I'm in the market for a new Daily driver and I'm highly considering a maverick to fill that position. I was changing my mind from everything from a Olds Cutlass (Early 70's) to a Pontiac Firebird ('68), though the big A-bodies could be a pain and the prices were a bit out of my range. Everyone I know thinks I'm nuts and tells me to buy a camry or what not but to be honest I'd rather walk . I live in New jersey so its quite a rust friendly environment and not to mention emissions testings. The main things I'm looking for is a decent somewhat powerful (gas prices ) car to just mess around with and get me from place to place. The 3 speed auto is a bit disappointing but I imagine there are possible swaps for the 302, and the fastback styling makes up for the pinto front. What do you guys think, does the maverick fit the bill or should I be looking at something else?
as long as you realize that there will be regular maintenance and when you first start driving it daily there will be a lot of little things that will go wrong with the car, but after a couple months and a wallet full of $$ you will get the bugs worked out and have a decent daily driver. That is what i used for a daily driver for several years. Just as I said above when I first bought the car the previous owner had only used it on the weekends and to take it to a cruise in once in a while. When I started driving it on a daily basis 56 miles round trip per day, lots of little things went wrong and needed replacing. Things like the altenator, wiper blades, belts, hoses the switch for the fan for the heat/AC, once those things were gone over and repairs/replaced I absolutely loved driving my Maverick. It made what was normally a miserable drive in traffic a somewhat enjoyable experience. Lots of people looking at the car and givign the Thumbs up, lots of smiles and stories at the gas station. I put a jammin stereo in it and cranked it up to 11 and rolled up the road and had fun doing it.
You asked. Definitely look at something else. Maverick's are almost 40 years old. Some parts have to be ordered....meaning you car will be "down" for a few days...if not weeks. Look for an Escort or a Focus....you will be much happer.
I drive mine daily, but I also agree with Craig. You will need a second vehicle to drive if the Mav breaks, just because of parts availability due to the age of the car. It's not the normal things that break that will hurt you, it's the Maverick specific parts that are hard to find or have to be modified from other applications that are the issues. I am currently having to repair mine at an extremely inconvenient time due to other responsibilities I have to take care of. My uncle is driving a 65 model vehicle and is having a hell of a time finding someone competent to repair it without doing more damage than it had when he took it in(he doesn't live near me). If you can't do most of the work yourself(mechanical), it needs to be a pleasure vehicle, not something you have to rely on. If you're confident you can do it or have someone do the repairs reliably and reasonably for you, then drive it till the wheels fall off and then put 'em back on! JMHO
I would love to drive mine daily, BUT the way people drive, its a constant worry if its gonna get wrecked or not, so I have a 99 escort that gets to be the daily driver. Its also more economical and easier to drive.
I drive my mav as a daily driver currently and it is great! Lots of fun and it gets better gas mileage than my friends toyota scion!!! (I have the I6 250). I agree with some things already posted above though. It will have things that need to be fixed on a regular basis and some of the things require....out of the box?....thinking since parts aren't readily available. Just to give you an idea, I've been driving it as a DD for over a year and I've had to replace several belts (old pullies eating them up), fuel pump, power steering hoses and pump, fuel lines. the majority of other things I had to replace to make it drivable when I first purchased it. And I will have to rebuild an engine soon or get a new one due to some issues with that. You will definantly need the time, money, and resources to do these things to keep the mav healthy and operable. I was raised with this being normal car maintenance though since my parents drove a 69 olds cutlass w/350 all through the 80's and 90's. So we are ok with this stuff.
I've been using a Maverick as my primary transportation since May 2005, over 150,000 total miles in that time period. This is my advice: get a Maverick with front disc brakes. You do not want a car that does not have disc brakes unless you want to hunt down the parts and can swap them on yourself. Now to get this car ready to be a reliable daily driver... chances are this will be a 40 year old car with unknown history or some B.S. story the previous owner made up that probably isn't true. We need to be sure this will be a safe, reliable car. Start with the brake system, inspect the steel lines for rust, replace if need be. Replace all of the rubber lines, new master cylinder, new wheel cylinders and calipers and new brake pads and shoes, and wheel bearings. New or machined rotors and drums if need be. Next to the fuel system. Inspect the fuel tank and lines for rust, clean/replace if need be. Install a new fuel pump. Give the carb a good look over, rebuild/replace if need be. Install new plugs and wires, convert to electronic ignition if it's not already got it. Replace all belts and hoses under the hood, install a new radiator. Replace any leaking seals/gaskets the motor and trans may have. If the suspension seems tight, grease it up good, drive it a couple of days and have the alignment checked. If not, it's probably going to need ball joints, tie rods, etc. After all this, assuming the engine and trans are internally healthy, you should now have a decently reliable car. I change my oil every 5,000 miles, inspect and and grease the suspension every 15,000, air filter every 20,000 and do a tune up with new plugs, wires, cap and rotor button every time I change the air filter. I have relatively few problems with my car, but things like water pumps, alternators and stuff like that could always go out any time. If you think you can handle all this, you can daily drive a classic car.
For the past 3 1/2 years The Comet has been my daily driver, I've replaced just about every little thing you can think of while making upgrades here and there. It has cost quite a bit of money to get the car to where it is, a reliable daily driver even though it still has the stock drums and old sloppy suspension. And it'll take at least a $1,000 more til I start taking it on far trips again. On a side note, I've never had so much fun working on the car. The smiles, thumbs ups, comments both good and bad, make it more than worth it. But be prepared to have some suprises at 1 in the morning when you are trying to get home and the car won't start.
For the record the maverick came before the pinto. So the pinto has maverick styling..... To daily drive mine the insurrance would be crazy. I got a bunch of quotes and it's still too expensive. I would be paying more a month on regular liability insurrance than a years worth of 10K classic car insurrance.
You said you live NJ. Same here. I would be more afraid of the day to day traffic depending on where you live. I have had to use my maverick in the past for work when my DD was in the shop. With manual breaks and steering, my nerves were shot when I got my office after driving for 40 miles in rush hour.
Well I want to thank all you guys for the helpful advice, I just read through all the answers and while I agree it would be quite some work, and will definitely break down at some part in time when I need it, but the fact of the matter is I get some sort of crazy enjoyment out of it, not always being 100% or even near it. I drove more recent camry for a month and it was the most dreadful experience I've ever had, it was like the car was driving me, I wasn't driving it . Anyway no offense to you mav guys, I think its a great car and it will always have a little place (pun intended) in my heart. Whatever came first it still has the front end of a pinto . Though I've always been more of a pontiac guy and after recent consideration I think I'm going to find a beat up '69 gto to restore as I go. (though still considering maverick)
Id get a lincoln mark viii... Good power very comfortable and cheap... Not too many problems with them if u get a 98. 93-97 are prone to trans failures.
