The way I see it, any car will have to be taken care of to get to 300,000 miles. If it was maintained diligently and driven on the highway, it will be better than one with half the mileage that’s been driven into the ground for 150,000 miles. With the age of these vehicles, we’re basically buying the condition.
I agree with this statement. 100% buying the vehicle for the condition it is in. Sometimes, depending on the environment the car is in, low miles from sitting can be detrimental too. I am mostly tracking problems caused by sitting around outdoors.
I got an ok deal, after being really patient, but it also comes with a lot of ongoing attention and work needed. Considering the only other 80 on this island was listed for $50k when I bought this one for about $5500 equivalent value in trade and cash, I thought it was a steal. The $50k guy has dropped to $30k this week, but still no sale.
My new to me 80 seems like it has been down or sitting around most of the last 12 or more years. It seems to have had mostly highway miles, until a previous owner ran it out of coolant going up our little mountain, most likely when a pesky heater hose went.
Then the wrecking yard that got it had the head rebuilt at a machine shop, and attempted to get it going again, but when it would not start they assumed their mechanic didn’t time the chain right and it sat another few years.I knew the old man who owned the wrecking yard then, and when I asked about it he it to me for $1200. A week later I went back to get it but it was gone.
About 5 years later I find out guy I know bought it from them cheap, but hasn’t done much with it. He found a problem with the ignition system, and got it going. He ran it of and on as he tried to iron out various problems, fuel pump, then a leaky injector, among other things; but he didn’t do a full baseline and never really drove it much since it wasn’t reliable.
I got it from him with the intake manifold upper plenum off, and a bundle of associated parts sitting in a ziploc. He was chasing a start and die condition without realizing the broken intake tube would cause it to not stay running. No air through the AFM can kinda screw up you fuel mixture...
I put the intake manifold back together, stuck on an extra flexible bit of intake hose over my cracked pieces from a dodge, and got it running. I have put about 1000 miles on it so far.
It feels really tight in the steering and suspension, and seems like it never spent much time Offroad at all. I’m more concerned with the issues that may arise from the years of sitting around in a humid salt laden tropical environment. Seals, hoses, electronic component failures, corrosion, etc.
I’ve seen a lot of failed corroded electronics, and mechanical issues on various vehicles over the years here. Once there was corrosion on ring gears so deep where the teeth were out of the gear oil, the diff was completely unusable. Destroyed by sitting too long in a covered shed.
I have some minor driveline noises, but nothing like a repetitive droning noise from bad gears. Thankfully it seems mine was moved around enough over the years of being down to keep oil on the metal in most critical places, and prevent corrosion. There is a little body corrosion to address, 3 little spots in the passenger rain gutter and one center of the roof. Thankfully no holes through. The side steps are pretty badly corroded though. They need to go and be replaced with some armor steps...
This 80 feels like it’s happy to be resurrected and roaming back roads and remote homesteads. Haven’t taken it to and remote beaches yet, but that’s on the list once corrosion prevention is done. May just spray the spots with some LPS2 for temporary protection and get the kids to the ocean well away from all the tourists.
