Getting burnt out on old vans

[VanLifeCrisis]

I never financed anything in my life, but im seriously considering just buying a new(er?) van. These older ones are a great value if your a mechanic and know a parts guy who can get em cheap and feel like working on them constantly. I realized im like the opposite of all those things lol Nickle and dime you to death and i feel like im just waiting for the next thing to go.

My main issue is i dont want to be tied into my deadend job another 5 years :\

 

[One Awesome Inch]

Yeah its tough. Best thing is to buy as new as you can afford and pay a mechanic to inspect it... and pay him well so that he will want to do a good job. Heck you could it even pay two mechanics to inspect it individually... at different times of course. This way if one missed something your odds are better that the second guy will catch it. Personally, I have never financed a car and likely never will. Too much cash outlay and eventually they are going to present problems as well. However, you could also consider that being a home owner is also expensive. Repair the roof, dishwasher, toilet etc etc it all ads up. Plus you would still likely own a vehicle which would have issues from time to time.

 

[akrvbob]

I know exactly how you feel! We each have to find the sweetspot of the best vehicle we can afford without going into debt. The best rig I ever owned was my F150 4x4. It was $5000 which I didn't have but the dealer took $3000 down and financed it for the other $2000 and I paid it off in a year. I drove it 60,000 miles without spending another penny except the normal oil changes, brakes and tires.

That was the sweet spot for me.
Bob

 

[HarmonicaBruce]

For most of my life, I boasted that I'd never made a car payment in my life. I have good credit, and I have a few bucks I've saved up. I'm sold on the Mercedes sprinter, and mine was a 2002 with 400k miles on it. She still runs great (and she' for sale cheap), but I realized that for about 15k I could get a sprinter with 125k miles.

But, I'm getting old (67), and I figure maybe I should get a new van. It's pretty hard to find a used sprinter van that wasn't driven by a guy who didn't own it. Because I have good credit I was able to get a car loan for 1.79% interest.

Here's a tip, if you apply for a new car loan, be sure to use excel to figure out the payments, because if you don't, they will cheat you. I applied for a loan through my credit union for a 2% loan. They called me and said "how does a payment of $$$ sound?", and I said that I had figured it out with excel and I thought it should be lower, to which she answered something like "well yes, but I added on something stupid that you would never buy if you were aware of it". I said no, I don't want that add-on, so then the payment came out like it should.

I called the dealer and he asked me what kind of deal I got on financing. I told him, and he said he could get 1.79% instead of 2%. I said sure, but then when I went to pick up the van, I saw this "loan origination fee", and I let the guy have it. He backed off real quick and took it off.

So I have a 1.79% loan, while I can easily make 6% in the stock market. The bad thing about car payments is they make you have full coverage insurance, which is a lot. I'll probably drop my full coverage insurance in a year or 2, but I'll probably have to pay off the van when I do. We'll see.

Anyway, a new van is really, really nice. I recommend it. I have a number I can call if I'm broke down on the side of the road (warranty), and I get 2 or 3 more mpg than I did in my 2002.

 

[highdesertranger]

with older vehicles you must get ahead of the break down curve. what I do is go though every system one at a time and rebuild. when I do this I use top of the line parts. with a chevy 4x4 73-87 this can be done for well under 10,000 bucks then you basically have a new truck. highdesertranger

 

[SoulRaven]

I am thinking the same thing. Every time I think things are set another issue pops up.

For medical reasons I have a finite time to do my vandwelling and it needs to happen soon. I will make Quartsite if I have to freaking hitchhike so if you see an old fart with hat that says "Retired Marine" consider giving him a ride. This will be soon after you pass a maroon Dodge Van burning to a crisp. More than likely me.

Travel Safe, Bob J.

 

[vango]

Here's a site about the tradeoff between buying a newer car with lower repair costs vs. an older and cheaper car:

http://www.samarins.com/buying/

His advice is a 3-5 year old car is ideal, but under 12-15 years and 155k miles. Here's a cost of ownership estimator:

http://www.edmunds.com/tco.html

 

[SternWake]

I understand the frustration of older vehicles which will nickel and dime you to death.

But I'm not convinced new vehicles are any better. I'm with HDR on this.

Ever see how much they charge for the 30K mile service needed to keep the warranty intact? The massive cost of insurance for a newer vehicle, The cost of registration on a newer vehicle?

The fear of having a vehicle that thieves view as profitable to a chop shop?

Nah, screw that. I'll let my '89 nickle and dime me. I'll get frustrated with the lousy quality of replacement auto parts even when i seek to buy the best, and I'll pay 77$ to register it and 200$ per year to insure it, vs 1000 and 2200 it would cost to register and insure a new Vehicle in California.

Surprisingly new parts are still easily available for it.[/b]

But Mine is pretty much rebuilt everything at this point. Only wearable part not replaced are the rear leaf springs. I could never sell it for what it is worth, and its likely mechanically much more sound than anything anything with more than 30k miles on it.

Now the roof gutters rusting away, well that is an infuriating battle I am destined to lose, but the battles must be fought to prolong the war.

 

[Bdog1]

All that plus heavy depreciation for two years!

 

[MikeRuth]

I don't know what your thinking of buying and that amount could certainly change my view, but...
I never made a car payment in my life until I turned 50. At that time I had been through two Dodge vans that one was in it's late 20's and the other about 15.
Both were doing the nickel and dime thing and I just got tired of that. I bought a brand new F 150 with all the trimmings in warranty and service from a big dealership. Yeah a paid a bit more but I tell ya, letting the young'ens service it, keep the software up to date, rotate the tires, inspect it all has been a blessing.
Yeah it was 5 years of hell making that payment, but it's mine now! Bought it in 2007, didn't actually use it as much as I thought I would, times change. So it's been my weekend toy box now for about three years and I only have 52K on it. I actually just replaced the tires not because the tread was gone but because they aged out! Now that I have the desire to move toward Vandwelling this has been a blessing I didn't know was coming.
It's been a lot of fun converting a box to a camper with plenty to go yet.
But one thing that those 5 years has done for me is relieved me of worry and repairs. Oh I know they will come eventually but I figure I got a lot of good years of trouble free use to go.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Another factor to add to the decision mix is how much travelling you plan to do, and where.

It's one thing to live locally in an old van.

I, for one, would not want to deal with a breakdown in the middle of the wilderness on my way to or from Alaska.

Regards
John

 

[Canine]

That is a tough call. I've had good used vehicles and bad ones, too. One vehicle I had a new clutch put in it, but the mechanic didn't change the seal on the transmission. When that failed a few hundred miles later, it soaked the clutch with oil and ruined it. So I had to pay another $700 dollars to have the clutch replaced again. I didn't know at the time, but that is a $5 seal that is replaced as part of the job just like replacing the throwout bearing- it's replaced whether it needs it or not.

Then the right front axle started sliding out, so I started looking for mechanics to fix it, but no one wanted to touch it. I eventually found a mechanic to fix it which cost me $1400. Several hundred miles later it failed again, so I brought it in again. Another $1400. Several hundred miles later it failed again. I told the mechanic and he was happy to have me bring it again for another $1400. I couldn't afford to keep paying him not fix it, so I sold the truck for parts.

But then I've seen good deals. I had a friend who was in tough shape. He didn't have a vehicle and needed a way to get to work with winter coming. My neighbor had an old Chevy Sprint with the 1 liter, 3 cylinder engine for $500. The problem was it had a bad valve and the spark plug would foul out in a week or so. Taking the plug out and cleaning it once a week solved the problem. That is an easy-peasy job, so I told my friend that while this car wasn't great, it got good mpg and would get him back and forth to work until he got on his feet. I offered to buy it for him and he accepted.

He didn't clean the spark plug. The car was running on two cylinders and didn't have enough power to run in third gear, so he ran it in second. He would wind that car up as fast as it would go in second gear with smoke bellowing out the back. At least he kept oil in it. He had that for 18 months before he gave it to his niece who drove it for however long after that.

He didn't put a dime in repairs for that car and ran the living snot out of it, yet it kept starting without fail and kept running. $500 over an 18 month period is $28/month payment. Most people would kill to have such a small payment, but he didn't see it that way. A couple years after that, he brought up that car and talked about how much of a piece of crap that it was. I perceived it differently- I thought it turned out to be a great deal.

What is a good deal to one person is a terrible deal to another. Depends on what you think a good deal is.

 

[SoulRaven]

I sometimes make light of my issues with my older van, but I actually like it, it's age just leads to things breaking or failing. When I bought it the fridge and air worked fine. But failed after a while.I am lucky I guess, I am in the position where I can afford to get these things fixed, but someone in a precarious financial position would be screwed.

Being stuck on the road with little or no income would be devastating to many. I don't know of any solution except to be able to do repairs yourself as many of the members here are.

It does get a bit discouraging to have these little things that need repair, seat covers, gear indicator, and a couple of latches that broke. Some of the crap RV manufacturers use is so cheap it should be a crime.

I don't think having a new, high dollar RV is the answer, too many of them have issues and warranty work seems to take forever.

No easy answer.

 

[HarmonicaBruce]

What is a good deal to one person is a terrible deal to another. Depends on what you think a good deal is.

People are crazy. I was working at Texas Instruments in Dallas. A kid who got hired out of college worked with me. He had never owned a car. He was renting a car and renting an apartment. He told me he was barely getting by. I offered to sell him my 1974 Chevy Caprice that I had bought for $300, for $300. He was worried about that, and didn't have $300, so I offered to rent it to him for $50 / week (instead of $30 / day he was paying). After 3 weeks he said he wanted to buy it for $300. I said sure, but he thought the $150 he had paid for rent should count toward the $300. I said no, if you want to buy the car for $300, buy it. If you want to keep renting it, that's fine. If you want nothing to do with it, that's find too. He bought the car for $300, and thinks I screwed him. I totally saved his butt, and he thinks I screwed him. People are crazy.

 

[Canine]

People are crazy. I was working at Texas Instruments in Dallas. A kid who got hired out of college worked with me. He had never owned a car. He was renting a car and renting an apartment. He told me he was barely getting by. I offered to sell him my 1974 Chevy Caprice that I had bought for $300, for $300. He was worried about that, and didn't have $300, so I offered to rent it to him for $50 / week (instead of $30 / day he was paying). After 3 weeks he said he wanted to buy it for $300. I said sure, but he thought the $150 he had paid for rent should count toward the $300. I said no, if you want to buy the car for $300, buy it. If you want to keep renting it, that's fine. If you want nothing to do with it, that's find too. He bought the car for $300, and thinks I screwed him. I totally saved his butt, and he thinks I screwed him. People are crazy.

I wonder how upset he got at the insurance company when he learned his yearly cost for insurance was more than the car? How unfair is that? :huh: I bet his life has been a long series of people screwing him over, when in reality he has been his own enemy.

 

[Patrick46]

UGHHHHH!!!!!!

Canine buys a guy a car, who's only task is to clean A sparkplug once a week. (Oooooo.....big job there!)

He DOESN'T do it, and complains about the car being a POC????!!!! (What an Ungrateful POS!!!)

Same for Bruce's coworker. Ungrateful!


I generally drive older vehicles myself. I do 'most' of my own repairs, and I like the simplicity of older rigs.
Kinda like computers...you pay big monsy for the newest wang-zoom thing, and within a year or two, it's outdated and obsolete!!!

Nahhhhh.......I'll pass.

 

[karl]

When I was self employed, working 80 hrs a week with one eye on the American Dream....I bought new, took the depreciation on taxes, called the dealer if it had a problem and was relieved to not have to be working on it at midnight to go to work at 5 am.

Now that I am"semi-retired" I prefer simplicity and knowing enough about my vehicle to at least have a clue as to what may be wrong.
Figure I can spend $500 a month in repairs and still be ahead of a payment and the added insurance and registration costs for a new comparable van.
And, it keeps me off the streets and out of the bars ;-)

 

[highdesertranger]

older vehicles can be just as trouble free as newer vehicles, if you do it right. see my previous post in this thread. in 1996 I drove a 1973 chevy 4x4 to Alaska and back, never thought it was going to leave me stranded. my current truck is put together from parts from several different years. the front grill is off the '73 I drove to Alaska, the fenders and hood '80, cab and frame '78, engine '78(not the same truck as the cab and frame), front and rear axles '81, trans '86. this is just the main components many other parts and years thrown in. it's like the johnny cash song, I have a 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86. I have taken this truck all over the high desert, mainly back roads and 4wd tracks it has served it's purpose well. btw the only reason I don't have the 73 anymore is because a lady t-boned me and totaled the truck I could have fixed it but I wanted a crew cab. highdesertranger

 

[AltTransBikes]

I'm with hdr on this. If, and it's noted a big 'if', one is willing and capable, and has the time to do the work themselves.

I get a lot of my mechanical advice from my neighbor, a good ol' boy, logger by trade, someone with more common horse sense than most ten men combined. He makes good money and doesn't scrimp on equipment. He rebuilt a truck this summer for his everyday work rig. His choice: a 1985 F350.

He started with what was a very clean truck and went through every system: power train, front end, suspension, brakes, exhaust, etc. He dropped a chunk of change and ended up with a real beauty but in his estimation at 1/3 the cost of new.

His thinking is he's got a better truck than what he could buy new, one he knows inside and out so thoroughly he can anticipate any problems, and the big thing for him: without all the computer controls and sensors that can bleed an owner dry.

Not for everyone I know but more aligned with my present thinking.

 

[Vic.]

I bought the Cherokee because they're known for reliability. Just gotta keep an eye on things and change fluids regularly (seems like that's always the way).

I've had to replace small stuff, but I'm happy with it. Only 140k miles. I expect it to run for a while yet.