CAN an older rig actually be reliable?

[Optimistic Paranoid]

it depends on the mileage, condition at purchase which will tell a lot about the previous maintenance and very important where it has lived all it's life. A well maintained low mileage, garaged, 25 year old rig driven in a dry salt free climate, can be in far better condition then 5 year old marginally maintained vehicle that has spent it's life outside, in the snow and salt.

Especially if it was only driven by a little old lady on Sundays to go back and forth to church!

You are, of course, absolutely right in a theoretical sense, but methinks you would have an easier time finding the Holy Grail than actually locating a vehicle like you described.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

I think you could find something that ticked most of those boxes, fairly easily in places like Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, California and most of the PNW. The holy grail on the other hand may not even exist other then in the minds of a few Christians.

 

[Willy]

All depends on the vehicle. My '56 Grumman step van was still going strong when I sold it (dumbest move EVER) in '98 (somewhere around there). Things I like about the old rig are ease of maintenance, cheap n plenty parts, and much fewer parts to go wrong. Even as crippled up as I am, I wouldn't think twice about doing major mechanical repairs on my '85 Grumman step van. In fact, I almost picked up a TH400 tranny at Pick-a-Part on my way up here to swap out. Would've cost me around $80 too. ..Willy.

 

[rvpopeye]

When I lived in Tucson , the junk yards were full of vehicles with perfect bodies and frames but the drive train was totally worn out from all the sand in the air!
I decided the best way to go would be to bring a motor,tranny and rear diff from up north and combine with the southwest parts....never got to do it though.

 

[highdesertranger]

even though I like older vehicles mainly because I believe they were built better, simpler, less doo dads, less plastic. I also believe if you don't have the knowledge or the ability to fix the vehicle yourself then you are at the mercy of either buying new or slightly used. I look at it this way, you either pay upfront or down the road. highdesertranger

 

[SoulRaven]

So many of these posts are exactly the kind of info I needed, thanks everyone! It's given me a lot of clarity on all the factors involved. The eclectic mixture of opinions all pointing in the same general direction of common sense is one reason I love this place.

Unfortunately decisions regarding choice of rig are being shelved again. I got a few letters today indicating that my SSI income has been ceased, effective immediately, and my medical coverage is in jeopardy. The whole thing is an obvious error but I'll need to go through an official appeals process to correct it.

Please keep adding anything you have to contribute to this thread! It's all so helpful and I'll return to it when I'm able to pick this up again.

 

[ViaVacavi]

I think the original duty of the vehicle has a lot to do with longevity. I have a 1981 motorbike built on a Chevy P30 chassis and a 454 engine. Everything on it is heavy duty. I bought it for scrap weight in 2014 after it had sat in someone's back yard dormant for 12 years. A quick change of fluids, belts and some new ties and the thing still runs like a top.

I have a friend with an older model Chevy Suburban with a 454 and every heavy duty option available at the time. He's crossing 500,000 miles with nothing but routine maintenance.

While heavier and worse on gas, I believe that some of the older vehicles that were over built for severe duty can have some lot of reliability

 

[steamjam1]

Thats a good point. If one buys a 1-ton chassis and suspension truck and gets a simple camper shell, its going to last a lot longer then a 1/2-ton chassis and suspension with a large, heavy cab over camper on it.

 

[arctic cat]

I do my own maintenance and like to tinker and I had own new and older vehicles. The thing about is PREVENTIVE Maintenance. Preventive Maintenance involved finding the problems before they find you. I'm the type of person that like to deal with things in my own term. If I have a vehicle with a manual transmission at about 100,000 miles I'm dropping the transmission and putting a new clutch and replacing any and every little part inside there (Pilot bearing, flight wheel, throw out bearing, pressured plate ect.) because I hate been stranded and I would hate to drop the transmission again because one of the bearing that I reused fail. Older vehicles of course need more maintenance and they do breakdown at time, just as any newer vehicle that is poorly maintained. Some people see maintenance as fixing things when they actually breakdown. That in my opinion is a poor way of dealing with vehicle issued because you may get stranded in a place that you may not want to be and ended up paying for parts a labor a price that you may not wanted to be paying for. I have a Jeep 12 years old, purchased brand new and with about 140,000 and knock on wood no problem, because I stay on top of it, every 5,000 miles I change the oil rotate tires and ect. I'm now working on a 30 year old diesel van and I'm going thru it with a fine tooth comb. It pay to know your vehicle and to have a nice set of tool.

 

[JLynne]

I think you could find something that ticked most of those boxes, fairly easily in places like Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, California and most of the PNW. The holy grail on the other hand may not even exist other then in the minds of a few Christians.

 Love your attitude. And I'd like to believe it's possible and hope I've ticked most of the boxes. (Still need to post in the newbie section.)  I may have paid a little too much, dunno. I looked for a van that had been driven, not left sitting, not abused.  One that had not towed much, if at all.
   I wanted a conversion that I could jump into and go without allot of modifications. I found it. But the space could be improved.
    My mechanic did the testing, compression good. Emissions passed with room to spare.
    He replaced the O2 sensor, water pump, and oil pressure sensor. Told him what they said they'd done:
Exhaust system, Serpentine belt, tail shaft uni-joints. We're watching the ball joints, rear brakes.
    I may have gotten screwed on the AC... Top off the R12 ac ? Don't think so! Changing that over next week.
And need to find a spare tire carrier to get the spare out from under the mattress!
Got her at 107K miles for at 5k, they bought it at 90K miles. As far as I know, Colorado and New Mexico.
   So far have spent 500.00 and still have 300.00+ to change the AC system.
    Now I'm looking and learning about power on the road and where to put an extra battery or just running a fan from batteries or simple solar. 
     I need to understand electrical to get fresh air for cooling if needed and lighting at night.  
     I'm learning all I can about maintenance.
To start I'm traveling not a full timer,  but can't seem to stop myself from viewing everything from a full time perspective. Trusting my intuition on that one.
Here are some pictures, hopefully...

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

I do my own maintenance and like to tinker and I had own new and older vehicles.    The thing about is PREVENTIVE Maintenance.  Preventive Maintenance involved finding the problems before they find you.  I'm the type of person that like to deal with things in my own term.   If I have a vehicle with a manual transmission at about 100,000 miles I'm dropping the transmission and putting a new clutch and replacing any and every little part inside there (Pilot bearing, flight wheel, throw out bearing, pressured plate ect.) because I hate been stranded and I would hate to drop the transmission again because one of the bearing that I reused fail.    Older vehicles of course need more maintenance and they do breakdown at time, just as any newer vehicle that is poorly maintained.   Some people see maintenance as fixing things when they actually breakdown.   That in my opinion is a poor way of dealing with vehicle issued because you may get stranded in a place that you may not want to be and ended up paying for parts a labor a price that you may not wanted to be paying for.    I have a Jeep 12 years old, purchased brand new and with about 140,000 and knock on wood no problem, because I stay on top of it,  every 5,000 miles I change the oil rotate tires and ect.   I'm now working on a 30 year old diesel van and I'm going thru it with a fine tooth comb. It pay to know your vehicle and to have a nice set of tool.

I used to like to tinker with cars, too, in my younger days.  It was a great hobby.  Now I just want the damn things to run, and keep running, without me having to bother with them.

You make a great argument for doing regular preventive maintenance.  However, with most older for-sale vehicles, you really have no clue whether it was done or not.  It's not unusual for you to be the fourth or even fifth owner if you end up buying it.

So unless the seller can hand you a thick folder full of bills and receipts showing that the maintenance was done regularly, I think it's safest to assume it wasn't.  Caveat Emptor!

 

[highdesertranger]

when buying used always assume the worse case scenario. buy cheap make sure the body and frame are in good shape. then go trough the whole vehicle font to back. you will end up with a decent vehicle for far less than new or barely used. of course if you cant do the work yourself the cheap part goes out the window. highdesertranger

 

[Gary68]

a 2010 with 250k miles is as just wore out as a 1975 with 250k miles
a 2010 that has been neglected and run into the ground is in worse shape then a 1975 that has been maintained
after all they are both just metal pressed in to some form and dont care about a couple decades,modern engines are better designed thus better all around performance but the vehicle that has just done 40 years of service has proven it's reliability a 2010 has not

 

[ArtW]

I have a 1996 Ford Ranger, 3.0
The body has a few dings n dents, the paint is peeling the interior is worn
it loses oil
it loses trans fluid
it loses coolant
I've had it for 3 years now, it takes me to work every day, it's taken me cross state, it's taken me to NC and back
I check the oil and other fluids every time I fill up, add as necessary, and fix things as they become issues
in 3 years, other than oil changes, I've replaced a broken taillight lens (my fault) and the battery
that;s it
no other work has been required
I was at one time an automotive enthusiast, then for a while I was a pro wrench, but doing it for a living took all the joy out of it for me, so now i procrastinate
in the same time frame, a friend of mine who purchased a 2 year old Hyundai has had it in the shop on multiple occasions
it's not as easy as 'buy newer' or 'buy older'
the best advice I've read in this thread is that given by High Desert Ranger, though I have to admit I skipped over some of it
I'm really surprised you're having so much trouble with SSI, My wife has been on SSDI for at least a decade, maybe 15 years, and they don't pester her about her withdrawals at all, in fact she runs herself broke every month without fail, and never a peep out of them
That sounds more like Medicaid's meddling, but even then they weren't that intrusive with my mother, any amount she pulled out for her needs was never questioned
Of course she was in a Nursing Home, but never was she questioned if, say, her account built up to 1000 and she took out 500, that is weird, it's like they think you're scamming them or something

 

[steamjam1]

I used to like to tinker with cars, too, in my younger days.  It was a great hobby.  Now I just want the damn things to run, and keep running, without me having to bother with them.

You make a great argument for doing regular preventive maintenance.  However, with most older for-sale vehicles, you really have no clue whether it was done or not.  It's not unusual for you to be the fourth or even fifth owner if you end up buying it.

So unless the seller can hand you a thick folder full of bills and receipts showing that the maintenance was done regularly, I think it's safest to assume it wasn't.  Caveat Emptor!

Yep. My Dodge RV is a '78. It has less then 100K on it, BUT its nearly 40 years old. So dry seals, rock hard gaskets, and rotten wood are expected. But the thing runs great. My works stake bed is a 2001, has less then 80K on it, and there isn't a straight body panel on it, the transmission only has no reverse, and the only gauge that still works on the gash is the temp. I'd rather wrench on the '78 any day...

 

[bullfrog]

Ever priced a vehicle that was used in the "Mad Max" movies? Old and reliable only works if you are devoted and truly love your vehicle. Just like people it costs alot to keep going if you can not do it on your own.