I used to commute 92 miles round trip in my 1982 245 Volvo diesel. The engine went 250K miles until it didn't have enough compression to start anymore. It still is parked in my back yard. This will be my next 'new' Volvo.
Older car daily drivers
- Thread starter doublebase
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Yeah I really don't accept calls when I'm driving unless they are from family and usually they know not to call me when I'm driving unless it's urgent.
Honestly I sometimes question why I replaced the tape player in my Wrangler with a bluetooth capable head unit. It's not like I can hear people or they can hear me when I have the doors off and top down. I can hear fine with the hard top on but that is rare since it usually is parked in the winter.
Updated to announce we no longer have any 10+ year old cars. After running the numbers on the spare car (nearly $800/year in insurance and tags) and oilBabe being done with it after the failed plastic intake manifold, the 1999 Grand Marquis was sold on for $500 more than I bought it from my grandmother 6 years ago.
Guess I have to shovel the entire driveway now as I cannot block a large portion of it with the MGM.
Guess I have to shovel the entire driveway now as I cannot block a large portion of it with the MGM.
all 3 of my daily,s are old but low miles. 03 tundra 68k-03 sorento-160k-99 Silverado 90k
When I bought my 2004 Corolla 8 years ago it had 145K miles. It now has 415K and I still drive it every day. I've had to have some repairs done over the time I've owned it, but almost all of them were normal wear and tear items. It still drives fine and everything still works, even the A/C. I would have no worries about taking it on a long trip. It still costs me far less to keep it on the road than it would to start a round of car payments, and until something major goes, I'm going to keep driving it...
My daily (Volvo 240) and I will both be 30 next spring. I have taken it on 8 hour interstate trips, and I was more confident in the 240 being trouble free than the 09 Hyundai sonata previously used for said road trips.
Daily drive my 1998 BMW 328i Manual. 185,000 miles or so. Had it 10+ years. Many things have broken but never left us stranded. The only tech it has is climate control and of course it’s partly broken. The fresh air/rec. door needs to be “adjusted” in spring and fall with a screwdriver. Something deep in the dash broke or disconnected.
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I always hear stories like yours and I always want to do what you’re doing, but I just seem to sell it before it goes that far.
The longest I managed to get was with my Honda Accord; kept it 17 years and 289,000 miles, but it took some effort towards the end. The thing just wouldn’t run right...it’d stall, it needed brake lines (again), it was consuming oil, I began having to replace parts every month...ended up selling it. But for the most part that car was super reliable and I figure it saved me about $50,000 in car payments, insurance, taxes, by keeping it that long. So I’d like to do something like that again (currently own a 2016 Avalon that I really like).
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That’s cool, it is funny how we keep things going and how we deal with those things on cars as they age (talking about your blend door). I’ve driven with check engine lights for years, a Slightly leaking oil pan gasket for 17 years (actually prevented the oil pan from rusting out). And I once had a blend door issue with a Honda, for some reason on cold days it wouldn’t flip over to heat...you’d have to move the heat knob two or three times and then itd finally become unstuck and move. Had to do that everyday for five winters.
Funny how we know every issue a car has and just ignore it for years. Especially seasonal issues.
I spent $250 on a 20 year-old, mostly purple slant-six Duster with 77,000 miles. I drove it the 950 miles to college and back for three years and then all over the country. From roughly near Memphis, I took it as far away as Lake Tahoe, Alligator Alley, Minneapolis, Texas Hill Country, Moab, and northern Wyoming.
The odometer broke 5 or 6 years later, at 190,000 plus. I sold it about 6 months later and bought a 1987 Caprice with the police package and 150,000 miles. I drove it the same way for another few years and 50k, when I bought my current daily driver new--a 2001 Silverado.
That Duster still shows up in my dreams sometimes.
The odometer broke 5 or 6 years later, at 190,000 plus. I sold it about 6 months later and bought a 1987 Caprice with the police package and 150,000 miles. I drove it the same way for another few years and 50k, when I bought my current daily driver new--a 2001 Silverado.
That Duster still shows up in my dreams sometimes.
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Sam_Julier
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The Volvo 240s in my sig are daily drivers. Between 35 to 40,000 miles a year on both combined. Meticulous maintenance is all that is required.
My daily driver is a 2008 Cadillac CTS 3.6DI fully loaded that I bought new. It has 178k miles now and still looks new. I drive a round trip commute of approx. 75 miles. I've been offered many times to sell it but I decline because the book value of the car is about 5k and what can I get for that price that is nearly as nice? Nothing. So I will drive it atleast a few more years. The only repairs needed was (of course!) timing chains under warranty around 50k miles. I run Mobil 1 HM 5W/30 at 6k mile intervals.
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I’ve always loved the way those caddy’s look.
Here in New England a lot of us live in southern NH and commute to massachusetts For work (the pay is much better in mass), and we all commute up and down RT. 93.
There is a guy who lives in Londonderry NH (I think anyway because he gets off at exit 4) who absolutely bombs up and down RT. 93 in his CTS wagon. It’s black or dark blue and it has a Transformer sticker on the rear hatch. This thing is legendary for us commuters because this guy drives like a demon. Just floors it the whole way everyday. Everyday. Boom. God help you if he comes up behind you, he’ll get so close to your bumper that the paint will almost touch. He’s brutal. But I’ve always admired the “car”, not so much the driver (this guy is a real D). But I love the way the CTS wagon looks. It just looks like a driver’s car. And this CTS is a used every single day. Pedal to the metal, weaving in and out of lanes, hitting those brakes, flooring it again...sun, rain, snow, wind, winter, fall, summer, spring. Pedal to that floor every single day. If any car can withstand that it’s got to be a good car.
I don't have one vehicle that doesn't have that kind of issue.
My Cherokee was well over 100K miles and 10 years old when I was using it to travel for work. Usually 100-150 miles a day!
What
What repairs has it needed besides brakes, tires, battery, fluids, etc? 05 Matrix here with 163k on it. Thanks!
Alternator, exhaust system, 3 wheels bearings, 1 window regulator...that's it I think...