Reliable as a daily driver?

depends on what you do to it as well, i drove my grabber as a daily driver for 17 years and used it to make trips to fresno and Los angeles from the bay area constantly. on my recent overhaul i have moved to a region where i cant really drive it, dont want to drive it, most of the late fall to late spring due to random snow. so i went a little more performance. ever since then i am constantly double checking things only due to my own paranoias, but it still starts every time and has not given me any indications that it could not take back up the role of daily driver. in fact i still toss back and forth making the comet i bought into a daily driver since i havent set it in stone yet. one of the many cars i have added to the family for the wife was a maverick also, if it wasnt for my low income at the time and californias moronic "pay either way" fix it ticket system i would still have it as well and be driving it. not to stay on the ford rant but i also had the wife in a 68 cougar for almost 10 years and other than standard oil and brake stuff i only had to change the starter during that time. she drove it to LA and tahoe a few times during that and used it for a commuter the last three years we owned it..

 

The age is just a number, just like the mileage. The car was designed to be driven. If the brakes, suspension, electrical, cooling system, and of course the drive train it self is in good condition, I see no reason not to drive it daily or expect it to be unreliable. Mine runs 75-80 mph up and down the interstate, 70 miles per day, 5 days a week and the only recent problem I've had is the water pump, which was the ORIGINAL one from 1971. I should also note, that in 4 years of driving daily, that is only the second time something has happened to the car bad enough that it couldn't make it home under it's own power. The other time was back in 2005, when the ORIGINAL fuel pump on my '74 Grabber went out. I do not baby my car in the least bit, it sees severe use, and just keeps on going. In addition to the weekly drive, I usually put 200-500 miles on the car every weekend. I put almost 400 miles on it yesterday, and most of that was running 75+.

 

i say its possible, i would love to have one as a daily commuter myself that way i wouldn't have to rank up miles on my mazda

 

I drove mine daily for about a year. the only time it broke down is when the heater core started leaking bad. I could have made it home but was afraid of it overheating. Overall these seem to be a reliable car. In my experience 6 cylinders don't last long when you run them hard. If you don't try and hotrod it it should be a good driver for many years

 

That definitely has not been my experience! Love my 6! Change the oil regularly and keep them in good tune and they are practically indestructible.

 

that 250 was a fantastic motor. I had a maverick as a daily driver for about 4yrs. Only problem I had was the distributor breaker disk/plate took a crap, but that was cheap and easy fix.

 

Heres the way I see it. Myself and the guys at work have discussed this many times since I got mine and they see how cheap the parts are. We're all techs and figure if you could get a solid car a daily driver could be a possibility. I certainly wouldnt put my wife and kids in it(safety reasons) but for myself I think its possible. Keep in mind I have the ability and the shop to make repairs quickly to keep it a good daily driver. I still dont think I would call it dependable though. You would have to be able to work with the car and its issues. Being a tech at a dealership I would be driving it to the shop each day. Makes it easy to keep up with it. I think your issue would be your climate. That car would have to have a good carb and choke set up to make it reliable. The mechanical is the easy part. Suspension brakes etc. The issue with a car 30 plus years old is wiring and electrical. Good news is the wiring is relatively simple.
If you have the ability to tune this car for the cold damp weather and make it reliable the rest is only a bunch of parts that can be replaced. Just dont forget that the car is 35 years old and may take some time,money and work before you get to that reliable stage. Good luck Darren.

 

Until I bought the 86 Bronco about 2 years ago my 71 F100 was my daily driver for many years. It had a back yard restoration about 10 years ago though. Over the years I have replaced the engine/tranny/rearend and almost every other major part on the truck. I would jump in it right now and go across the country without any worries. I would have some spare parts and tools in the tool box though. IF it broke down chances are I would either be able to fix it on the side of the road or limp it to a place where I could fix it with junk yard parts.
I know almost everything there is to know about the truck as far as how to work on it or what might be a potential problem.
I see no problem using a Maverick as a DD so long as you go through it very well when you get it and be ready for stuf to start failing on it once you start driving it hard.
Water pumps, master cylinders, distributors, brake componants and just about any other part will fail on it once you start driving it.
Once you get all of those tings fixed it will be a good DD.
Sitting it worse than driving it I think. 50k on the odometer means it has done a lot os sitting.
I would deffinately have a back up car a AAA until you get all of the bugs out of it
clint

 

Here's my two cents... It depends on the car, and it depends on you. Some people can drive a 30+ year old car every day, and some can't.

My Maverick has been a daily driver since I got it. I wouldn't hesitate to go anywhere in it. 5 miles or 500, no problem. But it wasn't always that trustworthy. The first several months were a shakedown. I drove it hard, found the weak points, fixed them. Nothing was particularly expensive to deal with, (although the transmission could have been) but I had to accept that I was going to be on the side of the road a few times.

Transmission, carburetor, Water pump, battery, alternator, voltage regulator, distributor, lights, plugs, wires, solenoids, fan, brakes, heater core, old hoses, old wiring, gaskets, fluid leaks, exhaust leaks, suspension problems, alignment, that motherf#$%ing wiper linkage... Are all just a few of the problems that came up and had to be dealt with. And my engine only had about 3-4,000 on the build at the time.

Nothing really kept the car down more than a few hours except the transmission, so I still say it's been reliable for me. To me, that's just an acceptable part of driving the type of car I love. To you, maybe not. (All you really need though are patience, tools and the MMB. You can do it if you want to.)

But like I said, after that initial shakedown, my car is solid. I'll put my two year old son in it and drive 450 miles round-trip to Grandma's house like we did last Christmas and we'll get there just fine.

Some cars can be a daily driver for anybody, and some people can make a daily driver out of anything. I say if you go into it with the right expectations you will end up with a solid reliable car even if you don't start with one.

 

Very good way to put it to words facelessnumber. That is about what I was trying to say. lol
clint

 

As far as reliability is concerned,remeber this: Its a machine...made by imperfect people.That said...it will break down...machines do this at the most inoppertune times.
Age wise...it is more likely to strand you.
Condition/mileage wise...IF...big if...it was well maintained and is currently used as a daily driver... it should be fine but...it will break down...its old.
When you go to look at it...be objective and honest with your self and the condition of the car.Note anything that needs immediate attention.If something turns you off...Walk away!!! You are looking for reliable transportation.NOT another project...treat it that way and stick to that frame of mind.
Take it for a good ride...get it up to operating temp and drive it...Surface roads and highway.Be certain it performs without any problems.Count how many times during the look over and drive you say "I can fix that" add em up at the end and figure cost/time to fix that.If you come up with more items than your wallet can afford "right now" Walk away...you need a "driver" not a project.You know enough about these cars at this point to make an educated un-biased decision about this ones condition and your needs.
Personally I have untill last spring used my blu mav as my DD for 20 yrs.Granted no winters but,rain or shine,warm or cold,near or far.The car only stranded me once(starter) and a simple push start got me going anywhoo(pop the clutch and away I go)I drove the car back from California when I got out of the navy and if it was assembled I would drive it back there with out hesitation...But...I keep my cars very well maintained.All that said...ultimately its your decision.They can be very reliable.They can also be a nightmare.True for any car...I dont care how old or new.
Good luck!!!!

 

I drove my 77 as a DD for a good while before i took it off the road to paint it. Drove it everywhere, put a crazy amount of miles on it in only short time. It had a couple hiccups during the time, but the great thing is for the hardest jobs on these cars it way cheaper and quicker to fix them then most cars. I drive a 2001 Hyundai tiburon now and i can say my 30 year old car took a beating way better than it does. every time i do something rough to it, i have to replace something. Im only 18 so yea i beat on everything i drive. just my 2cents

 

Law of Mechanics & Thermodynamics.

The more components there are in a mechanical system, the more likely something will break. These cars are known to be simple, and reliable, because there are fewer parts to break down. Put some guages in and watch the systems operate as you drive so you can prevent problems before they leave you stranded (like figuring out the choke was on ALL DAY when it was -10 degrees C here).

All the new cars with all the new sensors and high-strung little engines and high-strung little transmissions seem to just throw in the towel as soon as the warranty runs out.

I dunno why you must have such an incredibly reliable car... we all want reliability, and BOTH of my jobs dictate that I have a reliable vehicle...

...but my experience with various makes - Japanese and American - my 6 cyl Comet with low miles (50K) has been the cheapest thing I've owned in DECADES for the last year of daily driving I've been doing. Like previous posts mentioned - I had to sort out a few problems during the first few months... but the parts were cheap and relatively easy to do (esp. with the help from this forum).

Just avoid English cars and/or Lucas electronics....

 

just my . since i was 18 i drove a 70 maverick 100 miles a day every day no problems and it had a bad engine since i got it. only time i was stranded was when the engine gave up the ghost after 3 years of my driving. My 73 is driven every day even with its small glitches. I still trust it more than my 90 jeep Cherokee that is perfect. its just how you take care of it. i am never cheap when it comes to a tune up. just keep in mind the better parts you buy the longer they last and the more reliable it will be.

 

Generally,you either buy an old car & fix it along the way or you get a car payment.Sounds like you can't get a car payment so I'd say go with the Mav.Although not a DAILY driver(since I drive truck,the car sits a few days at a time)my green pea '75 Mav has been pretty much trouble free.But the guy I got it from rebuilt the frontend,carb,new belts/hoses/tuneup/fuelpump/brakes/yada/yada.And he drove it daily(for real) for a year,so I guess he got all the bugs out.Low miles are fine,but 35 years does stuff to silly things like light sockets,ground wires,heater cores and such.Be prepared for that kind of stuff,but like was mentioned earlier,these cars are pretty simple to fix on and will usually "talk" to you as well as the computerized crap,you just gotta know the language.See a little fuel under the front of the motor-needs a fuel pump.See a few drops of coolant under the motor-get a water pump.Missing a little-maybe bad fuel,or might need plugs/wires.You get the idea.
My Maverick is not as comfy,nor does it stop/steer as well as my Escort,but I'd trust it just the same.Just not much to tear up on 'em,mine's a manual trans/manual steer/bare bones car.But the car only shows 85k,uses no oil and gets around 25 mpg overall.If the Escort blew today,I wouldn't be in a hurry to replace it...till winter.I try & not drive the Mav during salty season,it's already afflicted with cancer.