Do people drive cars that are older than 20 years regularly?

Question

I'm trying to buy a used car and I hate all the models of the last 20 or so years except for a Honda del Sol which I can't find anywhere and a De Lorean DMC-12 that I just don't have the money to make look exactly like the Back to the Future car. In other words, does anyone drive a car that is older than 20 years as their every day car? Of course a new Miata or Ferrari would be nice but WAY too pricey. I only have about $7,000 to spend.

Answer 1

Hey man y dont u try some shevy or mustang .....if u r in muscles they are easily in ur reach and still classy...

If u wanna go for a decent ride HONDA CIVIC 1990 model is best ... I am driving this for a year now and no problems..

Answer 2

If you have $7000, you can get a pretty good car for that price. I would recommend the Scion TC (Scion is Toyota's sports, younger generation sub brand). For 7000 you will find a used Scion TC at your local Toyota dealer.

It is a Toyota and therefore it is extremely reliable and its sporty and performs well. You will probably find yourself a used Honda Civic/ Accord as well, which are also extremely reliable cars.

The problem with getting cars that are more than 20 years old are many. First of all, cars that old did not have advanced engines, therefore fuel economy will not be good as later models. Sometimes finding parts for such old cars are also not easy, you will find yourself going to car junkyard frequently in search of parts that are not longer made.

So my recommendation is to leave out old cars and get a newer car, and for $7000 it isnt hard to find.

Answer 3

Very few people do.  about 95% of what's on the road is cars less than 5 years old.  They disappear fast!

I drive a 40 year old car every day, and I am breaking my own rule on this - my car is hard to get parts for.  The #1 rule ought to be parts availability, but that's usually no problem at all.  The #2 rule should probably be great gas mileage these days (my car gets about 28 in town).  Despite what anshu says, cars in the mid-1980's got better gas mileage than they do now.  Cars were lighter then, and most importantly, they had less than half the horsepower of cars now.

The Deloreans, surprisingly, are pretty easy to get parts for.  All the unused parts were brought back to the US and belong to a company in Texas:   http://www.delorean.com/  I think they'd be pretty serviceable.

But anyway, if you want a new Miata why not buy a 1990 Miata?  What's wrong with that?  They're about $3000, so you'd have $4000 to put in the bank.

Answer 4

Unless it is a very old but restored car (IE 1964 Mustang), I don't see many people driving cars older than 15 years.  At that time, most cars will fail.  The engine and transmission can still go strong in some cars that were well engineered, but there will probably be too many small problems to make it worth driving.  I've always wanted a De Lorean too!  There is one two blocks down from where I live for sale and it taunts me every time I drive past it.  I say you need to research more, there are many cars that I consider to be beautiful and are produced within the 12 years.  Check out the 1998 240sx, 2001 Imprezza, 2004-2005 WRX, 2000 SC400/SC400, and many more.  If you want more recommendations, feel free to e-mail me or send me a message here if permitted.  If you don't like those cars, then I guess you simply have a taste for older cars and it can't be helped. =)

Answer 5

hahah - i like how you keep naming expensive cars and your budget is only 7 large! hahaha!

sorry, I dont mean to laugh at you.

anyway, I agree. I also prefer older cars but, it's getting increasingly difficult to find older cars for only $7000.

I own a couple of cars. I have my daily commuting car - a 2005 VW Beetle - and a weekend car, which is a high end sports car. But, at my place out east, I have an old 1952 Chevy 5300.

This old pickup is falling apart but, still runs solid. I dont fix it up because I like it the way that it is. When I weekend out east, it is my daily driver.

But yes, many people use 20+ year old cars as daily drivers. Keep in mind that 20 years ago was 1988 and there are many, many cars from that decade that are still on the road.

Many of the old diesel Mercedes, for example, are making a resurgence as people are buying them and converting them to run off vegetable oil. Five years ago, you could have picked up a 1982 Mercedes, a good sized one, for under $3000. These days, the price has doubled. The lure of free fuel is too much for people to consider these cars as things of the past.

BTW, the Del Sol is a weird car to drive. It's terribly under powered and not really that safe.