Most of 'em you only hear tire noise, it's sad, that's why back in the day they didn't care if the engine was a little loud. It just came down to "Well do you want to hear the engine, or the tires?".
Until October of last year my daily driver, at newest, was an '87, current wagons included. My wife drove what she wanted, as fixing multiple cars in the snow and cold sucks. Then I ended up with my deceased Father in Law's '09 Caliber. 21k on the clock and loaded. I thought long and hard before pulling the trigger on it before buying/refinancing in my name. I was thrilled- for awhile. I now look at my wagons longingly everyday before I leave for work and really wonder if I made a mistake. New (or newer cars) might be for some, but after almost a year I have come to the realization I am not one of those people. I drive a wagon whenever possible and if I could, I would be sorely tempted to replace the Caliber with another 25+ year old car, wagon or not.
I tried to stick with older cars and even older cars with modern updates. But finally realized that I drove in cold snowy weather a lot and parked in a lonely parking lot at nite. So ended up with a few new trucks and cars. Actually the trucks were to pull our RV's. Iffin I could do it over I would have had an old wagon restored or at least in great running condition and an old RV. Those things are worth more over time rather than junk yard material like my later model vehicles that fall apart before they go out of waurantee. A few of those new car payments would have paid for a new old engine and a few more payments would redo much of an old car. Shoulda---- coulda!
I'm glad I came to this realization years ago, rather spend $2,500-3,000 on a new crate 350 for my wagon, and another roundabout $1,500 for the trans than buy a used car for roundabout 5k. Sure, my car needs other things, like shocks, an alignment, tires, but I've never seen a used car go for round about 5k that doesn't need that within a year of buying it. My simple belief is, you're gonna fix it anyway, so drive something you want to fix.
I'd rather have older vehicles myself. Of course right now I have a 2000 Suburban, 2001 Windstar, and my wrecker is a 2002 F-450. WHAT HAVE I DONE???!!!
