Ford Excursion with the 7.3 diesel.
keep a 20 year old daily driver for 20 years ?
- Thread starter macarose
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Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
Wasn’t the 4Runner optioned with the V8 for a moment around that time too? Or was that just a fever-dream?
It did have an optional V-8 at that time. Thirsty, but powerful and reliable. My mom actually had one. A 2004.
I've been driving my 2002 Impala a lot lately, and will be driving it to Colorado soon.
I've only driven one once, and I found the seating position remarkably similar to that in my Fiero. The seat was super low to the floor, with my legs stuck straight out in front like being in a go kart. Totally the opposite of the upright seating position people like so much in their big SUVs. It seemed really odd for a truck.
2005 Accord wagon, would be great I think, assuming almost every drivetrain related part was the same as an Accord sedans here. Bring one over from Europe. Or maybe a manual transmission awd CRV of that era? I guess that would do the winter things better than Accord.
I kind of like the 4 runner and Tacoma as they are designed for some off road capability, and going for ground clearance with a lower CoG means the cab/seats will be not quite as tall as its rivals.
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I'm fifteen years into OP's scenario. Bought my '90 Miata in 2010 with 80K miles on it. She's been my daily driver since then and now has 240K miles on her. Unless some catastrophic disaster happens I'll hopefully to still be driving her at that 20 years of ownership point. I've had other cars I owned until well over 300K miles, so I know it's possible with something fairly simple and well made, with maintenance kept up to a decent level.
My biggest takeaway has been that no matter how well made a vehicle is, after 200-225k miles things start failing - drive shafts. wheel bearings, gaskets and seals, etc. In addition to general consumables of course. So what you have to decide is, do I continue putting money into something that may suddenly fail in a way that's too expensive and labor intensive to fix? I often think that question is the biggest driver of people buying new vehicles.
My biggest takeaway has been that no matter how well made a vehicle is, after 200-225k miles things start failing - drive shafts. wheel bearings, gaskets and seals, etc. In addition to general consumables of course. So what you have to decide is, do I continue putting money into something that may suddenly fail in a way that's too expensive and labor intensive to fix? I often think that question is the biggest driver of people buying new vehicles.
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What worries me with the new cars is the manufacture deciding to stop software release after x amount of years and bricking the vehicle for good. The right to repair on something you own is a real problem today.
Oh, definitely. The other end of that spectrum would be my old S-10 pickup which had great big running boards and it was so low it would get beached any time I left the pavement. Not much ground clearance there LOL.
That is a first world mentality.
If you go to the developing world vehicles are measured by the Utility they provide. If you need to put a $5000 engine in an old car and you will get another $5000 of utility, you do it.
Here people just dismiss it out of hand because the resale value is still only $3000 so its "not worth it", or so the saying goes.
GON
$175 Site Donor 2026
Well, it depends on the car, there is a big difference keeping a simple older Corolla, or Hi-lux going, as its a simple and relatively cheap and easy to fix and its got very few expensive systems on it.
Now most vehicles that are sold, you could spend $5k a few times on some modern cars as they age, and still have several more systems possibly fail after 10-15 years that stops the car...
A corolla sold in other markets is the same as the one sold here. The Hilux in the rest of the world has the same ECU / BCM / ABS and other "expensive" controls as what we have here. There isn't some special variant of carburetor / points vehicles sold elsehwere. You can likely get one without AC though.
Even so that is not the trade off people are doing. They look at it and say - well the trade in value is only $3K therefore I will not spend $5K on it.
The utility value part is missing. Well, its not on this website, but as we know - where all on the spectrum here.
I think more people are going to begin to adopt this reasoning. You could justify sinking $5k into a vehicle worth about $3k if you don't have the ability to acquire a better vehicle. And there's no guarantee the "better" vehicle won't soon have expensive repairs as well.
But it is a crap shoot either way.
The 4th gen 4Runner was available with the 2UZ-FE V8 from the 2003 model year inception, through to 2009. Starting with the 2005 model year, it had VVTi, which increased power from 235 hp, to 268 hp (later revised to 260 hp). The V8 version had either 2wd, or Full-Time 4wd. The 2UZ-FE is a highly regarded bi-metal (Cast Iron block, W/Aluminum heads) engine. Change the timing belt on time, and keep it maintained, and it can last a very long time.
I drove the very first 4th gen 4Runner my dealer received, as the salesman was a friend. It lacked headroom compared to my 3rd gen 4Runner, so I never bought a 4th gen.
The headroom was improved in the 5th gen, and I eventually bought one.
The new 6th gen once again feels more cramped than the 5th gen, and with the glaring cost-cutting evident in poor fit and finish and materials quality in certain areas, in addition to being more cramped for passengers, and the tumble forward rear seats, I haven't been able to bring myself to buy one.
We daily drive our 2005 CR-V with manual transmission. Still in mostly good shape but it’s at 330,000km and starting to need more repairs. I do the work but time is at a premium nowadays.
I put in an aftermarket clutch master cylinder but it’s not working well and I think it’s time to bite the bullet and do a full clutch replacement with OEM parts.
This thing is still clean and comfortable, we love driving it, and I could see getting 10 more years out of it, well past 400,000km.
In my area, most $3k cars needs $1-2k to certify, and are very close to being rusted out. So dumping $5k for 2-3 more years of questionable reliability and/or numerous repairs, before it goes the wreckers isn't good utility/$. If your car is up to date on maintenance and not rusty, its probably a $5-8-10k car, and then is likely to go for enough years to get some value out of an expensive repair.A corolla sold in other markets is the same as the one sold here. The Hilux in the rest of the world has the same ECU / BCM / ABS and other "expensive" controls as what we have here. There isn't some special variant of carburetor / points vehicles sold elsehwere. You can likely get one without AC though.
Even so that is not the trade off people are doing. They look at it and say - well the trade in value is only $3K therefore I will not spend $5K on it.
The utility value part is missing. Well, its not on this website, but as we know - where all on the spectrum here.
For those who aren't handy, but can keep their car in decent shape. I would do the math on dropping the $5k into simple new/newer car, and enjoy many years of just basic maintenance.
Well yes logic dictates you need to look at the totality of the situation.
Nonetheless no salt here, and no inspection or emission test either - yet the junkyard is full of 10-15 YO cars that were not in wrecks, that someone decided a repair was "not worth it". Good for me if it has a part I need
When My Xterra was about 10 Years old it needed a timing chain - known quality defect. Had about 240K miles. I called 5 dealers within a reasonable distance - zero would touch it. They said to scrap it. That car got its timing chain, and has 420K miles on it now.
