Owning an older vehicle has many perks, but.......

[AllieK]

Things were going fine until the brakes started acting up. I have a 1998 Ford 150 and it's been a damned good truck. My car insurance is under $300 for six months. I haven't had a car payment in almost 15 years. The ABS system went out on the brakes and Ford does not make them anymore, nor does any aftermarket parts places. I haven't had my truck for almost 2 weeks and they have to hunt for a part nationally, in the junk yards. The first one was the wrong part (2 wheel instead of 4 wheel) and they have another one coming any day now. I hope it is still working and I don't have to wait much longer to get my truck back. If this keeps up, I'll have to rent a car.

[CharleneG]

We had the same problem before we bought the Subarus. Ken had a beautiful 1989 Lincoln Mark VII and he was definitely having problems getting stock parts for it. I had a 1992 Jeep Cherokee and it wasn’t quite as difficult, but the older it got the harder it was. My 2015 Subaru Forester will probably last the rest of my life, it’s only got 31,500 miles on it.

[Sabine]

Things were going fine until the brakes started acting up. I have a 1998 Ford 150 and it's been a damned good truck. My car insurance is under $300 for six months. I haven't had a car payment in almost 15 years. The ABS system went out on the brakes and Ford does not make them anymore, nor does any aftermarket parts places. I haven't had my truck for almost 2 weeks and they have to hunt for a part nationally, in the junk yards. The first one was the wrong part (2 wheel instead of 4 wheel) and they have another one coming any day now. I hope it is still working and I don't have to wait much longer to get my truck back. If this keeps up, I'll have to rent a car.

Have you considered to buy a new truck ? Or used ? Personally I don't like to buy a used vehicle , because quite often you are buying someone else trouble. As time goes by it will be harder and harder to find parts for a 1998 Ford pick up truck.
I have a 2017 Kia optima ( paid off ) and my insurance is less then $ 400 for 6 month.

[AllieK]

Have you considered to buy a new truck ? Or used ? Personally I don't like to buy a used vehicle , because quite often you are buying someone else trouble. As time goes by it will be harder and harder to find parts for a 1998 Ford pick up truck.
I have a 2017 Kia optima ( paid off ) and my insurance is less then $ 400 for 6 month.

well, Pu's are way too expensive right now and have so many of the things that I don't want on a vehicle. Since I live in the country, I have to have a truck to haul trash and a boat, so getting a less expensive car or SUV is out of the question. If I could find an even older one, I'd buy that. All of the computerized functions are the problem. I do not need all of the new options that will continue to cause issues down the road. I dont' need a GPS, or a back-up screen, or brakes like I have now, or whatever else. I need a motor, transmission, brake system, a/c, cab, etc. something to take me from point A to point B. I'm not particular on how it looks. Actually, buying a vintage PU would be cheaper if the motor, transmission, brake system, a/c would have to be replaced.
When this PU was new, the insurance was over $1400 for 6 months. PU's are more expensive to own becasue it is assumed that PU's do more work and might be in accidents oftener.

[muzette7]

Truck insurance is more expensive because of the vehicle weight. The heavier it is the more damage it does in an accident. Since I have a dealers license still we just got my daughter a 18 Jeep Compass. Paid the whopping 6900 for it. The Spanish kid down the street is doing wheel bearings and breaks today and its getting a new windshield tomorrow. I would love to have one of the 90's Jeep Cherokee sports. It was always my favorite car to drive. Hubs looked at one for me that was in good condition but it was 10 grand, for a old Jeep lol.

[AllieK]

Truck insurance is more expensive because of the vehicle weight. The heavier it is the more damage it does in an accident. Since I have a dealers license still we just got my daughter a 18 Jeep Compass. Paid the whopping 6900 for it. The Spanish kid down the street is doing wheel bearings and breaks today and its getting a new windshield tomorrow. I would love to have one of the 90's Jeep Cherokee sports. It was always my favorite car to drive. Hubs looked at one for me that was in good condition but it was 10 grand, for a old Jeep lol.

I didn't think about the weight being the reason for higher insurance, but you are right. Older vehicles are really expensive right now because of the chip shortage in the new ones.....and a lot of people don't like all of the BS that is on all of the new ones. I was thinking about ordering a new truck so I could leave a lot of those options off, but no, a lot of the options are not optional.

[Sabine]

The back up screen is the thing that I like the best about my car. Pulling out of a parking spot at the grocery store can be a big pain, especially when it is busy, it is good to see what goes on behind my car and to get a warning sound. I like it. GPS is very helpful if you drive to a place you are not familiar with, doesn't even have to be out of town. I went to a baby shower in a different part of town here in SA and it sure was helpful to have that GPS guide me.

[AllieK]

The back up screen is the thing that I like the best about my car. Pulling out of a parking spot at the grocery store can be a big pain, especially when it is busy, it is good to see what goes on behind my car and to get a warning sound. I like it. GPS is very helpful if you drive to a place you are not familiar with, doesn't even have to be out of town. I went to a baby shower in a different part of town here in SA and it sure was helpful to have that GPS guide me.

I know how helpful GPS is if driving somewhere you dont' know. When Dd was here a few weeks ago, they were driving us around in a rental, which had GPS. It told them every turn to make. We don't go anywhere like that anymore, so I don't really need it. It's just something else that goes out in vehicles in a few short years that needs expensive repairs. My truck has a 8 cylinder engine and changing the plugs and doing a tune up on that thing is over $1000 because each plug has it's own distributor/ignition coil (not sure I have the terminology right). The 6 cylinders didn't have that that year. They had the old style and didn't' cost that much to change plugs. I just cannot understand those expensive changes that were put on vehicles other than the fact that not many people can work on their own cars anymore and the mechanics can make more money and it forces people to buy new cars oftener.

[Sabine]

I think a lot of things in the new cars these days are computerized and to fix anything on cars like that you have to had training on all those computer programs that make cars run these days, in other words there is more to fixing cars these days then just changing plugs and changing oil and fix a transmission. I really doubt that car mechanics had anything to do with the new car / engine designs.

[AllieK]

I think a lot of things in the new cars these days are computerized and to fix anything on cars like that you have to had training on all those computer programs that make cars run these days, in other words there is more to fixing cars these days then just changing plugs and changing oil and fix a transmission. I really doubt that car mechanics had anything to do with the new car / engine designs.

I know that Sabine, but most people take their cars back to the dealerships to get fixed until they are out of warranty, so they get a lot of business off of the issues these new cars have. People tend to get tired of taking vehicles in to get fixed, so they opt to trade it in and buy another one and I think that is part of the plan. Have you noticed that nothing lasts like it used to? Everythign is getting made cheaper and cheaper and getting more and more expensive. People are conditioned to not bother with fixing anything, they just go buy new things. I remember my father and grandparents keeping things for life because it lasted and could be fixed. I have a chest freezer that is almost 50 years old and it's still running. Nope, nothing is made as good as it used to be.

[Sabine]

Yes, a lot of people take their cars to the dealerships to be fix and or maintained, but I also think that you just don't find many independent car repair shops anymore , at least no here in SA, which is a big city, one million plus. Yes, you can find places to change your oil and fix a flat tire, but beyond that its a hard find. Change of the times I guess.

[Home buddy]

We seldom take our cars to a dealership for repair. They always find something additional that "needs to be fixed". We're fortunate to have a very reliable independent repair shop within walking distance of the house, and have been going there since they opened about twenty years ago. They will point out things that "need to be watched" but put no pressure on us to fix them immediately.

Charlene, I also drive a 2015 Forester (that we purchased in April, 2014!) . We have almost 60,000 miles on it but I feel like you do--it may be my "last car". It's been very good to us. What color is yours? Mine is white. It's the first white car we've ever owned (most of our cars have been silver or gray tones) and I'm happy with the decision.

[CharleneG]

Mine is black. It wasn’t my choice though. My parents bought it about a year and a half before my father passed away and they barely drove it. They signed it over to me in early 2017. I really wanted either the champagne color or that pretty frosty green. I really like that car though, so easy to drive, comfortable, quick and so economical to drive.

[muzette7]

Alli, your cell phone should have Google maps on it. It is a gps that tells you every turn. The only bad part about it is when you are in the podunk places with no cell service.

[Chaswell]

It is doubtful that you will be able to get parts for vehicles that old anymore, as it is only going to get worse!! Rock Auto Parts online has a fairly extensive inventory of parts, and they may have what you need. When I was in business, I bought from them whenever no one else around had the parts. They were found to be a good place to buy from. Used prices for vehicles is absolutely insane, as you have already found out. The longer you have the truck, the harder it will be to get parts. Rebuilding an old truck sounds good, but in reality, it wont be long before you run into the same dilemma, only a different vehicle. Before I opened my own shop, I worked for a car dealer. The car manufacturer at that time (late '70's) had a program where they would pay independent shops to do some of the warranty work. That did not last long because their dealers threatened court action unless they ceased, so it died before it really got started. Today 's market is geared to force traffic back to the dealers to sell more vehicles. When I left, that manufacturer was closing all its small dealers and going to bigger regional dealer networks. Can't say I'm sorry that company is in trouble. As the saying goes, what goes around, comes around...they are reaping the benefits