Dentalositelock:  I've bought good cars for less money edition

"ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com" (ita97) 02/25/2019 at 23:09 • Filed to: None

1

17

Four hours of my Monday was spent in the dentist’s chair this morning getting four crowns and a filling. I’ve now got four new front teeth in the form of temporary crowns with the real ones getting put on in a few weeks. While not pleasant, it also wasn’t unexpected. I had known for a decade that I would eventually have to do this, so come this past November I maxed out my FSA contributions for this year and decided it was time. As I settled up with the front desk on the way out to the tune of $3100 (my part of the bill after dental insurance) I began to think about the fact that I’ve bought good cars for less money.

My first truck in the form of a 1991 F-150. 5.0/auto/2wd, XLT lariat package, tow package with a nice shell in a similar color. Previous owner had removed all the emissions controls and cats and fitted a pair of glasspacks to it. I completed the effort with a good intake and set of under drive pulleys. It wasn’t fast by any measure today, but it made nice noises and breathed well for a malaise era Ford small block. Bought it from the second owner in 2003 with 138k on the clock and a stack of maintenance records to go along with everything working for $2800.

I drove it for a year or so, and I think I ended up selling it for exactly what I paid for it. It was a bit harder to after moving back to Albuquerque, where to next owner was either going to have to do something about the no emissions of any kind thing, or live outside the county. Actually, I sold it for a bit more. The buyer paid $2800 without the shell, which I sold on its own for another few hundred dollars.

1991 Acura Legend coupe. Bought for $2100ish in 2011ish from the original owner with 155k on the clock. Came with the original window sticker and a mountain of service records, everything worked, but the paint was getting a bit tired. An afternoon with an orbital buffer brought it back to looking good.

Drove it for a year or so, did nothing more a tune up, a few oil changes and a couple of Svendings. Sold it for $2700 with 165k on it, and its still around Las Cruces. Great car, but it was due for a timing belt service, had some other maintenance investments coming up, it only got 19mpg on the highway, and it only drank premium. Having recently acquired a house and 52 mile round trip commute, investing in an old car that got crappy fuel mileage to use as a 25k/year highway commuter didn’t make a lot of sense to me.

1989 Acura Integra LS. 5 door auto w/130ishk on the clock. Bought in 2003 for $525, because it ran rough, lacked working A/C and only 3 out of 4 gears worked in the auto. Bought as a 2nd driving to high school car, because the reality of driving a newly caged race car (an 88 integra) on the street was something that even my 17 year-old self rapidly realized was a bad idea. Correctly set the timing to make it run right, swapped the working A/C from the racecar onto it, and it turned out to be perfectly usable as a (certainly not quick) daily driver without second gear. That’s right, at 17 I owned two first gen integras.

(Not the actual car, but just like it)

I drove it for a few months, and then sold it for $925. I ended up adding up all the receipts, tax/registration, insurance, fuel, the works.. and it turned out that I profited about $20 over 3 or 4 months of owning the car and driving it to school and my after school job. This one wasn’t really a good car, but it was presentable transportation for less than $600, so I’ll throw it on the list.

I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 02/25/2019 at 23:23

1

The worst case with dental health is the tooth dies and falls out on its own tho

Chariotoflove > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 02/25/2019 at 23:31

0

You’ve done great with cars. Too bad you couldn’t work some kind of trade with the dentist. 

facw > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 02/25/2019 at 23:33

1

I got a crown this fall. With just a single one the process wasn’t that bad (and a lot of what was bad was them wanting to remove and replace a filling in the tooth before putting the crown on). What was certainly annoying is that I had the temporary crown come off twice and the permanent crown come off once. Apparently its a short tooth, which makes it harder to glue (though it’s a back molar, so it should have a lot of area even if it’s short.) In any event it’s stayed in for three months now, so I’m hoping it stays put. I think the lesson here is that cheese, even when it doesn’t seem super sticky may qualify as a sticky food.

Initially it really bugged me that the crown was smooth instead of sharp (I guess I like running my tongue over all those sharp tooth edges?), and that it had a little lip where the enamel gives way to stainless steel at the gum line, but I guess I’ve gott en used to the smoothness (it actually feels a little sharper somehow), and maybe the gum grew up to that line, because I don’t feel it so prominently anymore.

In any event, good luck waiting out the temporary crowns, and I hope the permanent ones work well.

atfsgeoff > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker 02/25/2019 at 23:35

1

Sure, after months or years of immense pain

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Chariotoflove 02/25/2019 at 23:36

1

I should ask him if wants to sponsor a racecar.  I mean, I’ve seen him my entire life and he’s a friend of the family.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker 02/25/2019 at 23:36

1

Beyond all the other problems with that, I’d look funny with no front teeth.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > facw 02/25/2019 at 23:42

1

I’m used to the smooth edges instead of sharp on these teeth. I’ve broken them off enough times of the years (including falling off a ladder once) that they were mostly composites anyway at this point, which were never sharp. I finally reached an age where it made sense to do crowns in terms of my bite/mouth shape no longer changing, and there would’ve been a risk that at some point down the road I’d break off one of the veneers and not have enough tooth left to mount a crown to.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Chariotoflove 02/25/2019 at 23:58

1

He’s also been fairly generous over the years. More than a few times fillings or composite veneers for these teeth were done without charge. I was unlucky in the dental lottery from a genetic perspective, so my mouth has been an academically interesting dental adventure since high school. I think I remember him asking if he could write me up as a case study for a presentation at one point many years ago.

smobgirl > facw 02/26/2019 at 00:08

1

Eeeeuuugggfghgg yes the smoothness feels so creepy to me. I hate it I hate it I hate it. I have a “temporary” crown on a front tooth that’s been there for nearly 20 years, and every time I go to bite off lip skin it bothers me (sorry, kind of gross). It was even weirder when that side of my face/lip went numb for several months.

More recently, I had a root canal/crown on a back molar and it’s just as gross feeling but less frequently obvious.

smobgirl > I like cars: Jim Spanfeller is one ugly motherfucker 02/26/2019 at 00:10

1

I’ve been waiting for that to happen for decades. Broke a front tooth as a small child, it’s been “dead” since I was in my teens. Still in,  still white, c rown somehow still on. I dread the day when I have to do something about it.

smobgirl > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 02/26/2019 at 00:11

1

I have similar thoughts every time I get targeted ads for high end laundry equipment. My $250 dryer works fine, I could buy a (fill in the blank) for that kind of money!

Chariotoflove > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 02/26/2019 at 00:15

1

A peer-reviewed case study in exchange for some dental work. Sounds like a good deal to me.

I work at a dental school.  I got a whole bunch of free gum grafting done by volunteering to be part of an educational film.

Chariotoflove > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 02/26/2019 at 00:16

0

Could work.

facw > smobgirl 02/26/2019 at 00:32

0

every time I go to bite off lip skin it bothers me (sorry, kind of gross) 

No worries, this winter has been hard on my lips, they are constantly chapped, cracking, and peeling (and occasionally bleeding), so I understand the necessity of the action.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 02/26/2019 at 05:03

0

My last and only crown to date cost me AU$900 and I’m very nearly 50. Far be it from me to suggest your life priorities have been a tad skewed so far but yeah I think they have. Oh and American healthcare clearly is not great.

Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 02/26/2019 at 07:29

2

My cheapest running/driving car to date was $100.

I feel that way when I have to buy parts.....

functionoverfashion > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 02/26/2019 at 09:22

1

I’ve definitely bought good cars - and running boats - for less than we paid for our refrigerator. Ironically, that fridge has already been replaced under warranty while the cars/boats I bought for that kind of money were all sold at break-even or a small profit.