Old car daily drivers?????????

[donsrods]

I saw this question on another forum (where I don't post ) and thought it was a pretty interesting question. How many of you have forsaken owning a brand new or almost new car to drive something older? I'm not talking about driving an antique, but simply a car that is maybe 10 years or more old.

That is exactly what I've done. The last brand new car I owned was an 85 Mercury Cougar and it was piece of crap.........fell apart from day one and finally toasted the engine at 20,000 miles. So ever since I have only bought used cars. My current car is an 84 Ford LTD that I bought from the proverbial little old lady, only had 50,000 on the clock when I bought it. My other car is a 94 Honda Accord I bought from my Son Dan when he bought his new truck.

My logic is that I don't need to impress anyone, and I understand and can fix older cars. New ones also don't turn me on, they all look alike. How about the rest of you, anyone else doing the same?

Don

 

[eyesore]

I agree and do the same although that new Ford F150 sure is looking good! [dr Just don't ever want a new car payment again, ever!

ISore

 

[milo1957]

im a used car guy all the way!! i owned one new car in my life (truck) it was ok! and then a few years back i had a brand new company truck...it sucked! my girlfriend has a brand new car but noone is allowed to do anything in or near it!!! so yeah ill stick to my 10-15 year old car! that i can eat in, dent at will... and generally not worry that much about!!!

 

[timbo]

My wife drives the new car (94 Accord). I do have a 1989 F-350 to pull with but my daily driver is between my 67 volksrod or my 79 Caprise Classic. I work on new plastic junk every day and there is not a new car or truck out there that I woul have. I bought one new vehichle in 89 and hated it. It never ran right, had trouble from the wipers and window regulators after 3 months and the dealer wouldnt do a thing about it. I got rid of it and drove my 67 Mustang.
Tim

 

[Rev Tex Devlle]

i dont like driving my 94 ford van, but i do like driving my 89 chevy 454 truck but hate to pay the gas so i drive my 52 pontiac, 75% of the time. and soon will be driving my 42 chevy truck modt likely daily

 

[earthman]

Got an '85 S-tin that is my daily.It's 40 years newer than i want. Bought used for $2500 with 30,000 miles 6 or 7 years ago. Good transportation but i hate having to drive it. If i ever get the opportunity i will pull the cab off and set a beat up rusty cab with character on it. Only brand new car was a '72 Honda 600. The first Honda imported. Tried to keep it in new condition and got aggrevated every time it got a new K-mart ding. Haven't made a car payment since '73.

 

[Gastrick]

Well right now I have a 2008 model company car that I drive all of the time because I'm on call 24 hours a day. When I retire, which is within the next ten months, I'll be looking into a 70's or 80's pick-up truck as my daily driver. My son uses his 73 Duster as a daily driver.

 

[cycledog]

My DD is a 91 Isuzu Trooper, thursday on the way home from work odometer hit 280k. Thats on the original engine with the head redone at 200k. Takes a lickn' and keeps on tickin'. Haven't had a car payment since 1979.

 

[CR55]

I can relate. Can't tell which one is which one anymore, they all look alike except the new Challenger and Mustangs, but at 30 to 40 thousand, I won't be buying one any time soon! My daily driver is a 94 Chev Silverado, bought new. It got 276,000 mostly trouble free miles on it. I should get a new truck because business depends on it, but I'm afraid I'll end up with a POS like so many have. I just hope if I get another new one it will have at least half of the good luck I've had with this one!..[cl We've had 3 new Dodge and Chrysler mini vans in between and all 3 of them have had numerous and expensive problems.but I'm still driving along !........CR

 

[hotrod preacher]

well i've never owned a new vehicle, and prob never will with what preachers make
do own a "late model" 2004 chevy silverado-100k miles and a previous total (rebuilt by me) with a salvage title......almost every vehicle we've owned has been a wreck-rebuilt with the best duct tape and baling wire available

...told the mrs. that when my 46 gets a few more "bugs" ironed out, such as a new radiator, and front-end alignment, (a heater/defroster and even a/c would be nice) it will be my primary mode of transportation as long as i can afford the gas!!

HRP

 

[Tripper]

Yep... I leased a Siverado but did not get another when that one was up. Rather drive an old classic!!!

BoB

 

[Sam_Fear]

I drive my 63 F100 as long as there isn't salt on the roads. Otherwise it's my beater 87 F150. We bought my wife a new 2002 Explorer Sport Trac. Excellent vehicle. She just turned 100,000 on it. We thought about trading in for a new one, but they aren't as truck tough as the first gens. So now we are thinking after 10 yrs we may have it completely refurbished - frame off, motor rebuild, whatever, the works. Even if it cost $10,000, we'd have a brand new truck that we know we like.

 

[Gearhead10]

Never owned a new vehicle and never will. As a mechanic I work on newer stuff that has more problems than my 90 chev truck ever has. I have to say I'd never want any of these newer vehicles cuz they are engineered stupid and are all junk in my opinion.

 

[joukaishou813924]

personally i mark the decline of all vehicles at 96 when obd2 was introduced and trucks were required to do crash tests, so i only buy 95 and older, but the newest i've owned was a 93 subaru legacy, or a 93 jeep cherokee, which were both very good reliable vehicles.

 

[donsrods]

I'm glad to see I am not the only one who isn't buying new cars. I just found one more reason not to buy one. My Son Dan has a brand new Dodge pickup. Last night he called me from the shop because as he was leaving his ignition key snapped off in the ignition switch. I went over to help him and with very small screwdrivers I was able to get the piece out. We drilled a hole in the end and put some fishing line through it so he could drive home and pull the piece out so his alarm remote would work. Otherwise the truck was unprotected.

Today he went to the Dodge dealer to get a new chip key. Turns out they don't just sell the key, he had to buy the whole chip assembly with a key on it. Take a guess how much?............... $ 255.00! Plus, the key itself is very thin and may also break at some point.

No sir. I'm very happy with my 25 year old Ford and my 15 year old Honda.

Don

 

[Arrowood Rod & Kustom]

if I didnt live in Michigan I'd drive an "old car" daily but with the amount of salt they put on the roads in the winter it would be destroyed in a few months..when I move to either Florida or California to finish college I'll defiantly be driving something '65 or older but for now it's my '01 grand am which I've had toooooons of problems with it since I bought it used from a dealer but I drive the **** out of it..180,000 miles on it now, drive about 75 miles round trip to college everyday

 

[RoddingRon]

For my work commute, I use my 97 Grand Am. I haven't had a new car since 78. Since then I've had pretty good luck with the "paycheck" cars...one I didn't spend more then a paycheck for..Grand Am is one of them....4 years and almost 80 K miles since I got it (195K total)....and it still gets almost 28 miles to a gallon. I did break down and bought a used truck that I actually took out a loan for (more the a paycheck to get this one) a 2000 GMC.

 

[joukaishou813924]

you were talking about the chip problems, my friend ran into that one in his 01 firebird, a wire snapped off on his ignition and it no longer was registering his "security chip" so even with the key in the ignition the car would not start, the dealership told him something like $800 to fix it and he said no way. so he soldered the wire back on and now it works perfectly.

 

[fuzz]

in 1966 I bought a new Olds 442.. last new car for me. My daily is an 87 c10 short bed,bought it 3 years ago, first thing I did when bought it was toss the ECM and I have a 73 Cadillac for Sunday go to meetin

 

[donsrods]

The coolest part is not having any car payments. My Son Don had the philosophy that one way or another you are going to spend money every month on a car........either on payments or keeping an old one you own alive. So he always bought new cars with a warranty. But I see his thinking changing these days. He still has his Z06 Vette, but the car he uses most times is his 1980 something Buick Station Wagon. He loves it and isn't afraid to leave it parked anywhere.

I'm starting to wonder why I don't just buy some cool 50's car, restore it somewhat so it looks ok and runs great, and use that as my daily. I mean, I love old cars and it would be cool to commute in something like that. I might start looking for a candidate to do just that.

Don