Not to keep this thread going even longer past the dead horse stage, but I'm having a crisis of faith with my 80 and I haven't heard anybody address this issue. While I would love for my 80 to last forever, the maintenance time/effort/$$ required to make it last is not insignificant. My seats are shot and downright painful (no cheap fix), she's in need of several too-long-deferred repairs (brakes, bushings, tires, peeling paint, etc.) and with 235K on the clock on the original motor and HG, on an almost 20-year-old truck, I have a lot of work and expense and time under the hood ahead of me. Would I prefer my 80 in tip-top shape over a Tundra, or an FJ, or a Tacoma, or a ? Absolutely. Unfortunately, it isn't in tip-top shape. My main issue (and I would think many of us share in this), is that while I would really rather drop $15-20K into the 80 to bring it back to glory, I don't have the cash to do that. Financing repairs for a 19-year-old Cruiser isn't on my credit union's list of acceptable loans. Yeah, I could spread the repairs out and save up until I have cash for each and just take them down one by one, but I've let too many things go for too long. Yes, the 80 is paid for and while financing a new truck of some sort seems like a horrible waste of money for a downgrade in vehicle from the 80 (and everything out there is), spending several thousand dollars on the 80 doesn't seem like a very wise long-term investment either. So conflicted. One minute I'm ready to order $1K worth of foam and leather for the seats, start in on my long list of needed repairs and just keep the 80. The next minute, I am REALLY ready to quit wrenching and just go buy a new FJ Cruiser. Then, I think about all the 80-ness I'll be losing and I'm right back where I started.
