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I will forever drive a reliable POS, it just makes financial sense. I have a 2000 Jeep Cherokee 4×4 with 139k miles on it. It is paid for, repairs are easy to do myself, and parts are easy to find. Its 13 years old and considered a “POS” by today’s new car standards, but it is reliable and has no rust. I take great care of it and some people think it is only a few years old by how clean it is. I have friends who have taken out huge car loans on new vehicles, only to need repairs 2 years down the road. New cars break too, they are often more expensive to fix, and insurance is much higher on them. Even if I was rich I still wouldn’t drive a new car.
Unfortunately, with the electronics and technology in newer cars, the reliable POS will soon be a unicorn. The electronic systems and complexity of newer vehicles make them have a much shorter life expectancy.
I love my reliable POS 2002 Mazda Protegé… It just got 225 000Km and the engine is still running like new (can’t say the same for the transmission unfortunately…).
I got it since new, back in Sept. 2002. It’s been extremely reliable so far… No major breakdowns, only normal maintenance like brakes, oil changes and those damn sway bar link…
Other than that, I did the timing belt at around 160 000Km, looked like new still…repaired the exhaust flex, removed all the floppy heat shields that were causing noises…
Now it’s the wheel wells and front quarters that are rusting away…
Body on those Mazda is the real big issue… They rust and rot like hell !The good thing about it is that one of my friend is the parts guy at the dealer so, I have a very good price on parts and they’re not cheap aftermarket 🙂
I’m looking into a “new” old car now… I fear my actual POS won’t last the winter… 😆
I had a 94 mustang a few weeks back, ugly as sin oh my god, whoever had it before me thought matte black paint would be a good idea (I live in Miami) needless to say with the sun it burned straight to the metal, plus the AC didn’t work (again this is a MUST in Miami haha) and overall just a beaten and abused car. But it got me from work to school and back home and for a year and a half I lived with it and tried to at least maintain the roadworthyness.
But! I few weeks ago, after a year and a half of savings, research, and working, I traded that POS in for my lovely 2004 GT :silly: . 1999-2004 is my favorite body style for mustangs so to get the last year, 40th anniversary, all the bells and whistles, and a well maintained car is just amazing to me. Yeah it’s not a brand new 2014 and it has 97,000 miles but to me this is my brand new car, the one I stare at when I walk away and park near security cameras when I go out somewhere haha.
However, I’ll never forget that black mustang and a part of me misses it. It was that weird bond like “yeah I know you were abused and not taken care of before but I’m going to do my best to fix you up” like a nourishing sense. And it was a reliable POS at the time of its trade in. But I do think eventually it’s time to move on and realize it’s a machine, not a child lol.
Thanks for the videos Eric! :cheer:
My POS is my everyday car. Honduras is famous for being as bad as driving in Russia and the moon at the same time… So, we need a POS, and they are really valuable. Mine has passed through a lot of problems (the forum has a couple of threads about it) so I love it. We passed through a lot of journeys. I love my POS
Story of my/my parent’s 1995 Chevy astro… It got $1800 in steering work/tires. 4 New tires, new stabilizer bar/links, 4 new ball joints, and a new drag link (all needed it too). It has a rough interior, few luxeries (AC, leather seats, tilt wheel, roof rack, and dutch doors). Yeah, a base model passenger 1995 astro is as worthless as vans can get (hard to find parts, many people hate them, etc.) but at least it gets the job done.
Same with my 1999 Dodge Durango… I put new tires on it two weeks ago (the old ones were 7 years old and were dry rotting)… $750 worth (AT tires ain’t cheap). It’s in better shape than the van (hence why my parents are rent-to-owning the van from me) but it too isn’t exactly showroom; it has some gnarly bondo work on the liftgate and a lot of rusting under the doors (sorta fixed until I have welding access to patch it)… and some pretty lame spot painting to top it off (I suck at painting, and duplicolor didn’t help).
Good video eric… for my family and I it was perfectly timed.
Seems I’m not the only one that appreciates the value of a reliable POS. 🙂 Keep the responses coming.
I am driving mine now it is a 92 Mercury Topaz 2.3L auto trans. with red interior and a white exterior. It needs valve guide seals but it is paid for and gets great mileage, an average of 27 mpg. I don’t look at vehicles until they have 100,000 miles on them it keeps them in my price range.
I’m very in the middle. My car is a “reliable POS” 1996 Toyota Corolla, and I absolutely love the thing. A year and a half after I started driving, it was given to me by my parents. Long paid off, owned it since 1998. Bad clear coat, dings and dents everywhere, old and dirty. Even had two smashed in doors and a sagging headliner from being soaked by water entering the car through the damaged doors. Before that, it wasn’t driven for 6 or so years. When I took it in, I fixed everything possible and made everything as nice as possible. The mechanical portion of it never misses a beat, it’s in fantastic condition.
However, I ended up doing a lot of exterior work, including fresh paint and a whole new front end. Imported rare OEM parts from New Zealand (a Japanese market) and did a JDM front end conversion. All of it is genuine Toyota parts, no aftermarket mods to the front end! It looks stunning. I feel “the new car fear” when rocks come at me, I walk out of the car and look back with nothing but pride, but I also don’t mind scratches or minor dings in my dinged up doors. It’s a great middle ground. I freakin adore the car though, and I wouldn’t ever sell it.
My POS is a 2000 Toyota Sienna minivan with 114k miles on it. I bought it 6 years ago and it has been trouble free and driving through Boston I am fearless as I don’t care if it gets dinged and no one notices it. I use it to take my dogs hiking (so it smells like a POS too), or load my bikes up in it and just go where the wind takes us.
My 2008 Honda Civic is my up and coming POS because it has 150k miles on it. But it has been completely trouble free.
A nice thing about having a POS living in RI is the excise taxes are about $1000 less per year than if I had a new Sienna van. Insurance is about $400 per year less too. This adds up to a lot of savings.
I love the reliable POS for many reasons including:
1) I don’t like being beaten by a machine.
2) Miles are virtually free except gas and oil since the depreciation has already occurred.
3) Don’t care about the dings
4) Lot’s of parts available cheap (2000 expedition).
6) Lot’s of forums with people who know all about pattern failures.
7) Financial freedom – not indentured to a car loan or bank
8) You avoid the hassle of purchasing a new car – painful, complicated process.
9) I am not afraid to take a wrench to it and void a warranty.
10) You learn to appreciate what you have if you repair it yourself.[quote=”cbriden” post=77011]I love the reliable POS for many reasons including:
1) I don’t like being beaten by a machine.
2) Miles are virtually free except gas and oil since the depreciation has already occurred.
3) Don’t care about the dings
4) Lot’s of parts available cheap (2000 expedition).
6) Lot’s of forums with people who know all about pattern failures.
7) Financial freedom – not indentured to a car loan or bank
8) You avoid the hassle of purchasing a new car – painful, complicated process.
9) I am not afraid to take a wrench to it and void a warranty.
10) You learn to appreciate what you have if you repair it yourself.[/quote]VERY true!
I have 2 reliable POS cars. One is a 1999 Saturn SC1. It needed some work before I got it (sat at my dad’s house for 3 years) We had to replace the wheel cylinders, shoes, drum springs, front pads, Intake manifold gasket, and TPS. Then I got it replaced the battery, motor mount, and changed the oil. I started driving it in March, and it has never missed a beat. my other RPOS is a 1987 Camaro. I have had this car for 13 years got it when I was 17, and it has never left me stranded. Most recently I have rebuilt the steering system from the intermediate shaft to the tie rods. Rebuilt the carburetor, replaced the rear shocks, replaced the front pads, rotors, and bearings. Now it needs the u joints replaced. I will never give my Camaro up I will die with this car.
In the sins of youth, I had a winter/daily driver and a muscle car. Although fun as hell to drive, I shouldn’t have owned that type of car at the 19-22 age range. The car got squirrely on wet pavement, the insurance, registration, parts and upgrade costs added up quickly, and it attacted a lot of negative attention – from police, crimminals, people at stoplights. For me, the dream of owning that car was better than reality.
I made the compromise to a nice, reliable daily driver. It’s not perfect, but it has a few luxuries, good fuel efficiency, and is paid off.
There seems to be a wide spectrum for POS. For me, a POS car is not reliable and is knocking on death’s door – e.g. the [stock] radio is the best thing in the car, mostly made of rust and the carpet is separating your feet from the road, houses small animals, etc.
My first car that I bought was a 1978 two door hatchback Chevette, It had a 1.6L motor and a 4 speed manual transmission. I finally got rid of it one day when I tore the lower balljoint through the lower control arm. At first I thought the tire blew but when I got out it was stuffed all the way in the wheel well so I looked further and found the lower control arm resting on the ground. Until then it never gave me any problems other than having to replace the distributor.
Rust In Peace-poor mans vette
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