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The big boys have eliminated the backyard mechanic and done a damn good job of it.
It just cost me 100. to "evaluate" my girlfriends car, only to be told that it needed a 100. battery.
Know this older guy, said he hated new cars and trucks because he couldn't work on them. No points to replace himself, no carbs to rebuild himself, said he couldn't even change the oil filter because he couldn't get to it. So after years of drving these old clunkers, he finally broke down and bought himself a new truck, a 2006 Ford F150. Its a pretty basic truck, but it was new! Its almost 10 years old now, has about 160000 on the clock, and has had regular oil changes and maintenance. Ask him now his feeling about "new" cars, and you get Oh yeah, good cars, don't have to spend a lot of money working on them!!
Funny story. I always chuckle when people say that they can't work on their new car. My thought is always, why do you need to work on it? What broke? Routine maintenance has not changed over the many years in cars. They all still need their oil changed, their plugs changed, brake pads replaced, coolant flushed, filters replaced, etc. Technology hasn't really updated any of these in a REALLY long time.
Where there can be a problem is when things actually break, but I think the amount of times things do break are significantly lower with new cars versus older cars. Even then, if the part is mechanical, these haven't changed recently. Electronic parts are the problem now because they generally cannot be repaired, only replaced.
Funny story. I always chuckle when people say that they can't work on their new car. My thought is always, why do you need to work on it? What broke? Routine maintenance has not changed over the many years in cars. They all still need their oil changed, their plugs changed, brake pads replaced, coolant flushed, filters replaced, etc. Technology hasn't really updated any of these in a REALLY long time.
Where there can be a problem is when things actually break, but I think the amount of times things do break are significantly lower with new cars versus older cars. Even then, if the part is mechanical, these haven't changed recently. Electronic parts are the problem now because they generally cannot be repaired, only replaced.
Exactly. My dad used to have to be under the hood of our crappy 70's US cars every weekend it seems because something or other was broken. He lived at the auto parts store.
My Hondas have basically been oil changes and little if nothing else for many, many years. The overall quality of cars has gone way up in the last 30 years. Maybe interiors aren't as snazzy but that's because people in general want a car that runs with low maintenance more so than something to show off to their buddies that is broken down every month.
Know this older guy, said he hated new cars and trucks because he couldn't work on them. No points to replace himself, no carbs to rebuild himself, said he couldn't even change the oil filter because he couldn't get to it. So after years of drving these old clunkers, he finally broke down and bought himself a new truck, a 2006 Ford F150. Its a pretty basic truck, but it was new! Its almost 10 years old now, has about 160000 on the clock, and has had regular oil changes and maintenance. Ask him now his feeling about "new" cars, and you get Oh yeah, good cars, don't have to spend a lot of money working on them!!
I think that is all dependent on certain number of things, though. On my husband's 2009, some sensor stopped working and he was unable to get his key out of the ignition because the car couldn't read itself as being in park. It cost about $750 to fix that sensor so we could get the key out of the ignition. This is something where even with routine maintenance - things just happen sometimes. I am someone who enjoys my car, because it doesn't have these type of features.
My car is also 22 years old and I have spent $300 on maintenance aside from oil changes in the past year. I feel sick at the thought of getting a new car, because I cannot think of one I would want to own that would give me as much joy as I feel with my current.
Chipped keys. I absolutely mean it when I say that the law should MAKE manufacturers offer the option of not having this. Copying a key should be a $2 hardware store thing, not a $125 car dealership thing.
Seatbelt alerts that won't shut the freak up. If I don't want to buckle, or my passenger, that's our business. Zip your piehole.
Seat belt anchors being lodged so deeply into the seats where you have to dig to get to them. Buckling, when I do it, should be a 1-2 second operation MAXIMUM.
Chipped keys. I absolutely mean it when I say that the law should MAKE manufacturers offer the option of not having this. Copying a key should be a $2 hardware store thing, not a $125 car dealership thing.
Seatbelt alerts that won't shut the freak up. If I don't want to buckle, or my passenger, that's our business. Zip your piehole.
Seat belt anchors being lodged so deeply into the seats where you have to dig to get to them. Buckling, when I do it, should be a 1-2 second operation MAXIMUM.
Most cars have the ability to shut off the seatbelt beep. Search your dedicated car forums for instructions. I know on my car I have to insert and remove seltbelt 12 times with in 30 seconds then press trip reset button.
As far as chipped keys. Sure they can build the same car with "standard" blank key but would probably charge you thousands more as it would probably require additional steps to remove and install new ignition system. Things wouldn't be as streamlined on the assembly line if they had all these various options.
Cars today are 100% better in virtually every way to the older cars.
I think the fact that most cars do not even offer roll up windows anymore is a shame. Electric windows add weight, complexity and expense both in buying price and the inevitable repairs. If one is too lazy to roll down a window, they shouldn't be driving.
I dislike too much drivers aids for manual transmission cars like hill assist or rev matching, and don't like engine stop-start.
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