Okay, I admit it, I’m solidly working class. But this thread still really threw me for a loop what with the repeated “11 years old, oh my god, why is your car so aged and non-shiny?”’ type comments. Right now, I’m driving a 1990 Grand Am and it’s the newest car I’ve ever had. Before that, I drove a 1982 Rabbit, and the car before that was a 1974 Maverick. I figure, by the time I’m a grandmother I might have cracked the millenium production mark.
I know this board probably skews a bit more toward the financially comfortable side, but I can’t be the only one driving around a car that rolled off the line when “Don’t Have a Cow, Man” was still considered a snappy retort. So out with it, which doper drives the oldest car? (And I don’t mean the collectible types that you’ve got sitting in your garage and drive twice a year, so go brag about that somewhere else!)
I own a 1984 Pontiac Parisienne and a 1991 GMC Jimmy. The Pontiac is not currently on the road due to needing some minor repairs but I am planning on giving the car to my son as soon as the repairs are made. I feel he should be pretty safe in that tank.
Well, I’m not going to win, but I am in the running with my 1991 Sundance. Cars are an expense, not an investment, so I’ve always tried to minimize my expense by driving a car that is at least a couple of years old and running it into the ground. It’s a balancing act, you know? It’s got to have lots of life left in it, but it has to be cheap enough that it’s not going to break the bank to buy it, and pay interest on the car loan for five years. Our next car (which is due pretty soon) will probably be about a 2001 or 2002, and then we’ll drive that one for the next 15 years.
No one in that thread is saying “oh my god 11 years old…” They’re saying that yes, when a car gets older and you don’t do any preventative maintenance, things will go wrong, and that the OP needs to wake up and realize that a new car and an older car have different problems.
The OP admits that he drives like crazy on bad roads and does no maintenance on an older car, yet he thinks it’s the car manufacturer’s fault that the radiator sprung a leak.
I drive a brand new car, but I fully expect to still be driving it in 20 years.
I drive an 84 Accord. My wife drives an 88 Accord. We have no problem dumping a couple thou into them every two or three years, still totally worth it, they still start up every time.
My daily driver is a 1985 Buick LeSabre (Collector’s Edition - woohoo!). Just like my previos 3 vehicles, I’ll drive it untill it dies. I don’t like car payments.
I don’t have any car at all, can’t afford it. But when Dad gets it back on the road again, I want to drive his '69 Buick at least once (He said he’d let me, yay!)
My daily car is my 1994 Saturn S2…I bought it new. It only has 79,000 miles on it, and one teeny-tiny scratch on the front right side that probably only I can see.
Runs great and still looks great. Can get to work and back all week on half a tank of gas (5 gallons) and I think I might just keep it until it becomes a classic and then sell it for $500,000…of course, I will be 138 years old then, but hey…
Its been a few years since Dad sold on his 1986 Volvo 740 but I beleive it was seen quite recently on the road. It ran quite well, except for a few faults in the accessories (electric windows etc) the engine and transmission were all fine. I remember it was an 86 model as it was only two years older than my youngest sister.
I remember Dad telling us how glad he was to pass it on as the cost of running it on leaded fuel was a killer. He didn’t really comment much when I handed him back all the paperwork from the car I’d just gone through that said it had been given an unleaded conversion only a short while before he bought it
Dad did remember though impressing a self made millionaire with his Volvo. The guy (who was a customer of Dad’s in the bank) and his brother had set up a small software business and made enough money for one brother to buy a customised Porsche 911. The other, rather frugal brother, liked the fact that Dad was hanging onto such an old car as he himself had an old Toyota estate of similar age
I have an '89 Camry that’s still going strong. I really don’t need it anymore, but I can’t bear to dump it since it stills runs well. Up until a few years ago, I had an '83 VW wagon that ran well, but its body wore out.
Woot, I have a '93 Sundance! We call it FrankenCar - it HAS had an engine and tranny replacement (cheaper than getting a new car, and the 'dance was free) but damn that car has gone above and beyond the call of duty. It spends retirement taking me to the store, and that’s it. A nice change from the days The Highwayman drove it to LA and back (160 miles roundtrip from where we are) three days a week.
Our other car is a '95 Saturn stationwagon, and I’ve been impressed with it. It’s nearing the 200k mark and still goes better then the (older but with less mileage and a new tranny/engine) Plymouth. We change the oil, do tuneups, lubejobs etc. religiously on both vehicles.
I drive a 1995 Olds Delta 88 with 150,000 miles. I had it repainted last year at Maaco, and it looks great. The sound system is pimped with a 10 disk CD changer and XM Radio.
I’m fairly affluent, partially because I’d rather save and invest my money than spend it on car payments.
My Sundance has also been one of my most reliable winter cars (and that means a lot around here). We’re planning to replace it with an import for overall reliability, but I have no illusions about the winter performance of an import.
I drive a 1992 accord lx cobbled together from a front end crash 91 accord ex and a rear ended 92 accord lx. It’s got ~171K on the odometer( Don’t know to believe it though) but still gets the EPA hwy rating of 28 MPG despite the fact that I drive it at 80 on the freeway and tend to accelerate fairly hard.
If I could only fix the a/c i’d be golden for another 100k.
Yup our 'dance spent it’s early years in the Rocky Mountains - it never needed chains nor do I recall actual snow tires. I’m sad to have it in semi-retirement.
Harmonix I think you win for the best FrankenCar! Holy cow.
