Just got back from Europe.....

[ekpolk]

Glad that you got through your rant

, but don't hold your breath waiting for anything to get better. I grew up in New Hampshire, so I vividly recall the type driver that now frequently rolls the big SUV. I now live down in the deep south. We don't get the road salt, but we have the same type of drivers. They're the ones who insist on maintaining 90 mph in a heavy T-storm downpour. Maybe they figure that the hydroplaning is irrelevant since they can't see far enough in the rain to react to anything anyway. . .

 

[Primus]

quote:

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Originally posted by crashz:
Sort of off topic, but you said that these cars had no rust. I wonder what their techniques are for snow and ice control in the winter? If they aren't blanketing the roads with rock salt like we do here, I bet this contributes to the cars lasting as long as they do.

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Given mild winters, think they don't need to use salt except, may be, in mountainous regions. But the majority of population live out of these regions: in Zagreb and at sea coast. If it's happens, this is not 3-4 months of salt bath.

A very beautiful country, nice people, and to my view, the best sea in Europe.

 

[Dr. T]

I completely agree with the no salt/correct tire mentality. Problem is people can't think for themselves and need someone else to do things for them...ie. clear the snow every 5 min. so they can drive with summer tires.

But, I agree without snow/salt as seen on the Croatian coast (and those here on the board from Australia) the cars can last a long time. Even the cheapest of quality of cars are still running after 30+ years of daily use! eg. Renault 4's.

All I was attempting was to correlate the age and mileage of cars that I saw with what oil was sold on the shelves. In other words, at $20/L of motor oil, nobody does 5k km OCI's and there was no 5-20/5-30 nor 10-30 on the shelves yet the average car age was 2-3X what I see here in NA.

 

[sprintman]

No shortage of 60's vehicles here. Those from the 50's are pretty rare now but are usually well looked after such as FJ holdens which are worth good money. No salt on the roads here helps but then we get bulldust filled potholes on the dirt roads which is another problem altogether.