Are older cars much hassle, in terms of maintenance, etc?

Hi folks,

I'll pre-face my post here by saying that classic cars, vintage cars, etc. as a whole don't really interest me. I don't really have a massive knowledge or experience of older cars, so hopefully this question won't seem too dumbed down.

But pretty much, I've always wanted a GMC Vandura (A-Team) van. They pop up for sale every now and again, and I've been taking the idea more seriously lately, as, assuming I still have a job post-virus, I will actually be in a position to seriously consider the option of buying one.

Here's one for sale, to give an example of what I'm banging on about (clickable pic):





My concern about them is less about buying it and trying to get it looking right, as that's all down to aesthetics and such, but would this be a huge pain in the ass to get serviced, fixed if something mechanical goes wrong, etc?

The Vandura was never sold in Ireland or the UK, but I'm always lead to believe that vans of it's age were very easy to work on and fix, as they were supposedly a relatively simple piece of machinery. If I was to buy this, and something went wrong, be it a ball joint or a timing belt or whatever, are you immediately into eye-watering costs, trying to track down someone who can work on GMC stuff and can get parts for them? Or would your local competent indy mechanic be capable of dealing with such stuff?

I know it's a bit of an open-ended question, but just kind of trying to find my feet here and perhaps get some guidance.

Cheers folks.

RandomViewer

It's General motors, built by Americans,can't see it being too complex, CF bedford on steroids

Isambard

mechanically should be simple. Insurance would be an issue though, you need to research that first.

Henry Ford III

No trouble compared to that old Citroen you had KKV

hi5

Simple basic mechanics, most parts would be available through companies like Rock Auto.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/gmc,1983,g1500