Learn me: driving a classic as your only car

Safety is a risk/reward thing. There's no binary date where cars before then are "unsafe" and after are "safe".

What are your top priorities and how do you rank them? Safety, fun, space, style, cost, holding value, reliability, ease of maintenance, cost of maintenance, etc.

A boring 20-30 year old Japanese sedan will be very cost effective, easy to maintain, and relatively safe. Increases in safety will all cost money.

If you want to increase fun or style... you're going to have to spend more or sacrifice economy/reliability.

I mean... I drive a 2003 Honda S2000. It still feels very fresh and modern. The differences when I get into a truly modern car are not ones that I don't really need. The value to those is less than having something as fun and stylish as it is.

A Camry/Accord that is 5 or 10 years older would probably be safer.

A coworker dailies a 1991 Camry with over 300k miles on it. It's kind of like an RX7 though as it consumes gas and oil. He'll probably drive it until it dies then toss a lit Zippo into it and walk away.

Erich said:

As to safety- I can walk to the kids' schools, the grocery, the pharmacy, the library, the bar, a coffee shop, etc. I figure the best way to keep us safe from car crashes is to put us in situations where cars can't crash into us. Driving less is a part of that.

I think you're exactly right. The BEST way to reduce risk of injury from car crashes is to spend less time in a car. (And then when you do drive, drive slower/don't text or drink/etc, a safer car is pretty far down the list). There's also the added benefit of adding years to your lives by spending the time walking instead of sitting. 

Also, being able to walk to all those places sounds a bit like utopia to me - and very much like my own neighborhood. Good work!!

So... brass tacks time.  What are you looking for?  Year range?  Coolness range?  Something kitchy?  Let's turn this into a "what car" thread 

Edit:  And I promise I won't suggest a G-body.  Except just this once.

And P.S.... I'll soon hopefully have a second DD which will be an 83 Corolla.  Then when I finish the LeMans I'll have a weekend DD that's a 67.  I'm all about the classics.

My DD. 217 ci V6, 6 speed auto. Built for smooth, quiet, mpg.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Yeah why not? Main things I think I'd like are:

• Small and easy to park
• Seats two adults and two kids (backless booster seat age)
• Quirky
• 2 doors preferred 
• Inexpensive to buy and own, <$10k for sure
• Reliable
• Never had a Convertible, that would be a bonus

Short list right now is VW Cabrio, RAV4 convertible, Audi TT (probably bad choice), pre-GM Saab, Volvo 780, Nissan Pao (no rear 3 point belts tho), El Camino with a bench seat? Also always liked those pillarless MB coupes

MB from the 80s trips those triggers.  One of my co-workers has been DDing a 78 300C (actually a 300CD, but the D broke off so we tease her relentlessly about owning a 1 of 1 rare car) with 250k on it for the last 3 years.  Aside from brakes and oil changes, it's been as reliable as a brick.

VW Cabrio isn't a bad idea.  Depending on where you live it might be tough to find one that isn't swiss cheese.  Parts will fail frequently (they don't seem to age well) but parts are dirt cheap.

Early Saab will take you all the way from your house to the scene of the head gasket failure where it will remain parked because the parts are probably NLA.  That's an exaggeration, but I know parts are hard to get, and some of them liked to start with the head gasket.

Your mention of Rav4 convertible leads me to speak up on something I was thinking.  Yes, I know exposing to road salt is a death sentence but my suspicion is that your "occasional use" will be more likely in "unpleasant weather".  If its 75 degrees and sunny, a bike ride or walk is nice.  If it is +10 degrees with a -20 wind chill, biking is less "fun."  

So, I have wondered if you need something that is "crappy weather functional" while still being warm weather fun.  The Rav4 convert hit this.  It will get you around in the weather but also fun for summer "ice cream runs" or drives through "tunnels of trees" with the family.  Though I was not leaning to Rav4 convert (pretty rare), I was leaning toward same/similar with Chevy Tracker, Isuzu Amigo, etc.  With a budget of $10k you could go all the way up to Jeep if you want.  

Lots of Chevy Tracker/Sidekick/Vitara came in only 2wd which is rear.  The 2wd might be good enough for you and certainly keeps the price down.  The spotters guide for when the ad doesn't call it out is the 4wd will have a second, stubby shift lever in the center console for manually engaging the transfer case even if the car is an automatic trans.   

A Kei Van (and some are 4wd) would be awesome but fails really hard on the safety argument.  More of a glorified golf car but easy to travel locally in the enclosed cabin.  

Staying with the Kei van idea, the closest thing here is an early Scion, xB, xA, xD.  All have the "never die" 1.5L engine and will give you super utility.  Honda Fit too.  

preach (dudeist priest) said:

A coworker dailies a 1991 Camry with over 300k miles on it. It's kind of like an RX7 though as it consumes gas and oil. He'll probably drive it until it dies then toss a lit Zippo into it and walk away.

Any bets on whether it or Keith Richards goes first?

In reply to Erich :

My first reaction is E46 Convertible. Unless you want quirkier.

You could get an RX-8 at that price... but I wouldn't. Maybe a really nice Porsche 944, if you can find one.

I like early Scion xB's.

Honda Fit or Ford Fiesta if you get one with a manual.

Erich said:

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

Yeah why not? Main things I think I'd like are:

• Small and easy to park
• Seats two adults and two kids (backless booster seat age)
• Quirky
• 2 doors preferred 
• Inexpensive to buy and own, <$10k for sure
• Reliable
• Never had a Convertible, that would be a bonus

Short list right now is VW Cabrio, RAV4 convertible, Audi TT (probably bad choice), pre-GM Saab, Volvo 780, Nissan Pao (no rear 3 point belts tho), El Camino with a bench seat? Also always liked those pillarless MB coupes

R52 MINI convertible meets those requirements pretty well. 

I have my 2006 MINI insured with hagerty, but it is definitely not my primary car by a long shot.  I don't think it saw 1000 miles last year (and zero so far this year).

In reply to Erich :

My first thought was Uber because why pay for a car, insurance, fuel and maintenance for once or twice per month. I went through the same calculus regarding cars for my kids. If you truly walk and bike most of the time - and you have a minivan for weekend and evening trips to the store.. or longer trips - Uber.

If you just want to drive something interesting and the need to drive is "scheduled" - then use Turo. The selection in Ann Arbor seems decent. 

If you just need to be enabled to buy something interesting for occasional use, then by all means buy something interesting. 

In reply to Ian F (Forum Supporter) :

R52 Mini scares me a bit, my mom had one and it chewed a hole in her wallet. They do come in Cabrio versions tho...

I think I'll stick with my BMW i3 for now, and see how often I really need a car. It would be an ideal occasional car really, if it didn't cost so much to register and insure every year. If I don't need it more than once a month, I'll probably sell it and get something else. 

Edit: oh, I forgot about the Amigo. Yeah if I could find one of those in a two door that'd be pretty sweet 

Erich said:

preach (dudeist priest) said:

I say do it. Yet being a family man, do you really want the kids in a car with less than modern crash ratings?

I do bike them around town already so anything will be a step up from that, crash safety wise.

Anybody know what Hagerty's cutoff is in insuring a classic? Would, say, a 1997 Honda Prelude make the cutoff?

edit: well, I think this means no from Hagerty. 

• "All household members with a valid driver’s license must have a regular-use vehicle for daily driving (Motorcycles and public transportation are not considered viable regular-use vehicles by our program in most cases. Contact us for details.)"

This is what I came here to say. I shopped around for insurance a LOT and Haggerty is the most lenient on a lot of things, but this rule here seems to be across the board.
You could always buy a vin and register it. Might still be cheaper in the long run.

Erich, here's something to think about as a fellow (but now former) Michigander. I bought a rust free Jeep CJ-7. It was great. Drove it as my DD and washed it as good as possible (including undercarriage) at least once a week starting the first day the salt flew, and continued until a week or three after the first good ran after the salt stopped flying (if that made any sense). 
The Jeep started rusting in 1.5 years. I was devastated. 
I say buy a classic. But what you will love owning. During the winter don't drive it at all, just rent/borrow/steal something else. 

Y'all know what my answer is going to be.

On the safety thing- old cars were categorically less safe than modern cars, however, there was also quite a lot more variability in their safety.  I have owned two Volvos of this vintage that were involved in crashes.  Both times the car itself was totalled, but the driver (which was me one time) walked away with only minor injuries.  

On the practicality side, they are the rare 60's car that I feel perfectly fine treating like a daily.  They are reasonably good on fuel, parts supply is good, and they just drive nice.  They're not particularly fast, and they rev pretty high on the highway (unless you get an overdrive), and A/C usually has to be added after the fact.  But they are a very rewarding car to drive, simple to fix, and not terribly expensive nor hard to find.