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How old is too old for a vehicle to be reliable?
- Thread starter Elkins45
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When something is simple and soundly engineered then age is almost immaterial. My 44 year old motorcycle has been near 100% reliable. The only time it has ever had a fault out on the road is when the points closed up on a test ride because I'd failed to tighten the screw adequately after adjusting them at a service. Other than that, nothing has broken or failed outside of routine servicing. Pretty much everything mechanical and electrical is original as it left the factory. The only none routine service items that have ben replaced are a couple of rubber bits that perished with age. Mechanically it's simple and bullet proof. I happily ride it without carrying tools or spares with one small exception. I built an electronic points amplifier which is a potential failure point so I carry an Allen key and spare condenser which would enable me to revert to standard points ignition at the side of the road.
I don’t have your skill set. I’m a pretty decent part swapper, but something like that would require me paying a grown-up to do, and that takes a lot of the economy out of an economy car.
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
I'd keep it newer than a 2000.
My '96 Jeep has had a lot of stuff go from just age. Currently the HVAC control unit on the dash is bad.
My '96 Jeep has had a lot of stuff go from just age. Currently the HVAC control unit on the dash is bad.
ls1mike
$50 Site Donor 2024
Out here in the Pacific Northwest with mild climate and no rust. My kid is daily driving a 2003 LB7 Duramax. I see 25 to 30 year old cars everyday. Depends on how you take care of them.
I mean don't buy an Isuzu that someone half-assed a head job on then. Now that's it's done right it's good to go.
I think you'd have no issues driving something like an 80's Nissan or Honda or Toyota every day as long as it's not beat to heck.
twouvakind
Site Donor 2024
Brand dependent, could be unreliable as early as new.
All depends on the Brand maint, ect
It dednds on many factors that will never be known to the buyer on a lot...
I have purchased vehicles as high as 150,000 miles before, one even 165,000 (an Infiniti G35) but I knew and understood the platform and what could and likely would not, go wrong with the car as it ages.
Brands where i have no knowledge by model would be scary.
It varies widely. My Trailblazer will be 20 years old in March. The biggest thing I've had to do to it so far is a new radiator. Currently has no engine lights or leaks and runs, drives, and shifts great. The only problem is a bad actuator for the HVAC which will be getting repaired soon. The body is rust free and the frame has only minor surface rust. I daily drive it and would take it anywhere without much concern except for the terrible MPG. The prior owner didnt need any major repairs in the years that she owned it either. My sister's car is 5 years old with 50k and good maintenance and is in the shop now for an engine replacement. My last brand new truck I didn't trust because of a myriad of issues in the first 20k miles.
A mass market car of a certain age will have most of its bugs known and repairable quickly and with available problem-solver parts. "Everyone" will know that symptom A leads to problem B if ignored.
A brand new car with untested tech can break down on day two and the dealer will be beside themselves trying to find whatever gremlin lurks deep in the wiring harness.
And what is "reliable"? For some people it's getting to a destination every time. For others it's continually existing with repairs staying under $500 a year, with weekly oil and under-hood checks.. A pre-OBD-II car makes sense for some people in smog-testing areas as a perfectly fine car can be legally sidelined on a technicality.
A brand new car with untested tech can break down on day two and the dealer will be beside themselves trying to find whatever gremlin lurks deep in the wiring harness.
And what is "reliable"? For some people it's getting to a destination every time. For others it's continually existing with repairs staying under $500 a year, with weekly oil and under-hood checks.. A pre-OBD-II car makes sense for some people in smog-testing areas as a perfectly fine car can be legally sidelined on a technicality.
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Specific to this question - I think the general consensus I have read is most things rubber MTBF is in the 10 to 15 year range. A lot of plastics are in that range also - like radiator tanks, etc. . That's mean time, so some go much more, some not as long.
However, if its for a second car, and you can fix little things yourself - I personally would have no issue buying something that is traditionally reliable in that 15 year range. Replace the main hoses, etc, maybe even the rad - and your likely covered for things that will leave you stranded. Will the AC or something like that fail - maybe - par for the course.
Depends on the vehicle and how well it was maintained. I would think nothing of jumping in my 1997 Volvo 960 and taking a 5,000 mile round trip to Los Angeles and back home. Yet, would I do that in my 2010 Prius, maybe? I wouldn't be as confident with my Prius as I would be with my 27 year old Volvo. In practice I would be more inclined to do that trip with a vehicle under 5 years old with less than 50K miles.
Don't use anything that started in the Iaccoca era as your metric. Don't use anything Chrysler at all....
The two cars I’m currently wasting my time considering are a 2003 Ford Focus wagon and a 2004 Mazda Tribute. I’m sure when I go to look at them both will be garbage.
The 2005 Fusion I went to see last week wouldn’t start. That’s after 30 minutes of driving their giant lot with the sales guy trying to find it. I think they sent it directly to scrap after I left.
The 2005 Fusion I went to see last week wouldn’t start. That’s after 30 minutes of driving their giant lot with the sales guy trying to find it. I think they sent it directly to scrap after I left.
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That is a good point.
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My daily driver is a 1986 Dodge Daytona. I'd drive it anywhere (while enjoying its ice-cold A/C). Just brought it down to our new home in TX from St Louis; made the 1,000-mile trip without a hiccup and got over 26 MPG in the process.
Iacocca's K-cars and their derivatives are amazingly simple and durable machines. Up-to-date? No. Reliable? You bet.
BarryH hit the nail on the head in post #42: "When something is simple and soundly engineered then age is almost immaterial."
I like this question, but think it is not structured quite right. The original poster cites seals and gaskets as something that fails related to age. That suggests staying with regularly used cars. The other question is, essentially, "How old is too old." We can probably agree that cars were massively less reliable in the fifties, sixties and seventies than they are now. I would apply that to all cars of these eras and all previous eras. They were not reliable then, they can't be reliable now. Getting into the eighties, plenty of Japanese cars were coming into their own, and if they did not rust, they could still be on the road.
I think that the 1990's are when you could really bank on reliability, and would say that if you find a clean Japanese car, or a Crown Vic, or Impala, even a well kept Maxima, you might do okay.
The cars themselves matter, You want newness, you want less than 150k, you should stay clear of CVT's. Clear titles and no bodged repairs.
Lastly, the brands matter. You mentioned an '03 Focus and a Fusion. Hard no on both. The Tribute might be okay, but a CRV is a many times better choice.
I think that the 1990's are when you could really bank on reliability, and would say that if you find a clean Japanese car, or a Crown Vic, or Impala, even a well kept Maxima, you might do okay.
The cars themselves matter, You want newness, you want less than 150k, you should stay clear of CVT's. Clear titles and no bodged repairs.
Lastly, the brands matter. You mentioned an '03 Focus and a Fusion. Hard no on both. The Tribute might be okay, but a CRV is a many times better choice.
If you are diligent when it comes to prophylactic maintenance, and if you manage to get all required spare parts and don't mind the required labor and expense there isn't really an upper limit to keeping a vehicle in top shape. With standard Maintenance only I'd say things start to deteriorate at probably 70k miles or 8 years old on most cars.
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