instead of dealing with it you could try the first recommendation.
like golberg said half the time stuff is worn. but the other half the time you can actually fix things but with a little time and effort.
remember just cause a car is 25yo doesnt mean it isnt repairable. otherwise every answer to a tech question should be "its 25 yo deal with it"
also a little bit of grease on the gears in the cluster is helpful.