New car vs. Restored classic?, What are the possibilities? Options

[JeffBowlsby]

In another post it was said. ‘Wife bought a new Bronco in 2022. We sold it a few months ago and bought a 1972 Bronco to replace it.’

Been pondering the same dilemma. Not talking about sports cars in this thread.

New cars are expensive to buy, maintain, repair and insure. Loaded with tech, and numerous features they can be very complicated. Even lower cost new cars can fit this description. A recent article says new cars average $50K now, even an F150 pickup is reportedly $65K. The new cars we really want can be over six figures. New cars depreciate like rocks whereas vintage car values are much more stable. I’m thinking fully restored cars that would pass a thorough PPI. No project cars. No complicated cars. No “they only made X of these” with an inflated cost. No 40 Ford restorods or Model As. Nothing particularly ostentatious.

I think the possibilities, risks, rewards of a good quality vintage car instead of new could be advantageous. We need to consider at least reliability, availability of shops that can provide service, parts availability. Certainly reasonable safety is important which most older cars are not well equipped. Collector insurance may help reduce costs if that fits the situation.

Which specific vehicles would you consider as good candidates for a family car be it a sedan, SUV or minivan? Both domestic and imports, low mileage, well cared for. Condition is more important than collectibility. Probably A/C is a must but could be retrofitted. Want to focus on vehicles that would be reliable as daily drivers.

I am thinking of 60s-70s Chevys, Fords, 2000s Hondas and Toyotas. 1975 and earlier would be beneficial to those of us in CA. Valued at something less than $50K. What are your ideas?

[GregAmy]

There are a lot of advantages to older cars, some of which you extol. Another is simply overall cost: cheaper insurance, and cheaper property taxes. In CT, any car on a classic plate is assessed at $500 for property tax purposes. The insurance on my 2011 GTi is 2/3 of what it is for my wife's 10-yr-newer car.

And I can work on all of those.

I have a 1974 914 street car, which IMO is too old to be a good daily all-year driver. Too small, too tinny, no good radio, no good insulation, marginal heater for CT, etc. Plus, its value is increasing way too much to justify driving it daily. It's a "classic" and I treat it as such.

I also have a 1992 968. This is more of a modern car and represents an era where having a classic becomes rational. Still capable of being worked on and still fun to drive but stronger, safer, better equipment. It feels modern and is engaging.

Right now, the 1990s is the sweet spot.

And then there's the 2011 GTI. That car came to me new and it replaced a 2000 Audi S4, which I adored. But the Audi was more complex, had some equipment with a history of regular failure (suspension links and turbos) and was expensive to own once it started getting on in miles. I replaced is with the GTI for those reason and that replacement has been a delight in operation and maintenance since.

Its one concern is Northeast rust, of course. I'm since "pretired" (laid off and not looking hard) but if I had to commute daily in CT I'd give that last statement second thought.

When the 968 arrived, and I got all its DAPO stuff fixed, I often quoted myelf out loud, "if anything ever happens to the GTI, I'll just dump it and daily drive the 968." Well, something happened to the GTI a couple weeks ago:

https://tgadrivel.blogspot.com/2025/09/on-r...y-bus-ride.html

I began to give thought to if I was gonna follow that advice and I decided that, no, the GTI gives me enough utility that instead of taking a check and running, it's worth saving. So I am.

Where am I going with this? For this crowd, I suggest the sweet spots are 1990s through 2010s. Before that they're "too classic", and after that they're "too complicated and spendy". For example, if the GTI cannot be repaired, I'd probably look at a mid-00s Acura TSX with a K24A2, 205hp, 6-speed, fantastic chassis, approachable maintenance/repair. Or maybe another Mk6 GTI. Or maybe I'd jump on the B-series wagon with a late-90s Integra GSR with the B18C1.

Lots of options when you stop thinking you need a new car. - GA