Maintaining older vehicles

[Mary Stetler]

With all the brewhaha about the failings of newer vehicles, I am thinking of picking up another older vehicle, if not as a spare but maybe as an investment for future frustrated owners.
Now that I have a great mobile mechanic, Why not?
Like I posted previously, there was a lot of play in my steering in my '96 Dodge truck. This kid jacked it up and showed me SEVEN joints, three were leaking. He got a great deal on replacements. I told him to pull them all and replace them. I am feeling giddy with power in that this youngster (daughter gets mad at me cuz anyone under 50 is a kid) can do my bidding without $75 trailer fee or shop fees so I can have him do a lot more than an old lady who can no longer get onto the ground her daughter can do. Truck, tractor, mowers...
He is almost out of equipment to maintain. He was going to refurbish my generator but the chickens lay their eggs in a crate I have sitting on it. I want eggs more than electricity.
I wonder if he does windows.

 

[Don Alaska]

The sloppy steering in Dodge trucks is a long-known design defect. There is an after market fix/brace, but it is just as cheap to replace the box every 100,000 miles or so. My son the mechanic says you can reduce the play as much as you want, but tightening it is hard on the power steering pump, so there is a compromise there.

 

[John Wick]

I drive a 1997 Buick Regal with 117k and my daughter has a 1997 Buick LeSabre with 71k. Both have GM 3800 Series 2 motors and run dead reliable. Parts are cheap and readily available, I do my own maintenance and repairs (which are very rare).

Had a 2013 with tons of electronics and computer crap, sold that POS years ago

 

[Mary Stetler]

The sloppy steering in Dodge trucks is a long-known design defect. There is an after market fix/brace, but it is just as cheap to replace the box every 100,000 miles or so. My son the mechanic says you can reduce the play as much as you want, but tightening it is hard on the power steering pump, so there is a compromise there.

Fortunately I mostly use the truck for picking up hay and stuff. Very little mileage but being able to steer seems to be a good idea.