Rust is such a problem in America’s mid-section that the ad for today’s Minneapolis-offered Nice Price or Crack Pipe Pathfinder goes so far as to note that the truck comes from out of state. Let’s see if its price makes you think the seller is out of their mind.
You know, I was shocked to learn that Tommy Boy, one of my favorite all-time movies, ranks at only 42% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer. Geez, did those critics see the same movie I did?
If they had then they would likely still be chuckling to this very day over Chris Farley doing “fat guy in a little coat…” scene, wherein he dons David Spade’s boys-department sport coat and then proceeds to tear it a new one.
The idea of big guys rocking incongruous accouterments has always put a smile on my face, and yesterday’s 1988 BMW 735i with its five-speed stick certainly turned my frown upside down. Unfortunately for the seller, the car’s $8,500 asking price didn’t prove quite so cheery. That was seen as Crack Pipe worthy by fully 67 percent of you. Hopefully, you don’t feel the same way about Tommy Boy.
If you can say one thing about the United States of America, it is that it’s a land of contrasts. The country is so effing big that we have multiple different climates, weather patterns, topographies, foods, and dialects. Some parts of the country enjoy mild winters only to pay the price with blistering or maddeningly humid summers. Other areas turn into the North Pole come the winter months, and many of those counter the snow and ice and nastiness by pouring salt on the roads and sidewalks to keep them clear and reasonably safe.
That practice has proven not so safe for the longevity of the cars and trucks that ply those roads as the wet and the salt conspire to turn their ferrous metals into rust. Because of that, many cars in the Great Lakes region—the rust belt—live hard lives equatable to that of a feral cat... that is, if cats rust.
With most used cars there looking like Swiss cheese or having Fred Flintstone floorboards, it’s not surprising that many people look outside the belt for used vehicles that haven’t yet experienced a high-sodium winter.
This 1989 Nissan Pathfinder XE is apparently one such a car. Offered by a dealer just outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota, it’s first and foremost touted in its ad as being **RUST FREE**OUT OF STATE**.
It also happens to be one of the original two-door Pathfinders—when was the last time you saw one of those?—and it sports a manual gearbox behind its 143 horsepower VG30I V6 engine. That combo sends power to all four wheels via a two-speed transfer case and independent front/live axle rear suspension. The front hubs are auto-locking for easy engagement in the muck.
As the ad notes, the truck does appear to be free of major rust, either pop-throughs or the holy-cow kind. It also sports, not one, but two PATHFINDER decal stripes on the side giving it a bit of Joe Exotic-level kitsch. The chrome-plated steelies look solid and pair well with the red paint and decal display. Those wear Goodyear Wranglers that seem to have enough tread on them but look to have been drowned in ArmorAll. An external spare mount is present, although it is seemingly off-duty seeing as the actual spare is AWOL.
Inside, there’s some wear and tear, but nothing too bad. Perhaps most comically, the one element that has not lasted the truck’s 182,000 miles is the speedometer needle. That has oddly broken off just above the pivot, leaving just a fat flailing nub.
Other issues include a couple of switch caps have gone absent and a driver’s armrest looks like someone tried to gnaw on it. On the plus side, there’s a grey dash toupee with Tumbleweed embroidered on the right side which is pleasingly random.
The ad claims that the clean-titled truck “RUNS, DRIVES, AND SHIFTS EXCELLENT!” and cautions hesitent Minnesotans that “YOU WON’T FIND ANOTHER ONE QUITE LIKE THIS FOR A VERY LONG TIME!”
We’ve found this one, and now it’s time to decide if we also find its $4,500 asking price to be a good deal. What do you say, does that price make this a Pathfinder you would follow? Or, no rust or not, is that just too much to pay for a winter sleigh?
You decide!
Minneapolis, MN Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Mike Strong for the hookup!
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