No car is perfect. Regardless of the myth of brands, a Toyota can get engine sludge. A Honda transmission can go south for eternity. Even the vault that is an old Mercedes will need to be lined with the insulation of greenbacks from time to tomb. There are definitely tendencies when it comes to cars. But no absolutes. Nada. Like the game of baseball, the winners are threshed out through experience. What makes the real difference in all that time?
The owner. He or she (or it) dictates the long-term goodness of a vehicle … and nowhere is this more evident than at the auctions. At the sales I’ve even seen twenty year old shitboxes that ran like tops. The quality of construction was wanting. In a paper mache kind of way. But even when the door panels and roof could be redesigned with one good punch, the owner thought otherwise. Here’s a question for today. What is the crappiest old car you have ever seen in great shape?
Trabant, when I was in Europe.
Probably too many to remember over the course of a lifetime.
However, just the other day in the garden spot that is downtown Waltham, MA, I did spot a maroon Caddy Cimarron with nary a scrape, dent, or scar of rust. Flawless wheels and tires, good molding, spotless roof.
Not bad at all, especially with badging suggesting an original MA purchase.
Every once in awhile, I will see a pristine Chevy Celebrity cruising about.
My brother just bought (in the Detroit area, go figure) a 1995 Dodge Dakota pickup. First time I’d ever examined one up close….build quality appalling….lots of loose trim bits, canyon-like gaps between parts, etc. …even allowing for the fact it is 14 years old. Terrible, truly terrible quality of materials, cheap tinny metal in the cab and doors, flimsy switch gear etc.
But the small V-8 purred like the proverbial kitten, and the paint, while a tad faded, shined.
The previous owner (a septuagenarian retiree, natch…) loved him some Dakota, took care of it to the Nth degree and managed to nurse it well into a second decade. A small miracle, IMHO, given the truly terrible execution of the manufacture of this vehicle by Chryco.
Now, of course, my bro will beat the sh!t out of it, so it might last him 18 months before it seizes up from the abuse. Not to say my brother is hard on cars, but….okay, he’s hard on cars.
Most pristing daily driver that wasn’t a crappy car in the day? A first gen Accord sedan. Flawless. The best not-so-great even it’s day car? A mint Ford Granada…and it was one of the older ones too, before the square headlights.
According to a Popular Mechanics list of the 10 worst GM cars, my father has owned no less than 4: Chevy Chevette, Chevy Citation, Chevy Monza, Saturn SL1.
However, my dad got all of those cars to last over 150k miles in every instance (Saturn is still around, 12 years old and 180k). He did maintenance/repair by the book in all cases, and he got great longevity out of them, despite the fact they were crappy cars.
I keep that in mind when I go car shopping: any car can lost a long time, so long as you take care of it. Korean, Japanese, American, or otherwise.
BTW, I also saw a mid-80’s Toyota Starlet a coupla weeks ago. It was memorable to me, because it had nil rust….it HAD to have been hermetically sealed in Saran wrap lo these many years, or else brought in from a state which don’t salt, because it was almost pristine….usually IF you see one of these on the road, it has more rust than paint….these were true penalty shyteboxes.
Just about every Russian car on the streets of Moscow when I moved there in 1992. I’m convinced that Russian cars work better broken than any other vehicle. Things changed quickly during the five years I was there.
Twotone
About a month ago I was driving down I-25 in CO and saw an mid 80’s Ford Tempo that looked like it just rolled out of the showroom. It was weird that someone put so much time & money keeping a car like that in carshow-ready condition.
Until about 9 months ago my daily driver was a 1995 Cherokee. It still runs like a top and has a shiny body with no dints. It’d look new if not for faded plastic parts, some skuffs on the bumper, and a few paint chips on the wheels. It’s now my ski car.
I had one of those, 83 Horizon. It had a 1.6L Peugoet pushrod 4 cyl with solid lifters, (advanced european technology) and a four speed. I had it 12 yrs the last two my kids shared it in high school. They learned to drive stick in it. and yes we put a clutch in. The first and last FWD car I put a clutch in on my driveway. When they went to college we “sold” it to a friend of theirs who drove it two more years. Its biggest enemy was road salt. But no worse than any other car of that era. Still see a few around, my kids will even comment when they have seen one. They and their friends have good memories of that little POS.
Just last week a saw a Lada Laika. Ladas were imported to Brazil for a few years back in the early 90s. The red metallic paint was shining, all the chrome bits, too. It was clean and all body panels were aligned and dent free.
It was stunning really in the way the car stood out in the drab sea of modern silver, black and white cars, with excess curves, and dopey huge front lights, that dominante the streets down here. And the design…That car is a copy (licensed) of a Fiat 124 (me thinks) from the 60s. Made me look in the local Craiglist if any were on offer. Crazy idea.
The owner. He or she (or it) dictates the long-term goodness of a vehicle … and nowhere is this more evident than at the auctions.
This is true, but you have to give the owner something to work with. My parent’s first car (a ’76 Dodge Aspen) was babied and maintained and still rusted, glitched and smoked. It did it for thirteen years and through a lot of maintenance dollars, but still.
Comparatively, the Corolla that replaced it wasn’t maintained nearly as well (my parents spli, my mother got the car, she wasn’t a maintenance kind of person) and it lived longer than the Aspen despite the oil not getting changed for three times the maintenance period. I’m sure there are similar tales for Chevy Citations or any number of 80s-vintage Renaults and FIATs, but you can only keep paying life support for so long.
The owner makes a difference in the condition of the vehicle at time of purchase, but once the miles start accumulating I’d say the robustness of the design becomes once again apparent. There’s exceptions to this (eg, if the original owner was truly bad, or if the car is a fundamentally poor design) of course, but buying a mint Omni/Horizon is never, ever going to be as statistically sound as a mint Corolla or Civic.
This is, I think, why Toyotas really do so well. They’re reasonable in performance and execution, but in my experience they are the most forgiving of owner neglect. I don’t think that even stalwarts like the Volvos and Mercedes of old can suffer at the hands of an average owner the way a Camry can.
Not to hijack the thread, but did anyone ever figure out what it costs to maintain a Toyonda, “at the dealer with all the dealer and manufacturer recommended services”? Say if you go 12 years and 175,000 miles. Small fortune I would think.
In most cases, I believe that owner love(maintainance) has more to do with the longevity of a car than the brand.
Crappiest Best cars I have owned, early Mercury Sables
well put, psarhjinian. I agree that Toyohondas are probably the most forgiving of owner neglect.
There’s a Plymouth Horizon parked in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh…it’s mint. Even the steelies are shiny and look brand new.
It honestly looks restored…though why anyone would restore a Plymouth Horizon is beyond me.
I think that all of the stories above represent a convergence of sorts: a specific example of acceptable vehicle build regardless of what the general build quality was, and a sensible owner who understands proper maintenance. The lack of either of these things will result in a vehicle that becomes junk quickly.
There’s a mid-80s Buick Regal coupe around here, gold with a landau roof, wire wheels, bench seat covered in velour, absolutely immaculate. Quintessential old lady’s car.
It honestly looks restored…though why anyone would restore a Plymouth Horizon is beyond me.
Either love or belligerence?
I feel the same way about a nice Aspen/Volare: someone really had to love the car to keep it looking like that. If I ever have the money lying around and I see a shit-brown Aspen or Volare wagon in good condition, I’m damn well buying it.
It’s one thing to see a nicely-kept Cadillac or Mercedes or whatever, but keeping a shitboxeconomy car in it’s prime is interesting and, I’d argue, very different and far more rare and special.
I see a light orange-ish mid-80’s Plymouth Scamp (fwd el camino)in a local town in Ohio all the time. Looks newer than new. I talked to a gas station attendant who said the old guy had owned it since new and it had tons of miles… the guy waxed it every week and has never driven it in the winter. I’d like to see in the bed.
Another (Chrysler) one I’ve seen on occasion over the past decade is a late 80’s dark blue Daytona. That owner drives so slow I’ve had the (mis)fortune of being stuck behind her a couple times.
The old Corolla could last forever on a wing and a prayer.
I’d originally thought that the sludge issue with the new ZZ engines was overblown, but after sharing my cousin’s experience with the black death on a regional forum, people started piping up about varnish and sludge starting to appear on properly maintained new Corollas… even with the use of synthetics and proper change intervals. The Toyota reputation may not have gone the way of Mercedes, not yet, but it’s starting…
And if have to drive one more blown Honda autobox…
A mint condition ’82 Olds Custom Cruiser towing a 18′ pop-up camper. This summer.
My mother has a 90 Taurus that’s pretty good (100k miles), especially since it only adds about 3k miles a year at this point.
Oftentimes, the best car is the one that’s paid for.
It honestly looks restored…though why anyone would restore a Plymouth Horizon is beyond me.
It’s one thing to see a nicely-kept Cadillac or Mercedes or whatever, but keeping a shitboxeconomy car in it’s prime is special and, I’d argue, very different and far more rare and special.
Two opposing and respectable views. I agree w/ Mr. Psarhjinian though. I love it when I see old Ford Escorts and Del Reys, Fiat 147s and 80s Unos in good condition, driven along without caring if others think its a waste of money. I particularly agree, too, that normal, prosaic cars are much more beautiful to be seen in this kind of condition than pristine lux cars. I would think (though I’m sure I’m wrong in some cases) that, in general,the owner of the simpler car put in much more time and love than the owner of the old, spotless luxury thing.
Though in my last trip to the US I saw an old Caddy Cimarron in mint condition. but, can that really be called a luxury car?
A pristine Hyundai Excel.
Since I’m perpetually on the hunt for old cars on the street, I’m pretty convinced that some of these well-kept old cars noted above, like the Horizon, are probably old folks’ cars that ended up sitting in the garage for much of their life, until the inevitable happened.
I’d originally thought that the sludge issue with the new ZZ engines was overblown, but after sharing my cousin’s experience with the black death on a regional forum, people started piping up about varnish and sludge starting to appear on properly maintained new Corollas…
Just to note: the Corolla was never subject to the sludge issue. The affected engines, in North America, there the 2.2L four and the 3.0L six, used in the Camry, Avalon, Highlander, Sienna, Celica, ES and RX. The Corolla’s smaller four was never affected, nor were the straight sixes in some Lexuses, nor the truck engines, just the MZ (V6) and S (I4). The ZZ fours don’t sludge, statistically speaking.
If you’re seeing sludged Corollas, chances are it is owner neglect.
And if have to drive one more blown Honda autobox…
This is another one people misinterpret. That was the five-speed automatic (Honda H5) combined with the V6 engine and usually on their heavier or higher-performance vehicles. You’d rarely see a Civic or any four-cyl Honda with this problem; you also won’t see it in any car made after 2003.
The same applies to GM’s plastic intake manifold issue or VW’s coilpacks. It’s important to understand what’s actually affected and why and not let it become an old wives’ tale or forum fodder.
When my great great aunt passed away in the late 90’s they found in her garage an early 70’s coupe deville convertable, red, white leather and the 500 with less than 20k on the ODO, looked like it had just been driven home from the dealer. Tried to get it but to many in front of me (actually got so bad amongst the nieces that a judge forced them to have an auction after an appraiser valued her assets)
EDIT: sorry, less than 2,000 on the ODO
In high school (around 1992) I bought a 1982 Nissan Sentra w/ 220K on it for ~$200. The previous owner had washed it daily (so much that the paint was thinned out) and obsessively detailed it weekly. He fixed every mechanical problem with it immediately and had all fluids changed regularly.
Me being 17, turned it into a beatdown clunker in a matter of 9 months. But, I still sold it for more than I paid.
psarhjinian :
September 25th, 2009 at 11:13 am
If you’re seeing sludged Corollas, chances are it is owner neglect.
That’s the funny thing, one was, two or three of the others weren’t… which is why those others didn’t blow, because the owners caught it in time.
And that’s even with synthetics and our relatively short local oil change cycles (5000 kilometers… 3000 miles).
It’s not a huge thing, but I’d gone all this time thinking: that can’t possibly happen here…
@Mr. Psarhjinian
Don’t want to start a big ole discussion or anything, but may I respectfully disagree?
About Toyota and Honda products, I’m sure that statistically they never do, except when they do. And when they do it’s never the car’s fault. I’m sorry, but I don’t buy that. All cars can have problems and oftentimes it’s not the owner who’s to blame. Though of course you’re right, other brands seem to have significantly higher number of cars w/ problems.
BMW Isetta and the Messerschmitt “car.”
I just ran into a 78 Ford Fairmont Futura with about 80k on it, it was like a time capsule car. I couldn’t believe someone would actually care for such a POS. Oh yeah 2.3 edition Auto too…
“And if have to drive one more blown Honda autobox…
This is another one people misinterpret. That was the five-speed automatic (Honda H5) combined with the V6 engine”
Nothing to misinterpret. Bad transmission failed because this Made in Japan Honda unit is badly designed and built. The problem was the car’s fault. I bought a new Odyssey 5 spd auto of the age where many fail. I did more than twice as much transmission maintenance as the SEVERE service schedule using only Z1 done at the dealer sometimes. I do not tow or race. Full throttle used less than 10 times ever because no need and torque steer is large. The transmission failed near 70k miles. Slipped badly. It was replaced with a rebuilt. I paid through the nose at a dealer for a replacement as it was out of warranty. I also paid through the nose when I bought the vehicle new.
My grandma had a 1978 Mustang with white leather and white vinyl roof. She bought it new, and sold it in 2000 with under 30k on the odometer and always garaged. The thing was starting to have problems (probably only fully warmed up a few times per year), but it looked like brand new except a little deterioration on the white-wall tires. Man…she thought that car was so damn fast :) I think she’d tell people “it’s the fastest 78 model American production car” LOL…I doubt it, but even if that were true it’s nothing to brag about. Like saying you have the world’s sharpest spoon.
Still, it was always fun to see one of the most reviled cars ever in near showroom condition.
A few blocks from where I live they keep a perfect looking Chevy Chevette in their garage. I heven’t seen it moving though. A couple of blocks over from there someone else had a Chevy Monza, also garaged.
Someone in the town where I live owns a Yugo that looks like it just rolled off the showroom floor.
One worker in the factory has a Chevette Jr (venezuelan/brazil 2dr version) fairly clean and with a 2.8 V6 (from a Celebrity/Century) in it.
Ford Cortina coupe. MINT.
Dodge Dart Sport. For sale in a local site. I think they sold it already.
Some Fiat Regatta.
Ford Sierra, I’ve seen 2, 1 mint, the other one very clean. Lovely both of them.
I own an 1988 Plymouth Horizon that was my great-aunt’s first new car. She gave it to me and I have started to restore it out of sentimental value. Besides a brake line failure and a cracked battery terminal i have had no issues with the car. It is a daily driver and i put over 50 miles a day driving across Rhode Island. It currently has about 86xxx miles.
About Toyota and Honda products, I’m sure that statistically they never do, except when they do.
I never said that they never do, only that they’re statistically unlikely to. Statistically, buying a 2003 Oddy has a higher risk of transmission problems (eg, as do some Fords and Chrysler models and vintages). Buying a 1999 RX300 is taking a risk on sludging (as is buying a 2002 Saab 903, which I did, and which had only minor sludge issues)
What I’m ranting against is taking specific, known cases (V6 Automatic Hondas from the early 2000s) and extrapolating them where they don’t apply (all Hondas, ever). You can buy a Neon or Civic and be more or less unafraid of transmission failure, or at least as unafraid as would be statistically expected, but if you’re buying that Odyssey or a certain vintage of Caravan, perhaps you want to pay closer-than-normal attention during your drive-around and perhaps ensure they’ve been diligent about changing the fluids.
This all hearkens back to my original point about the design of the vehicle is important. You can baby a car all you like, but sometimes the inner lemon shines through.
psarhjinian,
I beg to differ on the Honda autoboxes. My wife owned a 2000 Accord 4cyl auto. Trans failed at 45,000 miles and all though it was out of warranty(36×36) Honda bought the full replacement parts and labor. They had serious issues with that trans and were replacing them no questions asked.
BTW it is still in the family. My son now owns it has 167,000 miles. The engine purrs but the trans is getting shakey again. He is just milking it till it fails then will try to find a junkyard replacement trans. Body is great.
From Brazil
About Toyota and Honda products, I’m sure that statistically they never do, except when they do. And when they do it’s never the car’s fault. I’m sorry, but I don’t buy that.
Are you saying problems in japanese cars are solely an owner’s fault?
So everything they produce is perfect/defect free/design flaws free?
Because, if they were designed by humans and produced by humans, they far away from perfection. No matter where and who manufactured them.
This spring, I was cutting down Congress st. I saw a pristine, just off the show room floor, puke green Pinto. I was so amazed, I let the guy pull out in front of me.
I’ve seen a few late 80s Mercury Sables on the road that appear to be in excellent condition. No road salt here, but the sun tends to destroy the paint over time. The theory that these long-lasting cars spent most of the time in the garages of elderly owners sounds right to me.
Regarding Honda and Toyota longevity, I think the issue is fewer cheap parts that wear out prematurely during the middle of the vehicle life. The corresponding older Ford, for example, is the victim of Jack Nasser cost cutting. A well maintained Ford lives a long life, but the owner had to put up with the annoyance of replacing many parts that could have and should have lasted to at least 100k miles if the manufacturer hadn’t been so penny wise and pound foolish.
This was a while back, back when I grew up in the 80’s. One of our neighbors was a little grey lady of indeterminable age. from our kitchen window we had a view of her garage. She had a car, but being a widow for some twenty years or so, obviosuly without a drivers license of her own, the car was garaged most of the time. It was a moss green Saab 92, early fifties. As all Saabs of the earliest years had that color, it must have been one of them. Once every year, her brother visited her.
And you could notice, because he always started up the old Saab and took it for a spin. You could notice, because it sounded in the neighbourhood like a Spitfire. That, and all the smoke coming out of it. But it was a sight to see, sitting on first row in our kitchen, eating breakfast. I reckon the car was only driven that particular day, and then rested until next year, because it was nowhere to be seen in between. And, of course, except for the dust, it was in pristine condition.
“if you’re buying that Odyssey or a certain vintage of Caravan, perhaps you want to pay closer-than-normal attention during your drive-around and perhaps ensure they’ve been diligent about changing the fluids.”
Not too helpful for Odyssey. To be clear, changed only Honda brand Z1 AT fluid very often and still the Odyssey transmission failed.
“This all hearkens back to my original point about the design of the vehicle is important. You can baby a car all you like, but sometimes the inner lemon shines through.” How true. It did in my Honda.
I have one that would probably top the list for most people: 1978 Oldsmobile Delta-88 DIESEL. Grandad bought it new and kept it garaged as his good car. (He had a beater for winter and everyday driving.) My dad inherited it. The original paint is getting pretty faded because it’s now kept outdoors for 6 months a year, but it’s still all original (yes, the engine too) and rust-free.
I live in the rustbelt, and any older car in good condition stands out when I see it. When I lived in the ‘burbs, there was a silver 80’s Plymouth Caravelle around the corner from me that was near mint, but was a daily driver. It had a rear license plate frome from Krown, a company that does oil spraying. IMO, that car was the best testimonial for getting your car oil-sprayed.
Re: Honda transmissions
I heard this once but could not confirm it, that Honda used the same outside engineering contract firm when they developed their auto trans that had the problems as Chrysler did. What’s interesting is that both units need “special” fluid (i.e. not a Dexron or Mercon derivitive). Has anyone heard a similar story?
tubacity,
Many early Chrysler transmissions did fail because of the wrong fluid. But it wasn’t the owners fault. The manual and dipstick said to use the same fluid as the vernerable 727 Torquflite when it should have specified the new ATF+3. Most independent shops at the time didn’t know they required a different fluid.
An elderly couple in my neighborhood owned until just recently a 78 Plymouth Horizon. With wood paneling! It was the 2nd car and was rarely driven. The husband passed away recently and the Horizon went away, presumably somewhere else in their family.
A few years earlier, there was another older couple in the neighborhood with a pristine 73 LTD 2 dr. It was that hot tomato red with a white vinyl roof. I live in salt country, and most of those early 70s Fords disappeared years ago.
Crappy or not, the Datsun pick-up 620 series from mid-seventies. Not only there are a few left in some villages in Greece, in top shape, they are used on a daily basis. Decades ago, Nissan based on the reliability of these vehicles created a myth which still “works” today for Navaras.
Perhaps people put their cars in storage more back in the days? Another neighbor had a black fintail Mercedes in storage, an early sixties 220SE. I know that because as kids, we were roaming all over the neighborhood, playing games. Especially, we divided the group of kids in different teams, and then played war against each other. No fences, no barriers, just houses, barns, yards. We were running all over peoples yards, and somehow, I broke into this outhouse, a barn, and I found this Mercedes. I couldn’t have been more than ten years old, but it quickly got on my list as cars to gotta have as a grownup. What’s interesting with this paricular Mercedes, was that I never saw it out in the open. It must have been more or less abandoned in the shed, a future barn find.
A couple of years ago, I visited the old neighborhood, after having been away for twenty years, and of course, I just had to look up the old car. I rang the doorbell, and explained myself. Explained that I happened to know they had a car in storage a while back, and wondering if it was still there. The guy I was talking to, was very very surprised. Because, it was still there, but he had no idea how I could have gotten hold of it, as it hadn’t been driven for thirty odd years, and the owners had been very secretive about it. He just rented the house and the outbuildings, but the car was still there, on request by the owners. I got a telephone number, because I had a plan to buy it, but I never rang…
It boggles my mind, because I could never understand the circumstances behind such a fate. Big, black Mercedes hidden under a layer of dust in a barn? Must have been a bankrobbers car. They hid it while they layed low and divided the money. Or was it simply too gratuitous to drive around? Had they scammed someone out of their fortunes, and then used the money to buy a Mercedes? But then they hid it out of sight, to prevent people talking? The ten year old never stopped thinking about it, anyway…
@Stingray
Are you saying problems in japanese cars are solely an owner’s fault?
So everything they produce is perfect/defect free/design flaws free?
No señor. I’m saying exactly the opposite. I meant to say that, though apparently, statistically, Japanese cars break down less than other brands, they do break down.
Because, if they were designed by humans and produced by humans, they far away from perfection. No matter where and who manufactured them.
Sí señor. Totally agreed.
And, apparently, when they break down it’s usually something expensive. Like someone said above of a Ford, most of the products of the Big 4 (Fiat, VW, Chevrolet and Ford) down here, most of the time, will run a very long time w/ maintenance and when they break down, it’s usually not something that’ll break the bank. Most Hondas or Toyotas though, when they break down (old or young, and as I say, down here in my home market) it’ll probably be something expensive. It’s very difficult selling a more than 5 year old Japanese car in the market down here as most everyone recognizes that keeping them after a while will cost more than an equivalent product from the other, mostly European and American, makers. (In this aspect BTW, most Fords after 1995 are feared, too. Again in my home market).
Someone at a local car show will occasionally bring their stock, low-mileage, light blue 1971 Vega hatchback.
Good question Mr. Lang.
I owned a 1986 Dodge Mini Ram Van (Caravan commercial panel-van version) that I purchased from my F-I-L. Between the two of us (him for 7 years and myself for the balance) we coaxed 21 years of good use out of it. 280,000 Kms, with the original transmission, heck virtually original everything. In fact, other than the stereo, the only part of the Caravan that was replaced was the hatch door window. With the 3.0 liter V6 and the Torqueflite 3-speed it was a veritable rocket in it’s day.
I also owned a 1992 Dodge Spirit that I purchased brand new in October of 1991. We coaxed almost 17 years and 230,000 Kms out of it. 2.5 liter I4 with the same Torqueflite that was in my van. A whopping 100HP, but it made many trips, several through the mountains even. The kids learned to drive on this car, and learned basic maintenance and basic washing habits on it, as well.
Sadly, both above vehicles succumbed to rust, long before they they were ready to give up the ghost in the mechanical way.
I regularly washed, waxed and detailed my vehicles, but once the rot has started it’s almost impossible to stop.
Neither vehicle owed me anything when I gave them up. The Spirit had a few more mechanical issues, and I had quite a bit of work done while it was on extended warranty, but even it cost very little, when I averaged it out over the 17 years.
Look after your car, even if it’s piece of shit. The Dodge Spirit was basically a disposable car for most people. While buddy was still paying installments, on his third or fourth car since I bought my Dodge, I went 15 years without making a payment after the second year. I was able to buy my 96 Voyager for cash because we had saved all those payments!
Every so often I’ll spot a well preserved Ford Maverick,and it’s never the same one.Here in the rust belt you just don’t see old cars much anymore. And by old I mean 15 yrs. or older. Pintos,Pacers, Vegas,Citations,Torino’s,Fiero’s are gone forever. Here , if they are not driven into the ground they just rust away.
Tubacity,
My 99 Odyssey had the transimission replaced for free by Honda in 2007 with 90K miles on it.
Honda realized they had a design problem.
I was surprised but it was the right thing to do even though it was way out of warranty.
In the senior’s village where my grandmother lives, there is a better-than-pristine Dodge Omni. The paint, body and even the wheel covers look brand new. It has the original pinstripes and stickers. I’d say the old couple that own it got their money’s worth out of that car.
Also, just down the road from me, some guy is selling his 1987 Mercedes Benz 300SD. It looks like it’s less than a year old and I see it driving around town occasionally, so it does get driven.
Love what you’ve got.
86 Olds Calais I bought with 21,000 miles on it. The car was 8 years old. It got the “Cadillac” of car care schedules: 3 months or 3000 miles whichever came first.
I wound up replacing 3 alternators,a heater core, the torque converter switch stopped working, A/C compressor died, 2 sets of brakes, a water pump. My efforts and belief in the theory of: take care of your car and it will take care of you were sorely tested.
Every time I turned around it was another $300.00 repair up till the time I gave it to my parents, who put another set of brakes on it, another alternator [I think],and on and on.
That car was pristine when I bought it. Pristine when I gave it to the folks, still beautiful when they gave it to a friend of theirs in the church they belong to, and still clean and straight when she quit driving and gave it back to my parents.
Subsequently it was given to my brother who took it past 100,000 miles when it blew a head gasket, was fixed and who is now still driving it on a daily basis.
It still looks good, the interior is in excellent shape, the body is still tight. The Tech IV sounds like a tractor, but they all get loud over time.And now it gets those “neat old car” comments from people at the store or gas station.
I gave it to my parents because I bought my first new car: a 99 Cavalier 2 door, which got the same treatment and which needed barely anything in 50,000 miles except brakes. It was pristine as well. Until some jag off in a BMW rear ended me while I was stopped in a left hand turn lane waiting for the left turn arrow to turn green.
Moral? Sometimes even your best efforts get torpedoed by A: bad design B: bad drivers.
Let’s see if I can get my 05 ION to that state of factory fresh POS 20 year old car. It’s only got 39,400 miles on it now. Given A: it’s GM and B: I live in L.A. What are the chances ? The polymer panels will help, I think…..
Somebody around here has a 1978 Dodge Li’l Red Pickup Truck that looks like it just rolled out of the factory. It sounds wonderful.
1974 Mustang II. Bought it brand new. Every major component replaced at least once and many twice. The AC *never* worked. It would easily qualify under any lemon law today. Endured that POS for 2 years and dumped it.
I s’pose this should qualify. My SIL,has a 10yr Sebring convertable that she has driven since new. IIRC, it is 10 yrs old , but looks new. Prolly runs like new too, my brother has been working as a mechanic since he was 10 yrs old and could see over the dash board.
During the summer I kept seeing a 1st gen Civic. Really nice but driven like it was a regular commuter. Weird. For around these parts it should be in a museum.
Another is a Mercury Comet. Clean example but obviously just a well cared for car. Why though, I don’t know.
In Aurora there’s a guy with a mid 80’s cream coloured 2 door Malibu. Really stands out from the crowd. Starting to rust in spots and he must have starting troubles with it because he never shuts it off.
I wonder if I live in the same place as Joe McKinney. I’ve seen a pristine Yugo puttering around a few times recently.
A completely restored 1974 Gremlin X Levi edition driven by a young guy who resurrected it from a rusty slow death in a pasture. It looked like it just came out of the showroom-unbelievable car.His grandfather had owned the last AMC dealership in his town.
http://www.mystarcollectorcar.com/
I saw a tan ’76 Chevette parked on my block last year. Since it moved from its’ spot, I assume it moved under it’s own power.
My father-in-law once put 270,000 km on a Mercury Topaz, and then passed it to me and my wife as a second car during our early years of marriage. We put about $50 bucks worth of parts into it over the next two years, before passing it on to another family member.
In the territory in which I travel, I often see a number of pickups that have received regular maintenance and love over the past 20 or more years. Obviously more Fords and Chevys – probably because more were sold in the first place than any other reason – but the occasional Dodge, as well.
I rarely see a compact pickup of the same vintage, either foreign or domestic. But again, that may be more the results of numbers sold, rather than better engineering or build quality.
Simca 1000. Back in the early ’70s when people had less disposable income, there were quite a few of these flimsy cars putt-putting along the streets of VA where I grew up. My parents also drove them – bought used, and although prone to not starting on rainy days, having black vinyl flooring and seats, a gas tank shape that caused stalling when driving up steep hills, and a ~40 hp engine, they were reliable (if not embarrassing) transportation. Many of them lasted 10+ years, which was impressive for cars made in the ’60s and early ’70s.
Years later, I ironically had a coworker with a Dodge Omni that was 20+ years old. The owner was a thrifty lady in her 50s who kept it looking like it just rolled off the dealer’s lot. Every time I rode in it something seemed vaguely familiar about it. It wasn’t until several years later I learned the Omni was actually based on a Simca design.
Also, my grandfather was very meticulous about maintaining vehicles, and had a pristine Rambler station wagon and a Mercedes 250SEL that both looked new inside & out and ran like a top, as he’d say, 25 years after he’d bought them.
Here in Upsalt New York, I saw a factory-fresh Pontiac T1000 last week. With NY tags. Thought I was hallucinating.
There’s someone in my neighborhood that owns what must be an 81-83 Ford LTD (the one that was based upon the Fairmont). It is a daily driver yet looks as if it came out of the factory less than two years ago. And he’s had it for as long as I can remember, probably since new. Why someone would bestow such love upon such an unremarkable car is beyond me but hey, as long as he ain’t bothering nobody…
Roberto Esponja: “Why someone would bestow such love upon such an unremarkable car is beyond me but hey, as long as he ain’t bothering nobody…”Beauty is in the eye of beholder. It really is a testament to one’s tenacity to maintain a car that’s not only mediocre in apppearance, but engineering, as well, to the same standards as an exotic automotive object d’art.
I mean, it’s one thing to expend the effort and resources to keep and maintain a Ferrari or Jaguar to showroom new condition. It’s quite another to expend the same effort and resources to keep and maintain something like a Yugo to the same level.
Frankly, I’m looking for someone who has an immaculate Austin Marina. Now that would be misplaced devotion.