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1984 Chrysler Laser XE

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TwistedGray

El Jefe Brewing Company
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Monterey Bay, California
While not beer related, I am sure you will all appreciate this lovely gem.

1984 Chrysler Laser XE
37,700+ miles
5 speed manual
$7,000

While I expect $7,000 may be a stretch, I do not think you will find as low of a mileage Laser in as good condition as this one. I am certainly open to offers, so if you are truly interested but feel my asking price is astronomically high message me and we can discuss.

With that said, here is the history.

The car was purchased from Pacific Coast Interprises (Santa Cruz, CA) in 1984 by Dwight Garis on October 30th, 1984 for $16,547. (I have all of the original documentation, some of which I have posted to the group.) Dwight bought it while living in Felton, CA and eventually took it up to Oregon where he currently resides. From there, it sat in a garage and was rarely driven. He kept the registration current and took it out for cruises every once in a while. It was definitely not a daily driver by any means. (From the second owner) "I'm the second owner, and the original owner, despite barely putting any miles on the car from 1993 until 2015, still kept it registered and smog tested it as required, all recorded in the CarFax report."

The second owner flew up to Oregon in 2015, and they drove the car back. Second owner, "The car had about 32K when I bought it. I put about 5000 miles on the car over 3 years, with most of that during the first year I had it." I bought the car at 37,000 miles.

I bought it for the nostalgia of it. My first car was a 1986 Laser XT (red, no t-top), and after years and year and years of searching I found this one.

I have replaced the windshield wiper wiring, tubing as well as some small wiring under the hood. While it was not a mouse house, it did have a few mice related issues (mainly in the washer area because it is a nice dry area under the hood). I have not tracked down the last issue which is a power load issue. There is a likely (I am not a mechanic) short somewhere in the network of ground wires (there are three contact points) which causes the engine to increase RPMs when applying a load to the car (load = electric load ... heater and/or air conditioning). That is one of two issues with the car...the second is complex because I can't quite figure it out.

There is some issue with the radiator fluid reservoir that I cannot wrap my head around. The second owner claimed the reservoir was cracked and leaking ("I filled it with fluid, drove it around, came home, and it leaked fluid."). I flushed the radiator and removed reservoir, examined it for leaks, and it is fine. With that said, I had the same issue as the previous owner...filled with fluid, drove it around to get to operating temp., and parked it where it then leaked out some fluid. I at a loss, but for now it's holding fluid (you'll know when it's not courtesy of the car yelling at you).

Those are the two main issues that the car has; otherwise, it runs perfect. The interior is in immaculate condition with exception of the headliner (pull and replace). It has no dash cracks nor any leather issues (some rubbing on the driver side exit area - left pad that run along your left side as you are sitting). The buttons are squishy and finicky (I guess this is the norm.), but they all work. Everything electrical works fine, power everything still works.

The car is everything I had hoped for! With the very low mileage, amazing interior, and great exterior I feel that my asking price is fair (if not a little high).

Note: For those of you following the group, the car was rear-ended in a parking lot at a mall (I have pictures of both cars to show the extent of the damage). I have not fixed the car (small indention in the lower right, rear bumper), and I will leave that decision to the new owner. If the new owner wants it repaired, it will be repaired through insurance at no cost. If the new owner does not want to risk the blemish on the otherwise untouched history, I will not discount the car accordingly. In fact, you can heat and pop it out...I won't...you can.

Surely I will regret this ... probably unlikely to find another in as good of condition. It took me 10-15 years to find this one...but I had my fun! I don't want to keep it to myself.

Here is a picture from taking it down Highway 25 and Highway 198 this weekend in search of wild flowers. I am happy to text/msge pictures and videos of the car to interested parties. I also would not hesitate to drive this anywhere (coast to coast, sure), but it is 35 years old...I am sure things will continue to need addressing as the mileage racks up and the years go by.

ps: Starting today, Craigslist charges $5 per listing for vehicles, so that kind of sucks.

Laser 01 - Copy.jpg
 
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