Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have a 1988 740 Turbo Volvo. Right now it is sitting. The power steering rack is shot (no PS at all), needs tires and brakes all around, cracked windshield, broken AC, disinegrating headliner, and a tail light out. However, it starts right up and runs like a champ with only 155,000 miles on it and the body and paint are pristine. I'm in a personal delimna on whether to fix it (well over $1,000) or buy a used car. This is my second vehicle that I haven't needed to have on the road, but now my daughter needs to drive. I want to fix it, but others tell me to get rid of it. I love that car! After reading that article, maybe I can convince the naysayers that it is probably worth it to fix it.
Sorry but that car isnt worth the cost of repairs(unless you use used parts and do ALL of the work yourself...You can find volvos 10 years newer with fewer problems for 2 or 3k all day long.
I have two vehicles, a 31 year old car and a 30 year old truck. They both can be driven across country so they are reliable and were cheap to buy. I have never used a loan to buy something in my life.
Dang- and I thought I was driving an old vehicle with my 23 year old Toyota Landcruiser! Mine certainly could not be trusted driving cross country but does great like a tank in our Alaska winters.
I've a 20 year old daily driver Chrysler that suits me fine, a 16 year old daily driver Dodge for the wife and a 16 year old Chrysler with 16k miles on it tucked in the garage. That one's ready to go into service should one of the other two collapse. Total cost for all three (not at once of course) would be roughly $4,000 or so.
Other than some wiring harness work to repair squirrel damage on the 16k car there's been nothing out of the ordinary and none have left us waiting for a flatbed. Looking over receipts gives me roughly three grand for repairs and upkeep over five years or so. Sure, I've spent time crawling underneath tracking down leaks and busting knuckles under their hoods but now I know them in and out, a great learning experience.
Insurance is dead cheap, parts cars fill the local junkyard, they pass state inspections and they get around 24 to 28 miles per gallon.
I can't possibly think of a single reason to buy a new one. I'll leave you with this quote from Carl Perkins ("Blue Suede Shoes")......
"I think if a man is happy driving a '58 Chevy pickup truck, he better hang with that jewel. You can go for the new model, but it sometimes don't replace the one you had".
Dang- and I thought I was driving an old vehicle with my 23 year old Toyota Landcruiser! Mine certainly could not be trusted driving cross country but does great like a tank in our Alaska winters.
My two oldest vehicles are 43 and 40 years old. Quite a few people have cars which are 30+ years old.
We just bought a 1996 Toyota Tacoma 4wd truck. It has 130k on it. We looked at a lot of older Tacomas before finding this one. They sure hold their value. Ones in good condition with less than 150k on them are hard to find for <$10k. We paid $6700.
We are doing a bit of work on it (shocks, brakes, timing belt) and it should be a good road trip truck for the Colorado Plateau area for us. We should easily get 100k more miles out of this truck!
We would have bought a new Tacoma and kept it for 20 years, but we don't like the new Tacomas at all. Too big!
Our other vehicles are a 1994 Toyota 4wd pickup. It only has 115k on it and the 22RE engine should last forever. We paid $4500 for it a few years ago. We may try to sell this truck eventually. Insurance and registration is very cheap. And we have a 2001 Subaru Outback, 125k. It was a private sale 2 years ago, only $4600. It's a great great car. When I bought this car I sold my 1991 Subaru Legacy wagon that I had drove for 8 years. It was a great car too!
"I think if a man is happy driving a '58 Chevy pickup truck, he better hang with that jewel. You can go for the new model, but it sometimes don't replace the one you had".
This is my dilemma. I can find nothing that I like that will replace what I have.
I'd have a bad, really bad, case of buyers remorse should my suburban get traded/sold.
My car turned 18 last month or so. It was a brand-spanking new, just-off-the-ship 1992 Toyota Camry. I still love it--looks and runs like a dream and "fits like an old leather glove". It only has 95,000 miles on it, so we'll probably keep it another 10 years or so--at least until the wheels fall off. Never had a problem with it--had it tuned up and replaced all the belts before we moved from the midwest to the east coast this summer. The little 4 cylinder had to climb the mountains in 90 degree heat, but it made it without complaint.
Our "new" car is now 7 years old. We were lucky....all the years of the Camry, we had a company vehicle we could drive personally, too. It saved LOTS of miles on both cars (we got the new car to keep the old car company in the garage, when the Camry started getting up there in age). Now, however, the job change doesn't come with a vehicle, so both cars will start having more miles put on them. We don't like car payments.....hopefully won't buy brand new again.
My car turned 18 last month or so. It was a brand-spanking new, just-off-the-ship 1992 Toyota Camry. I still love it--looks and runs like a dream and "fits like an old leather glove". It only has 95,000 miles on it, so we'll probably keep it another 10 years or so--at least until the wheels fall off. Never had a problem with it--had it tuned up and replaced all the belts before we moved from the midwest to the east coast this summer. The little 4 cylinder had to climb the mountains in 90 degree heat, but it made it without complaint.
Our "new" car is now 7 years old. We were lucky....all the years of the Camry, we had a company vehicle we could drive personally, too. It saved LOTS of miles on both cars (we got the new car to keep the old car company in the garage, when the Camry started getting up there in age). Now, however, the job change doesn't come with a vehicle, so both cars will start having more miles put on them. We don't like car payments.....hopefully won't buy brand new again.
How many miles are on the 7 year old car?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
