Are Old Cars Really Unreliable?

[Justin Case]

This may or may not be a spin-off from the PCP thread, or from the many accounts of new or newish cars bought, but a common theme is that new cars are reliable and if you need a car for getting to work or for ferrying the family around,  choosing one is a no-brainer. But is this really the case? In my experience new cars tend to have teething troubles, but older ones, if they are well-maintained can just as reliable. They only seem to go wrong if you play cambelt roulette, don't bother with oil changes and ignore the warning signs of something about to fail spectacularly. So am I wrong and just an optimisr or have I found the secret of eternal life?

[SiC]

How old is old are you talking about? Everyone has different definitions!

[twosmoke300]

Here we go - someone dig out the horse/train pic

[DodgeRover]

Old vehicles weren't built to be unreliable, they were built to be used as daily transport.

They become unreliable through lack of maintenance/ unavailabily of suitable replacement parts & trying to be something they aren't - like a NASCAR on the M25

[Tamworthbay]

I have had run old cars for years, my dailies over the last decade have been a 73, 78, 67 and stupidly modern 01. Number of ftp's = 1, when a rock from a motorway maintenance shite carrier took out a wire on the solenoid of my MGB GT so it didn't start the next time I came to use it. BUT I have spent a shitload of time maintaining them and when I was running the older ones I spent time EVERY weekend on them, even if it was just a quick fluids and points check. Most folk these days wouldn't have a clue even if they had the inclination, which they don't.

[Squire_Dawson]

New cars are largely reliable and the vast majority of people today seldom check the oil level (if it has a dipstick). Old cars do not cover as many miles as a new one would due to old age. I have seen a couple of 200,000+ mile BMC chod but this has been achieved largely under 'one careful owner'.

[PiperCub]

FWIW I've driven older cars (15-25 years old) for pretty much all my driving career of 33 years and have had few problems overall. I get what people see in new (or new-er) cars completely but I prefer something I can fix/sort myself but again, I understand that many folk don't want to be arsed jacking with 'old junk' so prefer to have something that's had less use and is less likely to fail on them because it is new/newish.

 

To my way of thinking, it's less to do with whether a car is newer or not, it's more to do with the number of owners it's had and how many of those were total idiots who neglected/abused the car when they had it. The newer the car, the less it's likely to have had.  

 

My attitude is with attention to maintenance and a bit of care, ie: not ripping the guts out of it 24/7 and ignoring small issues until they become big problems, old vehicles can be pretty much as reliable as new stuff albeit not as fancy/economical/fast etc but they'll probably be easier to fix when they do FTP. Well that's my experience anyway.

Case in point, my £350 hack Pug406TD, 17K miles in two years, little expenditure, no FTP's. Yes, it needs maintaining but it's all straightforward. 

 

I think new cars are more reliable than older ones up to a point often due to improved designs, but when that point is reached - either in age or mileage/use, then they start to cost big money and rapidly become bridge fodder.

[richardmorris]

I know I'll regret saying it, but my now 22year old merc has never left me stranded on the side of the road- unlike my four year old Citroen c5! Five times!! That was unforgivable in my book and so it had to go. ( and was pxed for the merc).

I haven't had a failure to proceed in the 2cv since 1995 when the gearbox unwound and the now 27 year old fiat has been very reliable apart from its starter motor solenoid dying earlier in the year.

 

Before I had the c5 in 2006, I had a 1986 CX DTR and did 70000 miles in it in 5 years. Lots of £ maintenance and welding, but the only thing causing an unscheduled garage visit was the fuel pump solenoid sticking.

[PiperCub]

^^ I was thinking that when I said "No FTP's" - so I might have 'Murray-ed' myself tomorrow morning!

[pshome]

Me just touring Morocco in a 38 year old 504. It just works, crosses a 2900m high unpaved mountain pass or a sandy track in the Sahara with ease, but also flies well on the Autobahn, a rough road in Albania or a gravel track in Iceland. I wouldn't expect anything else, nor would i give any thought towards "OMG it may fail here in the middle of nowehere, what then". I do carry a set of standard tools, just in case. Only item i ever needed was a hammer to release a seized brake in the mountains of Montenegro. Only spare part i carry is a fuel pump since i had two failures with other old cars which i blame the shit they sell us as  "fuel" these days for.

It does get a oil change every 10000 km and a new air filter every 2 years. It still has nipples to be greased once a year, opportunity to have a look here and there if everything is the way it should be. Thats all it needs.

[captain_70s]

My '05 Honda Civic snapped a driveshaft, my '76 Dolomite jammed it's thermostat and overheated, my '08 Yaris sounded like the engine was full of marbles when I sold it, my '77 Dolomite uses equal amounts of oil and petrol, my '12 Corsa never actually broke down but felt like it would constantly.

 

In summary: ALL CARS ARE SHIT, ESPECIALLY VAUXHALLS AS THEY FEEL SHIT EVEN WHEN THEY AREN'T.

[dollywobbler]

In the past decade, I've called the breakdown services out three times. Neither time was for the 2CV.

 

Mind you, have I had to perform rudimentary repairs roadside? Yeah, a fair bit. Depends whether you mean 'reliable' as in never have to touch it or 'reliable' as in it got me to where I wanted to go with only mild tinkering.

[Six-cylinder]

I listened to a guy today who said his 5 year old 60k Saab had to go as it needed a couple of jobs and he was concerned it would not be reliable any more!

[dollywobbler]

I had to edit my post, as I forgot I'd had to call the AA out to help me limp to a friend's house because the free Volvo I was collecting turned out to have a duff alternator. Now it doesn't make sense.

[richardmorris]

People have different ideas I suppose.

 

You can't tell them otherwise- my step grandfather has just had ( last friday) a blue 2 litre BMW 3 series something on motability. He had to pay £2000 on top of his allowance to get it. He could have bought his old motability car ( a top of the range 3 year old Renault Megane with only 4000miles for only £3000 ), but he wanted the BMW as it would be more reliable than the old car. As you can see he does 1200 miles a year! I've decided not to interfere as it's his money.

 

He says it will be his last car; I'm not entirely sure that this won't be because he'll kill himself (accidentally) in it.

[alf892]

I've had a diesel Mini for 5 years......from 20k to 102k. Up to now it has been totally reliable - it's had an oil change and a look over about every 6k by me. Just had a cam belt on it too.

 

I'm sort of thinking about changing it for a P4..........probably because I just fancy another old motor. But my commute is now only about 17 miles and I'm certain that maintaining an old car to be reliable will not be expensive or time consuming. There is no reason a well maintained old car can't be reliable.

 

If I do get around to this and If this belief turns out to be wrong I'm not admitting it........

[Bren]

Define "old".

 

My sister has an 03 plate focus tdci - no rust and quite presentable.

Sadly numerous electrical problems mean an appointment with the bridge.

Not economical to repair.

I have a 1985 Sd1 VDP EFi. Never reliable when new, even less so thirty years on.

 

It's all a question of perspective.

[vulgalour]

Car ownership is a gamble.  If you want reliable transport, book a taxi or if you live in any country other than the UK, get on a train.

 

Age is a factor in the reliability gamble, certainly.  A new car can be rubbish/great and an old car can be rubbish/great.  Buy carefully and stack the odds in your favour, look after whatever you buy and you should be fine.

 

Plenty of folks commute in 10+ year old cars and never have a problem.

[Junkman]

Old cars are so unreliable, you should never drive them farther away from home than you can walk home, should the inevitable happen.

In fact, if you want to venture further away, immediately lease a new German car, since they are the only ones that are reliable, never break and last forever.

 

Also think about the safety. Anything without 17 airbags is a death trap that is best relegated to a museum. Think about your family, for God's sake.

I mean, listen to the stories of your forbearers. They are full of doom, death and cars stranded 5 miles into a holiday trip.

Or have you ever heard of a case when a family actually arrived at their destination in the olden days?

 

People beating trains by car from Southern France to London in the 1920s are just made up stories, just as the one where Vic Elford beat the QEII with a

Cortina from Kapstadt to Southampton. It's all bull that never happened.

 

No American families ever went on a holiday to California or Florida from their home in - let's say - Bareass, Illinois, in the 1950s.

Having been a 1970s kid in Austria, all those cars arriving for Winter holidays from the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, BeNeLux,

etc. are merely figments of my vivid imagination. My frequent trips throughout Europe in beaten up old chod during the 1980s are just lies and I never

took a 1951 Citroen 15/6 on a trip to the North Cape, from there to Sicily and then back home, let alone the only breakdown being caused by a severed ignition lead.

This is all just swagger, because no car past its warranty period could ever make it.

 

I also didn't add another 380,000 miles to a 180,000 mile '78 Caprice during the 90s, with the biggest issues being a gearbox rebuild and a rear axle swap.

Circumfering the Mediterranean Sea on a 1926 ex wall of death Indian 101 was as unlikey as driving a freshly purchased '60 Imperial from Beirut to Belgium

straight through the Yugoslavian civil war, you could never do such things with such old rubbish.

 

So please do the only sensible thing and finance something new and reliable.

I will happily help you to get rid you of your old, unreliable chod.

Please feel free to PM me.

[Bren]

Old cars are very good at showing how good new cars are.

[CortinaDave]

3 or 4 years ago i was driving twice a week from Aberdeen to Glasgow and back in my Mk4 Cortina 2.0S. It never let me down.

 

As long as you stay on top of the points, dizzy cap and leads etc I've found Cortinas to be bloody dependable machines. Not bad when the youngest is 34 years old

[Honey Badger]

I've had new cars and old cars and they have all been reliable apart from shitty fords, it's more about how well you maintain them rather than the age of the car.

 

Saying that taking a 18 year old Accord and then hammering 20k a year on it is probably going to kill it quicker than a 2 year old Accord, regardless of servicing/maintenance.

 

For pottering round town upto say 5k a year then I would take an older car as they are simpler and cheaper.

[Cavcraft]

Old cars are very good at showing how good new cars are.

 

Bren's just won this thread.

[MikeKnight]

I find the only "unreliable" ones are the rare cars, where parts availability means you can't always replace failing parts. Like my Supra with its slowly failing idle control valve. Hens teeth.

 

Older cars with a solid parts supply chain can be maintained regularly and are very reliable.

[mercrocker]

Reliability is a product of maintenance.     A (now very) old man told me this maxim years ago, when he was still commuting 25 miles each way in a pre-war Morris.    I have driven my Minor to work for 12 years now without a single fail to start or proceed.    Our newest car is 27 years old and all are 100pc reliable.    Until they breakdown.   Whereupon they can usually be fixed.....   I  wouldn't chance my arm in anything more modern.

[Junkman]

Bren's just won this thread.

 

 

No, he didn't.

[Lord Sterling]

In my experience new cars tend to have teething troubles, but older ones, if they are well-maintained can just as reliable. They only seem to go wrong if you play cambelt roulette, don't bother with oil changes and ignore the warning signs of something about to fail spectacularly...

You've pretty much answered the question here.

 

Cars can go on forever if maintained properly and on the extreme side where some people will even spend the time and money bringing a fairly dead car back to life using much skill, knowledge, know how and a bit of money. As has been proven time and again, cars can be constructed into fully working vehicles from the ground up.

 

The problem usually stems from 2 different schools; value for money and simple boredom which are also sometimes combined. Many people like the "idea" of value for money and often when a car reaches the stage of where it costs more to maintain than what it is worth which is also usually the time the owner gets bored of it, it'll be moved on. Most people may not want to stick with one car for more than 'x' amount of years, especially when newer cars are getting cheaper in the market place and offer more in the way of luxuries/status.

 

There are also those who drive but have no knowledge of vehicle maintanance or even any help with this. Hence why a vehicle may die prematurely and simply replaced with something newer using the idea of "needing something reliable" which just hides the real fact of ignorance.

 

^^ If this sounds too over complicated it probably is, it's nearly 3am in the morning and I'm tired. Lomg time since I've been up this late/early/whatever...

[PhilA]

All modern rubber is shit.

 

Many older parts/equipment designs depend upon the rubber being good in order to be reliable.

 

Modern fuels and crap modern rubber have been the major unreliable parts of my Renault.

 

Phil

[warren t claim]

Back in the day I regularly did 30,000 motorway miles a year in 250 quid, 1000cc snotters without any undue issues.

[Snipes]

I have to say my best two buys have been the cheapest; a £150 '91 Bluebird LX 1.6 and a £400 '98 Escort 1.6 LX 16v. Both were ran with shamefully minimal maintenance but ran faultlessly for several years and many miles. The Escort I use to half laps of the m25 at the weekend to visit my girlfriend- the aircon even worked. Great car!

 

Ha ha, I just noticed both my "best" cars have been 1.6 LXs! I've had other, more aspirational cars but those two cost the least and served me the longest.