What are your thoughts on driving an old worn out car?

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What are your thoughts on driving an old worn out car?

Post by bk7794 »

This video has always kind of intrigued me. It was something that I missed about my 91 civic though when I drove it I always tried to protect it from getting additional dents and scratches. But if something happened it really wouldn't be the end of the world. Which brings me onto the next car I drove from time to time. My family's 01 Taurus. The perk on this car is the high mileage, low value but the car still looks really good. Not much visible rust and visible dents. Of course there are still dents and dings but you really do not care what happens to the car.

So that brings me to my question. Do you like driving something nice or are you someone that doesn't mind the possibly ugly looking car because you know it'll get destroyed anyways. I kind of like driving a high mileage car that surprises people. A high mileage Honda while cool really doesn't surprise too many people....

Thoughts?


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Re: What are your thoughts on driving an old worn out car?

Post by potownrob »

I don't think I ever really enjoyed owning a reliable POS (other than maybe my 96 accord); for me it was more out of necessity, since I couldn't or didn't think I could afford a newer car. I personally wouldn't want to get a car that's 10 years old or older, not even a honda. That's not to say I couldn't end up getting one. That guy Eric in the video there talks about major repairs like they're nothing. To him, they may not be expensive or inconveniences, but the thought of having to pay for those things would bug the hell out of me. You also have to take into account where you live and the condition and future condition of the body of the car. Your 91 civic, for example, was fun to drive and cheap to run and maintain, but it sounds like the body was on its way out. That in itself wouldn't be considered dependable to me. Even my 02 Impreza, I was afraid of what could happen to it (mainly mechanical), and that car was only 10 years old when I got it. 03 accord seemed reliable; too bad it was a boring automatic. Also too bad I had cheap all season tires on it and rear ended a truck in the one snowstorm of winter '11/'12. 96 accord was good, especially looking back, and I always found it odd no one found it cool that I was driving an old beater. My mom made fun of me for driving it. I would look back at it and think how good it looked and drove despite being 15 years old. It was a timeless design. Granted, I put a good 2k into it to get it into good enough shape to not need frequent repairs, and the window motors were all on their way out, but it seemed like a nice car to me. Rambling now so pass the baton to others to share their thoughts.
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Re: What are your thoughts on driving an old worn out car?

Post by theholycow »

Is there a transcript? I'm not sure I have enough interest to watch 11.5 minutes of monologue, but I could probably read it in two minutes.

If you're mechanically inclined, willing to do a lot of your own work, have multiple vehicles, and have enough fiscal self-discipline to save a portion of the cost-savings for repairs, it can work. You also have to not be too worried about the image that comes along with driving it.

If you don't have a second car, then when it breaks you'll need it fixed fast. When you need it fixed fast, that's expensive. It's also a huge hassle and you still end up not being able to get around until it's fixed.

When my ancient beat-up hacked-up badly maintained car breaks, I park it in the back yard and drive something else until I fix it. Occasionally something breaks and I have to bring to the shop; I expect to leave it there until they have time, rather than rushing them. Once it broke on the road (thanks to some sloppy mechanic work prior to my owning it) and I towed it home myself. Once it broke on the road (thanks to my own badly-executed modification) and I used my roadside assistance service to tow it to a nearby shop. I'm mostly ready to deal with this kind of crap, and my boss doesn't mind if I can't make it in because my car broke...he's cool. Don't get me wrong, my car gets me there dependably enough; I've driven it 80 miles a day for over 4 years now, putting 70,000+ miles on it. Compared to a brand new car that's a good record; on average, new cars I've observed have needed more bugs worked out in the same amount of time.

If we're talking a more reliable "POS", maybe 10 years and 100,000 miles old, after the new cars bugs have worked out but before old car maladies have set in...that's a car in the prime of its life. Just keep up with scheduled maintenance, fix the small stuff before it becomes big stuff (or before it's a million little things), and keep driving it for another 150,000 miles.
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Re: What are your thoughts on driving an old worn out car?

Post by Rope-Pusher »

I've driven on both sides of this road.
I went through a time where I always purchased my cars and in that timeframe, I kept them for 10 years or so. Sure, things wear out and repairs must be made, but it was sure nice to be that many years removed from having to make car loan payments.

Then I became eligible for leasing a car through the company where I was working. My Goole was having issues that I thought sure the new set of head gaskets and a valve job would have taken care of, but it didn't. In retrospect, I should have dug a bit deeper and I probably would have come up with the catalytic converter had become plugged, but I bailed and leased a minivan instead.

That was the beginning of my leasing years. The corporate lease plan was for 1 or 2 year leases, with unlimited mileage, all repairs and service covered, even tires, brakes, and wiper blades and also insurance and licensing. The lease payments were deducted from my pay and I didn't have to turn in the old vehicle until the new one was ready for pick-up. There was a string of minivans, driven by my spouse unless we were traveling as a family, followed by a PT Cruiser, Pacifica, PT Cruiser Turbo, Dodge Charger RT, a couple Durangos and another PT Cruiser. My children never had to pay for auto insurance as long as they were only driving the corporate lease vehicles, one of the big advantages of the corporate lease plan.

When my daily driver got to be about 10 years old, I sold it and started my own string of leased vehicles....but leased like a mere mortal, through a car dealership. At first, I looked at it like purchasing - I ordered exactly what I wanted and drove an Amish '95 Neon. At the end of that lease, the dealership wanted $60 more per month to lease a 2-year newer version of the same car, so I turned in my keys and walked home. Then I started playing the lease payment game: What can I get for $x per month and no down payment? That was the beginning of my Cherokee/Liberty streak, with one minivan thrown in to cap it off - vehicles whose good resale values kept the lease rates inexpensive. Oh, and the vehicles available for lease off the dealerhip lots, they are NEVER Amish, but I drove Amish at work, so I didn't develop any spiritual deficiencies. At some time, I became eligible for a 2nd corporate lease vehicle and after an interim Dodge Nitro, I ordered my Amish Liberty.

When the last PT Cruiser and Liberty came off of lease, I purchased them and those are the two household vehicle now. They are both just over 70,000 miles and 7 years old. I kinda like not having a car payment again. Biggest expenses have been tires and a new radiator fan for the PT. It will be awful hard to find an Amish replacement for the Liberty, so I may end up driving it until the wheels fall off.

I went through a period of time where I was responsible for transporting Scouts to and from outings, while towing the equipment trailer. It was nice to have the utter confidence that a newer vehicle brings that I wasn't going to have a breakdown and be stranded on the side of the highway on the way to or from camp. I still have that confidence in my current vehicles, but for how long? My children have changed my views of car ownership - they drive cars that have 150,000-250,000 miles of experience. Sure, stuff wears out and breaks down, but financially, they are way ahead of the game compared to short-term ownership or leasing. It helps to have a back-up vehicle available in the family to tide your transportation needs over until the daily driver can be repaired.
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Re: What are your thoughts on driving an old worn out car?

Post by watkins »

My car turned 16 in June and has just under 192k miles. Many of those miles have been pretty abusive. The PO did not maintain the car well, I because race car, and I tow often. As such, stuff breaks. I fix it. I move on.

My wife's Mazda we bought new in January of '11. It now has 75k miles. Nothing has ever gone wrong with the car. Ever.

I prefer my car with all its faults. Because things break, I know it intimately and can usually keep up with things. If something other than the obvious goes wrong with my wife's car I have no idea what Im doing. No thanks.

Additionally theres the issue of soul. Old cars have personalities and stories to be told. Theres a inherant character to them that nothing new can compare to. Except old Mopar. It saddens me how uninspiring the products are. Also it terrifies me how poorly they age. Most of the Libertys that come in for the trailer hitch recall are just asking to be put down - even the babied ones.
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Re: What are your thoughts on driving an old worn out car?

Post by theholycow »

theholycow wrote:Is there a transcript? I'm not sure I have enough interest to watch 11.5 minutes of monologue, but I could probably read it in two minutes.
Ok, I played it while I was doing something useful. Here's the transcript, with repetition removed: "Something reliable but not brand new won't make you cry when it gets dinged by a shopping cart or flying gravel, and I farted in new cars during PDI."

Yeah, so I do agree with him. I won't let it stop me from getting a new car in the future; I love that toxic New Car Smell, though the rest of everything about new cars actually kinda bothers me...got that warranty to worry about, for example, gotta make sure you don't do anything to invalidate it and then when something inevitably breaks you have to fight to get it covered. Then there's the inevitable dings and damage that happen when you're not even driving it; I sometimes think I should just take a hammer to an inconspicuous spot on a new car I've bought so that at least I can drive around comfortably instead of worrying constantly about when it's coming. I've got plenty more rant but I can't remember it all right now. So anyway, New Car Smell trumps all of it except cost...as long as I can forget about Eric's farts.
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Re: What are your thoughts on driving an old worn out car?

Post by wannabe »

As someone whose only driven POS's (94 and 89 dodge spirit, 93 tercel, 97 escort, 93 prizm, maybe missing a car), and right now does not have a car to drive, yes i'd like a POS to drive, but I know I cannot afford the various repair costs that come with owning any car, but especially a hand-me-down, worn out, ready to die car.

I sold the 97 escort who died in a parking lot (we thought it was the shifter fork, ended up being the differential?) to a friend who fixed it up "just enough" to get it running.

The tercel and the prizm died in car accidents (my fault). the 94 spirit was the family "this is the person who is learning to drive" car, and as such, when i went to college it stayed home. the 89 spirit died some how, i do not recall how. Theres a car i'm missing - i had to pay to replace both front axles when they broke because the previous owner had the wrong size put in, so when they broke (two different times), it was an expensive repair. Same with all the alternators the escort went through. Tows and repairs are expensive.

I also cannot work on my own cars, not due to lack of want, but space, garage, ability to wrench, and tools are the main issue. My uncle (when avail) was the main person who worked on my car, and i helped him with it, replacing small "easy" stuff.

I was never much concerned with dings/dents/rust (the panel for one of the doors on the 89 spirit was like 75% rust and open to the interior of the door), as they're all POS's.

i still want a car. just for ease of going places, not haveing to waste an hour waiting for a bus, if i miss a bus SOL due to will be late for work, busses not running specific times, etc. but there is no way, right now, financially, this would be possible. could afford car, or insurance, not both, and mich ins is really expensive, even on the lowest level.
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Re: What are your thoughts on driving an old worn out car?

Post by potownrob »

theholycow wrote:
theholycow wrote:Is there a transcript? I'm not sure I have enough interest to watch 11.5 minutes of monologue, but I could probably read it in two minutes.
Ok, I played it while I was doing something useful. Here's the transcript, with repetition removed: "Something reliable but not brand new won't make you cry when it gets dinged by a shopping cart or flying gravel, and I farted in new cars during PDI."

Yeah, so I do agree with him. I won't let it stop me from getting a new car in the future; I love that toxic New Car Smell, though the rest of everything about new cars actually kinda bothers me...got that warranty to worry about, for example, gotta make sure you don't do anything to invalidate it and then when something inevitably breaks you have to fight to get it covered. Then there's the inevitable dings and damage that happen when you're not even driving it; I sometimes think I should just take a hammer to an inconspicuous spot on a new car I've bought so that at least I can drive around comfortably instead of worrying constantly about when it's coming. I've got plenty more rant but I can't remember it all right now. So anyway, New Car Smell trumps all of it except cost...as long as I can forget about Eric's farts.
yeah, this is what happens when you spend too much time driving old jalopies. :lol: The ding and dent thing seems blown out of proportion to me, even for a lease car.
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Re: What are your thoughts on driving an old worn out car?

Post by theholycow »

:lol:

Actually, I drove one jalopy for my first car but then it was an almost new car followed by a brand new one and then a brand new lease, and that feeling was very real for me and very strong. Waiting for that first damage is some seriously unhappy suspense, followed by serious disappointment when it finally happens. With the lease my paranoia was multiplied by a thousand, worried about how much every little ding was going to cost when I turn in the car. When I got back in a jalopy I was so comfortable and free again.
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Re: What are your thoughts on driving an old worn out car?

Post by kevinf »

I have a Saturn Ion quad-coupe that's about 11 years old now, haven't had any major maintenance issues. The driver side power window motor has failed twice and the HVAC blower got a bit noisy so I had it replaced preemptively (it never actually failed, just didn't want to have no heat or A/C if it did!)

I've had it paid off for about 8 years now so I've been able to max out my IRA with just what I'd have been making in car payments for the past 8 years. I am considering upgrading to a newer vehicle however for a few reasons...
  • Northeastern winters are hard on vehicles due to road salt. Things are going to rust out eventually.
  • After a decade, parts are simply going to start to fail. Rubber gets hard and brittle, bolts get loosened or seized.
  • Cosmetic damage adds up, I've got various scratches and cracked panels that I really don't care to fix when I could spend that money on anything else.
  • I honestly am a little bored with the vehicle after 10+ years.
I'm considering a used Infinity G37 or equivalent or a new and loaded Ford Fusion Titanium. The only problem with the Ford is that they don't come in manual! I'd be heading over the the dark side. I do have a motorcycle when I feel a need for speed and manual shifting I suppose, so the car can be for luxury. The Fusion is really nice, they have options for AWD, 240/240 HP/TQ turbos that run on regular octane, and a hybrid model with a 19 mile electric range (enough to get to and from work without firing up the gas engine), plus loads of amenities inside. The Infiniti is practically barren amenity wise compared to the Fusion though it should be better "fit and finish" wise.
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Re: What are your thoughts on driving an old worn out car?

Post by bk7794 »

I gotta admit I'm pretty happy to see the turnout of this thread. Even though my current car to some people would be considered a jalopy to some its in too nice of condition and in all honesty cause I don't like it, the value and condition is all it has going for it.

That's the shame...Problem is finding a jalopy that you won't kick yourself over years later for buying and one that doesn't amazingly cost more money than a good car. I've found plenty of cars that for only a couple hundred bucks more you get half the mileage better condition etc...
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Re: What are your thoughts on driving an old worn out car?

Post by potownrob »

kevinf wrote:...Ford Fusion...
what about the focus st?? :twisted:
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Re: What are your thoughts on driving an old worn out car?

Post by IMBoring25 »

The one I consider my beater is actually the newest of my four-wheeled conveyances, at only 18. Even as my beater it looked better than it did when I got it until an encounter with an uninsured red-light runner a few months back.
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Re: What are your thoughts on driving an old worn out car?

Post by Rope-Pusher »

My son feels there is some lower limit on the cost of safe, reliable transportation. If you purchase a vehicle below that value, you'll likely need to plow some money into it to bring it to that level. Often, it is tires, brakes, suspension, and/or exhaust that have worn out over time and need to be dealt with. After that, the cosmetics may continue to degrade, and the wear items you haven't replaced yet will continue to slowly degrade, but if you can do at least some of the wrenching, it is still usually less expensive to keep it on the road than to pick up something newer.
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Re: What are your thoughts on driving an old worn out car?

Post by Squint »

I've driven a handful of older need-maintenance-occasionally cars and driven a couple of new cars (one purchase, one lease) and for now, the newer cars are winning the debate between the two. That decision is significantly swayed by the fact that I don't have a ton of time to work on the little things being in school, working full time, and having a family. And there is also something nice about the new car smell/newest tech in the cars (pending you can still find the manual shifter...).

That being said, I'm planning on keeping the Fiesta for at least another 6 years (it'll be 10 then) and I don't have a payment on it so it's just the Mazda lease payment every month. I can see the appeal of not having a car payment at all, but at this point in life, it feels like I'll have at least one payment for the next foreseeable future so I can have the warranty/newer stuff/less worries about breaking down/etc...

Now if I had a garage and some more free time... that opinion might change for at least one vehicle.
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