Our 80 heads west a couple times a year along with the random Appalachia camping trips. It’s not a daily driver any longer, but still we manage to put 12-15 thousand miles on each year. This Summer we are headed to the Arctic Ocean, then back south and over to Alaska. All told about a 12 thousand mile round trip. With 357,000 miles on the drivetrain it’s still going strong. If the engine or transmission ever fail, it’ll be rebuilt and we will continue on. I’ve been offered a hefty price for it, but what would I get to replace it? ( maybe a 70 but highly unlikely )
When one considers the poor fuel mileage, the maintenance and the prospect of someday maybe having to rebuild the drivetrain, the 80 series, for us, still wins against modern vehicles hands down. A new vehicle is Not even a consideration. Some mentioned all of these things as a reason to go with new modern vehicles. Nope- I look at it like this- a car payment would be what? 3-400 a month or more, but I’ll just go with 400 for giggles- that’ll get me about 1200 +/- miles down the road, or a complete new drivetrain every six years. Comfort? These newly restored LX450 seats are still very comfortable. I’ll tell ya what, there will be 3 in our little group this summer, my 96’ 80 series, a friends 94’ 80 series and a Modern Chevy Colorado diesel. Guess which vehicle we are more concerned about finishing the trip without a kerfuffle?
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