We were considering several option. But we had restriction to consider: at least 20 years old and a 2,500 Euro maximum price tag. This made it quite difficult to find something a) robust, b) comfortabel and c) spacious with a bit of driving pleasure.
To cut the long story short, after countless hours of browsing forums, searches for offers, discussing options, visiting dealers, we found her. Her name should later become "Else".
So, "Else" is a 1993 BMW E34 525 iX Touring (station wagon). The interesting part, it has four wheel drive. This was very rare at that time (~4,500 where build) and only a few may still be rolling. It had leather seats with heating, two zone air condition, arm rests, big trunk, additional power outlets. One must admit, with the low price comes a bit of rust and worn out parts, but overall, Else was in great condition from a technical perspective - considering the nearly 200.000km on the clock. We got our baby for 1,950 EUR.
What we had to invest on top
We renewed the belts for the alternator and the gasoline filter - which was all she needed. Well, we did leave some things untouched. When braking you could feel that one should probably invest a couple of bucks in the front axle (vibration in the stearing wheel). Also the bearing of the rear axle could use a replacement rather sooner than later. However most parts that could cause serious problems had been replaced more or less in the near past. The invoices from previous services (nearly covering the whole life of the car) convinced us this would be a good deal.
Over the whole trip of ten thousand kilometers (> 6,200 miles), we consumed roughly one liter of motor oil. Which is pretty smooth for such an old engine with high milage.
How to find the right car for you
It really took us a while to find the right car. The best thing is: start browsing the common market places. Get a feeling of what the prices are, what models do you find interesting, what are weaknesses of your favourite models (when visiting dealers)? Don't hesitate if this phase takes a month or two.
When looking for a car this old, it doesn't really matter if the car had 3 or 7 pre owners. You may find ones in best condition but have the highest milage and number of pre owners - or you may find ones with low milage, service checks but totally worn out, because the last owner didn't invest a penny and now just want's to get rid of a rolling money grave.
Here some hints for checking the car:
Generally: if you are flexible about your car it'll make it easier to find a solid companion for your adventure. If something sounds fishy (noises where no noises should be) or doesn't feel right when test driving (steering feels nervous, accaleration not constant/smooth), skip it. You'll find a better one. Or it is a great deal (e.g. needs some axis repair, but has great equipment in good condition) and the remaining money in your budget allows some repairs. However, keep in mind when buying an old Bimmer oder Merc, spare parts can be expensive - so you should get yourself a good one.
Rust: check at the bottoms of doors, trunk and bottom sides of the car. Rust on things as doors or such (things attached to the body) often only have cosmetic implications. The body of the car itself should have as little rust as possible (especially on the bottom side). If you are unsure on how to judge rust on a car and it's implication on safety, consider professional help. Often garage chains provide a "used car check" for a small amount. It's a good investment. If the seller does not agree to such a check, leave. There is plenty of fish in the ocean.
Engine and Transmission: go for manual shifting. Automatic gears are more complicated to replace (and more expensive) and don't last as long as manual ones. When you buy such an old car and it's the first automatic gear box you literally have to expect a failure anytime. Remember that you want a car you can trust. When it comes hard to hard, you might need a very fine feelings for the engine and clotch. An additional point speaking for manual transmission.
Regardless of the transition type, are gears shifting smooth? Does the gear boy make unusual loud noises when shifting? If it takes a bit more pressure than usual but work well otherwise, it might just be the need for an oil replacement for the gear box. Always hear for supicious noises (though a certain very silent "singing" can be normal while driving with older cars). Does it run smooth when idle (watch the RPM needle)? Does it accelerate well when taking it slow? And when kicking the engine? Go for classic engines that are well known to last long (e.g. BMW stroke-6 engines).
Brakes & Tires: Brake slowly and brake hard from various speeds. Do the brakes stop well? If you have ABS, does it work? When you feel your steering wheel shaking/vibrating, there might be something wrong in your front axle geometry. Have that checked by a professional. Also glide with your finger over the brake discs (do this before driving, they are hot afterwards), do they feel smooth? How thick are the discs and bracket pads?
Your tires should be in good condition. You gonna ride with these four "palm of a hand sized" contact areas across roads up to the most northern tip of Europe, Russia rumble pists and lots of forests next to the streets. The last thing you want to happen is a bursted tyre. As a rule of thumb 5-6 years should be the maximum age. Well if the budget is tight you can go older, but after a few years over the indicated age tyres loose their elastic properties (and thus capacity to keep your car right on track). Your tread pattern should have a remaining depth of 4-5mm. Legal regulations allow for much less, but keep in mind the sometimes very bad road conditions.
Lights: Well, the obligatory light check. Front, distance, direction lights, brake lights, tail lights etc pp. Usually this is ok and shouldn't be any problem, but if the car is showing strange behaviour you might want to skip this one as this indicates problems somewhere in the cables or electronics.
If these points all turn out ok, well you'll most likely have a good candidate. Ask the owner for invoices that can back up the impression you have. What are the things the onwer(s) did in the past? Where has it been serviced with what milage (is the milage shown in the cockpit plausible)?
Check all the equipment. If it has air condition, you should feel nice cold air and warm air when testing. If it has AC but it is not working and you don't need AC, then this is a good bargain point. The less the car has, the less can break. Can you put every window up and down, are any warning lamps on?
Other candidates we considered
Grand Cherokee (and alike), big, a lot of space and fancy additional parts available. But the ones we took for a testdrive were in conditions we were happy when we made it back to the dealership. So you probably should chip in a couple of more bucks to find something suiteable (or we had bad luck).
VW Bus (e.g. Bully, T4, etc). A heart warming buddy. But "expensive" under our constraints. Everything below the 2,500 EUR was rolling rust. I would say you need to pay four thousand at leat to get something you can trust.
Mercedes (plenty of types). Getting a classic S-Class coupe or station wagon. Everyone knows how to repair them, they are durable and comfortable. The market is rich in options. They could have made it, but the final package we found was a great deal.
Other brands that also produce great cars for such an adventure are e.g. Audi (think e.g. Audi 100 Quattro) or BMW (many other options besides our, e.g. 325tds or 730i).
From the ~110 teams that startet we saw all kinds of cars. Lada, fire trucks, Jaguar, VW Golf, Big US Pick Ups ... really all kinds. The market is really rich in options. Common models (around 10% each) where Series 5 BMW with diesel or gasonline engines or Series 7 BMW with larger gasoline engines. Also Mercedez T-Models where pretty popular. Quite a few Audi (100 and 200, also a few as Avant Quattro). And the rest was colourful mix of old and stylish cars.
What else?
Whether you take a large coupe, 4-door salon, station wagon, offroader or hippy bus is up to you. 4-wheel drive is nice, but as long as you stay on more or less common roads, regular 2-wheel powered vehicles will do. The more people you are (in one car) and the longer the trip, the larger your car should be and the more power it should have.
If fuel consumption is not a big issue, go for larger engines that may be a little thirsty, often they are pretty robust. Check the wikipedia articles for your favourite models. They are a good start for learning more about the cars.
We got ourselves some package options for the roof from Thule. It carries one spare tire, the spare fuel tanks, fresh water, tents and seats. A big stress relieve for the usage of space in the car.
Last modified: 26.03.2018, edited by: Nils