Pre-Buy jitters, Reliability nightmare horror stories... Please Help.

[Action]

My HMMWV is my daily driver, and I drive 60 miles a day. the only thing I have had to do so far is put in a new Generator, and she got the 12k service. My shop, we restore hmmwv and hummer H1's. I have 10 other customers with hmmwv's and the only problems 2 of them have had is control box issues. My shop is near the beach in Ft Lauderdale, and like I tell my customers that are only here during the winter, cars are meant to be driven, the hoses need the hot fluids to go through them, its not the best thing to have vehicles sit in one place for months. I would buy another one in a heart beat, but I do own 4 currently

One of us down here should start a service where we go and drive the snowbird's humvees once a week for a small fee.

 

[rancherrob]

One of us down here should start a service where we go and drive the snowbird's humvees once a week for a small fee.

I know a guy that charges like $50/month to go check out peoples RV's in storage during the off season and he starts them up and drives them a lap around the storage lot. Pretty good insurance for them and he just batches them all together one weekend a month and makes a tidy little extra pay.

 

[frauhansen]

The thought of giving up on the dreams of a HMMWV adventure/expedition vehicle really bummed me out tonight and I couldn't sit and silently ponder anymore.

Reliability depends solely on the condition of the vehicle. And this depends on the quality of maintenance and parts.
I know that mine is 100% in order, so I trust it to do what you describe three times over.

 

[Dave2018]

Hey guys, I realize that I may get some pretty bias answers here but I figure if anyone can set it straight, it would be you all. I am trolling Govplanet for a soft-top 4-door truck body, not too sure beyond that what model. I basically only heard recently about the hmmwv auctions and my inner-5 year old went insane at the news. However over the last month, He has been roundly silenced by memories and new testimonies of literally EVERY veteran friend I have ever known telling me of the nightmares and horrid reliability of these "piles of sh!t" and the scoffing at the idea that I could be considering owning one. Much of my online research seems to confirm this... I discovered this forum only today.

I want this truck as an open-air capable overland adventure vehicle... multi-day excursions into the back country with atleast one other rig, but possibly shorter solo runs as well. Also as a shooting rig, to get me and my gear out to the desert for all that fun. As such, I need it to be reasonably reliable... They all tell me it is a fool's errand.

So please, Set the record straight... Should I settle for some boring, drab, and dull jeep wrangler, or can my Inner-5 year old really make the surplus truck of his dreams work for this role? How expensive and extensive is the maintenance typically? Can they be made trustworthy? Is there specific models or years I should be gunning for?

The thought of giving up on the dreams of a HMMWV adventure/expedition vehicle really bummed me out tonight and I couldn't sit and silently ponder anymore.

Thank you all for your time,
Cory

Edit: I am an O/O truck Driver, and am very familiar with VERY expensive maintenance.

I bought a 1998 3 speed. Yes slow and rough riding but designed with tough suspension. It had 50k miles and I put maybe 20k on it before sold. Did replace things needing replaced. Fairly easy to work on. Now I have a 2008 4 speed w overdrive 6.5 turbo. The 1152a1. With 1500 miles.
It won't be as easy to work on as it's upgraded and has same size engine bay. But it's factory air for Texas.
Think best buy may be an un armored non turbo 6.5 with 200 Amp alternator and just add ac.
The 1152 is factory lifted to support the armor removed.
And getting one with more than 1k miles may be helpful. Things had a chance to run in before sitting forever.

 

[biscuitwhistler37]

I went through the same conundrum, just with an m35, bought it KNOWING reliability is an issue if it's neglected, haven't regretted it. Dollar for dollar, a wrangler and a hmmwv are going to be about the same, and be about the same amount of work, especially now days. I say do it, buy a cheaper truck, go through it, learn it, maintain it, wash, rinse, repeat. As long as you're ready for a long term investment, the hmmwv will treat you well, just check your local DMV for registration/plate info, that might also influence your decision.