In general, today’s cars don’t put us in mortal peril (by themselves) or strand us miles from home. They don’t require any special driving or mechanical skills. As always, progress has come at a cost: it’s eliminated the character-building experiences that helped guys of my g-g-g-generation become “car guys.” Yup, I come from a time without cell phones, GPS navigation, OnStar, and vehicles that can breeze through 100,000 miles with little to no fear of meltdown. A time when cars offered a shorter shelf but more human – machine interaction. When car guys could look under the hood, see a problem and correct it. On the spot. I’m not bragging, so don’t put me down. Not yet, anyway.
Over the years, many a car has left me on the side of the road. I’ve seen blown up u-joints, water pumps, transmissions, alternators and starters. I’ve been in cars with busted clutches and blown gaskets. In fact, I’ve encountered failure in pretty much every component between the front bumper and the rear bumper. Few of these experiences were accompanied by a standard-issue warm and fuzzy Walt Disney ending—unless you include Bambi and Old Yeller in the mix. But they were all powerfully instructive experiences (the movies, too).
Today’s cell phone-wielding, speed-dialing AAA members will have no idea what I’m talking about. In the olden days, a breakdown mandated an immediate, hands-on mechanical inspection. Check belts, hoses, electrical connections, etc. Look for missing pieces. Listen for strange sounds. Check for puddles. Find a tool. Adjust, tinker, experiment. Pray. Repeat.
I view some of my unscheduled roadside pit-stops as impromptu shop class. For example, I learned that’s it always advisable to grease wheel bearings when I first heard the god-awful sound of a wheel bearing dying a horrible death on my way home. The same experience taught me that extreme heat makes for a great weld on parts that shouldn’t actually be welded together.
I repeat: living in a world without the luxury of dependable cavalry, malfunctions taught me to think on my feet. And how to drive.
I once had a charging problem on a busy highway at 2AM in the morning. There were exactly two solutions to this dilemma: pull on the headlights and listen to the sound of a car in mid-stall or leave the headlights off and continue the journey.
As a teenager ninety miles from home after eight hours on the road, the choice was easy (if monumentally foolish). I kept going. I tucked in behind a semi and followed his clearance lights. The trucker was an unwilling Good Samaritan; he flicked his rear lights continuously for the first 50 miles. But eventually he gave up and got on with the program. I never met the guy, but we shared one of those life-affirming moments despite his obvious initial blind terror. 10-4, good buddy.
Now that the statute of limitations has passed, I also admit piloting a brakeless car home. I wouldn’t recommend this kind of driving to anybody, but it does train you to look down the road a lot further than the average kid with a working set of brakes.
Of course, most of my roadside education was preventable. If I’d bought into the concept of the most basic maintenance, I’d have spent less time swearing at cars, skinning my knuckles and praising the Lord when my journey continued. But let’s face it; planning ahead is a rare part of any teenager’s game plan. At least not in the non-geek component of a high school environment where most of us desperately wanted to live.
Like all kids at my age, I learned everything the hard way—including the time I found out that a 1962 Volvo may look like a VW Beetle, but it doesn’t float like one. I had a 17-year-old’s less than stellar grasp of the legal implications of his daredevil behavior and wasn’t afraid not to use it.
Fast forward and we’ve arrived in a new era, where kids negotiate the Nürburgring in the comfort of their parent’s living rooms, without once worrying about flat tires, carburetor failure, fan belts breaking, etc. And when they take to the road, they can do so with the same ignorance and insouciance.
You could say that engineering excellence has sucked the life blood out of the automotive experience. Sure, today’s cars are remarkably easy to drive. Joe Consumer no longer has to calculate his chances of getting there from here, or acquire skills to raise the odds. But we’ve lost that hands-on spirit of adventure. Plastic engine covers and restrictive warranties deflect amateur interest. A significant percentage of problems are electronic, for which a wrench is less useful than package of Hamburger Helper.
I’m not saying that the average motorist yearns for a return to the days of “car trouble” and a reasonable chance of fixing it. I’m just saying that I am.
[For more of Jim Sutherland’s work, please visit mystarcollectorcar.com]
Sounds like you are a prime candidiate for putting an oldie in your driveway, like, yesterday, Mr. Sutherland.
Over the years my 63 Valiant has eaten a rear wheel bearing,suffered carb and shift linkage problems,had a clutch self destruct, etc etc etc.and was my only transportation for 10 years when I was just starting out.
Thankfully it always managed to find it’s way home even though I drove it some 300 miles from LA to Yuma many times during that period.And for a car with well over the “13,000” miles I bought it with [the odo had been around at least once, that’s certain], the potential for mechanical disaster was great.The car was 18 years old at the time and not far from becoming scrap with the first catastrophic mechanical failure, but it was only $600 and had new paint.
Part of the reason I bought it was because it was simple and even with my limited skills as a mechanic, it could be fixed and serviced by my own hands. Great for someone starting out with no money for repairs.
That appreciation for the basic and simple lives on in the cars I to purchase and drive today, cars as free of complexity as I can find [and it’s not easy, as you say, the electronics are everywhere even when you buy a car with crank windows and a manual transmission].
Great observations. But that cell phone and AAA card are still comforting to have when running a 46 year old car even 600 miles a year.
Great article. The funny thing is that for most motorists today, the greatest fear is that they will be left on the side of the road. And so, they lease a new Camry every 3 years, never really developing a bond with their car or the experience of owning a car.
Mr. Sutherland: +1
I, too, am from the era where young drivers couldn’t always be assured their loyal steeds would bring them home from their journeys….and the lessons learned stay with you….how to solve problems, prioritize, even survive when your car brakes down miles from home, miles from help and the weather (Michigan, in my case) is not congenial….
Learning how to diagnose and fix the often-simple basic problems of automotion was a fustratring but ultimately rewarding lesson in self-sufficiency….which too many people in today’s world could use….
Jim, you make a good point. OTOH, this is a logical progress of technology. If one would extend your point, one could say that it’s too bad people don’t ride horses (as a daily commute) any more, because the horse-riders were more in tune with nature. I think it’s good that technology offers more comfort, safety, and reliability. Of course, as with everything the mind is involved in, it needs to be controlled by intelligence so people don’t go to the other extreme and forget how to drive and think properly. Yes, people becoming couch potatoes behind the steering wheel is dangerous. Also, every driver should know how to locate, check, and replace the fuses, the light bulbs, how to install the spare tire, how to check the belt and the fluid levels, regardless of age and sex (it should be a requirement to pass the driver exams). Drivers should be able to identify the major components under the hood and what they do (in principle). I wonder how many drivers know how to open the hood nowadays.
I used to walk to school barefoot, in the snow, uphill, both ways.
I’m a smart guy who’s driven his fair share of POSmobiles that have had problems and left me stranded. It never turned me into a “car guy” in terms of getting under the hood, it simply left me thinking “if somebody builds me a car that actually works most of the time, I’ll buy it”. In the words of the immortal Oddball from “Kelly’s Heroes”: “oh baby, I just drive em, I don’t know what makes em run”.
I’d say more but I need to go shake my fist at a cloud.
I could write a book,on road side fixes. I never went anywhere without basic tools and materials.A screwdriver could bypass a solonoid ,or fix a three on the tree linkage[locked in second gear]Booster cables,a jumper wire,pliers,visegrips.
A hammmer for sure. Some bailing wire,a knife extra hoses,plugs and plug wires,all scavenged from the junk yard.
My 62 Pontiac Strato Chief,required many road side fixes,but it always got me home.
Me to, Mr Sutherland, from my buddies cottage to my front door,no brakes. Apprantly motor oil is not a substitute for brake fluid. Who knew? The three on the tree came in handy that day. Too bad the park brake didn’t work.
Couldn’t agree more. But I don’t know that the era has much to do with it.
I’m only 28, I grew up with cars in the 90s, and all of that held true for me. I own a 1994 model and a 2003 model, and I would feel just fine breaking both, diagnosing, jerry-rigging them on the side of the highway and continuing.
It happened just last week in the Roadmaster, coming back from Mosport Raceway. Blew a brake line coming into the track. Being the left-rear I still had front brakes, pissing brake fluid all over the campground. Found the leak in a hard line, tried to twist it shut, no good, so I just vice-gripped the flex hose to cut both back brakes off and drove it home.
Understanding how to drive a car with little or no brakes is a rite of passage. I also did it with my 9c1 Caprice, with no FRONT brakes.
I’ve also driven home with a bad opti-spark at 30 mph (it wouldn’t go higher with severe misfire). I’ve also rigged up the entire right side exhaust system with perforated strapping and zip ties (both are a must in a car tool kit) to make it home when they fell off.
I also lost the alternator in my Cavalier 2 hours from home, and had it towed to the nearest Crappy Tire, bought an alternator and changed it in the parking lot. As opposed to having it towed all the way home, which would’ve been sad.
I could go on–but I think the common factor here is the “car guy”, not the technology. Though I must admit, most EFI systems have a “limp home” mode when a sensor dies for a reason…
IMO a “must-have car tool kit”, that can fit in the smallest trunk in a little bag,
includes:
Perforated strapping
Zip ties
3/8″ ratchet set with 1/4″ to 3/4″ and 8mm to 16mm
Hammer of some kind (even a claw hammer)
Multi-screwdriver
Large flat screwdriver (doubles as a pry bar)
Small pair of vice grips (w/sidecutter jaws included)
Large pair of vice grips
Roll of 12-14ga wire
Electrical tape
I also always bring a jerry can with me in any car (you NEVER know when you might run out of gas) and an empty gallon jug for water or coolant in an emergency.
I’ve always been a car guy. Not a “car guy” but one who read the car rags, watched Top Gear and tried to drive cool cars. But despite being an engineer, I didn’t have the first clue about what to do if things went wrong.
Then I spent a few years in developing countries working for NGOs. “Snapped drive shaft? This is a 4WD, isn’t it? We’ll disengage the rears, engage 4WD and drive on the front wheels till we make it back to civilization…”
Now, among my friends and family, I’m the “car guy.”
Great article! Although I’m much younger, I’ve learned a lot about car repairs and maintenance on Lada. It’s a simple car. At 16 years old I was able to change clutch by myself. My best friend (40 at the time) taut me to never leave on a trip without tools and to carry at least two tire tubes and a spare. If you get stranded in the middle of nowhere where would you get air for tubeless tires? If you’ve got tubes, just change it and continue your journey. Also bring a pump not just for the tires but also to clean carburetor.
Michael Blue: CA just dropped the part of the driving test that required a new driver to demonstrate the abilities to parallel park and merge onto the highway.
Opening the hood and identifying anything ? That’s sooooo old skool.
@ tigeraid…..For our American friends “crappy tire” proper name is Canadian Tire. Though crappy is a better description. When nothing else is available crappy tire will get you out of a jam.
I think on somewhat modern motorcycles, (almost) every tool that you need to take the bike apart should come with it.
The other day I saw a nice looking (older) sport bike in front of my house…it was a 2003 gsx-r. Surprisingly I saw a decent looking female come out of a nearby building & get on.
A few weeks later it was time for my chain adjustment. I was out in the alley behind my garage getting setup and the same bike pulls into the alley & the woman walks over. “Are you ok ? Is your bike ok? Did something happen?”
Me: “I’m just doing the chain adjustment”
Her: “Oh, you shouldn’t do that! Let the dealer do it!”
Me: “It’s not that hard. It’s in the manual & part of recommended maintenance after 500 miles or if there is too much play in the chain.”
Her:”I think you probably just need some chain lube. I can help you with that.”
Me: “No, there is just about 2″ of slack in the chain. I can feel it when I ride…..”
Her: “you just need chain lube. You should never need to do anything else with the chain yourself. I’ve been riding 10 years and I’ve never had to do that.”
This went on for about 10 minutes or so until she finally gave up trying to convince me and walked away.
After about 45 minutes or so, I was done and it has been good riding since.
Needless to say she has only had a helmet once on when I’ve seen her and completely armor less otherwise….
I’m not an expert on cars OR bikes, but I would say out of the last 5 problems with my wifes neon I guessed correctly by guessing the symptoms 4 out of 5 times.
The 5th time we had a check engine light on and the car idled really rough. Turned out to be a bad FI.
Have had one problem with my Subaru under warranty (vavle spring) that I felt nothing but saw the check engine light on as well.
I come from a place where I can’t afford to pay for repairs or to own a luxury (unreliable) car. So I learned to fix some things out of need and desire.
I run a 28 year old motorcycle. Here is a vehicle with carbs and the only electronics is the ignition system. You have to be mechanically inclined to run one of these daily and take trips on it.
M first cars were 63 and 64 Fords. Really simple and reliable. No handling to speak of and no luxury either but they got me from A to B.
I think it funny that performance tuning today revolves around the exhaust, the chip in the computer, and the air cleaner. Not many going in and replacing pistons, cams or heads. Those of us from the golden age know to really do it right you have to start from the inside.
Robstar
Needless to say she has only had a helmet once on when I’ve seen her and completely armor less otherwise….
I think she wanted to lube your chain ;-)
I’m not sure I agree with the author’s premise here. As Harry Carey is reputed to have said “Nostalgia ain’t what it used to be.”
It’s a lot nicer to look back on those stranded-by-the-side-of-the-road experiences from the comfort of a living room and from the distance of a few decades.
Me? I like the fact that I can buy a vehicle with 100k on the odometer and be confident that it will easily take me another 100k before it needs any major repairs.
I understand where you’re coming from, Jim, but it’s not your car that you miss, it’s your youth.
Ha! My dad never paid more than $300 for a car. So growing up I constantly got to learn how to diagnose and repair failures. For example, we would be on a family trip and the car would die. Dad would make me figure out the problem and then craft a solution.
He had the same attitude about his boats, so I also learned how to pretty much handle anything at sea. Both skills come in handy in my adult life. At least nothing freaks me out.
“,,, it’s not your car that you miss, it’s your youth.”
Yeah, I suspect that’s what is going on here. At least in my case the laziness factor enters in also. My Accord is old with 160k miles and I have to regularly check the oil in it. What a pain…didn’t have to do that when it was new.
Contrast that with the old days – I bought a 53 Stude hardtop minus engine and transmission, bought a 51 Land Cruiser from a guy I knew and swapped the V8 and automatic into the 53. I needed a little help with the wiring harness but did all the rest myself – well, I was lucky to have the use of a hydraulic backhoe to move the engine: best engine hoist ever. You can jiggle it in any direction. Let me see now…that was in 1961 or 62. Those were the days….
This all just sounds like old person whining. As an under 30 year old, I can (and have) quite easily diagnosed problems on modern cars. In fact, I would argue, it is easier IF you know how to use a computer and/or scan tool.
This editorial reminds me of a quote by Douglas Adams
I’ve come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:
1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.
2. Anything that’s invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.
3. Anything invented after you’re thirty-five is against the natural order of things.
– Douglas Adams
I got my license in the early 90s, so the affordable vehicles at that time were domestics from the late 70s and early 80s. Arg. Sure, by this time, we didn’t have to deal with points, manual chokes, and what not, but they still had carbs that were encumbered with all sorts of emissions controls that turned maintenance into an even larger chore. V-belts were still predominant, and when one of those goes, it tends to take out its neighbors. U-joints were a regular maintenance item. Tires failed far more frequently than we’re used to nowadays. Galvanized sheetmetal was still years from being standard, and so rotted-out panels could be expected in just a few winters.
Somehow, the effort required to deal with all of those problems translated into a half-decent understanding of automobiles – enough to make the maintenance and modification of modern automobiles seem easy in comparison. And as a bonus, this under-the-hood education certainly contributed to my success as an automotive engineer. Nowaday, I won’t hire a young engineer without some proof of hands-on education (coming to the interview with dirt under one’s nails is a damn good start).
Had (still have actually) a 1979 Chevy LUV. Nothing electronic except the radio. Used to take it up skiing (about 160 miles of 7% grades)which means full throttle, and I’d have to A)set points twice B)fiddle with the mixture on the carb b/c it didn’t adjust for altitude (7k change). That was on stuff that wasn’t really broken. There were other things that were in poor repair that I’d have to fiddle with on the side of the road. Knew every tool I needed for the entire truck, and they were few, so always had a kit with me. To this day my friends call me Macgyver (sp?) because they were always amazed that I knew exactly what to do to keep that baby running. We still laugh about those trips to this day…25 years later.
Up until I was 35, every car I ever owned had me under it or over it, hands coated with grease and sometimes, blood.
I remember that in 1976, I had a girl out on a date in my (recently purchased used) ’67 Chevelle, and the tranny got stuck in 1st and 3rd at a red light because of the cheap 4-speed shifter that the previous owner had installed in it – I had to get out and crawl underneath to set the linkages to “neutral”, while horns blared. You’d think the chick would have been impressed at my quick thinking and mechanical prowess… but nooo, she was pissed at me having a crappy car.
So goes my life. Replaced girl, then bushings later on.
Today’s cell phone-wielding, speed-dialing AAA members will have no idea what Im talking about. In the olden days, a breakdown mandated an immediate, hands-on mechanical inspection.
It also happened far, far more often. Old cars were, for all their simplicity and ease of maintenance, quite crude and problematic. People don’t know this because, quite frankly, they don’t need to put up with that kind of crap any longer**
Take the carbuerator (please, ba-dum-boom!). When that anachronistic lump of metal was excised from the engine bays of cars everywhere, all sorts of problems just up and vanished. Between that and the need to continually make sure the engine’s timing wasn’t off, cars are quite simply better. With that improvement in precision comes these side-effects:
* People don’t need to know what to do, nor should they be expected to. Just like computer users today shouldn’t be expected to put up with crap like editing CONFIG.SYS.
* When something goes wrong, the precision of the machine means it’s not as easy to fix with a few hand tools on the side of the road. Again, to stretch the computer analogy: when Windows goes bad, it really goes bad.
I’d consider this a good thing, on the whole. Once cars became an appliance and not a hobby for me, cleaning carbs and screwing with timing and checking fouled plugs and all the crap that went with an older car became decidedly less amusing. Fixing a side-of-the-road incident when you’re a single teenager is one thing; as a parent with two toddlers in tow, it’s quite another. I’ll call CAA, thanks.
Besides all of the above comments, anyone who really craves the “excitement” of being stranded by the side of the road and the “thrill” of trying to diagnose an intermittent electrical problem during a blizzard can zip over to craigslist.org and find an infinite number of trouble prone hoopties in various states of decay to satisfy their fondest MacGyver wishes. And most of them can be had for a song (some of them for nothing as in “just get this heap out of my garage/driveway/street.”)
That Mr. Sutherland has apparently not done so (at least as I gather from the article) tells me that duct-tape-and-bailing-wire repairs are a lot more fun to reminisce about than they are to do.
+1 to Mr.Sutherland. I think I know where he’s coming from. It’s not about getting stranded at the side of the road, it’s about being able to get UN-stranded without a towtruck ride to some garage.
I’m an electronics Engineer in my mid-30s and I own (and have mecnanically restored) several old cars, and my viewpoint is similarly tempered. For me at least, there’s a certain satisfaction in diagnosing and repairing a problem that doesn’t involve plugging-in a scantool.
When I see an old car, an old prop plane, steam locomotive, etc. still in operation, it gives me the warm fuzzies because I know that it’s because someone understands and loves their machine. I understand and appreciate modern technology as an Engineer, but it doesn’t evoke that feeling (unless it’s something I designed myself).
Electronics may be able to perform the job of controlling an engine much better than the pressure/vacuum, electromechanical and mechanical systems they have replaced, but computers are soulless in their perfection.
Robstar :
I’m not an expert on cars OR bikes…
Or women, apparently.
70 Chevelle SS454>
You are correct — I’m not an expert on women either :)
that’s great that you have all that knowledge and experience now
but by your own admission, its useless with today’s cars, cell phones, GPS, onstar, and AAA
Great writeup.
This is one reason why I love to travel an old car. Mind you I said “travel” not “commute” or “drive”… for daily driver type stuff I prefer a reliable new(ish) car. But for long trips, the old car wins, hands down. It really is more about the journey, not the destination. Many of my trips are just that… long drives without a real destination. The last few summers I’ve driven the old Jaguar around Montana, Idaho, BC & Alberta. This summer I’m driving down and back up the Pacific Coast with my two sons (oldest southbound, youngest northbound – swapping them by plane in LA.) No schedule except their flights. No real plan beyond following our nose with a few changes of clothes, and a box of tools & spares. If the car breaks, we’ll fix it. If it doesn’t that’s fine too.
We leave in mid-July (12th-14th), and you’re all welcome to follow along on my website. Should be a blast.
–chuck
@psarhjinian
when Windows goes bad, it really goes bad
Having used Windows since 3.1… when it actually went GOOD?
Honestly, Windows started working decently since NT, 2000 or XP, the last one enjoyed by most people.
Up to the advent of NT based Windows, you ALWAYS prayed the stupid thing not to crash. And saved frequently your work, which I currently still do.
Electronics may be able to perform the job of controlling an engine much better than the pressure/vacuum, electromechanical and mechanical systems they have replaced, but computers are soulless in their perfection.
I think there should be some Godwin rule appropriate for using the word “soulless” when describing a car. It’s such a default position.
I think Martin Albright nailed it.
That said, I recall reading the owners manual of my brothers ’62 Lark. The manual advised that in the case of engine overheating, pull over and wait a while until it cools off.
In ’62 people might have had time to pull over and wait. Not today. Even if one was willing, imagine a cop’s reaction – no way are you just going to sit by the side of the road for a half an hour or more. You’ll have a tow truck whether you want one or not.
CarShark: I had to google “Godwin rule” to figure out what you were talking about. Excuse me for trying to finish off my comment with something a little pointed. :P
Just to bring this back to the topic of cars: …and that’s why I don’t like the Toyota Prius.
I heard Crappy tires’ Service /repair dept were Horrible. Kind of eat u alive.
Way under paid their Mechanics/ Technicians so they need to find more things wrong with your car kind of padded up the bills.
In the old days, Crappy tires were totally intransigence, if u wanna to order a part where they dont have it in stock, u need to go there paid for it first. Can u use your plastic card to order over the phone? No dice. So u need to arrive at the store to pay for it plastic or cash then wait patiently for it to arrive and pick it up there. Is hard if your only car is not working at that very moment.
Anyways now there’re many other types of parts stores around u no need to deal with Mr. Parts Nazi anymore.
They do get bigger now in store footage, but also closing many smaller stores. So kind of gave more opportunity to other competitors.
Another annoying issue is they hire high school kids to run the parts counter. They only knew how to operate the computer and nothing else, whatever is not listed in there = u cannot buy it. Is nothing wrong to give HS kids a chance to learn, but when u need some advice, u feel more lost than them, I am sure they are even more frightened when ask these difficult questions.
They should either properly train them or hire some more experienced person.
Thursday morning, my son and I are driving from Hartford to Mississaga ON in his 83 533i, It will have my toolkit and a few spares in the trunk.
In ’96, I bought an 88 528e with 150k miles on it. I drove the Borman6 for 11 yrs and put 200k on it. In that time, the only thing that broke was the throttle cable and I had one in the trunk. 20 minutes and my son had it back on the road.
I can appreciate both sides of the “argument” that has been formed here in the comments. I love having a reliable car that gets you to your destination with no fuss or muss. But those times when you have to persevere thru a problem and depend on your own wits and resources are character building events that stay with you for a lifetime.
It’s more than just improvements in car technology that have made being stranded less dreadful than it was in the past; it’s also the development of peripheral technologies like cell phones, portable GPS units, etc. Remember when breaking down on a deserted section of highway often meant a long walk to the next exit? Well, now you just bust out your cell phone and you’re all set (assuming you have signal, that is).
And with the advent of GPS units, Mapquest, etc getting lost has become much less of an issue than it was before.
We have two aircooled VWs and are using them to educate our two young sons. I think any guy ought to be able to take care of his family’s needs and part of that means keeping the cars fixed. For some guys that means making enough money to replace their vehicles often or take them to the dealer. For others like me that means knowing how to replace the engine with a donor or even rebuild it. Huge time sucker to work on a flaky car but a huge money saver too.
I’ve lived with daily drivers that ranged from an unrestored ’49 Chevy p/u (in 1999) to carb’d motorcycles year round in TN weather to very high mileage cars and the parts that need to be replaced from time to time. With enough experience most failures can be detected and planned for well in advance. I no longer rely on used parts when possible b/c that partly worn out part is going to wear out sooner rather than later. Using this method my two high mileage vehicles are getting more reliable instead of the other way around… VBG!
Driving an old car just requires more maintenance more often and a little planning ahead in case the engine vapor locks or some guy wants to tell you all about the old truck his Daddy had that looks alot like your truck. Or the aircooled VW that doesn’t climb the hills very fast. Or the old car with drum brakes that can’t safely go down the mountain at the same fast pace as a modern sports car.
FWIW though I prefer my daily drivers to be reliable and ready to go when I am so I keep them well maintained.
I like to keep a bicycle in the trunk of my car for this reason…
The only time I was stranded was when my father was about to purchase a new Camry to replace his 13 year old Corolla.
That Corolla broke down, for the first time ever, on our way to the Toyota dealership. Fortunately, it’s only a 10 minute walk to our house. It’s turns out to be a failed alternator. So, next day, the fixed Corolla (with no power steering) fetched $3000 in trade in for a new Camry.
My family concluded that somehow the Corolla knew we were about to sell it and went on strike for the first and last time.
Who says the Corolla doesn’t have a soul?
This whole thread reminds me of a conversation I had in ’97 with a co-worker concerning how little time I was spending fiddling under car hoods since my entire “fleet” was finally free of carbs and distributors.
He said, “You need some adventure in your life. I’ve got an AMF-era Harley that’ll put grease back under your fingernails.”
I worked in a car audio shop while I was in college, and it was common to see cars with the trunks loaded up with tools, coolant, oil, grease, extra belts etc.
Through the years, I’ve stopped by the old shop and noticed that almost no one carries extra parts and tools around anymore…classic car guys excluded.
Engineering, cell phones, and AAA have almost eliminated the “roadside mechanic”.
-ted
Of course nobody wants an unreliable ride. But the point that there is a complete loss of connection with the machine cannot be understated. As a kid, I also had and old car (72 Fury) but I did not really have to work on it out of need because I was fortunate enough that my father was willing to pay for all repairs and maintenance. However, I was drawn into tinkering out of curiosity, not economics. I began to enter an intimate relationship with the car; I was able to identify problems often before they might put me on the side of the road (only once in 200K of driving, all for a stuck carb float). Fast forward to today, I still have a sense of involvement with my cars, though there are certain things that are beyond my ability. But I still do all my own maintenance, I bought own my own scan tool, and perform most repairs. I certainly could pay a “professional” to do all the work, but I choose not to for most repairs. And when your regular mechanic knows that you are knowledgeable, you are way less likely to get ripped off when you do chose the “do if for my” route. And that is important. The stories I hear about how people get ripped off are crazy Knowledge is power. The more you know, the less of a target you are.
I’ve been driving Toyotas since the 1969 Corona I had in high school. Apologies, but I’ve just never had any of this “broken down on the side of the road” business. And that’s a big part of why I continue to buy Toyotas.
Points and old school distributors rewarded me many hours of timing adjustments and installing electronic point-preservers. It’s good not to have to fool around with that any more.
But maintenance remains important. You still have filters to clean, fluids to check/change, etc. Yourself, or a qualified technician can do those.
Ignoring those basics will eventually result in an undriveable or severely damaged vehicle. Service techs I know have told me they get customers who have not changed oil in +10 K miles, then wondered why their engines were ruined.