Tom and Ray, your caller said he has a very rusty '90 Olds, inherited, with only 65K miles on it. You told him to spend money keeping it running. But he lives and works in upstate New York.
SHAME ON YOU. YOU MISSED THE RUST CLUES!
I live in Florida, and earlier this year bought a '94 Olds 98 with only 90K miles on it. What a lovely living room on wheels! My sis rode in the back seat and felt she was on a better couch than the one she had at home.
BUT - it had terrible rust from being driving in New York upstate, where your caller also lives. I spent $2K getting struts, brakes, and so forth - a LOT of expensive work intended to make this car safe and pleasant to drive for years to come.
OOOPS!
The rust became a DEMON. Two weeks ago, only a month after spending a bucketload on this car, the rusted-out frame broke. I finally traded it in, and got shafted, of course, but the car wasn’t worth much. Bought a cheap Hyundai and am much safer and happier - and covered the payments by the gas savings.
So tell your caller NOT to spend a nickle on that car. dump it! Buy a new cheap one for his short commute!