Proof That A $700 Car Saved From The Junkyard Can Make Someone As Happy As A New Lambo Can

Is what we do with cars just a hobby, or can it also be something more? Something for others and not just primarily for ourselves. Can we create for others meaningful lifelong memories that go beyond just seeing or showing a cool car at a meetup or car show, or just helping someone with a repair? Can saving old cars from the crusher have not just an environmental impact, but also a human impact? This is the story of how one young man’s dreams were answered by my desire to keep an old truck from a certain early demise.

It was a lazy Wednesday afternoon about 2 months ago during the middle of The Satan’s Oven Summer of ’23  when my phone lit up with a number I didn’t recognize. I was doing my usual Wednesday afternoon tasks of reading The Autopian in glorious air conditioning and enjoying some spirited car conversation in our team Slack chat with The Legend That Is “The Bishop.” It was a local number, so I picked it up since I’m always selling a few cars and perhaps this was an interested party.

“Hey maayyne, this is your ex-guitarists dad’s friend and I gots me a car that I need to get rid of. They told me you mess around with old junkers and I have one for ya. 2003 GMC Envoy that I need out of my driveway. If you don’t want it, I’m junking it. Any fair offer accepted”

This is the story of how answering that phone call created a series of events that ended up providing somebody that I have never met with a memory and experience they’ll surely keep for the rest of their life.

Now, at the moment of this phone call, I was ensnared in the middle of the great Chevy Impala Battle of Summer ’23 along with a few side skirmishes involving a Ford Escape. I was reaching my mental, physical, financial and time limits on those two cars, and was neglecting the rest of my fleet, projects, and personal/family life. It was also affecting my Autopian writing! A few of you may have noticed that there were a few weeks back then where my name wasn’t on the site. (Well, I mean, I hope you noticed).

It wasn’t pretty; I was starting to feel some pressure (not just from DT) and starting to feel that I might have gotten myself a little bit in over my head.

Both stories on the Ford and Chevy are to come this fall, but this tale starts with that little nagging voice in the back of your head that tells you to take on another project during such a time. Or is it about that other voice that tells you not to? Which voice is louder? Which one do you heed? “How’s It Gonna Be”?

Take A Chance On A Dance With The General of Motors

I don’t know what it was, but something told me I needed to go check this car out; something just felt right. No reason or rhyme to it, it was just a good premonition. I told the gentleman that I’d be there in 4 hours, once the workday was over, and he agreed. 

Once there, I was waiting for Ashton Kutcher to jump out from behind the shrubs bordering the house to tell me that I was being “Punk’d”. 

“This can’t be the car this dude called me about. No way” – a bewildered me

The truck looked great. This machine did not in any way resemble a vehicle that was about to get sent to its demise. The paint still had its clear-coat, the tires were nearly new, the interior didn’t show a shred of stuffing coming out of the seats — no tears at all in the upholstery. Something nefarious must be afoot with the transmission, or with the rear end, or the engine, or even worse with the electrical system. 

Nope.

All of those items checked out! The “Atlas” inline six sounded like a sewing machine, the cooling system held the coolant at operating temperature, the transmission shifted great, and nary a concerning noise was emitted from the rear end. This was wicked weird. It was as though I had stumbled upon The Gold GMC At The End Of The Rainbow.

Also, let me just say: Gold is an underappreciated paint choice that I haven’t truly began to appreciate until middle-age. I call it the Goldmember Effect.

A quick scan with a code-reader produced a EVAP leak P0442 code, which did not concern me whatsoever since it is the best-possible code to see. This is because nine times out of ten that code is generated due to a loose gas cap. Those be bettin’ odds.

Even if the EVAP leak that caused that code wasn’t due to a loose or faulty gas cap, dropping the tank to fix an evaporation leak on these trucks is pretty easy, so long as there’s not much gas in the tank. This is another Thing of Beauty about living in The Cape Fear here in North Carolina: no rust. All the fasteners are able to be removed as designed, most of the time. Northern mechs have to do everything Southern mechs do, but with rust. The job gets harder the further north you go. Those Canadian mechs north of (Canadian Autopian) Thomas Hundal’s place have my utmost respect.

The seller also told me that the AC had recently quit, which was his main reason for selling the truck. It was so, so hot this past summer that being stuck in daily stop-and-go traffic without AC was torturous.

This was far more of an issue than the EVAP leak, since I’m not AC certified, nor do I have an AC machine in the Gossin Motors Shitbox Rescue Wrenching Lair (under that volcano in Wilmington, NC). I have a couple of buddies with AC machines though, so it could be done, I figured. Hopefully the leak wasn’t in the dash (evaporator), since those repairs are quite difficult and usually not something that most folks want to get into. Check out how much fun it is to fix an AC evaporator on my 2004 Durango.

Time To Talk Turkey

After buying over a hundred cars, you start to get a good feel for the art of negotiation. The way a seller presents the vehicle, the words chosen, the rate and intensity of speech, nervous glances, things glossed over, things overly focused-upon and the usual healthy dose of optimism regarding repairs. In The Seller’s World, each problem has an easy solution, always!

This guy wasn’t doing any of the above “red flag” items, but instead seemed to just be a dude who wanted AC and was just over this sweat-inducing 205K mile truck in his driveway. He was so over it, it seemed as though he barely wanted to go through the motions of posting and dealing with prospective buyers and was ready to send it to be crushed if I didn’t want it. 

He just didn’t want to spend one additional ounce of energy or time on it. Hey, we’ve all been there with certain cars in our past, so I get it. But regardless, this machine was not ready for the crusher, and there was no way in hell that I was going to let that happen. Not on my watch.

“So if I pass on this truck, you’re going to get about $350 from the local Pick n’ Pull, right?” says I. I knew this because I’ve been spending my Saturday mornings there for the past 13 years and have junked a couple cars myself over that timespan. He said that he already had contacted them and that my guess was correct. 

At this point, knowing that he was fine with ending this car’s existence for $350, I knew right then that I was going to get this truck for a pittance. “I’ll do double that in cash if you want to get it gone right now,” says I, fully knowing that $700 for this truck was near highway robbery. It was a bold move that had the potential of being low-enough to offend, buy hey, fortune favors the brave. 

[Sidebar: As the seller of many cars over the years, lowballing is something that I despise. In this case though I felt that doubling the scrap price was the right move out of respect for both the seller and the truck. Could I have probably scored it for $400? Yes, but it would’ve felt a bit more tarnished. I prefer to hold my head as high as can be at the end of the day.]

“$700 is fine, I’ll go get the title. You can sweat in it now.” I feel as though global warming played a role in this truck coming my way for such a cheap price. If this summer wasn’t so sweltering, perhaps the owner would’ve held onto it. 

The money and title were exchanged and a few minutes later I was in my new truck, with the windows down, radio blasting the classic rock station the prior owner had set it to, doing 50mph down Shipyard Blvd, heading towards the Port of Wilmington. 

[Fun fact: The Port of Wilmington is where David and Jason picked up the Changli, a few blocks away from The Gossin Motors Backyard Shitbox Rescue HQ.]

I Have To Tell The Team About This!

So the first thing I did once I got home was park it on the street, (since driveway parking is at a premium at my place), and shoot the below video to spread the good word about this great find to my Good Autopian Homies.

My good buddy Mark Tucker was just about as blown away as I was that I scored this truck for so cheap. Mercedes said that most of these trucks in her neck of the country had long since rusted away and been relegated to buy-here pay-here lots for their last stand before oblivion. Weekend “Voice Of The Youth” Rob Spiteri congratulated me on it, and my good buddy The Bishop sent to DM saying the same.

I included the above to really extol what a great group of supportive writers we have here at the site! It’s not just the Tales Of The Slack to go to the members, the camaraderie from this crew is always super positive and fun.

So what is up with this hoss anyway; was David right?

In case any of you missed it, David recently did a piece pretty much saying that the Chevy Trailblazer is the poor man’s Land Cruiser. I have to agree that this thing drove phenomenally well, and that the inline 6 was the star of the show — a real strong point.

The GMC version of these trucks sold for an MSRP of $33,495 twenty years ago, which is $55,890 today. Not at all cheap. For comparison’s sake, the Chevy Trailblazer sold for $28,800 in 2003 (a $5K jump in price between the Chevy and the “Professional Grade” GMC). The other platform mate was the Olds Bravada (yes, Oldsmobile was still kickin’ back then) had a MSRP of $35,145, to claim the title of the most expensive of the trio.

The strange thing I noticed about this was also something that I’ve long thought about this truck’s predecessors, the S10 and S10-based SUVs (Blazer, Envoy, Bravada): it’s really narrow! It’s the opposite of those Hummers, RamChargers and OJ Broncos where the passenger door seems like it’s in another zip code from the driver’s seat. These trucks are narrow to the point that you notice and say to yourself “huh, that’s weird.” Their slim waistline is 74.7” compared to 79.5” for the RamCharger and 79.1” for the OJ Bronco. Yes those larger trucks are from a different class, but still, you notice the narrow in the GM trio referenced in the prior paragraph.

Another thing that was a bit of a weak point was the cheap-ass painted plastic switches that GM uses for the climate control and radio. All of the paint was wearing off and the back-lighting was shining through which looked…not the best. In my experience it is actually quite on-brand for The General. In my eyes they have historically done so much right, so often, and yet always seem to just be completely oblivious to some random detail that kinda ruins the whole thing. Like this delaminated radio. Other manufacturer’s radios don’t delaminate. Why do yours, Mr. General? Why? 

The in-dash 6-disc CD player was also jammed, so there’s that. 

Let’s wrench?

The Autopian’s masthead is full of wrenching heroes. With David at the helm, Laurence crushing it in Australia, Jason, Mercedes, Thomas Hundal, Social Media Pete, Mark Tucker, Bill Caswell (Ski Klasse) can turn a mean wrench (click each hyperlink to see!). Heck even our “Goth Uncle” Adrian Clarke has been known to fight off maladies on his Ferrari and Mini with a wrench, some saucy language and black nail polish (said with the highest respect).

Just look at Matt’s recent pirouette to save his BMW at a key moment whilst driving. The man “smelled fall” (in September!) and knew to take action to save his car from self immolating.

The hardest thing for each of us (and I think the above parties will all agree) is finding the time. The internet never stops, and neither does this team.

With that said, I have tried not to make my brand here about wrenching, as my skills are okay (I’m no NASCAR Pit Crew Chief, but I can pull something like this off), but I’m far better at rescuing cars headed for certain doom. Rescuing isn’t always about turning a wrench, it’s far more about knowledge and experience. It’s about knowing the used sales market, parts prices and availability, repair difficulty, other cars that are platform mates, desirability as well as both digital and physical repair knowledge. 

Does this repair require a lift? Do I have a lift? Does this require special tools or software? Will I need an alignment after this? Are the guys in the forums and FB Group assholes that will chide you and not answer your questions? Will the AC system need to be evacuated? What type of refrigerant is used for this application? How many of these cars are at the local yards? What will this sell for at the end of the day and what will this cost in the end?

All of the above can be far greater tools to have in your tool chest than a set of spanners, depending on the situation. Sometimes experience is the greatest wrench in the toolchest.

First things first: We know the Check Engine light is on for that EVAP leak and you can’t get past emissions inspection in New Hanover Country  (also called New Hangover County per my alma mater UNCW) with a CEL lit up. Let’s check out that gas cap. 

Source: Google. This photo is not from my GMC.

I’m glad that I did! What I found was the source of the CEL: mold/mildew from corn gas! Here in the hot and damp South, you’ll see nature doing its thing regarding the beyond fermented corn (ethanol) in the gas. Mold will grow in and around the fuel system, as ethanol is hygroscopic. A buddy of mine who runs a local machine shop says it’s a problem when it comes to dirty injectors and general fuel system contamination. All the way from the tank to the valves. 

A quick clean of the rubber gas cap o-ring gasket and a code clear and we were in business. No wrench needed, just a little bit of experience.

Now on to that AC. First thing is to visually inspect what you can in hopes that a previous service used a refrigerant with dye. And the first place to start is at the Schrader valves (no relation to Stef) on the low side.

Source: Google

Eureka! This diagnostic could be done without an AC machine or certification, you just needed decent vision: a bad Schrader valve. The best possible outcome/situation for an AC leak. You can see the dye seeping out from around the valve (the above isn’t the actual shot – I forgot to photo-document it but the scenario was the same). One screwed-on new Schrader valve and a Freon fill and she was blowin’ ice cold again.

And that’s it! Other than that jammed CD changer, everything (and I mean everything) on this truck worked as designed. This vehicle was literally almost crushed due to a .30cent part and a little mold/mildew. The difference between the prior owner that was ready to send it to its doom and Yours Truly was just a little grit, effort and experience. One more time for the folks in the cheap seats (“Can I get some action from the back section?”): sometimes experience is the greatest wrench in the toolchest.

A Second Life On The Roads; A Second Chance

I posted the truck for sale and moved my attention back to that problematic Ford Escape and Chevy Impala I referenced earlier. Recently the used market has gone through a significant slowdown from the COVID days, so I figured the GMC was fine sitting where it was (in my driveway) until the right person came around expressing interest. 

And boy did they.  

I received a handful of “Is this available?” messages on Facebook Marketplace, and gave each my usual “Yup, thanks!” without much thought since it’s never wise to get all pumped up and hyped about a prospective buyer until the money is in your hand. One of the interested parties asked to see the truck that afternoon; I said that would be fine. I honestly didn’t even expect them to show up, since you can never count on any randos from the internet for coming through on a used car sale. If they show, great. If not, it’s fine/expected.

Well they did actually show and told me that they were looking at the Envoy as a surprise birthday present for a first-time driver who was turning 17. He had just recently gotten his license and a job at a local Burger King.

The presentation of the truck went really well, since this thing was clean with the only malady being that jammed CD changer. The buyers’ mom was impressed and noted that the price was ½ that of comparable vehicles (I value rescuing cars for the environmental impact more than trying to make a buck).

The money and title were exchanged and they were on their way home with the bronze GMC. I was happy to have saved another one from certain doom, but I was truly floored when the buyer’s mom reached back out to me on Facebook Messenger with the clip below.

Rescuing this Envoy didn’t take really any wrenching; it instead took the knowledge and experience gained from doing this since 1996. This tuck almost became another travesty of our throw-away consumerist culture. One man’s trash can certainly be another man’s treasure. Like I recently said in Gossin’s Gold: Graveyard Garbage & Grievance, there are perfectly running cars being driven to the junkyard to be crushed for a few hundred bucks, everyday. 

It’s our duty as Autopians to save every one that we can and hopefully change a few lives for the better. Everyone remembers their first car and I’m sure the new owner of this truck will never forget it, nor will he forget the moment that it became his.

The joy that this Envoy was able to provide for that young man above was the kind of car experience that really matters; that really means something. Not just to you, but to the planet and to the next, up-and-coming Autopian who just got his license, a first job, and the truck of his dreams.

Driving home the other day, I saw my old Envoy, parked in front of a place where you can “have it your way,” slowly being paid off, week by week.

Just like we did when we were young and ready to take on the world. 

 

All Photos by Stephen Walter Gossin unless otherwise noted.

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