Hey everyone My Great Uncle is offering me to take over his Maverick free of charge. I know absolutely nothing about cars. First, as a college student, am I in over my head with the upkeep costs of the Maverick? Second, the Maverick is about 3 hours from my house, would it be ridiculous for me to drive it back home without doing any work? Third, The vinyl top is a bit damanged...can I remove it, repair it, paint it? Sorry about all the questions guys....Thanks, and here are a few pictures of it. Sorry, I didn't take the pictures, or else I would have done a better look around for rust.
.. not a bad looking car... how long has it set sence being driven? is it just the top or is there rust under it? Frank
I can't say as I haven't looked under it, the pictures were sent to me. I believe the last time it was fired up was back in 2013, I was there, It turned over easily....
Welcome to the madness!!! I would go over it well...Brakes work properly....All lights/T.Signals/brake lights. All critical fluids are topped off and not leaking out. Tires are not dried out/cracked/flat spotted.Good battery/fuel...It might make a 3 hr trip if you take it easey...Heck I've driven a car 2hrs with vice grips for a steering wheel and one working brake (left rear if I remember correctly) Are you in over your head??? Ask your self this...Do you have some basic mechanicle familiarity with cars??? Can you toss a couple hundred bucks at it at a time as needed. Do you plan to use it as a daily driver??? Only you can say if you can deal with it or not. It does appear to be in good shape. Dried out/cracked vinyl top isnt a big deal...The big deal is this...Is the roof rotted under the vinyl top. These cars generally didnt have paint on the roof where the top is.
I did a 12 hr trip over two days when I picked mine up but was a bit nervous. I'd recommend having the oil and filter changed as well as the other considerations from Mavman72's post. Carry a couple jugs of premixed coolant from the parts store. Would even be even better if someone drove behind you. Check out Paul Masson's thread on dealing with a rusted roof. Road Trip! M.D.
I'm thinking Maverick's can be cheap to maintain but not sure if they are the best daily driver. Sorry to all you folks who do use them as daily divers. I think you would be doing this to make your great uncle happy about giving his car away, which is a nice thing to do.
