Vehicles, you can fix?

[Still Hunter]

I bought mine used in 2000 and it will go anywhere. So small it drives right thru the trees and brush

 

[go_deep]

Update on the XJ Cherokee. Replaced the 3 O-ring seals around the oil filter, new muffler, lots of cosmetic items. The one I bought had wiring for a heated rear window, but no button or connections, so I found a wiring diagram and installed a button and now I have a heated rear window. Need new side mirrors, and would like to replace the aftermarket rims with old factory rims, or new rims that fit the look of it.
Just around $500 in all the parts up to this point, depending on rims, but looking at a grand total of about $750 to completely resurrect it, so a grand total of $2,450, and so many enjoyable nights out there working on it with my son.

 

[Iowafarmer]

My 2001 F-350 7.3L PSD is pretty easy to work on. My '89 Toyota 4x4 would be easy to work on.......if I had kid's hands.

My “97” 7.3 powerstroke is easier yet. You could have a small party in that engine bay

 

[displacedtexan]

My “97” 7.3 powerstroke is easier yet. You could have a small party in that engine bay

So easy in those trucks, so miserable in the 99+!

 

[Sccritterkiller]

Agree. You can fix or replace almost everything on an xj with just a basic set of wrenches and a screwdriver.

Bullshit...you need metric set, standard set, and and a set of torqx for the body bolts...but yes easy work on..I have a 90 YJ with the 4.2 and carb...modern tractors are harder to work on. My '73 Bronco is pretty easy too and it's all standard bolts.

 

[Invisiblecreek]

2002 f250 7.3 diesel
2005 Toyota corollla

All parts are fairly cheap and readily available at any parts store in town


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[akcabin]

I'm kinda ol school. Just bought a 1978 Ford F-250, 42,000 miles. Also have a 79 El Camino as my daily driver. And have a 69 Ranchero with 22,000 miles. It has a 4 speed so beautiful wife kinda likes it

 

[nphunter]

I think pretty much depends on what a person considers easy to work on. Anything pre-1990 will have very few emissions, carbs, no OBD port and be simple to diagnose and repair if you know how they work, you can easily do things like bypass cats or perform mods with no side effects and usually gain performance. Pre 90's vehicles also tend to get better fuel milage in stock configuration due to the lack of all the additional BS installed on the engines requiring more power to run.

Mid 90's-2005'ish have OB2 ports which can help diagnose issues and the vehicles are still easy to work on, they have more BS on the engines which is normally what is going to throw to code to begin with. O2 sensors, smog pumps etc.

2005-2015 have even more computers but a person can still do most of the work, you will have to use a code reader and also have to most likely do some programing and learn how they work to be able to work on them yourself. A lot of items including the speedometers, TPS systems, ABS and ECU's are SN specific and need to be flashed by a dealer or computer program to be able to replace them. A lot of this was done so the average joe needed to take their vehicle to a shop to get it worked on.

2015- Current, A lot of computer systems are integrated in these vehicles and if some go bad it could be thousands to repair, everything in these vehicles is tied to the computer, including the seats, things as small as swapping leather seats from the junkyard will throw codes that can't be cleared except by the dealer due to air-bag configs. IMO these vehicles are part of the new disposable society and will all end up in the junk yard with relatively low miles.

There is a lot of overlap in the timelines above depending on the manufacturer. Some vehicles like the Toyota Tacoma stayed pretty dumb clear up to 2015, essentially they were the same truck from 2005-2015. Others started changing much sooner and after 2020 everything went to the extreme with electronics.

I like 2000-2010 vehicles, they are still straightforward to work on but also have a lot of creature comforts of a modern vehicle. Coil over IFS on 4x4's, easily upgradable stereo systems to have nav without hacking the whole dash apart. Parts are reasonable, they are comfortable inside and tend to be well made still for the most part and seem to hold up to lots of miles.

I have had great luck with Toyota and Jeep, the Toyotas are on another level for the most part, they have some annoying maintenance items like timing belts but are super reliable when maintained and almost never have leak issues. Jeeps in my experience run forever but when they start to get higher mileage the engines, pumps, trans and diffs all start leaking.

I recently sold a 2015 Tacoma with 115K and upgraded to a 2005 Tundra with 290K, it runs like a top and has zero oil leaks. We also have a 2004 grand cherokee with 255K miles on it that I bought in 2004 with 13K for my wife, she drove it for 16yrs and my son drove it for the last couple.

IMO you can't beat a first gen tundra, plenty of power, will tow fine, is comfortable and they will go 500K+ miles easy with minimal maintenance.

 

[Yoder]

I try to do as much work as I can on my vehicles. I just picked up a new scan tool two weeks ago and it is pretty awesome. It's a Thinkdiag2. You can look at a ton of live data, activate relays, fans etc. I got it on sale for $130. It's bluetooth and it has an app for your phone. Between that and Youtube it makes troubleshooting so much easier.

 

[Qholum37]

My 2005 Dodge Ram with 5.9 Cummins has been the most reliable rig I’ve ever had and pretty simple to work on when I do need too. Had it for almost 10 years and has never left me stranded. I also have a 99 XJ and everything is super cheap and easy on that. On longer trips I put the XJ on a flatbed so I have it to bounce around in for the week. I don’t worry about scratching the paint on that one!

 

[Arithson]

Square body Chevy suburban! Pack an extra fuel pump and you can go anywhere

 

[loganwayne]

Xj use to be so cheap I raced them in a local offroad series in college. Now getting a decently clean one is getting expensive but they are pretty much bomb proof.

I just picked up a 79 grand wagoneer for a "restomod" hunting rig

 

[Luked]

Wish I could find a 95-2000 Chevy 2500 with a 350 or 454 ext cab that is in good shape and not rusted to shit.
Simple and reliable and easy and cheap to fix.

 

[flyfisher117]

I regret not buying a fleet of XJs and 3rd Gen 4runners 12 years ago when they were cheap and abundant... my first gen Tundras have been pretty good to work on and keep running too.