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Posted on 06/26/2025 1:55:40 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
A simple flat tire on an Audi should be a 10-minute fix. But thanks to today's hyper-connected vehicle systems, a TikTok video showed how it turned into a half-hour ordeal involving fault scans, resets, and drive cycles—all because of a nail.
(Excerpt) Read more at motor1.com ...
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A cousin who made good and likes top-of-the-line Volvos claims there is nothing on the car that does not cost $1,000!
He is also a serious gearhead who has built a few project cars in his garage from the frame up.
The idiot light on his XC90 came on... The dealer will pick it up and drop it off, but he took a look. It was a switch on the seatbelt; it should be a nothing burger.$800 plus.
The car was only a couple of weeks old, and warranty work. Dealer warranty work is always pricey. And more so at Volvo.
The cars have gotten way too expensive to fix and they are built not to last. So much for technology making these things cheaper and better.
I remember working on my first used car. A 1971 AMC Gremlin. Each subsequent car became more and more of a hassle to work on.
If he is a gearhead, why would he buy a Volvo no matter how well he made it? That makes no sense.
Ineos Grenadier. Barely has a computer.
Robust ladder frame. Coil over shock suspension.
Simple engine.
Built like a tank. Designed for 250,000 miles.
Car reviewers hate it.
Toyota.
Mazda.
Honda.
100,000 miles is just getting started.
My 1963 Nova SS with a six cylinder 194 cubic inch engine had so much room around the engine you could get at anything.
When I bought it, it had blow-by so bad it would raise the dipstick and blow oil all over the underside of the hood.
Tapped a dowel into the dipstick hole and drove it for 50,000 miles.
For ninety grand, it bloody well better be ...
“they are built not to last”
New vehicles last far, far longer the the vehicles of yesteryear.
250,000 miles is routine.
When I was growing up, 100,000 was unusual.
I have a friend who was a service manager at a GM dealership. About 10 years ago he said it cost 1800 bucks to replace the headlights on a Cadillac. You have to take half the car apart to get at them. If you want to replace the starter, which used to be a simple task, you need to take the engine apart because it is inside it.
I learned on GM and Jeep products mostly growing up.
My major mechanic days such as they were are long over.
Last year my dad sold a 74 Pontiac Grand Ville that he bought at an estate sale a few years ago.
The previous owner had a lot of restoration work done and it came with the paperwork to prove it.
I wouldn’t even want to put new spark plugs in that 455 now.
Rode like dream and a fair amount of power from the 455. I got to drive it one afternoon.
https://youtu.be/aXhOoVV6alc?si=lrgiwgvI3nO7ZQqi
It was sold to a collector from the midwest. Dad lost interest in the car.
Bringatrailer.com worked rather well. Way less aggravation and cheaper than Ebay.
Those Trinity movies were some of the funniest ones ever made.
Terrence Hill and Bud Spencer played off each other well.
Hey it’s always good to keep the underside of the hood well lubricated!
I remember reading something similar, I think a foreign model many years ago that to put new plugs in, the engine had to come out.
We surpassed peak stupidity with vehicles years ago. All this “hyper-connectivity” has to do with CAFE and NTSB rule making turning cars into junk.
I realize here on FR we're mostly a gaggle of old men yelling at clouds who believe every car should have an inline-six, a manual five speed, and roll-up windows, but Americans tend to like bells and whistles and don't want to drive the same car for more than 3-4 years before trading it in on something newer with even more bells and whistles.
Sure, I'm perfectly happy with my 10-y/o Tacoma (paid off) but my wife, on the other hand, likes new cars. And she loves warning beeps, rear-view cameras, tire pressure monitoring systems, and all the safety doodads and whatnot.
She likely represents the norm.
made by a british corporation [yuck], costs between $75,000-$90,000 ... lord only knows if you can find parts for it or anyone who knows how to work on it ...
On the Ford diesel pickups now they have a rack so the entire cab can be lifted up so you can work on it.
He did not build the Volvo and has more money than he can spend.
His last driver was the crazy fast Caddy Blackwing, he has a young friend with better reaction times, who drives it on track day, and he rides shotgun.
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