Greaser, the only time I have had problems with my car was when I didn't take it to the dealer. If you know a good mechanic, thats greata but the dealers know the cars better. They only have to work on a half dozen cars that are all the same brand where as mechanics have to fix every make and model. To me, this allow more room for error. I change the oil, spark plugs, trans fluid and coolant and have 125k on a 2001 Toyota Corolla. It gets 41mpg and has had ZERO problems. I can't tell you how many people take there cars to mechanics and they mess things up because they are not qualified to mess with it. I understand your position based on your family history, but I fee much more safe going to the dealer.
Why did our old engines live so long?
- Thread starter MolaKule
- Start date
- Status
Well Buster I'm happy for you you have a good dealership you can trust...go to other boards and read the fiasco's going on at other dealerships...at one local dealership in town here they've just hired 6 apprentices...have of them don'y know which end of a thermostat goes in a housing first
...Toyota and the rest of the Japanese makers untill recently were producing a "limited" number of vehicles every year...quality was excellant...now they are going head to head with the big three...production goes into high gear to meet demand...will quality be the same...so far I've heard from a few people that their older Honda's were alot better in quality than the newer ones they own now.We'll see what happens...as for high mileage=no problems...there are a crap-load of peple out there with domestic cars that went 250,000 miles with a little tweak here and there...my Chev is one of them...so the case of domestic and foreign longevity still mystifies me for any reasoning...I know a person who did absolutley NOTHING to his 1970 Chevelle but change the oil and grease the sterring linkage...didn't even know there was a dipstick for the tranny...ran that car for 15 years and 256,000 miles before the cops yanked it for blowing blue smoke...no axle lube changes,no tranny fluid changes only changed stuff like wires and plugs when it was absolutely needed...it ran and ran...he got an 1980 Malibu..same thing...has a 1987 Olds doing the same thing...would a Japanese car take this abuse
My experience with the ole VW Bug was that it had to be rebuilt every 60,000 miles, valves blew due to overheating but the reaosn people loved them was that they were shade tree mechanic friendly and cheap to rebuild. But, rebuild they needed very often plus 3000 mile valve adjustments and an exhaust system that was replaced every year like clockwork , rusted fenders and the list goes on.
Other then the fact that you can fix it yourself, I see no benefits of having older engines over new ones. But I didn't really experience that generation of engines. My dad follows Greaser's mentality and likes the older ones too. I'm part of a different generation so it's hard to relate.
Back to the original quesiton though, every engine we had in my family since 1990 has had at least 175k miles on them with no problems. I had an 87 Toyota with 300k. Someone made the point about Toyota and Honda pumping out more cars as they are competing with the Big 3 and quality is droping. I heard this too and it might be true.
[ July 06, 2003, 06:29 PM: Message edited by: buster ]
Back to the original quesiton though, every engine we had in my family since 1990 has had at least 175k miles on them with no problems. I had an 87 Toyota with 300k. Someone made the point about Toyota and Honda pumping out more cars as they are competing with the Big 3 and quality is droping. I heard this too and it might be true.
[ July 06, 2003, 06:29 PM: Message edited by: buster ]
Exactly. I had a '60 VW in the early '70s and a lot of my friends had newer ones. I don't recall any of them making it to 100K miles without the engine needing non-minor internal work like valves, rings, etc.
For that matter I don't think it was common for any of the detroit iron to go that far without work either although they would outlast the aircooled VW engines.
IMO the "good old days" were mostly just old. Engines were inefficient, hard to start, mostly low perfomance for their size, and typically used oil even with 2000 mile oil change intervals. They were just easier to work on. The fact that they could be made to "run forever" with enough tinkering doesn't mean they were reliable.
Just $.02 from someone who's owned a couple dozen cars and quite a few motorcycles from the '60 model year to the present...
Mentality..it's more like experiance..I've owned a new Honda civic back in the late 70's when they weren't "the thing to own"..people would laugh at me at red lights and yell out "hey..does that thing cut grass too"..oh well...in those days all that was avaiable was the Vega, Pinto,Firenza,Fiat,VW,etc. (I'm showing my age here now)and the Honda too me was a great deal compared to the rest...when I drove it I knew this car was going to be the change of things to come in a grocery getter...to-day it is true...the older engines were simple,gas guzzlers...where a screwdriver and a butter knife could get it going...the older guys on this board remember sticking a screwdriver to hold open a chocke on a clunker...or a butterknife to wiggle the ignition boxes on late model 70's issue Chryco products to get a good ground on rainy days...and they would fire right up...on to-day's cars..take it in if it doesn't start...and you know it's $3-400 for a visit on a no start...technology is great...but why 6 O2 sensors on my Jeep...dang-it..wasn't 2 enough...what next..nuclear reactors for catalitic convertors...with a disposal fee of course when it has to be replaced...either get a cleaner fuel or get off the overcomplicated emmission's band wagon engineers!...half the stuff under the hood is for clean air...how about a cleaner fuel and get rid of all that crap under there
I agree, there is a point where too much engineering has it's bad points. Simple is sometimes better, but people demand so much more of a car today that it's inevitable to make a simple car. I really like new cars though and think they are better then ever.
[ July 06, 2003, 07:41 PM: Message edited by: buster ]
[ July 06, 2003, 07:41 PM: Message edited by: buster ]
On the subject of "The Old Stuff Was Better".
I can remember as a young boy helping my father change a water pump on the side of the road. As a young adult dealing with, radiator hoses busting, belts snapping, points fouling, condensers going out, adding 2 quarts of oil every week, changing plugs every 10k miles, universal joints going out, transmission bands breaking, seals leaking, oil spots on the carport.
I do not wish to imply that these types of things do not happen to newer autos but it sure seems like I do better then I used to.
Sure my "newer" car need repair and maint. but it for dang sure ain't like it used to be. We never left home without spare hoses, belts and an extensive tool kit in the trunk.
VW Bugs, now that was the cat's meow!! I owned several of them, one of the most hands on autos I have ever had experience with. Sure they were simple and they would run forever, but you better be willing to mess with it every weekend. As a teenager I remember one time losing my ignition key while on a date. Turned the headlights on, hooked the tailight wire to the + side of the coil, pushed her off to get it started and made it on home.
Give me electronic ignitions, modern lubricants, seat belts, antilock brakes, "power steering", A/C, automatic, intermitant wipers, cruise control, oh man I can go on for ever.
I can remember as a young boy helping my father change a water pump on the side of the road. As a young adult dealing with, radiator hoses busting, belts snapping, points fouling, condensers going out, adding 2 quarts of oil every week, changing plugs every 10k miles, universal joints going out, transmission bands breaking, seals leaking, oil spots on the carport.
I do not wish to imply that these types of things do not happen to newer autos but it sure seems like I do better then I used to.
Sure my "newer" car need repair and maint. but it for dang sure ain't like it used to be. We never left home without spare hoses, belts and an extensive tool kit in the trunk.
VW Bugs, now that was the cat's meow!! I owned several of them, one of the most hands on autos I have ever had experience with. Sure they were simple and they would run forever, but you better be willing to mess with it every weekend. As a teenager I remember one time losing my ignition key while on a date. Turned the headlights on, hooked the tailight wire to the + side of the coil, pushed her off to get it started and made it on home.
Give me electronic ignitions, modern lubricants, seat belts, antilock brakes, "power steering", A/C, automatic, intermitant wipers, cruise control, oh man I can go on for ever.
Yes but you know for $200 you were on the road..DRIVING DUDE...$100 for a clunker and $100 for insurance...and you were picking up babes at 16...good times..oh well...to-day forget it!...man we had good times with a 66 Ford Galaxy..390 cu. in... half the gas was being pumped onto the block due to a bad fuel pump leak and the springs out back were shot so two 4x4 pieces of wood under the axle held the back tires off the inner fenders...good times...AMC Rebel with brakes that took exactly 20 pumps to stop the car...oil light was on for days before we could get enough money to-gether for a big metal can (4 quarts) of straight 30 weight oil...yes they would rot out,and they ran with noise and needed rebuiling soon...but they ran and ran and ran with pocket change back in those days...I remember when gas went up to 50 cents a gallon...had to work a bit longer at the Red Barn to make the saturday night criuse
For sure newer cars are way better than back then...but it's getting out of hand with the gadgets...man the wire bundle on some new cars look like we tapped into a telephone cable...cripes...I remember when you had the windshield wipers on my brother 66 VW bug and went to pass somebody...they would stop working due to being vacume operated..whoa..talk about driving skills in those daysquote:
Originally posted by twentynine:
On the subject of "The Old Stuff Was Better".
I can remember as a young boy helping my father change a water pump on the side of the road. As a young adult dealing with, radiator hoses busting, belts snapping, points fouling, condensers going out, adding 2 quarts of oil every week, changing plugs every 10k miles, universal joints going out, transmission bands breaking, seals leaking, oil spots on the carport.
I do not wish to imply that these types of things do not happen to newer autos but it sure seems like I do better then I used to.
Sure my "newer" car need repair and maint. but it for dang sure ain't like it used to be. We never left home without spare hoses, belts and an extensive tool kit in the trunk.
VW Bugs, now that was the cat's meow!! I owned several of them, one of the most hands on autos I have ever had experience with. Sure they were simple and they would run forever, but you better be willing to mess with it every weekend. As a teenager I remember one time losing my ignition key while on a date. Turned the headlights on, hooked the tailight wire to the + side of the coil, pushed her off to get it started and made it on home.
Give me electronic ignitions, modern lubricants, seat belts, antilock brakes, "power steering", A/C, automatic, intermitant wipers, cruise control, oh man I can go on for ever.
Funny story..old model T...had 4 flat pieces of metal (copper I think) running to the wooden spark plugs from a long flat distribuator cap(if you could call it that)...the farm boys on my grampas farm would grab two straps with one hand and the other two with the other hand...trying to stall it out...by using their bodies as a ground...talk about seeing funny grimices on peoples faces
...one guy almost had it out...but gave up...hey..there wasn't any Play Station in those days
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked