Older car daily drivers
- Thread starter doublebase
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The only mandatory payment I want is my mortgage. Had car payments when I was younger before I bought my house and dread them. So I have a tendency to keep my vehicles longer and have a keen eye/mind for the maintenance on them overall. My GF has a newer Jetta that she bought new but her name is not on my mortgage neither. I really do not drive far distances to begin with. Once a year we will go down to Ocean City Maryland for a week on vacation and I prefer to take my Acura over her newer Jetta. Besides that, my work commute is 1.8 miles each way.
I daily drive my 01 Chevy Suburban with 293k miles. My commute is only 5 miles but I drive A LOT all over the place. I use my newer lower mileage Ford Escape as a storage unit and if anything ever goes wrong with the Suburban I have it as a backup car. But I trust my Suburban and would not hesitate to drive it across the country any time... As long as someone else pays for the fuel 
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
But you've only put 3k miles on it since last October?I daily drive my 01 Chevy Suburban with 293k miles. My commute is only 5 miles but I drive A LOT all over the place. I use my newer lower mileage Ford Escape as a storage unit and if anything ever goes wrong with the Suburban I have it as a backup car. But I trust my Suburban and would not hesitate to drive it across the country any time... As long as someone else pays for the fuel
My wife's commuter is her Blazer...1986 K-5 diesel. Mileage is unknown (5-digit odometer), but it's been mechanically rebuilt (turbocharged Optimiser 6500) and has an aftermarket body. She did 70 miles each way for years in a 1986 Cherokee...put 230,000 miles on it in 7 years. We got it with 295K, a perfect, rust-free body (from Texas) and a seized 2.8 V6 engine (they run better with coolant)...swapped a 3.4 crate motor and drove it. It was retired due to unrepairable structural body cracking with 523,000 total miles. After 230K on the crate motor, it ran like new.
My friend's only vehicle is a diesel 1997 F-250 4x4 with 330,000 miles. His father drives a 1996 E-350 with close to 600,000 miles. Both those trucks also tow campers.
My friend's only vehicle is a diesel 1997 F-250 4x4 with 330,000 miles. His father drives a 1996 E-350 with close to 600,000 miles. Both those trucks also tow campers.
I barely drove it for several months because I was using it as a storage unit. Then I put all my stuff in my Escape and I've been piling the miles on the Suburban. The biggest surprise I had is shortly after I replaced the water pump because it was making a bad noise, the radiator exploded in the parking lot at work. Not any of the other places I've been with it... at work. I usually get pretty lucky with stuff like this!
Yeah anything turbo charged and/or with more than 6 cylinders will cost a bit more to maintain. Mine really hasn't been bad at all so far, but I do all my own maintenance.
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A had a friend who was a BMW factory rep, he bought a used M5 with 175,000 miles on it. His thinking was...the guy took great care of it and actually over maintained it. I believe my friend put another 150,000 relatively trouble free miles on it. But I believe that engine wasn’t turbo charaged.
And I have another friend who owns a 2013? BMW 328? the four cylinder model with the turbo. He has had good luck with it.
My old boss owned a 335...forget what year...newer. He spent $22,000 on it used (50,000 miles). He ended up putting a good 150,000 on it before he got himself fired. Still had that car when he left. The only thing I know he had to put into it was an electric water pump, oh, and some gaskets. He did buy the extended warranty - he was pretty proud of himself for that - but it didn’t cover his information center when it went.
It is a bit funny though - the BMW guy, the factory rep/mechanic/instructor...guy that drives out to the dealerships to fix things no one else can - he says BMW’s are built to last 100,000 miles. They are told THAT in factory training. 100,000 miles, that’s it, after that our customer base doesn’t own “THAT CAR”, someone else does and they are not the people that buy OUR cars. They’re aftermarket, used car folks. And we have zero allegiance to them.
He doesn’t have a lot of confidence in the brand. He talks pretty harsh about them. That may be “trade talk”, but he’s pretty sour on their quality, or lack of quality/care for longevity. He has told me (when I was planning on buying a 535) that it would be the biggest mistake of my life. That if I bought that car it would cost me thousands in repairs every few months...that even BMW didn’t know how to solve its problems. How BMW actually bought out the factory/company, that made their high pressure fuel pumps, just to try to fix their enormous problem. And it wasn’t helping. BUT I do believe they have recovered from their rough patch. Having all that “negative stuff”, I must say that the 535 I was planning on buying drove like nothing else. Loved the power, handling and fell of that car. The fit and finish was phenomenal. The paint was extraordinary for OE paint. I didn’t end up buying it but at times I wish I had.
I also worked at BMW; I wouldn't hesitate to own an I4 or i-6 BMW to 150k miles- turbocharged or not. As I've said before with the exception of my Club Sport and Wrangler, after 4-5 years I'm ready for something new and/or different. As a practical matter, most every car built today short of the cheapest penalty boxes contains so much technology that past 150k miles the MTBF decreases significantly.
Just curious, were you looking at an F10 535i? I think those models were secretly designed by Buick.
Just curious, were you looking at an F10 535i? I think those models were secretly designed by Buick.
Since I retired in 2017, I don't always drive every day but the vehicle I still drive the most is my 92 Cavalier. It has the 2.2L/auto and just turned over 241,000 miles. It still gets around 30 mpg and I don't care if it gets dents or dings. I bought it in 2006 with 76,000 miles and it was wrecked in the front. I had the front unibody straightened, put on a used front clip out of the salvage yard and have been driving it since. My work commute from 2006 to 2017 was about 60 miles per day both ways.
It's still fairly reliable and parts are cheap. Most everything you buy for it anymore is aftermarket and doesn't last as long but I buy all lifetime parts so they don't cost me anything, just my labor.
My two trucks are fairly low mileage for the year. The K1500 I bought new and it only has 139,000 miles on it and I wouldn't hesitate to drive it cross country. My K3500 only has 119,000 miles.
I like new vehicles but don't like the price these days so I just keep what I have.
It's still fairly reliable and parts are cheap. Most everything you buy for it anymore is aftermarket and doesn't last as long but I buy all lifetime parts so they don't cost me anything, just my labor.
My two trucks are fairly low mileage for the year. The K1500 I bought new and it only has 139,000 miles on it and I wouldn't hesitate to drive it cross country. My K3500 only has 119,000 miles.
I like new vehicles but don't like the price these days so I just keep what I have.
2002 Ford Taurus 3.0 OHV. Bought a couple years ago with 96k miles. Now has 120k. I just started realizing the enormous waste of money buying an expensive vehicle is just to rack up miles on a commute. If I went out of town a lot I'd probably get something newer.
The problem with BMWs and other German cars is you have to do your research and know EXACTLY what to buy and what to avoid. Even cars that are the same model, year, etc, but have different features can be a headache, while cars without that feature are a joy to own. Generally speaking the simpler the vehicle the better off you are, which is why mine is a N/A inline 6, RWD, with no navigation.
Knowing where to buy parts and DIY'ing repairs will also save big bucks. The oil filter housing gasket on my car usually leaks around 60k-100k miles. The OEM gasket costs $12, and I did it in 30 minutes in my garage with hand tools. The filter housing is right on the top of the engine. This is a job the dealer quoted me $900-1000 for during their safety inspection.
My dad commutes 100 miles each way once a week in a 1995 Buick lesaber he's had for 20 years.. He absolutely loves that thing and it hasn't ever left him stranded.. has around 250k miles on it now and he wants it to make it a few more years till he retires.
2006 Highlander with over 210K miles and drives like a charm - I have more confidence in this vehicle than my souped up MB
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I find that research is important whenever buying a used car, definitely, but even then sometimes you just don’t know. It’s hard. I bought a Lexus LS460 based off reputation and reliability reviews, but reviews just don’t always do enough. And sometimes the forums just haven’t caught up to potential problems just yet. I found that with the LS460. But everything was mostly manageable...was able to do all repairs myself....control arms, wheel bearing, maintenance, tires brakes. The thing that ended that car for me was oil consumption and the brake actuator went ($3,000 dollar job). Tough to justify a $3,000 repair when the car is sinking a quart of oil every 1,000 miles.
I second doing the research and being able to DIY many of the repairs. You can often fix a problem by replacing a part that is not sold separately by the manufacturer. The hydraulic pump on an SMG car is a prime example.
As far as navigation goes, the Clubman, X1, and 2 Series all have navigation systems. I updated the Clubman’s maps with a set of OEM DVDs that Tom Tom was offering for next to nothing. I haven’t updated the newer cars but it can be done for a reasonable charge through some online BMW sites.
I haven’t had any issues with the telematics on any of the cars, aside from the fact that the Clubman’s graphics look like a bad Commodore 64 game.
For me the technology is not something I need in a car. I work in IT, and deal with technology all day. I find my analog vehicles (98 Wrangler 5 speed MT, and my BMW which has good road feel and no nav) to be the more relaxing and unwinding part of my day. All I have is a bluetooth/aux adapter in each vehicle so I can listen to podcasts and make calls and I'm all set.
As a fellow IT person I feel the same way. There are some guys at work who love having the latest tech in their cars, and I frequently find myself saying "Why?" (In my head of course.) I might take it a step further than you because I refuse to take calls in my car while I'm driving.
My 2 Series was the first car I ever owned with navigation and voice recognition. I’m on the road a bit and it’s very convenient to not only use the phone hands-free but also to be able to listen to text messages and reply using voice recognition when I’m addressing issues at work. I drive the Wrangler or Club Sport when I want to go 100% analog(both even have cassette players).
I have a 98 Buick LeSabre that I bought from Carmax 4 years ago for $700. My spouse was using it to commute 4 hours a day and have never had a single issue with it. We have put over 70,000 miles on it in those four years and not a single problem. I also have a 97 Bonneville, a 97 Regal GS, 98 Jetta TDI and an 85 Skylark. Sad thing is those have all been reliable and trouble free but the newer cars always want something or have some stupid issue. I had a brand new Focus that had transmission issues and I wouldn't choose that over the Buick to go on long trips not knowing if I will get there. I guess it all depends on how you treat your vehicles. I know in the north rust is an issue but those of us who aren't in the rust belt can have older cars reliably for daily use. There isn't a speck of rust on my LeSabre underneath, it looks like brand new.