Just hauled a Gem home yesterday on trailer. It sat on farm for a few years at my folks collecting dust but I’m going to use it in town for casual driving around neighborhood and downtown, it originally came from California. It’s a 2002 E825. Got it for a reasonable amount. No batteries. No keys. I found a part number on here, I think I’ll just go that route and replace the ignition with the Napa one. I already have the Medeco switch pulled.
I may just haul in the dash and carry all to the locksmith and see if they can rekey or whatever it will take for those locks.
It has 14" tires and Al wheels. The back fender was removed for hauling but I see it won’t fit without some shim work because the tires are taller and wider. I’ll probably see if I can get that going next. So I got it unloaded today off trailer and washed the thing. I bagged all the electronics first so they didn’t take on any water. I forgot to bag the motor but It looks like it’s sealed up pretty good and it’s open down there so I assume it’s fine if it gets wet because it would get wet if it was raining, I hope.
It cleaned up pretty nice. Someone put clear coat over the yellow paint, most of it has pealed off and the yellow coat is still very good. My brother who was the second owner said it had less than 1k miles on it. Other than the larger tires and wheels it looks stock, original motor.
After I get the inspection done and tag I’m thinking about making a flat bed for it with removable side boards. Also a removable box too for storage that’s larger than the carry all similar to the newer model option.
Some time in the next few months I need to get batteries but I’m not sure what to go with. I see the Decca’s are $255 at my local Napa and they want a $27 core for them, yikes! Also VMAX 125 ah, for 260 on Amazon which would be cheaper with shipping included and no core charge.
Of course I keep thinking about the Walmart Everstart batteries. 99.00 sounds a lot better to me, just not sure how long they’ll last. If I could get 4 years and 10-12 miles per charge I think I’d be happy.
I have to say, I really think I’m going to like this little car. My wife just laughed when she pulled in the driveway and saw it, she said it was the cutest little car she’d ever seen.
One thing that concerns me is the seat which is fiberglass. I hope that never breaks because it appears to be all connected to the entire cab, all the way up to the dash and behind the seat. Anyone have that break before? I don’t weigh 300 lbs or anything, just seems a little flimsy to me. I know keeping the weight down is crucial on electric cars but I think I would have made it a little stronger.