Are older vehicles actually worth it?

[Databits]

Ok so I have an older 89 Jeep Wrangler that I drive around, and recently I ran into a situation where I needed a part that it seems nobody in the entier country has. So really, is it worth buying a used vehicle anymore when even a dealership has discontinued parts for it?

Just so everyone knows, it was a PCV shutoff solenoid that I needed. Doesn't seem like anything major, but it also happens to be unique to this particular year, make, and model.

[Xepher]

I don't know about a solenoid, but standard PCV valves get replaced all the time... pretty much anytime you do a tune up you swap out that and the spark plugs. Don't know if "PCV valve" is the same as "PCV solenoid" though. I am really surprised no one carried that... jeep wranglers are quite popular vechicles, and also tend to be kept around for ages. I see dozens of jeeps much older than yours still running.

I'm personally a big fan of older trucks and suvs. I got an '87 suburban when I turned 15, and I drove it through the end of college. (Now I've got a '99 suburban!) I loved the old beast because I could do most of the work on it myself. The water pump blew on me one day, and it cost me a total of $50 to fix it, $30 of which was new hoses, which I replaced just because I was gonna be in there anyway. Took me about 2 hours and one bloody knuckle. Another time the A/C compressor clutch siezed, and it burned up the belt on it in about 3 seconds. (Now THAT was a sound and sight to remember.) Thing was, I just ripped out the belt, started it back up, and drove on. Bought a new belt for 5 bucks and spent 30 minutes getting it installed in an fast food parking lot. :-) The new 'burb, while a lot more powerful and coushy on the inside... well, I can't even BUY a belt for less than $80, and installing it would be nigh on impossible in a parking lot. And just forget "going on" without it. Serpentine belt goes bye-bye, and I don't even have an alternator or power brakes, let alone A/C!

I sold the old 'burb for $1500. I would've kept it, save that it's rather hard to drive two cars across the country when you don't even know where you're gonna be living.

[Databits]

Nope, the PCV Valve and PCV shutoff solenoid are two different things. I did searches online and even went to the dealership, who promptly told me that they no longer carry the part, as they only need to support vehicles 6 years back. It doesn't seem like there is an aftermarket part that I can use in place of it, and the only dealership listed in the country that was supposed to have it in stock didn't.

My solution, I eliminated it from the vacuum system. Neither I or my dad saw much of a need to shut off the PCV valve, which the solenoid simply shut off right when you killed the engine. Considering that it was not used in later or earlier Jeep Wrangler models from mine, we figured it wasn't that important.

Now I have all the vacuume system rerouted. The only things left to do is getting the 4-wheel drive working and retiming the engine.

[boomher]

You may already have figured out that the PCV shutoff solenoid was eliminated from the system by a recall...  No need for it!  The dealers should have known that before sending you on a goose chase.

Cheers-

Boomher

[fesworks]

Go find a car junk yard. Find your car. Get the part.

[sagebrush]

I have a 94 Dodge Truck, V6.  I backed into a concrete pillar with it and suffered no damage.  All it did was straighten out the rear bumper, which was dented when I bought it.  So in that sense - the darn thing is made of American steel - it's worth having.  MPG stinks, though.  Someone in a truck hit my 94 Ford Probe in a parking lot, and just nicking it did over $3000 worth of damage, since the plastic front bumper and headlight had to be replaced.  That's what's keeping me from getting a new car now, since they're all plastic, fragile things.

The best vehicle I ever had in terms of maintenance and MPG was a 91 Toyota truck, manual transmission, V4.  It was real metal, but had like no parts at all in the engine (comparatively speaking), and I could coast downhill a lot, so it was great.  I wish I had kept it.  Unfortunately it was too small, so I traded it for a 97 Kia Sportage, which was a piece of junk.  It fell apart on me, literally.  The front axle was broken, and the damage was not reported when I bought it.

[griever]

I guess it depends on how attached you are to that make and model.  I have known car guys who could go on and on about their projects and who invest a lot of time and money into their cars.  I'm not a car person - I know the basics on car maintenance - but if you really like the car, check online or at the junk yard and see if you can get it.  Although, after reading the other comments, it seems unnecessary....

[reinder]

The frugality sites I frequent all say that a late model used car gives you the best bang for the buck. '89 ... is not a late model, and is worth it only if you really love it.

[Databits]

Ban thread necromancy! 

[Xepher]

Heheh... Nah. I vote for summoning dead spirits o' conversation! And as for this particular topic...

I'm actually in the middle of a debate on this. As I've got this new job and new paycheck, I'm really looking at buying something new before my '99 suburban completely falls apart. I just had to replace the radiator a week or so ago. The other option is to keep it indefinitely, and really dump some money into fixing everything up.

Of course, what I'd REALLY like to do is buy a bunch of plate steel, an old 2-ton truck, and build one of these.

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=115596
http://legion.wplus.net/guide/army/ta/bpm97.shtml

Seriously, look at some of the interior/dashboard photos and tell me you couldn't put that together in a garage with a welder, a few wrenches and a nearby junkyard! It'd be an awesome project, useful in the end, and just plain AWESOME!

[Databits]

Reminds me of this incident that happened a few years ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqpxeWQ_XJw

[Xepher]

Yeah, I just saw that somewhere a few days ago. Crazy stuff!

Curiously enough, about 15 minutes after I posted the stuff above yesterday, I got a knock on the door. It's a guy that does mobile dent/body repair, who saw the huge crunch in my suburban door and was telling me he could fix it for $175. I debated it for a few minutes, because I know he can't make it as perfect as he's saying or anything, and that it's a fair chance this was a scam. He sold me on the idea when he said "Well, look at it this way, I can't make it any worse, can I?" I laughed, and figured why not give it a go.

He worked in the yard here, mostly with hand tools, and did a decent job of bending stuff back into shape, then filled the rest with bondo. It's not perfect by any means, but it's a lot better than it was. In a way, it kinda answered my question above, as I realized I'm not willing to sink the money into this thing to keep it too long, so the cheap fix was the best option in the meantime. The other thing that happened was I borrowed my roommate's brand new truck to go to the ATM and get cash to pay this guy. Driving the brand new truck made me realize how much I do want a new vehicle. :-)

[sagebrush]

I have no idea what I would get if I bought a new car.

[celebrateart]

I have had bad experience with cars so far, and not bad as this.
no parts. it's a shame.
like most foreign cars don't have parts in the states all the time and they get expensive! it was a horrible week.

but I hope everything goes swell either on a new part or a new used car or just a plain brand new one!