I Bought An ABANDONED "Pimp My Ride" Minivan For $850 And It's WORSE Than You Think

Costigan guys money mr. baracs and today is gonna be a lot of fun now we're not gonna have any Lambos or Bentley's or supras or Ferraris no exotics of any kind in fact I'm going the complete opposite direction and I bought a minivan for next to nothing and it's been abandoned for almost four years and I'm gonna try to get it running in the next 24 hours also this van was on pimp my ride I probably should have started with that so if you guys into the channel thank you so much for watching I really hope you enjoyed consider subscribing if this is a sort of thing you like to see now I have no idea what this even is but I knew I had to have it when I saw it listed in Boston on Auto Tempest for eight hundred and fifty dollars now this if you guys don't know is a 1999 Dodge Caravan and you guys have probably seen this around in your local mall or parking lot or literally anywhere because they made a lot of these cars but this one as you can tell is a little bit special I decided to team up with Advance Auto Parts to rebuild this thing and restore it in about 24 hours so if you guys aren't familiar with the insanely popular early 2000s MTV show pimp my ride it's basically where they took these derelict trashed wrecked cars and they made them into these show cars that were well let's just say of questionable taste this van was featured in an episode in 2004 but it actually wasn't the car they started out with see a little secret that they probably don't want you to know is the fact that a lot of times they didn't use the original car they got cars that looked kind of like it and then they've modified those because the original cars were in really bad shape so in the show the original van was a 1998 Plymouth Grand Voyager expresso and you can actually see the guys at the shop taking the van apart and basically junking it I mean they rip open the doors they take the windows off they smash everything but what the show didn't tell you is they got a really good condition 1999 Dodge Caravan with low miles that they could modify pretty easily but a few years after the show is over the van exchanged owners a few times and it ended up in a Boston mechanic's yard and it's sacked there for the better part of four years literally rotting into the ground now you guys might have seen the Jalopnik or the drive articles about this van and why somebody should pick it up and why nobody actually did and that's where I come in now this is it's a little bit worse for okay that's really dirty guys on gloves thank you and we are good now this has a ton of mold on the side but I think it'll probably clean up fairly well now I have no idea where this came from it literally just sat outside for four years in the elements this is an interesting way of attaching a windshield wiper having no wiper at all so hopefully I didn't go the windshield so we're just gonna leave that up this is a I actually don't know what body kit this is I believe it's an Arab Unni or something but I couldn't find this body kit so I think we're gonna have to repair this this is all just fiberglass also these headlights are let's just say they need to be restored they're not they're not great now coming over to the side you see how big this van is this is a seven passenger or more van I don't know how many passengers there are I don't know much about this man but this van was actually famous for being one of the first vans to have doors on either side see in the mid 90s you can only get a door a sliding door on one side and here you had it on both unfortunately you can't really get in this door because it's full of full of stuff for the show it's a bunch of wires and let's hope that that's not a fire hazard even though oh that's a spider but coming back here is where things sort of start to make sense a little bit different from what grandma had don't you think so this is a completely custom fiberglass enclosure it has some subwoofers some speakers amps and four monitors but what's interesting about this is that I don't think any of this works but here is where the magic happens and where I'm guessing a lot of magic did happen because yeah this side skirt is held on by like one or two screws and zero screws okay I think people were using it as a as a stand and you really shouldn't do that with this because it was only held on by screws and fibreglass also I can't open this door because there's no door handles the door handles have been shaved I have no idea why let me try to open it up alright and I can't open the door so good I think we should probably go inside and see what's in there but I'm definitely gonna need a face mask all right let's do it alright now I'm ready to check out my brand new car this is just a precaution - nothing to worry about check this out it is nice and minty fresh guys well the seats were redone in denim and they're actually not in bad shape other than having some sun damage and some questionable stains he's definitely will need to be cleaned up and that's okay if you come back here you can see that there's four books and stuff I don't know why that would be a thing in the age of Google but oh look at that we have the color-matched wheels we have some other wheels and tires the tires actually don't look too bad probably gonna end up changing those when we get that trailer okay and also a wraparound coach back there all made in denim none of this actually works because when I should probably need the Kings right that can not be the key okay that's the key but check this out so you want to be a player but your wheels ain't right moment of truth three two what okay I saw that the lights went on before but now it's just all right yeah can you put the battery box on it do you need what gloves respirator no you're fine sure yeah you're good just don't touch anything too long have you seen in here uh no but I mean she'd be fine you know there's no dry felt probably in there somewhere dude okay let me see what's going on here there's oil in there that's a there's oil in that engine and it's not milkshake II which is good the drive belts missing yeah and your tensioner probably shouldn't sound like that that's that's good it just needs a little Lube and then that does not turn well the ocean you're supposed to turn yeah oh and it doesn't there's not really any electrical demand in the car so yeah that's fine it's not like there's 5,000 watts of amplifiers okay um power steering oh that does turn okay power steering turns but it's covered in oil that's fine what about down there that's the AC compressor yeah AC compressor that turns it's a little uh little noisy little raunchy that's that's always good for your whoa what's that that that's another idler pulley for the serpentine belt ooh should be nice and quiet well it would be quiet if what we're in the car and we were listening to lots and lots of loud music that's well at least the water pump is turning smooth let's take a look at the radiator let's see if there's any coolant in there or oh okay so there's no coolant in there about halfway down about halfway down there is cooling in there but we might actually just have a leaky cap as rotten as that rubber is mm-hmm and as loose as the the cat parts are it may just have been pushing out because it was bad so you know we should probably do we should make a list of things that we need to get from advance do you have that much paper I actually don't know I'm gonna start it mainly because I need to know if this has some engine damage or something this is van first start attempt let's do it whoo whoa dude dude this thing is running pretty good it's a little it's a little bit lumpy but for something that has no drive built yeah it's really good out here these are normally a tikki motor and it's nice and quiet so there may be hope you're gonna give it a little bit of a rub huh that's that's hanging a bit it but that's not bad okay I don't want to run it for too long without a water pump but dude that's that's awesome that's potentially a little less work on it we'll we'll see you will get potentially a little less work I don't like your attitude let's see what we can get down here because there's power going through here we have show yeah neon TFD you don't know what that is foot and door let's see a show does something okay the light came on the bosch and relays are clicking well what sort of 2004 sorcery is this neon oh my gosh look at that oh boy that is amazing so there's a little neon light show not even a Maybach has this oh you're missing the best part look further to your right oh wow I'm not sure I like all the red flashing lights while you're driving well yeah I mean if that goes into your eyes that's probably not great let's see what else it does turn that off conserve battery tfd let's try this something's moving okay that's something down there don't know what that is what does nothing and last one is door now this is the only way I think we can open the door it makes sense right let's oh no way dude well yeah I mean listen pet my ride was pioneering the way okay all right I'm gonna get in the other I'm gonna get over there and we're gonna take all this out we're gonna see what's in this band [Music] so jared is behind the camera for this episode of automotive archaeology I am like really really excited because I get to go through other people's stuff guys take a look at this floor there's there's like a plexiglass opening and I'm guessing the neons went underneath here so there's a big false floor is it a dance floor it might it might be a dance floor also a remote control for something we have rubber mallet other stuff and a crowbar because well let's you know let's be honest it wasn't Boston is this does this go on I don't think they go together but what's in them I what is what isn't here I I hope it's not something okay I really dislike it why don't you climb into your new van all right let's do that there's a big oh that's heavy so this is the best 2004 could come up with in forest LCD technology so oh you know this was this was the footrest yeah this was so when this car was made they had this big footrest right here and it would come up and it was motorized all year so this is this is the footrest motor I think this is what was making that noise before oh so if we put it back together it could work we could have a foot rest again and this looks like a plexiglass for the footrest this is the jewelry-making station because the original owners I guess shoes into jewelry and also there's these monitors that's supposed to be dropped down on the wiggly side this is tire panel is a little on the wiggly side do credit where credit is due like the work that went into this it's actually not bad so in 99 like power doors today on a van is nothing in 1999 it was a big deal and like the mechanism that they put together to make the door work also a wrap-around couch with seat belts I don't know how you I think it's like this but you're almost sitting sideways so how does this see you know oh there's there's roaches in here so um so I think this smells horrible now sunglasses smell bad yeah as like I say how does plastic smell absorb odor so this car is gonna need a lot of cleaning and a lot of mechanical components but honestly I think we could probably get this working what do you think oh yeah let's make a big list and let's go over to advance and sizes are just amazing what's all of my busses can you not take me seriously [Music] welcome to the very first episode of shopping with Jared and Jared you got a list we have a little bit of a list for that van did you check it twice what's the first thing on that list the first thing we're coming across some washer fluid all right we might need a bigger cart yes I think we're gonna we're gonna need like at least ten of these so this is cleaning supplies do they have any biohazard supplies headlight restoration kit that looking we need one of the ones with the same thing this is a sanding buffing kit okay let's do that all right interior boom and boom so we need a two inch turn down yeah there we open a quaint so so much pipe right there we're gonna need four of these actually why don't we get the chrome ones extra fancy brake fluid booms some dot three power-steering how much do you think we'll need of this probably two I think our little cart is getting full well you know it's gonna get a lot more full when I it's full all right a lot of parts so it's a ninety nine Dodge Caravan 3.3 liter v6 let's do coolant temp sensor and we have valve cover gaskets and if you have like the the intake manifold valve cover gasket kits they sometimes so our steering column we need the pump pump that's what you said let's be safe and do it there's oil all over it do we need that I mean it's we cannot do it just stop leak it well okay let's let's have it I'd rather have it not need it than need it and not have it all right in the interest of time we got everything and it's it's actually insane because they had everything in stock so you need to go and get all this stuff is there anything I can help with I can go go help you get everything okay alright I'll just uh I'll just chill here okay oh wow that is a receipt that's a receipt alright so we got that and then that's a lot all right we got a got a card this out to the car no that's true yeah we do we do have more coming all this for a van it's dark outside that's how much stuff we got alright so that's a that's a full car dude thank you so much man okay finally back in the shop and the van actually looks a little bit more dirty than we left it well this van should be looking pretty good in short order so we got all our parts over there we're gonna go over that in the next episode but right now I want to get this thing stripped down and I want to get it a little bit cleaned up at least all that mold off when I get the wheels off I want to get all the body panels and all that stuff to be off because that's going to go to the body shop to have them hopefully redo some of this cosmetic damage in time let's get to work [Music] [Music] and we're done look at how good it looks actually it looks really sad yeah it's amazing how much cheap fiberglass side-skirts can make a car yeah this Sam look kind of cool this is a right so for any of you wondering what a pimp my ride car looks like under the skin it's just regular car skin it's just literally stock underneath and they painted right over all the molding and as you can see it's just double-sided tape into place there were a lot of self tapping screws but all in all it actually wasn't hard to take apart that wasn't too bad we had some Ross but that's not the cars fault that's just yeah that's just Boston but pleasantly surprising is this one spot you wiped a little bit yeah versus not wiped I mean it clicked I think it cleans up pretty nice I mean it's a brand that's just wiping the scum not Washington yet yeah so here she is 3.3 liter v6 with how many horsepower 117 this is gonna need a lot of work but I think she runs okay so we're gonna be replacing all the stuff over here you're gonna have the alternator replaced the water palm power steering pump all the pulleys the belts the hoses right here we're going to recharge the AC we're gonna see if it actually takes a recharge and fix all the stuff like the leaking valve cover and do the air filter but my absolute favorite part of this entire deconstruction are the brakes especially this one now you might not notice too much yeah it's a it's a worn brake rotor that's nothing to write home about except for when you go over here Wow okay so there is like a very very big lip right down there it looks like it was just metal on metal and you can see how worn down this is this is so not safe I'm not sure how this was even driven like this I mean this must have made a incredible noise you run out of pad and start grinding - metal it sounds horrendous and you drive it for quite a while to be able to burn it down that much so one of the things I wanted to tackle was the underside of this car now this car has been sitting for four years and it's been sitting up north and I wanted to see if this is actually okay or not and I wager that it is and dude this looks this looks great this looks really good there's not an inch of rust anywhere I mean there's a little bit on stuff like the exhaust up here but other than that I mean this is this is looking really really nice and it didn't look like it was in the Northeast for a long time it actually looked like somewhat on a California car one of the few things I guess dodge got right was the corrosion protection yeah sure oh yeah I mean it looks I'm not gonna say it looks brand new but it looks very very serviceable it doesn't look like anything's gonna give us too much of an issue but I don't want to jinx myself I've done that yeah we've had that happen a few times I've done that enough so tomorrow morning I'm taking this to the body shop so they can work on it but then I'm gonna come back because Jarrod's gonna be working on this engine and I can't wait to have this thing purring and have this whole thing as a awesome road trip car and an awesome gift for somebody maybe I don't know we'll get it running good back on the ground and then we'll try to get the TV's working so we can have some entertainment for the drive Jarrod you're not supposed to say that you can watch TV while driving I'm not whoever's in the back is ah right the front monitor another three the other nine monitors another seven eight monitor however many TVs are in there you guys you guys you guys you guys you guys ah so Jared press the button and that fired into life so I am I am very very excited now so we might have an actual foot rest that works okay so oh yes yes Oh everything works in this man [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Tavarish

Views: 10,358,160

Rating: 4.7921276 out of 5

Keywords: aston martin, mercedes, amg, hyundai, bmw, lamborghini, ferrari, toyota, supra, mr2, sw20, 3sgte, 2jz, 1jz, sl55, r230, r231, m113k, vantage, v8, v12, v10, v6, gallardo, turbo, cheap, budget, diy, wrench everyday, doug demuro, chrisfix, hoovies garage, tavarish, jalopnik, mightycarmods, motor trend, roadkill, hack, bendpak, tools, lift, 4 post, 2 post, quick jack, welding, how to, tutorial, pimp my ride, restoration, minivan, caravan, movie car, tv car, bisforbuild, goonzquad, advance auto parts, advance

Id: GX79IILLDlE

Length: 23min 55sec (1435 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 24 2019

Reddit Comments

[u/scotty3281]

I sort of remember this episode. I am surprised to hear they replaced the original van. They rarely did this according to most people. The only one I remember they did this with was the “car” that was welded together made out of two cars. There was another one but they gave him his old car back because he was studying to be an auto tech. The guy that got the MTX Jackhammer installed said they didn’t do anything to his car other than fix the charging system so they Jackhammer worked with the in excess of 10,000 watts they put to it. He eventually sold it to MTX.

[u/Hocus_Focus_ST]

This car is weirdly pristine underneath I’ve never seen anything like it yeesh

[u/1893Chicago]

Found the original Pimp My Ride episode with the van. Not available in the US. I had to use a VPN set to Greece to watch it. Your mileage may vary.

[u/JapanStan]

I love that they re-upholstered the seats in denim lol

[u/Jamaican_Dynamite]

Out of all the ones he could've maybe found, this one doesn't seem to be worth saving.

But, $850 is $850. I'd actually expect to see worse.

[u/juwyro]

My favorite part is they shaved the door handle on the passenger door that you use to get in, but the other side still has the handle but has all the electronics so you can't get in.

[u/Dopplegangr1]

My uncle was the previous owner. A few months ago he texted me asking if he could store it in my driveway since the mechanic didn't want it at his yard anymore. I already had 3 cars in my driveway so I couldn't. Seeing this vid pop up in my subscriptions was quite a surprise and for a second I thought maybe I should have snatched it up if it was going for $850. After watching, I'm glad I stayed away from that biohazard.

[u/Lorbe_Wabo]

I was surprised when he showed footage of the underside. That thing is actually mint.

[u/TurtleKingTurtle]

I hope the roaches were dead. Would suck if they infest his whole garage.