Hey Scotty/forum members, at what point is an old car too old? I’ve been looking around at cars from the late 80’s and the 90’s overall, what are some problems common with old cars that I should keep in mind when shopping for one? Is buying a car from these decades easy to maintain or are they hefty in repairs/maintenance? Ex. Iroc-Z camaro, foxbody mustang, 90’s corvette, 90’s firebird.
Have you tried the search box in the top right corner?
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/qa/how-old-is-too-old-for-a-daily-driver/#post-37986
It all depends on your useage and what it is that you are looking for.
All the rubber and plastic parts will deteriorate in 20-30 years. And those cars you mentioned have hundreds of seals, hoses, belts, bushings, brake hoses, etc. to fail/replace.
In a lot of ways, it was easier to restore and keep running a "classic" care from the 30's to the early 70's - less plastic, no computers, fewer rubber bushings in the suspension - all simple, mechanical and metal.
Well, the 80's and early 90's was not a great stretch for those cars. I had all those cars you mentioned. They weren't very good when new, so now, meh. Except for the '96 Corvette it was pretty decent.
For a daily driver? Basically any age (obviously not more than 3 decades old) depending on factors. After 10 years 120k miles, a car's reliability is heavily dependent on how the previous owner took care of it, so in ideal scenarios, you could daily drive a 99 Camry everywhere.
