I was thinking about finding a used car for my daughter and the idea of an old car needing work is an expensive thing compared to years back. If a car needs a transmission it will cost thousands. more than what the car costs! Anything built within the last twenty years is damned expensive to fix. I would like to think I could weed out the junk but there is always that chance of getting someone else's problem. I was sitting at a traffic light and watched the cars going by and none were cars from the seventies or eighties. They all looked kinda round and newer. The years fly by. I work with a woman whose son is a mechanic and she said her son just had to tell a man it would cost seven grand to fix his ignition switch push button starter setup! It went bad. I thought she was kidding, but she stands by what she is telling me.
My commuter has turned into my main vehicle. I’m not ashamed to admit it one bit. 1987 Honda Accord. 2 door. Parts are fairly cheap and so far I’ve been able to fix the few things that have failed. Chicks dig it too.
I'm still able to find decent vehicles in the 3-5 grand range. I'm not picky , like most young girls are. You just have to do a little research on some of the most dependable cars from each manufacturer. Then finding an older person that may be selling one will most times get yourself a good deal. Nowadays , getting 250,000 miles out of these cars before any major repairs are needed isn't uncommon . It's mainly just finding one that hasn't been abused . Good luck on your search.
"They don't make 'em like they used to" But on the other hand, no stuck chokes, flooded carbs, fouled plugs that needed changing every couple thousand miles. No carboned up valves, leaking transmissions and engine oil seals (well, not as much anyway). No fiddling with the gas pedal or the carb or squirting ether during cold weather, trying to get the damn thing to start. No points to fuse together and leave you stuck in the middle of BFE, or guessing trying to get the floats set just right. No accelerator pump to fail and almost allow the engine to stall when you floor the gas pedal. Had a 3/4 Ton Chevy 4WD 350 4 barrel back in the day that would flood on the side of a hill and stall out after running over rough ground because the floats "bounced". In some situations that was almost flat out dangerous. Had to have the transmission rebuilt 3 times in the 11 years that I owned it. I'm sure there are a few more things I could think of.
Cars are harder and more expensive to fix but they are also much more reliable than they were in the past, so I think it's a zero-sum game. I just got rid of a 2005 F150. I bought it new and It cost me very little money in unplanned repairs over the years. As an anecdote, my dad has a 1920 Model T. Not a misprint. A 98 year old car. It's very simple to work on. Parts are still readily available and you don't need special tools or computers...but it is a maintenance bad dream. He has it running A+ for now but it always needs something and dad is constantly tinkering with it. No one noticed this attribute back in 1920 because cars were still a relatively new technology and people did not drive long distances. I've driven and worked on the Model T as well as other vintage vehicles. If that's what the "good old days" are like, then I'll stick with my computerized wonder mobile that can go 5000+ miles between oil changes and tells me when I need air in the tires. The reliability of old cars is waaayyy overrated.
Look around for a clean early 2000's Toyota Camry. Around here they are numerous, relatively inexpensive, and are not a maintenance nightmare. Go with the four cylinder engine, too.
I had a lot of fun driving around vehicles with a 283 and a 2 speed Powerglide tranny. I do not miss rebuilding both of them every 60k miles. My commuter car is a 2010 Honda Insight hybrid and at 250k miles I haven't done anything but basic scheduled maintenance. That's handy when you're busy
Dad's first car was a Model T. Pre detergent oils they had to periodically tear down the motor to clean up all the grunge. He also told a story where his fuel pump failed in a deadly cold winter storm and he had to cut leather from his shoe to fix it. Those days you always traveled with all the tools you needed and one or two spare tires.
BINGO! I've been wrenching for more than 40 years and the only thing that I dearly miss from the old days is Harrison heater cores. It seems that this is one area where engineers have forgotten how to make something (add evaporator / condenser) that don't leak. I make a bunch of hours changing these things, but I'd rather not do such intrusive work on new cars. I don't miss carburetors, GM tilt columns, points, chokes, heater cables, air pumps, and EGR valves. In just the last ten years I've seen a massive change in the durability of brake pads, serpentine belts, and ignition systems. Elimination of lots of emission system components due to better fuel management, and the introduction of the "stretchy belt" that has eliminated the need for a belt tensioner. I still find good used "Southern" cars for $500, but these are of the "needs some work" category. My '85 Mercedes is in this category. Nearing 300,000 miles, it has character, and intermittent heat and A/C, whether you like it or not, but it'll sit for 90 days and fire right up like you just parked it. For $5000 I'd expect to find a daily driver with everything working, that would have another 100K miles left in it. Not a pretty car, but a transportation appliance that worked. I've twice put new engines in cars that had over 200K miles, and run their warranty out long before anything else failed. My daily driver got a new engine at 210K miles or so (with virtually zero maintenance other than oil changes) because I just didn't want to do any maintenance on my own car. At a quarter million miles, it still has a warranty on the engine and I have peace of mind. I remember looking at brand new Trans Am's that were around $10,000. Yup, and they got 15MPG on a good day, would make your eyes water with their rich exhaust, and compared to just about anything on the road today they were great lumbering iron beasts. I'm not feeling the least bit nostalgic about their passing.
I tune my carb for lean cruise. It doesn't foul plugs and I get 20% to 30% better fuel economy over what I would consider a properly running carb. If the carb is running real rich you can nearly double fuel economy. I took my 454 suburban from 6.7mpg to 11 to 12 mpg driving around town and 10 mpg highway to 16 to 18 highway with just lean burn and a little base timing adjustment. The biggest thing with running lean burn is you need the assistance of digial diaplay wide band O2 meter.
I buy cheap vehicles in decent shape, do minor repairs and drive them till they blow slam up or just die . I got a 02 f 150 4x4 , 4.6 v-8 . Had 165,000 on it when i got it , its at 219,000 now . Paid 3 grand for it , done nothing but tires , plugs ,and a clutch , the clutch because of pulling overweight trailers . i'm fixing to change the AC compressor , thats only gonna be about 130 bucks . Bought a 06 F 250 , 5.4 liter , paid 3 grand for it . The thing really looked brand new when i got it , fleet maintained . Had 198,000 when i got it , Its at about 266,000 now . I just did plugs and coil packs , 300 bucks , did shocks maybe 5000 miles ago , just did all around body to frame bushings , cost was 140 bucks for that , now she's running smooth as silk . I'm expecting to get better than 300,000 out of her easy . There's good one's out there , you just gotta look around , and be ready to buy when you find it or it may not be there when you come back for it .
I guess I'm the different one here. My daily for the last 14 years or so is a 95 toyota T100. Has 410k miles on original engine and trans. Since it is getting tired, I'm building my next daily as time allows, a 81 dodge D150 slant 6, 4 speed truck. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE new cars, they make me lots of money. The lack of basic things like grease fittings is one of the greatest things that ever happened. Please keep buying new cars.
Loved those old cars and trucks, Hated the drum brakes when they got wet, You needed a whole football field to stop. Didn't mind setting points or adjusting the carb, As an added bonus they can and will run on condensate if needed!
Sound like Blew the #3 cylinder on my Bay window camper bus out in the middle of nowhere, UT. Have not owned an air cooled VW since.
Sometimes I got nostalgic for the older cars and trucks. But after years of working on them I'm beginning to appreciate some of the modern technology!
