FOR SALE Rusty '80 Volare wagon

[old yellow 78]

I found this on CL listing for Harrisburg, PA. It was a nice wagon at one time, but with the extensive rust on the sheetmetal, I wonder what the underside looks like. Actually, I don't wonder, I'm pretty sure it's a mess. But, for $800, it might provide someone with '80's parts that are hard to find. 48K miles? 148K? Not running either.
1980 Plymouth Volare Donor/Parts car
I wonder what could have caused that right front fender to rust SO badly? Oh, wait... A Wisconsin license plate!

 

[Oldiron440]

Wow I had one in 1990 just like it but very nice with about 40k on the clock.

 

[Aspen500]

For a 39 year old Wisconsin car, it's mint condition.
I remember seeing WAAAAAAAAAY worse rust on F-bodies (and just about any other car built between '76 and '80) by the mid '80's.

 

[old yellow 78]

For a 39 year old Wisconsin car, it's mint condition.

I didn't mean any disrespect at all for Wisconsin, but I have watched some YT videos of a car crusher in Wisconsin, and was really amazed at the extensive rust some of the cars! For instance here is a video which includes the "processing" of a '78/'79 (?) Buick where the frame has just completely fallen out from under it and there are giant holes rusted in it's sides! Yikes! What's going on up there?!

 

[Oldiron440]

A rusty chit sammich....

 

[Aspen500]

I didn't mean any disrespect at all for Wisconsin, but I have watched some YT videos of a car crusher in Wisconsin, and was really amazed at the extensive rust some of the cars! For instance here is a video which includes the "processing" of a '78/'79 (?) Buick where the frame has just completely fallen out from under it and there are giant holes rusted in it's sides! Yikes! What's going on up there?!

No offense taken! It's called winter road salt by the tons and worse, that brine solution sh*t they spray. Probably mentioned it before but at work I've already seen a 2015 Silverado with holes over the rear wheel wells............Waiting for the salvage yard to come get them, sitting behind the shop, are no less than 4 vehicles that range in years from 2006 to 2010, that came in on a flatbed and are so rusted there is no coming back from it. When the control arms rust in two or the rear suspension almost falls out because where the suspension sub-frame is attached,,,,,,,,isn't, there's no other option left but to junk it. Then we wonder why we're always having to get new cylinders for the oxy-acetelene torch from using it so much to heat fasteners.
The other day I worked on a 2016 Impala with "check for exhaust leak" on the R/O. The studs that bolt the rear cat to the exhaust system were gone, rotted to nothing. Sad really...........................

One I remember from a couple years ago. A 2011 F150 came in for routine maintenance. When the guy working on it went to lift it on the hoist, he heard crunching and stopped. The frame was collapsing where the lift pads were. It was rotted down about to about exterior sheet metal thickness. The truck was barely 4 years old. Ford wouldn't cover it because They "only cover outer body rust through". Wonder if that guy bought another Ford? lol

 

[old yellow 78]

Wonder if that guy bought another Ford?

I have a 2000 F150 that has rust popping out everywhere now. Also had to replace the rad support member due to it being rusted away! WTF? It's been sitting now for months because I got so disgusted with it. It leaks like a sieve, so now the GEM module needs to be replaced because it was so wet inside it now has electrical trauma. It was a nice looking truck when I first bought it, but quality was certainly NOT "Job One" when this truck was built. I had a '99 Ford Windstar once too which was a complete turd of a rust bucket. I was lucky I wasn't killed with the rear axles breaking in half and the transaxels falling out due to rust! I certainly would never look to buy another Ford anything, but I also refuse to buy anything GM. Chrysler remains only in name IMO anymore, and from the looks of the major rustout over the rear wheels of fairly new Ram trucks, I wouldn't want one of them either. That leaves Toyota - expensive, ugly, and certainly not immune to rust, at least in years gone by, Nissan - no thanks, and then....? Actually, ALL the new trucks look ridiculous to me. Huge, "In Yer Face" over styled, over sized, resembling a 10 year old's Transformer toy more than a pickup truck. I don't want to have to use a step ladder to reach the windshield, and I don't feel the need to intimidate or bully anyone else on the roads. All I want is a nicely styled, reasonably sized and priced, well build, dependable pickup truck that costs less than a house and comes in colors other than black. Guess I'm out of luck. Time to get the duct tape out and patch the old F150 up for another summer. Bleah.

 

[Aspen500]

Your F-150 is 19 years old after all. Maybe vehicles don't rust as fast in PA but around here the majority of trucks over 15 years old are rotted out heaps that you could bolt 35" tires on with no suspension or body modifications, if you get my meaning. As I've mentioned, I've seen a 2015 Silverado rusting out already and it sucks.
I agree with you on the new trucks. How friggin' big do they have to be? I love the ads where they brag about their fold out steps, or multi-function t-gate that folds down into a step. Here's an idea,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,don't build the truck so the bed floor is 6 feet off the flippin' ground!!!!!!!!!!!! When the top of the grille is at neck height and you need a step stool just to check the bleeping oil...................I digress. The size isn't the only big thing on these new behemouths. Ever look at the winsow sticker? It's like, WTF? $45,000, $60,000, $74,000? Don't know what I'm doing wrong but I couldn't afford one even if I wanted one. When you see a Super Duty 350 Powerstroke 4x4 Platinum (or whatever the top line is called), you're talking over $80,000, for a pickup truck! That's almost double what I paid for my darn house (21 years ago) on a 1/2 acre lot for criminies sake.

Unrelated, I always get sort of bummed when I fill the Aspen up and see It gets about 10-11 mpg avg. Last week I worked on a newer RAM with a 5.7L Hemi (4-door, 4x4) and on the cluster center display it showed "AVG MPG 11.4" and I feel much better!

 

[Oldiron440]

I'd like to know how people can afford to pay for the things, in 95 I bought a new Dodge 4x4 the list price was 23k and I thought that was nuts.

 

[old yellow 78]

Your F-150 is 19 years old after all.

That's true, and somehow I keep losing sight of that. It doesn't seem that old to me, and I have always liked the way it looks and the size of it. Also, because I took very good care of it, and it only has about 130K miles on it, it seems like it should be in MUCH better shape than it is, but yet it actually was just never that great of a truck. There has been all sorts of annoying little, and fairly big problems that are unheard of in any other vehicles I have ever owned - except my other FORD, the '99 Windstar (only made it to 100K and literally fell apart). This F150 has had weird stuff constantly going wrong like the rear differential cover rusting away . The VERTICAL radiator support rusting into swiss cheese - and EXPENSIVE to have fixed! All sorts of irritating electrical issues: power locks never worked, no dash lights, power mirrors crapped out, now the stupid GEM module or whatever it is that makes the "theft" light stay on and drains the battery so that I have to disconnect the battery every time I turn it off. Ford apparently "discontinued" this $340 module now, so I'm left with trying to scavenge one from a junkyard - like I have time for that! The spark plug coils randomly crap out and I don't want to touch anything near the spark plugs that are apparently only held in by two threads! Also, I have never owned a vehicle that leaks SO badly. It may as well not even have a back window the way the water pours in there. It's all very discouraging as I only ever use it for my weekend work on houses and for gardening/landscaping. It's not like it has ever been used hard at all. It's all just plain lousy quality materials and workmanship. Now rust has claimed the rocker panels and cab corners, the seams at the bottom of the doors are falling away from rust, and the underside is just complete heavy rust scale. At least somehow it managed to pass inspection this past December but I had to put four new tires on it. Good money thrown after bad? I don't know. But, this truck is the last of the reasonably sized trucks that were made. I am just going to try to keep patching it up as long as I can, because even throwing hundreds of dollars in it, is still cheaper than throwing tens of thousands of dollars into an ugly, horrendously overpriced behemoth that I would be embarrassed to drive. This "Chestnut Brown" F150 XLT Triton V8 two wheel drive automatic standard cab that is fairly loaded for the time cost just over $24K in 2000 (I still have the window sticker). How can manufacturers justify the outrageous prices they are getting now? I keep waiting for someone - ANYONE - to finally make a regular, affordable, good looking, good ol' pickup truck again. I'd buy one immediately. Oh well....