- Hey Scotty, Which one of these 80s and 90s cars is the most reliable for a daily driver now and easier to work on and modify reasonably :1980-1986 Volvo 240, 1984-1990 BMW E30 3-series, 1998 european Ford Escort 1.6L or 1992-1993 Honda Civic?
(P.S. I'm only considering manual transmission for all of these cars)
Those were all good cars, back in the day (except the escort, maybe). But none of them would be considered good daily drivers in 2020. The issue obviously is going to be 1) getting parts and 2) finding someone who can work on them.
I suppose it's possible that you can get parts for the Volvo and BMW because they are somewhat collectible, and for the Honda and the Ford (except the RHD parts) because they were so common. But it won't be easy. As far as finding a mechanic, I would look around your neighborhood. If there is a shop in the neighborhood that specializes in, say, old BMW's, then that might be your answer (I used to have a 1986 Mercedes diesel, and there was a guy in my neighborhood who specialized in classic Mercedes; he knew where to get parts and how to fix them).
But the biggest thing would be to get what you are passionate about. If you love your car, you will be more willing to do the extra work to keep it running. (And believe me, the cars you mentioned will require a lot of work.)
PS: I don't know about "modify." It will be hard enough to get OEM parts. Many American muscle cars from the 60's and 70's have a strong market for aftermarket parts, but not the cars you are interested in.
@dad2pwd
Thanks! I forgot to mention that by daily driving I meant that it'd be only for college which is nearly a 10 KM (6.2 Miles) commute 3 days a week so I guess I won't be stressing these cars that much? For the parts and mechanics I've done my research as you said and found that: 1-Honda & BMW parts are readily available and cheap'ish in my country (but really far from where I live) 2- There are reputable mechanics near me that work on older cars but there isn't a lot of them. Some BMW parts seem to be more difficult than Honda's to come by though and I'm afraid that it would turn in to an endless money pit 😂
Guess I'll stick with the Honda since a lot of people tend to say that they can last for 250K+ miles if they're maintained and cared for
If you have to pick between those, get the Civic.
They made two and a half million E30s. Parts and online support are plentiful. They are built like tanks, and easy to wrench on. They are not insanely fast but you would have no problem dailying the BMW.
@e30poke
Yes I heard about that but in my country Honda parts are cheaper and more available than BMWs that's why I'm tending more towards the Honda civic. I've seen people dailying E30s but I'm don't know if it's worth to pay a little more for BMW parts or if it wouldn't change the experience that I would have with a Honda civic at a lower cost
I wouldn't drive any of those daily. They are not going to have the reliability you need for that kind of thing.
@mod_man
I've seen people dailying these cars and that's why I'm thinking about them 😂 But I forgot to mention that by daily drivers I meant 10 KM commutes 3 days a week so it's not that "Daily". I'm looking more for an easy first car to work on by myself, that is well built so that important parts won't fail that easily with time and that has a retro 90's look that I love