How old is too old for a vehicle to be reliable?

[Johnny248]

Current fleet is as follows:

08 Kia Spectra Auto w/281k. I've replaced the timing belt and water pump per intervals. Trans has a drain plug and I drain and fill yearly. Body is rusted to sh!t, but the car is unbelievably reliable. Normal maintenance like brakes, struts, etc. But it always just runs and drives. Probably one of the best vehicles we have ever owned, and this is before Kia became on par with other makes.

'11 Ram 1500 5.7l. 170k. lifter failure at 100K, warranty. Regular oil change intervals, have dropped and changed the trans filters twice. I replaced the pan with a Doorman with a drain plug. I drop and replace both diff's, t-case, and trans fluid yearly. The only thing that I've had to replace out of pocket was tie rod ends and a starter. I want a new Ram, but can't justify the cost when this one has been paid for and has hardly cost me anything.

 

[350Rocket]

this is my kind of Olds. A friend had one with the 455 in college, handed down from his folks

Can use that as a work truck also, or a mini camper. I'd love to have a vista cruiser.

 

[John105]

Can use that as a work truck also, or a mini camper. I'd love to have a vista cruiser.

My dad had a Buick with a 350 4 bbl. I remember as a little kid reading a repair manual that he had, and wishing it were a 400+ and had AC. I got all that looking at the pics. Funny thinking back today, being just in elementary school, and wishing for more displacement and factory AC

I just noticed in the video, the fuel filter seems to be added on, as I broke my dad's twisting it while the fuel line twisted as well. Also, "The Weight" was playing on the guy's stereo.....

 

[Aredeeem]

Rookies. Before my current daily 70 Opel Kadett it was a 77 Vega Wagon. Vega had the aluminum engine in stock form as it had to pass CA smog biannual. Automatic trans too, it wasn't a bad driving car, just a little slow. In the late 80's and early 90s dailies included a 66 Studebaker Commander, 60 Studebaker Lark, 74 Opel Manta, 60 GMC half ton, and a 64 Chev half ton. Both Studes went on multi state trips with no issues. Lark was purchased for $350.00. Manta was a freebie. All were original non restored vehicles and none came home on the hook. The Lark was a 259 V8, no oil filter whatsoever and running Mystik straight 30.

My neighbor back in the 70’s had a Vega. We were young and carefree . We agreed to travel coast to coast via Death Valley and meet in San Diego. I miss my old friend.

 

[350Rocket]

My dad had a Buick with a 350 4 bbl. I remember as a little kid reading a repair manual that he had, and wishing it were a 400+ and had AC. I got all that looking at the pics. Funny thinking back today, being just in elementary school, and wishing for more displacement and factory AC

I just noticed in the video, the fuel filter seems to be added on, as I broke my dad's twisting it while the fuel line twisted as well. Also, "The Weight" was playing on the guy's stereo.....

I think I botched my first fuel filter job the same way on my 87 Oldsmobile. I didn't have 2 wrenches on the line.

 

[eljefino]

Back in the carb'd days "everyone" added a secondary generic fuel filter in the line, to "save" the one built into the base of the carburetor.

 

[brages]

I'd say anything older than 20 years/250K is seriously unchartered territory.

I agree, except for the use of "unchartered" vs "uncharted"

 

[350Rocket]

Back in the carb'd days "everyone" added a secondary generic fuel filter in the line, to "save" the one built into the base of the carburetor.

I just replaced it every 20k miles or so and had no issues. One year I drove 50k miles in the year.

 

[350Rocket]

My neighbor back in the 70’s had a Vega. We were young and carefree . We agreed to travel coast to coast via Death Valley and meet in San Diego. I miss my old friend.

He didn't survive that trip?

 

[Aredeeem]

He didn't survive that trip?

Still…waiting..

 

[MCompact]

I'd have no hesitation about using the Club Sport as a DD; I just don't want to mile it up. Instead I drive the 2009 Clubman, which is hardly a penalty box.

 

[Bill7]

I have had good experience with older vehicle's reliability.

I have 4 Honda Odyssey's: two 2006's, and two 2007's.
The vehicles are very reliable. I maintain them very meticulously.

I estimate I'll be able to get parts for them for another 12 years, after which time, the parts availability will dry up.
I really like that generation Odyssey's luxury (8 soft leather seats), sunroom, Navigation screen, DVD screen for the 2nd and and 3rd row), etc. and these used car prices for these vehicles are low ($4k to $6k) as opposed to $50k for a similarly equipped new one.

I visit the odyclub forum daily, and became knowledgeable on all the issues these van's are likely to have.
At the advise of that forum, I do a 3.3 quart drain/fill of the transmission fluid every 15k miles, as the consensus is if you do that, your transmission will last 300k+ miles in these Odysseys.
I change the oil every 4k/6 months with a full synthetic oil, as these J35 engines with VCM enabled get very hot on the front 3 cylinder heads and can cook the oil.
My vehicles have standard tension piston rings (not low tension piston rings like the newer ones), and they use no oil between oil changes. They don't leak oil at all either. My driveway cement has zero stains.

So my advise to you is visit the forums for the vehicle you are interested in, learn about all the common issues, make a list of them, and then decide if you want to find one with lower miles and in excellent condition.

There are always vehicles where the grand parents are getting too old to drive, and the children are trying to sell the vehicles
(Ex: The 40,000 mile 2011 Toyota Corollas which you see on Craiglist a few times a month).
Be patient, wait for the perfect one to come onto Craigslist, and then be ready to act fast with money in hand and buy the same day
as the cream puffs get sold very fast.

 

[Bill7]

He didn't survive that trip?

The Chevy Vega's were one of the lower reliability cars of that era. From what I remember of them when I was a young kid, they would burn a quart of oil every 100 miles as we had a neighbor who had one.

 

[LDB]

How high is up? How deep is deep? There is no answer. Each is based on its own merits. I wouldn't want to trust some 80 week old vehicles and would trust some 80 year old vehicles 100%. Good luck finding your own answer.

 

[Heywood_6078]

Besides my wife's new Rav 4, I have 3 older vehicles and mechanically they are in very good condition. And, the body's on all 3 are still holding up very well also.
A 2003 Ford Taurus, V-6, 151,000 miles
A 2003 F-150, V-6, 94,000 miles
A 2002 F-150, V-8, 152,000 miles
Only the 2002 F-150 has any rust and you have to get up pretty close to notice it.
So, I plan on keeping and driving it for quite some time.
All 3, actually.

 

[350Rocket]

Still…waiting..

He probably just needed to stop a few times for oil. He'll catch up eventually.

 

[JHZR2]

IMO it depends upon rust and upkeep. In my collection I have:
1981 - 73k miles
1982 - 168k
1985 - 169k
1991 - 109k
1991 - 209k
1991 - 238k
1996 - 266k
1996 - 446k

I have a few vehicles but they’re newer still.

Point is, I’d drive any of these across country tomorrow. Even the two with 67-72hp would be fine (proven by me) to use across country tomorrow.

If you have records, good basis of prior upkeep, etc, there’s not much to worry about. You do however need to accept that rubber degrades, and there will be things you need to keep track of.

For a pre-1993 car a good sigh of originality and proper care is if the AC has been upkept and maintained to run on R-12. For any car a good stack of maintenance records is key.

 

[wander2039]

I'd drive all mine across country... Problem is I wouldn't want my wife to solo. Even if we bought a new one I'd be hesitant. With even a little skills anyone can drive anything across the US.

 

[supton]

I gave up on my VW when I started to worry about breaking down. Reputable TDI mechanics are not a dime a dozen and mechanic I'm not. Now my old Camry, it's so old that even I can work on it. And I do drive it anywhere.

Our CRV, I wouldn't take that cross country, but then again, I don't like driving it across town (rides nothing like a sedan). Good thing it's my sons, he can have it.

 

[Aredeeem]

Yea, Vegas had some sort of aluminum die cast engines. Only made them about 7 years or so. Oil burners as I recall.