The real secret why cars dont last

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My Audi sees 60 mph in 2nd gear daily (No crazy 1st gear stuff here). Alas, I can redline the car only in 2nd gear at street-legal speeds in this country. The variable intake manifold switches over at 4100 rpm and I routinely shift upward of 5k rpm, unless I'm cruising in city traffic.

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Hmm, gears 1 through 3 in your Audi redline at close to the same speed as they do in my Contour: about 35MPH, 58MPH, and 83MPH (not 100% sure where 2nd gear on my car tops out, but it's below 60MPH for sure). The engine redline seems to be the close, too: Contour is 6750RPM.
 
Sagging headliners, disintegrating door panels, scratch accumulation on the windows, twisting seatbacks, UV wear on textile, smudging PVC or brittle PE, faded colors and such are my main concerns for car longevity.

I was to never start the engine for a short move. But I'm changed, now I would start the cold car just for parking it in a better a shade, then promptly stop.
 
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Hmm, gears 1 through 3 in your Audi redline at close to the same speed as they do in my Contour: about 35MPH, 58MPH, and 83MPH (not 100% sure where 2nd gear on my car tops out, but it's below 60MPH for sure). The engine redline seems to be the close, too: Contour is 6750RPM.

Brian, back in '96 when I was looking to buy a new car, the final decision had to be made between the A4, the Contour/Mystique and the 3 series BMW.
 
"mechanical empathy" - what a great phrase! I'm gonna remember that. I already drive with that in consideration, but never had so good of a phrase to describe it.
 
I read an article by Nikki Lauda a long time ago. He said that you can practice being a race car driver every day. It is all about smoothness. Smooth acceleration, smooth braking, smooth turning. Whether you are driving a limousine, an economy car or a sports car through winding roads in the country, you need to drive smooth.

I think that relates to automobile longevity too. You don't need to drive like a grandma, but you need to keep it smooth.
 
Another way to think about how people don't care
for their cars... I usually buy used, a few years
used.. and the owner's manual NEVER is in the car.
I guess they just chuck it...........
 
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You don't need to drive like a grandma, but you need to keep it smooth.

Good advice. I treat the clutch and first gear like raw eggs. When I see, hear and smell some jerk drop his clutch at 6k rpm, I cringe. Driving fast, shifting a lot and utilizing the whole useable rpm range is not bad per se and not causing excessive wear. It's not the most fuel-efficient way to drive, but it's less hard on the gear than grandpa lugging up the hill in 4th and braking while coasting downhil, brakes smoking. Driving's about fun (for me).
 
I agree with the smoothness aspect too. I also think that driving around, even gently and smoothly, with a crankcase full of oil that was depleted and exhausted a year ago is far more damaging and abusive than almost anything you can do to an engine filled with fresh healthy oil. Obviously, harsh treatment of a cold engine is not good for any car, but it's got to be worse when the crankcase is full of goo vice freely flowing oil.
 
JHZR2 when I read your description ..I applied it to my wife's driving style. It's not quite as severe ..but has the same contour. She doesn't have a "relaxed" mode to her driving ..even if she's driving the speed limit. Gas and brake applications are always at a very sharp upramp/downramp on the graph ..with long plateaus of whatever she determines is her terminal speed. She doesn't do a "gentle up ..coast down". Curves are approached with just the minimum (but more abruptly applied) brake applications that allow the vehicle to successfully navigate the curve with the hardware taking up the slack/lack of in G-force.

Neurotic is the term that comes to mind when I'm riding with her. You're in a race that never has a finish line. This is totally different from "enjoying the road" or "spirited driving". The space between her and where she is going is an annoyance to her ..something to get over/through as soon as possible.

To our good fortune, most of her driving is on the highway. She would kill a car in no time if she was a full time soccer mom. One of the many she devils of the road.

[ November 17, 2005, 07:46 PM: Message edited by: Gary Allan ]
 
{Evil laughter...} Gary, my wife is the same way. We really should meet some time. If you'd like, next time you're a passenger with her on the open road, just look back behind you. I'll be the guy hanging back about 500 yards behind, letting the she-devil act as point woman -- the crucial part of my personal anti-radar strategy. She's out there up front "activating" the radar, the perfect complement to the in-car electronics. . .
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EDIT: You know, I bet she'd enjoy it if you got her a red 'vette for Christmas!
 
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Is this a problem that is somehow confined to FWD Volvos?

Yes. $2500 in impending repair bills are. Not many independent mechanics willing to touch these cars. Part of the reason why FWD Volvos depreciate like yesterday's news paper. So if you want to play you have to pay.
 
Tom and Ray Magliozzi (of NPR's Car Talk fame) have a small booklet titled, "10 Ways You May Be Ruining Your Car Without Even Knowing It". In this booklet they describe how a car will prematurely expire due to "rough" handling ... gunning the engine, racing from stoplight to stoplight, and even slamming car doors too agressively will reduce the effective life of your car for obvious reasons.
 
Is this a problem that is somehow confined to FWD Volvos?
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Yes. $2500 in impending repair bills are. Not many independent mechanics willing to touch these cars. Part of the reason why FWD Volvos depreciate like yesterday's news paper. So if you want to play you have to pay.
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That's some expensive repairs.
 
How ppl treat Volvo's of late are very similar to how they treated the early 80's 200series Volvo's way back when they were new. The difference b/t then and now, is that due to fuel economy restrictions, many car manufacturers cannot build their cars as tough and robust as they once were.

this is why so many swear by the old RWD volvo's and not the newer ones. If the newer ones were treated with care and respect that's usually reserved for more $$ cars like BMW's and MB's, I have no doubt that they should last just as long...(tho the mid 90's 850's and s70's did have their share of problems).
 
Oh yeah, and I too really like the "Mechanical empathy" phrase...it nicely illustrates the "anal retentive" phrase I used to be called by my girlfriend and buddies
 
Actually, many taxi guys beat the heck out their cabs. And I have yet to speak to one who did not get at least 250k out of a car. One in Manhattan drove like a manic and said he got between 300k-400k depending on the car. Another in San Fran said he always got over 300k, on the original tranny, to boot! And that's with all the hills, traffic, etc.

There is more to it than just how hard your car is driven, folks.
 
I don't know it taxi editions aren't built more rugged. I know that German cabs and police cars (MB, MMW, Audi, VW, Ford) have seriously reinforced door hinges, beefier suspension, some have also stronger transmissions than consumer cars.
 
It comes down to routine maintenance and fixing things when they need to be fixed. Too many people use the excuse that they don't have the money or time to get little things done on their cars. Then at 60K or 70K they talk about what a piece of junk the car is. I was over at my paint guy on Monday picking up my 87 Volvo 740 Wagon. Some idiot in a Rav 4 by me has kids who think it is fun to kick the rear doors open. Needless to say I don't park near that vehicle anymore.
I had 2 pretty good size parking lot dings in my rear passenger door. So I spent $125 getting them fixed. He was telling me about one of his customers that has a Volvo C70 convertible that brought it over to him because it was running rough. Well it was 2 quarts low on oil and there was sludge under and on the bottom of the oil cap. She could not remember when she had the oil changed last. He ran up to the auto parts store and got a filter cartridge and oil for her. He changed the oil and filter and told her to come back in a week where he changed it again. He even offered her if she went and bought the filter cartridge and oil he would change her oil for free. The car I think is a 2002 and is coming up on 50K miles. She has never had it serviced other than oil changes when she remembers or can afford it. He told me that car needs at least $2,500 worth of maintenance on it. The woman told him she can't afford to spend that kind of money on the car. He asked her why she bought a $40K Volvo if she can't afford to maintain it? He said she told him because the car makes her look good.
It amazes me how people will go to Starbucks and spend $3 or $4 for a cup of coffee every day yet will not spend $25 per month doing routine services and oil changes on a $30K car.
As far as the body goes if you keep up on the nicks and chips with touch up paint and put a good coat of wax on twice a year the body will last a lot longer.
 
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