We've been deprived. Mitsubishi made a 5 speed column shift for their Delica Space Gear mid-1990s minivan.
Here's a fun 8-minute video of Eric Go demonstrating the 5 speed column shift:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycX7pvKRMos
Posted on 06/26/2025 1:55:40 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
It can be, Linux and Android are not unusual.
I was not impressed by Vag-Com /windows.
I was just hanging out at my mechanic’s shop while his guys were replacing the glow plugs on my diesel. He showed me a radiator cap for a new truck. $370 just for a radiator cap. He was still waiting for the new thermostat price. All because they had sensors that had to work with the new computers. New cars are so outrageous.
We've been deprived. Mitsubishi made a 5 speed column shift for their Delica Space Gear mid-1990s minivan.
Here's a fun 8-minute video of Eric Go demonstrating the 5 speed column shift:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycX7pvKRMos
We’ve owned two Volvos. One was a naturally aspirated ‘86 740 Sedan and the other was a turbocharged ‘88 740 Station Wagon. They were great on power and handling. But that’s about it.
The ABS on the ‘86 sedan started acting up a year after we bought it. The ABS would randomly activate below 15 mph under light braking and dry pavement. It took TWENTY SIX visits to the dealer before they brought an engineer over from Sweden and he found the wiring harness was bad. They changed out the entire wiring harness and it was fine after that. I don’t think they ever found out exactly where or why the wiring failed. It didn’t cost us anything except the HUGE amount of time and aggravation. We clearly qualified for the lemon laws, but we were unaware of them.
The ‘88 wagon didn’t have wiring problems, but the turbocharger failed (under warranty) and it cost a bundle to repair. Then, on a family outing, a plastic diverter valve that sent water to the cabin heater core failed. The hose nipple on the body sheared right off, dumping all the coolant on the parking garage floor. They put a PLASTIC valve body in the hot coolant flow circuit!
That was it for us. We never owned another Volvo and we never will. Our 2014 Ford Expedition (last year of the 5.6L V8) and our 2014 Mercedes GLK (small SUV crossover) are going strong.
—”The bells and whistles on the newer vehicles suck.”
IMO, EPA mandates mixed with competitive price pressure is a dangerous brew.
It changes faster than the best technicians can keep abreast.
Some jamoke reads about a ‘possible’ improvement, then they cram it down to’save the earth’.
MTBE sure save ... something... anything...pissed away a trillion dollars and uncounted environmental damage.
My wife and I installed a heat pump a few years ago. About the time we turned it on, it was announced that R410A, the lifeblood of the system, was being banned by the EPA, that approved it a few years before.
Save the Earth by tossing your heat pump in the dumpster!
Yes, it could only be something like that. That one vehicle ate three trannies. Had to go back to being a manufacturing problem. No doubt an error on the assembly line going back to the block machining. Surely other drivetrains from that same line had similar issues. Interesting case.
Yeah, that type of problem comes down to the tech on the shop floor and his own personal product knowledge and his keeping up with service bulletins. Obviously a car doesn’t go through a set of plugs in short order twice! It also comes down to the service advisor checking vehicle history and realizing it’s a recurring problem which should tip them off to look in another direction rather than just replacing the plugs again. FYI, plugs went to 100,000 miles just so they’d clear warranty and the cost would fall on the owner. It’s a game of inches and it turned heavily in favor of the manufacturer towards the end of last century.
“I’m driving a 14 years old Nissan right now and it runs just fine… I have no hesitation taking it on a road trip.”
I’ve just put an “Antique” license plate on my 30-year-old Nissan pickup. Tomorrow, I start my annual 3200-mile round trip to New Hampshire.
The “check engine” light comes on about every two weeks. (Then goes off after a couple of minutes).
I’ve seen that later Nissans aren’t as good.
.
On the 22 Tucson I had putting air in the tire shut off the light.
Indiana used to have the annual vehicle inspection, but they haven’t done it for years. It was always kind of a joke.
I’ve never done any climbing, I don’t like heights. Although I have done some rope work inside of caves or pits. I caved for about 40 years but am getting too old to do much.
I never take a tire off to patch it. I locate the problem and patch it on the car.
I think the Saab Sonnet from around 1970 had a five-speed column shift also. I only rode in one once, so I might not remember it exactly.
The technologists will one day own all the car companies as among their subsidiaries.
yep, that’s the reality.
+1
Same story with an older Jeep model. I mentioned to a neighbor he had a headlight out. He said he knew, but it was ~$1K to replace the bulb. Evidently the front bumper and grill have to be removed to get the light..
There are a few rays of good news emmenating from the EPA turd.
We have had a warm spell and used the AC(heat pump) pushing 100 for a few days.
Always curious about the cost of my home energy use, I installed a dedicated power meter on the heat pump and one for the entire house.
This morning I realized that our 12 cup coffee maker was drawing more than the heat pump! coffee~1100 watts, AC was using ~600 Watts.
The heat pump can max out ~2,200 W max, but only goes there in the afternoon high, Mr Coffee runs near a steady 1,100W.
Just the blower (NO AC) on my forced air system guzzled 1,400W, the outside condensing unit added 1,600W. and only ran ON or OFF.
The heat pump can vary the speed down to ~10% of max.
A slow, steady output wins this game.
Some days we spend more $ keeping the coffee hot than the house comfortable!
I like the heat pump, but I doubt it will equal the 25 years of the old forced air system.
Without refrigerant at an affordable price, the system cannot be serviced.
—”FYI, plugs went to 100,000 miles just so they’d clear warranty and the cost would fall on the owner.”
My experience is that 250k in today’s cars is like 100k used to be.
See #94 on my experience with 100k plugs.
“Are there any states where you can get on-road plates for it?”
Yes, all of them.
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