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Hello, I just bought a 1984 dodge half ton short wheel base van for $400. I love it cause I love crap like this, ie: wierd useless old vehicles. My driving needs are one mile one way trips a day, twice a month 80 mile trips with mountain hills, and two passengers. The van is over kill. I'm getting 13mpg city witch is awesome for a 1984 3 ton vehicle. Can any one recomend a car or truck or van that will suit my needs and have enough power to get out of the way when needed.

p.s. I know my spelling sucks.

Please please please reply!!!!!!!!!

Welcome to CleanMPG!
Although the '84 Dodge half-ton van is the "wrong tool for the job", the fact that only $400 has been invested takes some of the sting out of the decision. Imagine how people feel when they buy a brand new or couple-of-years-old 4x4 SUV for 100 times as much and then find out what it costs to fill the tank. ...And how fast that tank burns off.

I can't recommend a car, truck or van without knowing how much you would want to spend, and also what you will need for cargo capacity or towing or other needs. For three people (driver and two passengers) to travel 80 miles through the mountains, any four passenger car would be suitable. Remember that power and acceleration are relative, and a smaller lighter car will do just fine with 90 or 100 horsepower, even with three or four people aboard.

Your post says that you love weird useless old vehicles. Although the term 'weird' is relative, you can search around for some smaller cars that were well built but not popular in their day. But you will want to choose a car that is still reliable and inexpensive to maintain and repair. Some cars were unpopular because they were mechanical nightmares. I share your appreciation for weird cars, and within the last few months, I was eyeing a 1985 Olds Ciera diesel. It looked like a prop from the movie "Fargo". EPA shows 23/32 using the new calculations, and 26/35 under the original EPA rules. Sounds like great mpg, but good luck finding a rebuilt injector pump, a glow plug relay, or a new set of head gaskets and head bolts (you would want to keep spares of these parts with a car like that). Definitely weird - wire wheels, white walls, lots of chrome, and clatters like a Kenworth. But not a good choice for daily driving.

You can find EPA estimates for cars dating back to 1984 here - http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/findacar.htm - and you can use the listings to compare any cars you are considering, and choose the most fuel efficient.

For weird but fuel efficient cars, thinking back to the mid 80s (same time frame as your van), I remember a very oddly styled Civic wagon - available with AWD. And also a Nissan Stanza van, with sliding doors that, when opened, left no "B" pillar. Both would turn heads on the road today. Both would be relatively cheap, but would pollute much more than modern OBDii passenger cars. And they would also lack safety technology we have come to expect in today's cars.

Hopefully this helps a bit as you search for a more suitable daily driver. You are certainly welcome to ask questions and read the forums, and you might just find some techniques or tips you can use to boost the fuel economy in your van. And what you learn will carry over into any vehicle you buy. And they will keep saving you money for years to come, not to mention reducing fuel use and pollution.

Thanks MaxxMPG for the input. I actuly love the stanza van/car but they are sooooo.....rare. As for the civic wagon I...... have a problem with honda, no soul. But I still have concitered both. I've never paid more than $850 for a vehicle(1985 toyota camry) and I've owned 15 cars 30 years old, drivers liceses 15. 63 bug, 70vw bus,70 bmw2002,dodge aries station wagon,chrysler lebaron sedan 1991(best car 34 hy 28ct, till my sister broke it),a dodge shadow 2 door a 2.2 auto,1981 vanagaon bought for $100 sold for $750 in a week. Theses are some of my automotive decisions. I'll stick with the van for a while, it is cool...kinda.

In reply to your cutlass, I've hear nothing but good stuff about them(the v8 deisel sucks). I Love movies!!!! "Fargo" is in my top 5.

Prospector

I had a 1/2 ton Dodge D100 long bed pickup-bought new for $4900-waaay back in 1980.
It wasn't a bad truck-318 V-8.
The main bad was the windows rusted shut after 3 years(in New Orleans and we aren't rust belt) and I was so cheap it didn't have an AC.
Second Bad was it always had a stumble right off idle.The Carbs back then had trouble meeting EPA regs, and many had lean stumbles. No big deal, just a little annoying.

If it is reliable Keep what you have.For $400 if it turns out to be reliable, it is a bargain.

You don't do huge miles, so mpg isn't as important as reliability.Give this a tryout to see if it is reliable.
Charlie

I'd have to go with "keep it" voiced above. I have a Honda FIT that I hadly ever drive anymore. Less than 1,500 miles a year. I'm thinking about selling it and getting an old truck. I could pocket some money and drop the full coverage insurance.

Thanks MaxxMPG for the input. I actuly love the stanza van/car but they are sooooo.....rare. As for the civic wagon I...... have a problem with honda, no soul. But I still have concitered both. I've never paid more than $850 for a vehicle(1985 toyota camry) and I've owned 15 cars 30 years old, drivers liceses 15. 63 bug, 70vw bus,70 bmw2002,dodge aries station wagon,chrysler lebaron sedan 1991(best car 34 hy 28ct, till my sister broke it),a dodge shadow 2 door a 2.2 auto,1981 vanagaon bought for $100 sold for $750 in a week. Theses are some of my automotive decisions. I'll stick with the van for a while, it is cool...kinda.

In reply to your cutlass, I've hear nothing but good stuff about them(the v8 deisel sucks). I Love movies!!!! "Fargo" is in my top 5.

It seems like we share the same appreciation for cars that have done their time on the "Island of Misfit Toys".

The V6 diesel in the Ciera was vastly improved over the first gen V8 diesels, and even the 1981-1985 "DX" V8s were far more reliable. The problem with the Olds Diesel these days is the fact that they are all at least 25 years old now, and most went to the recycle bin when parts went bad. I had one of the 350DX diesels in the 80s and swapped to a gas engine when the injector pump failed. Seems they used steel parts inside, and the water in diesel fuel rusted them out. As the injection pump timing wandered out of spec, the increase in cylinder pressure due to faulty timing would stretch the bolts and blow the head gasket. When I found the price and availability of the injector pump and glow plug relay, I decided it was best to leave the old Ciera in Fargo. :)

I also found a 1988 Plymouth Reliant on Craigslist last winter. 50k original miles - elderly driven - looked like brand new. I think they were asking $900? 2.2L engine with AT. That would definitely be a good candidate for weird because the styling is so different from today's cars. But parts are still widely available, and comically cheap. And those cars were pretty reliable in the powertrain department. Anyone who didn't mind squeaks/rattles, the characteristic diesel-like clatter and rough idle of the 2.2/2.5 and spotty interior trim durability could pick up an old K-car and get some good MPG numbers out of it. The best bet would be the TBI 2.2 engine with 5MT. Very hard to find - they are very rare - but the 1988 version is rated at 22/30 (2008 EPA). The Omni/Horizon or Shadow/Sundance "America" versions had the same powertrain, too. For an extra layer of weird, the perfect K-car would be the wagon with the vinyl wood siding. My mother in law had one in the late '80s to early '90s - 2.2L AT - tan on tan with the wood siding - and it was a fantastic little car. Today, it would get lots of "what the heck is that?!" glances.

As others have said above, the "keep it and hypermile it" solution may make the most sense for you, especially if the van is proving to be reliable. Adding a small car to your garage while keeping the van would likely double your insurance bill, and you would end up paying the little green gecko any money you save at the pump. Using what you have, setting up the van with proper maintenance, tire pressure (if yours is a half ton, it should have 8 lug rims and load range "E" tires that inflate to 60-70psi), and driving practices you will learn here, you can squeeze quite a bit more out of the old van.

As for the civic wagon I...... have a problem with honda, no soul. .

Agree 1000%!!!!!

As to the stanza wagon, i remember looking at one in a used car lot in the mid 80's. I liked the idea of the sliding door and room with the decent mileage. We test drove it and liked it. We were standing outside of it and talking to the salesman about buying it when all of a sudden it started drifting away from us, with my 3 y.o son inside!! As it turns out, the tranny selector did not have an ignition lockout, so he threw it into neutral and it started to move. My wife saw that and said"no way" and we left..LOL.
One car of that era i loved was the colt vista 4wd wagon. I had a 5 speed and loved that little thing. Got 30 mpg, would carry 7, and would go anywhere.

I think I got about 11-13 mpg in mainly city driving with my 1980 D100 8 ft bed pickup.
It was a MT- probably a 4 speed on the floor.
Of course pickups were lighter- much lighter back then.I suspect it weighed maybe 3700 lbs or less. A full sized 8 ft bed V-8 would be at least 4500 lbs now.

Your van will be heavier-maybe 4200 lbs or so, but not horrendous.

Parts should be relatively cheap-and I guess you have the 318-maybe 360?? Possible they still had that old slant 6-225- but it was probably gone by then.

You should get maybe 13 mpg hy at 60 mph-maybe 10 mpg in pure city. You are only doing 400 miles/m -so 35 gallons/m- just over $100 in fuel. There isn't anything you could buy that would pay you back, since you have just $400 in this.

Keep it as a tryout.
If it is junk hunt for a GM van/pickup-same vintage. It will cost a little more, but parts will be even cheaper and more available. You can also find old GM and even Ford stationwagons pretty cheap-
The above are if you need to have cargo/human volume.
If you don't need a big interior-theere are lots of choices since you don't object to old Detroit iron(some of which are pretty reliable on the stuff that counts-all of which are dirt cheap). Older Japanese stuff will get better mpg, but it will be WORLDS MORE EXPENSIVE TO REPAIR.

Yeah, keep it and try it out.
Luck
Charlie