Posted on 07/29/2015 4:32:38 AM PDT by Olog-hai
I still have a 97 ford escort with 350k miles. It only makes trips back and forth to the airport but it still gets the job done.
$3500 in 1964 = $26943 in 2015. But salary increases haven’t (in real terms) kept up with inflation since 1973 or so, hence the longer loan terms.
I had the opportunity to walk in that plant in 2009. You could white glove the place. Extremely clean and organized. Very effiexent plant.
Are Toyota’s non interference engines?
I have a 16 year old Ford and a 10 year old Toyota ..
What's a tape deck?
Nice! Are they just assembled there or actually manufactured?
(non union?)
I have been very happy with my car’s performance, but even being a 1998, I have under 50k miles on it and its always been parked in a garage. It looks showroom except for some very minor scratches on the clear coat.
Indeed. I have a 10 year old Audi that’s practically mint.
I also review cars and want to warn my fellow FReepers to beware these new nannies - collision avoidance, blind spot monitoring, etc. etc. They’re very obtrusive, can be very annoying depending on your driving style, and can actually be more dangerous. For example, I just drove the Acura ILX with all that stuff and its collision mitigation would flash “BRAKE!” on the instrument panel (even though there was no danger because I tend to know what I’m doing) - and that “BRAKE!” would grab my eye and take it off the road and onto the damn instrument panel. What kind of safety device is that?
Anyway, just my two cents rant for the day. Your mileage, of course, may vary.
Cheers
Jim
Don’t leave out the extra performance, convenience and safety features that are standard now. A new car with similar features and performance to a new one in 1964 would be many thousands of dollars cheaper than the average new car price today.
Averages are skewed by the explosion of upscale vehicles, especially SUVs and pickups.
We have three cars...2002, 2006, 2007...all paid for and well-maintained. We refuse to buy a new vehicle.
Then there’s the 1979 Yamaha XS650 Special...but, that’s a toy.
Wife has a 2003 Acura. She didn’t believe me when I said she would drive it for at least 15 yrs. Zero problems to date.
I have my 1998 & 2000 cars still, won’t buy a new car.
Back in '89, we bought a brand new Ford Bronco XLT. It was leaking from the rear seals after the first year. Sold it. Toyota Tacoma pick up trucks are good vehicles. We used them for company fleet trucks (construction related) and they took a beating and kept going. 2 in the driveway.
It is a shame. I *want* to buy American... But I simply cannot afford the costs: initial, maintenance, and unplanned downtime. Literally every single Ford/Chevy/Dodge my wife and I have owned has stranded us at one point or another - some multiple times. And yes, we are some of those crazy people that actually get the recommended maintenance done on schedule - I'm an engineer, I like smooth running dependable machinery. But that didn't seem to help. Meanwhile the Volkswagon and a couple of different Japanese makes have never stranded any family member while needing only routine maintenance (with one exception that was a $35 part I replaced myself).
In a couple of years when it is time to replace my commuter car... I don't know. We'll see what the big 3 have to offer in that market segment and maybe they'll sucker me in again. Or maybe I'll go with another small Japanese hatchback and another decade of worry-free commuting.
Mrs. Texicanus has higher standards and better tastes than me. She has always driven a luxury car, either a Cadillac or a Towncar. I drive an older truck like the peasants.
She drives a 2002 Lincoln Towncar she bought new in 2002. When she went to replace it with another, the Lincoln dealer said they do not make them anymore because they do not meet the stricter government CAFE standards.
Since then she has retired from teaching and has decided to keep her Towncar and forgo one of the new Lincoln models because she is driving fewer miles, doesn’t need all the newer options, and thinks it’s un-natural to talk to her car. She will not even consider a GM product for obvious political reasons. The only other cars she has considered that are worthy (of her) are Mercedes and Jaguar which I getting too old to service and maintain for her (the Towncar is easy). I thank the Lord she hasn’t discovered the Audi or Porsche models although she has been tempted a couple of times by the new Corvettes.
Meanwhile back at Agony Acres (our homestead on the urban frontier), I still drive my 20 year old Chevy Pickup about 4000 miles per year as I piddle around. It’s is handy, comfortable (A/C and everything else still works), and is going to outlast me. Mrs. Texicanus says it is a POS and refuses to be seen riding in it. The interior is a little worn but the exterior looks fairly nice (from a distance) considering it has never been garaged. The only problem is the Confederate flag is a little tattered and needs replacing as soon as I can get around to it.
All this to say, 11 1/2 years does not surprise us. We know and see many other families driving older vehicles like us. Of course there are extremists among us. One guy down the road is still driving a 1966 A/C Cobra on sunny days and a 1966 Porsche 911 on bad weather days.
We see a lot of chrome plated super decked out F150’s and larger diesel trucks (Ford F-250’s and Dodge Rams) on the road. Many of the illegals upon hitting Texas paydirt rush out and buy, rent (by the week), or steal an F150 to complement their American dream. They are very plentiful down here. They make great family vehicles (extended cab versions) and can be pawned, traded, or used for securing payday loans fairly easily. Often that is the only asset a family has until they can buy a home and build a fence around it. But I have digressed.
Of course, any self respecting redneck like me has to have at least one “project” vehicle in various stages of “restoration” that he has been working on forever in his “spare” time. I have two. I was still getting manufacturer recalls on one until a few years ago. I bump into them occasionally when I mow the grass around the barn so I know they are still there. They are “antiques” and I am going to leave them for the grandkids.
If Mrs. Texicanus and the grandkids can hang in there a few more years, the only “vehicle” I will be driving is a mobility scooter and they can have the rest. My scooter will probably be an older model too since I am a “tightwad”. But I am going to keep my flag.
Have a nice day...
Let’s see, I have a 1997 (actually made and sold in 1996), 1999 (actually made and sold in 1998), and 2010 (made and sold in 2010). So, that’s 18+16+5 = 39 / 3 = 13 (or 19+17+5=41 / 3 = 13.67). Either way, I beat the average!
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