not getting rid of a car that I've already committed $5500 into only to spend another $5000 that I don't have on a down payment to get a car financed and spend $12,000 in financing on an $18,000 vehicle which even if it was a certified pre-owned under warranty will STILL have repair issues of it's own that will have me out of pocket. If you want me to own a "well respected, fairly new (3-5 years old) used car" so badly, then buy one for me. Till then, I'll spend my money how I think it is best spent. Like it or not, I've already made a significant investment into the Geo. Like it or not I have a long way to go and much more to spend on it. But lets do the math here, I've got about $5500 into it so far, a new convertible top could add another $600, all new window gaskets could add another $600, lets say I splurge on a Geo Glenn engine for $2500 shipped and spend another $300 in labor getting it put in. Lets say the shifter damaged the transmission when it fell through and that adds another $500. Let's say I get body work and a new (black) paint job for $2000. Let's say I spend another $2000 on other assorted improvements. All that added up would be a whopping $14,000 into a 1992 late model Geo! ...But wait, that's still less than half of the $30,000 you'd have me spending at a dealership. And that dealership car would still need any number of unexpected repairs that I'd need to pay for, making the dealership car a "maybe" in the repair department. The Geo on the other hand would have had everything already repaired, so the Geo (at less than half the cost of the dealership car) would be a sure thing. Next, what about fuel economy and regular maintenance costs of your dealership car versus the Geo? Newer cars get worse fuel economy than the Geo, and they have all sorts of pricey, unreliable, "planned obsolescence" electronics and over sized, over priced parts. So over the lifetime of owning that dealership car, I will spend many times more for regular maintenance. Perhaps you think you're playing devil's advocate and getting me to think it all through? Nope. You're just making me write it all out less for your benefit, than for someone that may read this and find it useful. I already have been in favor of buying and fixing late model vehicles as a better investment than buying newer vehicles. I've just never bought a flipped lemon with so much obvious mechanical fraud before. So yeah, I got ticked and vented and stepped back to consider my options which included dumping the Geo. But that was resolved. I've also already been over with you that its been resolved. Stop bringing it up. Get back to me when you want to buy that dealership car for me and hand me the title and keys... I will in turn sell it, spend the proceeds to fix up my Geo and Suburban, and pocket the rest.
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| Since1990 | Jan 20 2014, 07:30 AM Post #22 |
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I've bought Metros new and used, but I've probably bought my last. I didn't even plan on buying the convertible (a '92) that became my Christmas present this winter, but under the circumstances I really couldn't turn it down (see my post on Patience). This is something of a problem for me. My '98 (bought new) is getting old and some day it will begin costing me money to repair, and I usually sell cars before they get to that point (I sold my '90 Metro in '97). I consider my convertible to be a collector's car and plan on keeping it 'til death do us part, which means keeping it off the road in inclement weather (not like we get much of that in Juneau, Alaska). The iconic Honda Civics of the 1980s are mostly gone now, and the Metros of the 1990s are showing their age or exiting the stage. Finding a reliable used one will be ever more problematic as time goes on, as it apparently has already become. Because I loathe buying other people's rejects I prefer to buy new. That way I can treat the machinery my way (which is apparently extraordinarily tame: I didn't even know my first Metro's clutch was adjustable until I had over 70,000 miles on it, and thought it probably had a hydraulic system) and I need only concern myself with factory defects, which are really fairly rare. As such, I haven't had any major automotive repairs done since 1996 (on a truck) and haven't had a car in for a non-warranty job in over fifteen years (I've been able to do my own work). That degree of reliability and economy means a lot to me, and it would be impossible to expect this out of most used cars. And therein lies my problem: There isn't a car on the market today that has the same cost/economy dynamic as the Metro did, and the Metro is out of production. Don't know what to tell you on your convertible. Mine isn't a daily driver, it's in pretty good shape (other than some rust), and I want to keep it forever, so my rules are different. If you want a reliable, economical car it is almost necessary to start with a reliable, economical car rather than trying to rescue one from the brink of self-destruction. Sadly, more and more of the old Metros fall into this category, as evidenced by the posts I've seen on this site. A word of caution: "everything already repaired" and "sure thing" are fictional things in a 20+ year-old car. |
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7:38 PM Jul 10