Omenous 1st experience; should I try again?

[SJanzeir]

Hello everyone,

My name is Shady and I live in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

So, here's a little story. last year, I sold my old Mercedes Benz (which probably was my 14th or 15th) after 10 joyous, tumultuous years. I'm not exactly in a desperate need to have a motor vehicle in my garage, but in January, I found a great deal on this LS1-powered, ex-government, low-mileage 2002 Chevy Caprice - as most of you may already know, Commodores and Caprices/Statesmen (Statesmans?) used to be sold as Chevys over here - so I went ahead and bought it off of the guy who had bought it from the government auction, who was about 1,100 kilometers away.

A couple of days later, the truck that was transporting the car to Jeddah - along with seven or eight other vehicles - rolled over, and my Caprice got totaled (still waiting for my insurance check to come in.)

Now, I know cars, but I know next to nothing about these cars. I've had friends and coworkers who owned them, and their opinions are a mixed bag. But now, everyone - from owners to mechanics to parts vendors to my brother-in-law - are telling me that my car getting totaled was a blessing in disguise and I should absolutely stay away from older Caprices/Commodores.

My brother-in-law used to own a Commodore SS and he has nothing but expletives to say about it. Mechanics told me that I should prepare to have them on speed dial and be on a first-name basis with them, since I'm going to be spending a lot of time around the shop. Independent parts vendors are telling me that I will hardly be finding any new parts around; I'll have to either order almost everything online or through one of the two older KSA dealers. Most owners I asked told me that though the cars make for great long-distance cruisers, I'm going to be become a staple around the mechanics' shops.

So, now that my insurance check (and my next paycheck) are about to come in, I'm looking at a few other ex-government cars; one of them, also a 2002 with a 5.7l LS1, has a mere 40,000 kilometers on the clock.

As you might have already gathered, I tend to keep my cars a long time, and I take care of my cars. I don't drive much these days; Aside from the occasional 1,000-1,500km jaunt, I'd be using the car once or twice a week.

So, what can you tell me? Should I have another go at it? Is it going to serve me well, or is it going to be an endless money pit?

Thanks in advance!

 

[figjam]

are telling me that my car getting totaled was a blessing in disguise and I should absolutely stay away from older Caprices/Commodores.

As you can read on this forum GM stinks in Australia, Holden had been royally screwed, and the peasants are revolting.
Great cars, but a dead brand is just that. GM have stated that they will support Australian/NZ customers for the next ten years. Ho, ho, bloody ho. Yeah …. right. About as likely as Santa Claus setting up a toy factory on top of Uluru.

I would venture that whatever God you follow, He has given you a sign that you made a poor choice for future transport, and He is helping you.

 

[Fu Manchu]

@wannaeatyourbrains is in SaudiArabia or UAE? He says there's loads of parts available from wreckers and owns a VZ for that very reason.

 

[SJanzeir]

That's somewhat true - here's the thing, though: At any rate, junkyard parts, no matter how abundant they are, tend to eventually run out quickly and rather suddenly around here in Saudi Arabia. It was a rude awakening with my old Benz; since about 2017, used parts - and the amount of wrecked old Benzes around the junkyards - dwindled fast, and new parts vendors soon followed suit. In the couple of years before I finally got rid of the thing, I was almost exclusively ordering my parts online, and at great cost. With any Caprice or Lumina, I know I'm bound to be running into a similar situation sooner rather than later - I've been told as much by several local GM parts vendors.

The other thing is that due to the nature of my work, I'm at home in Jeddah for only half of each week, and I wouldn't want to spend precious time that I'd rather spend with my family faffing around the junkyards and shops. I've been there when I had the Benz and it sucks.

With that being said, I'm still fond of those earlier Commodore-based Caprices, so I can only say at this juncture that I'm still on the fence as to whether I'm going to see about getting a good used one (again.)

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

 

[Fu Manchu]

If you get a V8, you’ll be laughing.