Today on my drive in to work, I spotted what appeared to be an impeccably maintained early 90's Accord parked in someone's front lawn. Normally such a car would fly right under my radar, but this one was so clean, so pretty. The white paint fairly sparkled- it appeared showroom new.
My father-in-law maintains cars like this- he has in his fleet a 2004 Chevrolet Impala and a 1999 Chevrolet pickup, both with over 150,000 miles, and both looking, inside and out, like no one has ever set foot in them. I'm amazed at the level of care that some cars receive, especially considering they're not classics or interesting cars in any way. But there's a pride of ownership evident, and I guess that speaks to me, on some level.
Anyone else run across such unexpected gems?
There's a line where cars become interesting simply because they're well preserved. It's somewhere around 25-30 years old.
tjbell
Reader
5/26/15 1:49 p.m.
I LOVE clean, older, undesirable cars. I work at a Hyundai dealer in the parts department and every once in a whole I see this early 2000's Elantra GT come in, literally show room condition with I think mid 40's on it for milage. I want to offer the old man some cash for it next time in the worst way.
But driving down the road when I see and old turd is prestine condition I normally break my neck looking at it, My girlfriend thinks I'm crazing gawking at all these old "turds"
many moons ago when working at the dealership level we had a female customer in her upper 70s with a mint integra gs-r, manual of course. She'd bring it in for a complete detail if her neighbor's cat left foot prints on it. She got oil changes every 8-1200 miles and tires every 12k, whether it was needed or not. Every service advisor, tech and parts guys longed for that car.
Keith Tanner wrote:
There's a line where cars become interesting simply because they're well preserved. It's somewhere around 25-30 years old.
I love going to car shows and seeing the six cylinder, automatic, 4 door Chevy Bel Air sedan that someone bought new. The one they built a gagillion of, 95% of which have either gone to the shredder or had a V8 swapped in. You're right- there's definitely a line where the age factors into it. For me, I guess it's where they stop blending in with the newer stuff, and the ones you do see are typically clapped out - on their 4th owners and last legs.
I friend of a friend got an 80's Buick LaSabre from his wife's mother I believe. Gold on tan. He took me out to see it and I couldn't believe my eyes. Original tires with the nubs still on it. Original factory-installed wiper blades.
The ONLY thing wrong with it was the dead yellow-jacket on the parcel shelf.
I've seen immaculate 90's F-Series trucks from the south with the grease-pencil markings still on the frame and absolutely perfect in every way.
Too bad they ask upwards of $20-30k for them.
On the flip-side though, I've seen 2010-12 trucks so beat and so rusty I have to shake my head. I'm talking about twisted, rusty bumpers, dents in every panel, mismatched wheels and tires. That gets me.
Someone in my neighborhood appears to obsessively clean and detail their cars. Lincoln LS and a new model Ford Fiesta. Not as old as some, but kept much nicer than you'd expect.
captdownshift wrote:
She'd bring it in for a complete detail if her neighbor's car left foot prints on it.
That's impressive that it was still okay with the car being all over it. 
In reply to Sine_Qua_Non:
we always amazed that it actually did in fact buff right out
Pretty much everything GM sedan from the 80s and 90s falls into this realm.
I had one guy that worked for me back in the late 90s that used to take care of his 93 Cavalier Z24 like it was made out of gold. He had another beater car that he drove when the weather was really bad instead of that car. I just couldn't even understand what was going through his mind since no matter what he did it was gonna be worth no more than $2k after a few years.
Keith Tanner wrote:
There's a line where cars become interesting simply because they're well preserved. It's somewhere around 25-30 years old.
Which sounds exactly what that Accord is. If it's a Coupe V6, it's already becoming pretty hot around here. IMO it's shame it isn't red.
NOHOME
UltraDork
5/26/15 3:01 p.m.
I promise you that no vehicle that I ever own will be in danger of suffering this fate!
Blew my mind how clean it was. Eurosport baby!
Different strokes for different folks... I've known people to buy an older 4 door [whatever] as an 'investment', not stopping to think that the 2 doors/coupes/convertibles are the investment versions. As more of them rot away yes their 'investment' will increase, but nowhere near their expectations.
It's not only 4 door whatevers. The guy across the street from me has a really nice white Thunderbird with red interior, only problem is it's a less than desireable year (1964) and isn't a convertible. A coupe is worth somewhere around $11k, a convertible around $26k. https://www.hagerty.com/price-guide/1964-Ford-Thunderbird?img=1966_Ford_Thunderbird
I really shouldn't talk; a J-H isn't worth all that much either mostly because no one knows what it is.
My neighbor where i grew up in chicago has a Starion like this. It even has 80s appearance mods on it like window louvers. I asked him several times if I could buy it but he wouldn't sell it to me. He still owns it.
His dad has a Shelby Charger is impossibly good condition to where I couldn't imagine being possible. It looks better than most cars people had for only 5 years. It is heavily modded and done properly. Guy had a TON of money and dumped a significant portion into that car. He trained his son well I think lol.
I see a guy out occasionally in a very clean original AE86. He appears to be in his late sixties, it turns my head every time.
Clean, well taken care of and UNDESIRABLE:
I have been watching this one sit on CL for about a month now.
'88 w/ 91k miles, asking $1,500
I consider looking at it, but...
1) Not a lot of loose cash right now. For business reasons, money is tight right now but this is still cheap enough.
2) Not a good time to add another 2 seater to the fleet. I already have one that I never drive.
3) Does not fit my needs as a DD.
3) Not a great Challenge car, but it could be (if I needed another 2 seater or could DD it)
That's a super good price on that Maserati. Also being an '89 most people would find it to be more desirable than the later V6 cars.
I had an uncle that was a EE. He kept his cars for a long time and all were immaculate.
A co-worker who is a CE has a 94 Accord that is also immaculate.
Not all engineers are so fastidious. We have some of those too.
I guy used to come into my shop about once a month with a Dihatsu Charade.
I also see a 2 door reliant puttering around here...
Last week I saw a mint condition Lumina van and a really nice Tempo. Both of which have gotten to the point that I don't even see crappy ones any more. Neither of them had so much as a spec of rust or a cracked taillight.
And then for reasons I don't understand I googled 2.3 duratec swaps into Tempos... It was a confusing time for me.
My dad's cars are always immaculate. When it's time to sell them, he usually asks me to help, and since they're so nice, I never complain. Usually the first person to look at them will buy anyway. Of course it helps that they are usually all BMWs, but still. When I sold his 5 series, it had every receipt of everything ever done to it, including the gas bought in a log with mileage. It was 10 years old and still looked like it did new, no scratches, imperfections, nothing.
My grandfather was the same way. When he passed away he left my sister his mid '80's Impala. I actually wanted that car too for some reason. It was perfect and drove nice. Of course that would have taken the fun away from picking on my brother in law and calling him a bald old man since he mainly drove it. 
I think he kept it for another 10 years as his main mode of transportation.
Just to be a buzzkill, we have a customer with a 90 Lumina, 3.1 auto. It needed an ECU and memcal. GM hasn't built a memcal for years. Junkyard has a box, memcal is different enough that the speedo reads 30% high, and the coolant sensor light stays on. Car runs now, and almost correctly...but he wants it right. Car-parts.com, here I come...
