Do you REALLY need a new vehicle?

[grsthegreat]

I dissagree . We were gettting just the same miles back in the 80's , But they were simpler , more reliable without electronics and cheaper to repair .

yup.. darn straight. I could repair any old engine with a few cheap parts...rotor, plugs,whatnot. Never much $$ involved.

I kept my own cars running for years. Sure the new rigs may last without much routine maint, but when something happens its always spendy.

Heres my list of stupid things ive had to replace last year

1. Key integrity sensor on Chevy van (thought i was using fake key and entered security mode) About $200 repair plus a tow truck for useless item.

2. Fuel pump INSIDE gas tank of Dodge ram truck. Not only lose tank of fuel to replace, but had to pay hazardous fey to get rid of fuel (im sure it just went into someone elses truck). Remember the old fuel pumps that clipped to side of engine and took about 30 min to replace. Also had towing bill.

3. from several years ago. The rear indicator lights that lit up my dash board on my van burnt out. instead of cheap screw in light bulbs they were LED's. I had to remove entire front drivers side dash and mail it to repair shop in Detroit. I forget exactly how much it costs, but in addition to NOT having a work truck to drive for 2 weeks, i was out $100.00s of dollars instead of maybe $1.50 for a light bulb. Technology my ***.

i cant go on..im getting too depressed. The only thing i really like about my newer rigs was the fact they went to rear disk brakes instead of drums. thats about the only thing.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I dissagree . We were gettting just the same miles back in the 80's , But they were simpler , more reliable without electronics and cheaper to repair .

I disagree. My modern cars don't hold a candle to the 80's stuff. Plugs every year, wires every 3, points, rotors, ect, ect. Even with good maintained stuff 150,000 was rare. Tranny was done at 100,000 miles and the engine was just plain worn out.

My last 15 vehicles have needed no plugs, no wires, no real maintenance before 100,000 miles other than oil changes and brakes.

No comparison.

Chris

 

[smstonypoint]

I disagree. My modern cars don't hold a candle to the 80's stuff. Plugs every year, wires every 3, points, rotors, ect, ect. Even with good maintained stuff 150,000 was rare. Tranny was done at 100,000 miles and the engine was just plain worn out.

My last 15 vehicles have needed no plugs, no wires, no real maintenance before 100,000 miles other than oil changes and brakes.

No comparison.

Chris

Here are some data that support your view. The average age of cars has doubled since 1970.

Steve

Here are some visuals that demonstrate that we are keeping our vehicles longer. (I couldn't find a graph that covered 1970-2013).

 

[brin]

Interesting. The only vehicle I have had AC issues with of the 26 vehicles I have now owned is my one and only Dodge.

Chris

There ya go....I believe it...I think it is intentional too....a revenue generator for their dealers service depts....

 

[Cat_Driver]

I change vehicle often - but I usually drive them for free. I buy good vehicles used, below market value from either dealer or craigslist, drive the vehicle for a year or two then sell it for what I paid for it, sometimes more. I bought a 7 year old Class A motor home with 17K miles on it, drove it for two years with vacations sold it for 25K. I bought a Hummer H1 for 60K, drove it for two years got 65K when I sold it. I bought a new Jeep Rubicon, for 26K, drove it five years got 24K when I sold it. ( but I got 6K credit from Chrysler see next ). This next one is funny, this is how I made money on this Jeep. I bought a loss leader come on Jeep from the dealer brand new no miles for 12K, stalled on the way home, took it back they fixed it, stalled again that week, took it back they fixed it, stalled again same day ( now a week old ). In Ca. if it's fixed for the same thing 3 times it's a lemon. I called Chrysler told them I want a new Jeep as this one is a lemon. They begged me for just one more try, I agreed, but I said THAT'S IT you get only one more try. They called after two weeks and said - order a new one this one is definately a lemon. Here's the funny part They gave m eFULL RETAIL for that jeep which was 18K ( remember I paid 12K on sale for a strip out special with no air no radio)

I bought a three year old F250 with a utility body from the dealer for 16K ( it had the death wobble ) The utility box cost 12K by itself, I put on dual steering stabilizers, and she drove true and straight - that one I'll keep forever.

Been doing this for 50 years. My first car was a 1960 Volvo I paid $500.00 for waxed it drove it, sold it for $750.00 - That was huge money when I was a kid in 1969.
It takes some work finding good used under valued vehicles but they are everywhere.

I just bought my daughter a 55K Volvo ( still has window sticker ) from a doctor IMMACULATE condition for only 12K, being her first car I wanted a tank, the Doctor had every receipt from ever dealer oil change etc that has ever been done to it. She's put 20K miles on it, and I expect to sell that one when the time comes for what I paid for it.

 

[Renze]

I dissagree . We were gettting just the same miles back in the 80's , But they were simpler , more reliable without electronics and cheaper to repair .

My brother did 835.000km on his 123W Mercedes 300D even though he rode it sometimes with 6 ton combined weight... Modern Mercs cant touch that, especially the late 90's ones

And this is the world record holder:

 

[buickanddeere]

Heres my list of stupid things ive had to replace last year

1. Key integrity sensor on Chevy van (thought i was using fake key and entered security mode) About $200 repair plus a tow truck for useless item.i

2. Remember the old fuel pumps that clipped to side of engine and took about 30 min to replace. Also had towing bill.

I remember the pump on the side or the engine . I also remember the in tank electric pump as being instantly self priming.

3. from several years ago. The rear indicator lights that lit up my dash board on my van burnt out. instead of cheap screw in light bulbs they were LED's. I had to remove entire front drivers side dash and mail it to repair shop in Detroit. I forget exactly how much it costs, but in addition to NOT having a work truck to drive for 2 weeks, i was out $100.00s of dollars instead of maybe $1.50 for a light bulb.

cheap and simple to solder in the LED lights at home why spend the bucks to have somebody else do. Straight forward task

I remember old cars that barely made it to 100,000 with a rattling, smoke belching engine. Today's engines go 300,000 with oil changes, filters and two set of plugs.

 

[john_bud]

At 12 years, wi road salt is holing out the body. electrical gremlins are attacking. But it still runs good. Rubber suspension parts are all in need of replacement. Hope it lasts 12 more, but....

When it dies, a used one will be found.

 

[JDgreen227]

Something that keeps me driving my ten year old car is that the new ones have too many electronic gadgets and gizmos that do nothing except add cost and complexity and require repairs the average guy cannot perform. And the driver's visibility in many new models is so bad it's laughable...I drive my GF's car (2011 Malibu) once in a while and I HATE it. The huge driver's side mirror is directly in your line of vision, the side windows are very short and the side roof pillars are thick and the driver's side pillar is placed right where it blocks your vision when you glance over your shoulder to change lanes. Visibility out the back is even worse. My '04 Saturn has 3X the driver visibility of her car...I don't know who is designing these newer cars, maybe they look streamlined but I prefer function over flash.