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Nice Altima (well, not as pretty as the coupe, but I doubt too many of those go for $1K) and good-looking cookies!
Thanks!
Mark, do you have a recipe for ex-Autobianchi owners? Asking for a friend…
These will work. Just pair them with a good bold multepulciano instead of coffee.
I have been tempted recently by some good flip opportunities on craigslist, but I am limited to two parking spots unless I want to start getting creative with the street and unfortunately I think I am in Marks position where I need to sell my Boxster and probably a motorcycle before I start to fall behind on maintenance for my daily, other motorcycle, house, and soon to be wife’s car.
Crazy that Altima would have been sent to the crusher since it looks to be in pretty good shape overall. Also, as a midwesterner, when I first saw the shot inside the rear wheel well I thought, “wow, what a steal that car is barely rusty!” Haha I think I have been traumatized by too many rust belt vehicles.
I had not one, but 2 separate people back out of the purchase of my mom’s 2013 VW Jetta because it didn’t have a backup camera. It did have heated seats and a good sound system. Wild to me. Both were Gen Z so maybe that is the reason. I’d buy a car without a backup camera if I could, never use the darn thing.
Backup cameras really do make parallel parking easier as well as providing a view of what’s behind you when the tailgate is in the way. In a Jetta, really not necessary though.
True, it is situation and vehicle dependent. Some cars have very poor rear visibility and probably need a backup camera. I live in a rural area where you pretty much never have to parallel park, and I specifically look for good visibility when choosing a car so it’s not much of an issue for me. I was looking at a late model Camaro a few years ago and the greenhouse is so small it was like being inside of a Sherman tank, had to pass for that alone unfortunately.
We have a dodge cube van at work that has a backup camera where the image is so small, and the image/depth perception is so distorted you are better off without it. Luckily the side mirrors aren’t bad.
When you see the car/wall/house behind you start to move, you’ve backed up just far enough.
What, have Gen Zers never seen cheap add-on backup cameras? Amazon’s gotta be lousy with them for well under $100. (or so I imagine, since I’m too lazy to check).
I mentioned that to both parties and neither wanted to mess with it.
Not surprised. My imagination suggests that some are even wireless, negating the need to run a wire from the screen to the license plate. But I’m an old cantankerous guy, resistant to the ways of Gen Z (and younger) folks, so WTF do I know? 😉
Yup, wireless for 50$ and up. I do feel bad for the gen z and younger with regards to doing automotive work themselves. Not only are cars more complicated and harder to understand than previous generations, but with cell phones constantly recording, everything they do is public and will be picked apart by anyone watching. So much so that they don’t even try to learn skills, as they know they will mess up in the beginning.
Last night I watched Cleetus’ race with 110 Altimas competing last night and you should consider running in that series.
Great now I want cookies
They bought it to 3 different shops and non of them wanted to do the work?
According to the seller, they all presented astronomical quotes to replace not just the lower control arms, but also the rest of the rear suspension componentry.
In my experiences, I’ve found Southern shops are scared to death of even the smallest amount of rust. They probably took the approach that advocated complete suspension replacement since they’d already have it apart for the failed lower control arms, and also due to the mild rust on the rest of the suspension pieces.
The 20yr old college kid I bought it from was absolutely clueless about cars and had received the car as a high school graduation gift from his mom (who was in OH), so I’m sure the shops factored his naivete in when lavishly padding their quotes. He told me that he searched Tic-Tok for videos on how to fix it himself before resigning the car to either a cheap sale or the junkyard.
Being allied now with evil (i.e., working for a shop) I can have ever so slightly more empathy for quotes with numbers that would be better suited to cosmological distances.
The control arm is rusted to hell. Not a big deal if you’re in a low-stakes, l fix it in the backyard, no guarantees situation. But in a shop? It has to leave in working condition. Bolts seized? You better estimate for it or you’re gonna eat the labor. Subframe crumbles away when you get the control arm off? Better have a welder standing by and factor that in, too. Where are you going to source that part? We’re not picking through a junkyard, so it might take 3 weeks to get a $700 part from the last opposite-coast dealership that has a line on how to get them.
It’s a heartwarming story when you can pull it off. But I’ve seen subframes rails torn by the driver hitting something so hard to pulled the control arm bolts to rip a gash in the metal. Fixing it at home is grand, sure. But you’re not hedging, or having to hedge, against every single thing that can go wrong and for which you’d be on the hook if it went sideways.
(Not mad at all and sorry if it seems so, I’m just explaining that not every quote is a clear-cut attempt to pillage a customer’s wallet)
Ah thanks for that perspective. That makes sense.
The lords of Altima energy thank you for rescuing one of them and spreading their vision on american highways.
I hope the new buyer service the transmission asap.
Flipping that Altima is hero’s work. Seriously, the used market is so bad, anything keeping decent vehicles on the road makes a big difference. I’m sure they got some absolutely bonkers quotes from the shops for this, which is sad because some rusted control arms shouldn’t brick a car. Ever.
Those cookies look awesome.
Awesome job, SWG. It’s surprising what will send a car to the scrapyard these days and even though we love to bash on Nissan and Altimas here that car should serve the new owner very well.
Nice job preventing that car from being wasted, SWG.
How’s that swamp Buick going?
Check this out!
https://www.theautopian.com/sparking-joy-and-plugs-how-to-repurpose-a-31yr-old-junk-buick/
Oh man, Mark… those cookies look amazing!
SWG get oiled up and hold 2 tires on the side.. like Hansel
OMG, Oatmeal Scotchies! Mom used to make these all the time. They slap!
Nice save! I suppose I should stop saying rude things about Altimas now.
And yay cookies!! (Strange timing, I’ve been thinking about my dad’s ’90 Suburban for the last couple of days.)
How many miles on that jatco equipped steed? Looks nice! Like not saved it from the junkyard nice. It’s actually nice!
Apparently the website logged me out and I didn’t notice – so when I clicked, I got only the top shot picture and ads. I was like “so this is OnlyFanbelts now, a pic of SWG and an Altima, which may or may not be the cover of a new alt rock album? Well, okay then.”
But the story’s even better so I feel I’m getting even more for my money!
butterscotch makes everything better!
Rescued car, cookies and coffee. Life is good.
Thanks for rescuing that Altima. I’m sure you understand why it means a lot to me. Now someone else will get to experience the joys of the Jatco Xtronic CVT.
It still blows my mind SWG has a corporate day job and he just doesn’t hang around being good looking for a living.
Are we sure that his day job is not some sort of modeling??
It was, but he gave all that up after three of his friends were killed in a freak gasoline-fight accident.
Were they all really, really, really ridiculously good looking?
He’s giving peak Blue Steel in that pic. There’s definitely a chance.
He could have gotten away with that too if not for those pesky Jonas Brothers.
Those f-ing Jonas Brothers stole my record deal, maaaan!!
(seriously though, that’s awesome that you read and remembered that strange tale)
For some reason the Jonas brothers came up in a conversation the other day, and my first thought was they should have been the Gossin Guys.
Ugh Mark with the gut punch at the end. Well/awfully played.
Oatmeal Scotchies are my go-to cookie. You should try making a double recipe, pouring it all into a baking pan, bake it for longer at a lower temp. Once finished and cooled, cut into bars.
Seriously, have one with your morning coffee. You can thank me later.
That was an amazing rescue! Great job keeping it out of the crusher. Someone got an amazing bit of transportation.
A shocking rescue and a delightful recipe!