Cars today are so much better than 80s cars it’s not funny. Manufacturers in the 80s were struggling with emissions requirements largely using analog controls that simply weren’t up to the task. Today we have modern engine management that’s all digital. Output and mileage are up and emissions are down.
“Cars today are so much better than 80s cars it’s not funny.”
I would like to add to the truth of that statement.
My dad bought a brand new 1979 Ford van. The engine had to be replaced due to sloppy pistons where one broke a skirt, mileage was before 50,000. They only had a year warranty back then.
I bought a brand new 1980 Bronco. At about 30,000 the timing chain started to jump teeth throwing it out of time. At about the same time the front end’s drive shaft spline wore out causing the drive shaft to slop around. The exhaust system rusted out at 3 years. The special order extra heavy duty battery went dead shortly after a year.
And I also broke a piston. During disassembly the cylinder walls were mic’d and found to be .20” oversized. In other words, the cylinders were purposely bored too large. The measurements were taken at the bottom of the cylinder below ring travel which gives a fairly accurate indication of original bore size. My piston broke at about 42,000 miles.
The list goes on. A couple years later Ford came out with their motto Quality Is Job One.
That Bronco was one hell of a POS!
Yep. And what I’ve also noticed is ever since the mid 80s and ODB one and two, all you have to do is read the codes and your car tells you what’s broken. Well in a lot of cases it does. I learned that old key turning trick with my Chryslers and was able to fix all sorts of cheap problems there would have been almost impossible to diagnose otherwise.
And vehicles last for so many more years and miles now.
Lots of stuff that shade-tree mechanics can’t do anymore. But YouTube and other on-line resources can often help those with determination and limited funds.