modern vehicles...i think im done. who else?

A spouse who doesn't want to drive a rusty project is probably the best reason to buy a new car.

I compromised with an '80 Mercedes 300D, which pretty much fell into my lap. She wanted a VW TDI, but suc***bed to my economic arguments.

Upside of the Benz: Smooth, comfortable, safe, roomy, reliable, great fuel economy, and motor-wise, utterly simplistic. Oh, and they'e said to last well over 500,000 plus.

Downside: Vac*** system. Spendy parts. Emits tenured-professor vibe. Slower than snot.

But, I have an old truck now, and my old lady's happy.

 

LOL My girlfriends daily right now until I get her 48 done is a 93 Mazda Protege with 200,000 miles. She said that she hates the Mazda so Im getting a 71 Ford Ranger with a rebuilt 390 from a friend for 500 bucks and she is going to drive that so we can get rid of the Mazda. So my girlfriend will be in the truck with a bigblock and I will be in my slant six 73 dart lol.

 

My '07 Chevy HHR just lost the electric power steering. I'll go out with my $300 scanner and pull the code this morning, write it down and reset the ECM. Chances are the steering will come back. I'll drive it to the dealer and come home in a loaner, so what? **** happens. It's called "maintenance" and everyone with a OBDII vehicle should buy a scanner that reads data. It's a cheap TOOL, you don't need to study computers (like I did), but thats my opinion. I also make money scanning other's cars on the side. Before I send it out for warranty repairs, I'll look it over and check for wiring damage caused by packrats, thats not covered under my warranty. I've got 20K miles on this little guy, and love it!

We also have a 97 Saturn SL2 we bought new, 160K on it, runs great! Love that thing. Needs the clearcoat redone, ah well. Been a great car with minimal needs.

Also, like someone else said, it depends on the car you buy. 8 hours on a waterpump? On a Mopar? Must be a V6 Stratus huh? If you did that in 8 hours, you did good!

Working on the U of A fleet, we have a lot of Ford, Chevy and Dodge cars and trucks. My opinion? The GMs appear to have been designed by MECHANICS. Easy access to most everything. Pumps, filters, starters, alternators, you name it. Dodges show their obvious German design influences. Fords are pretty easy to deal with most of the time, unless its a V10 van and your doing the rear spark plugs. The trick to an intake on a V8 Crown Vic is pull the wiper ***'y (real easy) for access.

Anyway, just my 2 cents.......

 

Screw JAP ****... when THEY allow imported cars into THEIR country without incredibly high tariffs and trade restrictions I'll change my mind. Until then hell no.

In the 90's I was sellin' Fords at the local store and a guy from Japan contacted me about selling him an E350 to use a a motorcycle hauler. I almost caused an international incident ... Japan doesn't even allow their own citizens to buy a car abroad and bring it back home. Nothing to do with emmisions or safety laws it's to keep OUT any compe***ion from other countries.

Ford called my boss to explain if he even SOLD this car to the guy he'd lose his Ford franchise... even if the guy never got the car to Japan. The US State Department started an investigation of our dealership at the request of the Japanese government.

Screw the Japanese car industry... here or there. I've run "unreliable" Fords up to 380,000 and never had as much as a valve cover leak.

Plus my brother Jerry (RIP) was captured by the **** during WWII and spent 18 months in a ****ing bamboo cage in his own excrement unless they were out hanging him backwards from his wrists dislocating his shoulders.. He couldn't raise him arms above his chest just like John McCain.

At least the Euopeans allow compe***ion in there countries...

 

I work on these things all day long and hate to have to work on my own when I'm off. But I have found over the years that problems rarely come in singles, more often in large multiples. Like the saying" **** happens in threes". My wife drives a 95 c280 MB with over 270k. It had 120k when I bought it. My work Car is a 93 Buick with 180K, and goes 85 miles a day. But, I've had to build the trans in the buick and headgasket on the benz. But, normally they run for many miles before I have to work on them. My truck is an old 82 chevy silverado, 6.2 diesel w/400k plus. 6 injection pumps, 3 trans later. All have ac, stereo, auto, power every thing. They still don" feel like my 63 falcon or wifes 48 roadmaster.

 

yeah, i am driving a late model at the moment, prior i drove my 59 holden for 12 years, the 59 holden was always having problems, but you pretty much got out, kicked the tyre and you were off again, my current late model is a 1983 inline six aussie ford LTD, ive had it 3 years, a water pump went and a dissy cap but its been pretty ok.
on the other hand but my wife has a 1993 5.0L v8 rwd irs holden calais, internally the engine has never had a problem, just some sludging, how ever all the interior plastics are falling apart and its had a few electrical problems that stopped it, also the tail lights already faded clear and yeah, the parts are dearer and much harder to change, the old 59 holden was definately more practical as a daily car.

 

hey krooser, those fu{&ers got my grandad too, look up sandakan death march, he was held captive and torchured by the ****, then when the war ended the killed 2500 prisoners, 6 escaped the 2500, my grandad was 1 of the 6 survivors that got away to tell what just happened, they lived in the jungle of borneo on bugs and rats for i think 6 weeks before being found.
here is my grandad (Keith Botterill) and some info on what it was like - http://www.borneopow.info/young/botterill.htm

 

I was building a 65 custom 500 moredoor to get around the smog testing we had but could never get any heat out of the heater and they quit the smog testing so I bought a 89 crown vic for a winter beater so I could have heat,yesterday I finally fixed the heater in the 65 and the crown vic now could be sold but I dont have the heart to drive the 65 in the salt since it came from the south so I will probably keep a late 80s RWD for a winter beater since they can be bought at any car lot cheaply in case one would get totaled. Jeff

 

First post since my intro...yaaaay!

My biggest problem with new is... When I drive my 06 F-150 by the dealer and see the 09 I can buy for 3 grand less than I owe on mine. That really hurts. And, since I'm such a smart guy I bought my brand new truck with no power windows or locks, etc. I figured I don't need it, so I won't get it. When testing the waters on selling my truck about a year ago, everyone who did call or look said "it's nice and you take good care of it, but I need power."

Oh well, at least I'm stuck with a truck I like.

 

Back in '96, when I met my wife, she had a '63 Thunderbird with a 390, deep, rumbling duals, plum-black paint, a deep Midwestern tan, long red hair, and a job at a brewery. Quite a combo.

Sadly, the T-Bird cracked it's heads, and she let it go. Stayed with me though, so one day, I'll find her another car. She wants either a tin woodie, or an Impala Wagon. Naturally I'm all for it. And by the time I finish my Suburban, and find the money and reasonable candidate, the Mercedes will probably need replaced anyway!

 

I've got two questions. Do you have alot of eletronics (big stereo, off road lights,etc) in the truck? When was the cooling system serviced last.

Sounds like electrolysis.

Read this.....
http://www.sancarlosradiator.com/electrolysis.htm#What%20is%20electrolysis%20and%20why%20is%20it%20a%20problem%20in%20an%20automotive%20cooling%20system??

 

I buy modern cars for daily duty for my wife and myself. They are ONLY American brand cars as well. I don't care where they are made, foreign brands are foreign cars.

I've had three modern Jeeps that have all gone well over 100,000 miles. I take care of them and they take care of me. Changing ALL of the fluids, oil, trans, axles and coolant when it's time keeps them going.

Buying American brand cars also saves money. I don't have to go out and spend money on American flag stickers for a foreign branded car to ease my guilty conscience.

 

2001 Silverado 2500HD, 110,000 New England miles. I still have to look at the tach to make sure it's running! I've done brakes twice & a battery, that's it! This is my third Chevy pick-up & I've had the same luck with all of them. The only thing the Japanese do better than us is advertise! Support Detroit!

 

After 20 years of daily driving 2 modern cars (ie. '83 and '90) for 10 years each,
I witnessed the initial depreciation curve,
followed by the repair bill curve.
Probably were more extreme examples of cost,
since both were hi-pro sports/muscle-type cars.
No regrets, since I enjoyed them.
Simply changing with the times and reduced resources.

Early '70s imports were advanced enough to not be ****boxes,
but simple enough for the average non-technical guy to maintain.

 

For the past few purchases, I bought like-new 2-3 year old cars for half what they cost new. They have all gone 200,000 miles with few problems. I choose from the Consumer Reports' "Best Buys", a list of 20-25 makes and models which their stats point to as the least troublesome. I pick one that is less desirable, hence the cheapest of the lot and buy from a private party. Yes, most of the models on the list are Asian, but there have lately been increasingly more Detroit models on the list.

There is no reason to buy a new vehicle (unless you have more money than you know what to do with).

 

I had a 95 Neon DOHC Coupe that I put over 300K miles on it, never had the valve cover off it, it was still on the original clutch! Only repai outside of belts, hoses, brakes etc.. was a bad fuel injector at 18oK miles. I was rear ended at stop light by a school bus of all things, totalling it. Once again the car faired pretty well, it was flattened from the b pillars back, but I literally walked away un hurt. The bus driver had a broken leg and arm.

When I got the insurance money I bought a 2005 Neon SRT-4 ACR. I added the Mopar Stage 3 turbo, now the car has run a best of 11.20 @ 121 MPH and gets 28-30 MPG on the highway. No repairs on it yet either, and its at 40K miles.

I always hear about how the slant 6 / Chevy 6 / 300 in Ford 6 are bullit proof, but even they dont last 300K miles too often. Long story short, I like the old iron as much as anyone, but I gotta tip my hat to the durability of newer rides too.

 

That's the truth!

I sold an '87 Corolla (carburated) yesterday with 260,000 on the clock, and it still got over 35 mpg, ran well, went straight down the road, and looked... Like the least imaginative car I've ever seen.

On that note, why do people think a 100,000 mile wear-cycle is impressive? Most late 'seventies through early 'nineties Toyotas, Nissans, Volvos, and Mercedes will triple that with room to spare.

Ditto for small block chevy (and related variants), AMC 4.0 and 2.5, 300 Ford and some others I'm forgetting, or don't know about.

While I wish America still made high-quality automobiles, you've gotta admit, there's a lot of late-model **** out there. Sifting through it for a good, reliable US-made new car looks tough.

And stylistically, nothing has much appeal. These, of course, are my opinions.

 

When I was Operations Manager at a limo company all our Lincoln Town Cars got 35-400000 miles on them before we let them go. They ran and looked new even then.
Maintenance is/was the key word.
Our cars would run from one end of Long Island to NYC and back all day long, 7 days a week. Everything was checked out when the oil was changed at 5000 mile intervals. Even keeping the cars clean helps if you can believe that.
They have a Caddy in the fleet now and hate it. No where near the ease of maintenance as the T/Cs.

 

Untill my 29 Pk Up daily driver is finished, I'm driving a $500.00 96 Ranger. It would not run hardly at all, did a few things and found out it had no thermostat. They said you don' need them here. It has one now and it runs great, unless it rains (almost always) and hardly runs at all untill it gets hot, then its OK again. Can't waite for the 29 to be one the road again. The 2.5 Jeep 4banger engine has been converted to carb and simple ignition, with out all the sensors. Ice man

 

Right now my wifes daily is a 65 chev c10 my son has a 72 chev pk i have a 64 3/4 wrecker and a 55 2 dr wagon . working on a 53 buick and a 56 chev more door. OldWolf

 

I love my 98 Mustang GT. Nothing special, 4.6 SOHC with a T45 5 speed. Has had the bejesus driven out of it and asks for more with 130K plus on it. Non-rebuilt trans and original clutch too. It's needed 02 sensors and a MAF, but has been pretty much maintenance free. Plus I have the benefit of cheaper domestic parts. It's been super-reliable, looks cool, sounds awesome breathing through a Borla exhaust, handles well, and goes down the road in a hurry. Hard to ask more from a car I spent less than 6K on. It'll last me at least a few more years.

 

It's maintenance, pure and simple. Sure, some engines are better than others, but constant up-keep is the key.

I used to work in a warehouse, delivering and warrantying reman-engines, hauling anywhere from one to ten per load, mostly American V8s, and usually to farms, logging companies, industrial facilities, etc. I usually back-hauled cores, and I never drove the speed limit.

We had a '93 Ford flatbed, an F-250 with a Fuel-injected 300-six and overloads, and it had over 300,000 on it and purred like a happy cat. Then again, one of my duties was maintenance, and given the severe-duty and constant overloading, we did oil, ****** and air filter every 1,500, rear-end every 4,500, radiator flush every 6,000, full diagnostic service every three months, tire pressure, cab vacuuming, fuel, lights checked daily...

They were insane about company rigs, and fixed anything and everything ASAP. But then again, how bad would it have looked for them to have a breakdown with the company logo on the door, or a derelict truck pull up hauling a $3000 longblock? And besides, they were in a good position to get proffesional work done for nothing.

I never once broke down in the three years I worked there, and I put 200,000 on that truck.

 

Sounds like we have the same daily. My 98 Mustang GT 5 speed has about 142000. I bought it with about 52,000 miles on it 4 years ago. I have had only one unexpected problem and that was with the transmission. Aside from that, I've only had normal maintainence to deal with. Brakes, tires, etc.... I just rebuilt the entire suspension because it was cheaper than buying a new car. This one has been a dream to own and i still like driving it. Usually after 3 years I have had my fill with any car I have and want it gone. I'd love to have an old car as a daily, but the NY winter will ruin an old car in about 3 or 4 years. They can be pretty harsh on old tin.