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?

[chmillman]

My 'daily driver' is a 2006 Honda FRV - never sold in the US. Only made them from 2005-2009. 6-seater, 3+3. Great car, this is my second one. First one was gasoline, bought new went for 200K miles (300K km) before I sold it. Bought a second one used, this time a turbodiesel, it now has around 150K miles (250K km). Almost no electronics, not even a backup camera or beeper. The turbodiesel is really torquey for those mountain road climbs but also very comfortable for long-distance travel. Huge amount of interior space for a small car. Handles great in the snow.

Mechanically it would probably go for another 250K km. Unfortunately, although these things were really well designed, over nearly 20 years with salt on the roads in winter it has started to rust in places that are hard to fix. Probably won't pass the next inspection in about 2 years. At that point decisions will need to be made.