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THE ONLY NEW car I ever owned was a 1965 Pontiac wagon. Got it in Feb 1965. Put 100,000 miles on it in 3 years to the week.

Sold it (sometimes wish I hadn’t) in 1995 & it had OVER 444,000++ miles on it-— original engine.

I changed oils & all filters regularly—NEVER had a problem with it. I can still change the oil/filter & other filters. AM 84 & FEMALE.

NOW HAVE:

1979 Buick wagon with 223,000 + miles on it I bought used in 1981 with 55,000 miles. Same routine-—change oils & filters regularly. It could use some cosmetic work, but I have no fear of driving it anywhere I need to go. It towed a 2 horse trailer for 4 months in 1986 until I found a 1 ton truck for that. NO problems. NEW FUEL PUMP??? $22 t Summit Racing Parts & neighbor & I changed in under 50 minutes in my driveway. CHANGE plugs? Under an hour-—in my driveway.

My 1 ton truck==1976 USED (had 90,000 miles) in April of 1986. 4 speed -— dually hauler.

That truck now has OVER 348,000 on the chassis & I put on all those 250,000 miles.===mostly towing 2 horse & 4 horse trailers. Certainly NOT all on pavement, either. A WORKHORSE

Had to replace a fuel switch UNDER the truck bed in 2022 ——ORIGINAL PART—46 year old part at least. Then in fall of 2023, had to replace “The slide” on the steering column-—AGAIN—ORIGINAL PART-—47 or 48 year old part.

FIND ME ANYTHING TODAY THAT HAS PARTS LASTING THAT LONG-—SHOW ME.

WHEN I went on the PONY EXPRESS TRAIL Ride in 2001, I had 3 horses, hay cubes on rack on trailer roof, 150 gallons of water in 3 barrels and ALOT of other gear. WAS FULLY LOADED. Trailer was about 10,400#. Had another 90 gallons of water in custom tank in truck bed, with camper shell. CRAWLED UP I-80 eastward on Donner Pass at about 35 MPH—with the semi trucks. Total rig==just under 40’.

Ride was 8 weeks long, ST Joseph, Mo to Virginia City, Nv. Home was N Calif. 3 ++ day trip to start line-—sleep in truck-— unload & TIE horses to trailer at night in truck stops. NO problems. Got new load of 1400# of cubes every 2 weeks. Paid for them in advance & STAGED them at intervals. USED the HOIST the welding shop made me when they made the hay rack to lift all those 28 bags to the top on the trailer. Horses tied to trailer every night for all 8 weeks. ONLY ONE configuration would work—they were picky.

The truck could also use some cosmetic work-—but I would LOAD the horse trailer & take it anywhere without worry. That trailer is now 23 years old & I also take care of it.

Today’s vehicles are NOT more dependable. TOO many electronic gadgets. SEAT HEATERS ??? REALLY??? STEERING WHEEL HEATER??? REALLY??? CAR PARKS ITSELF? REALLY??

I was raised in So Wisconsin-—It was /is plenty cold there. Never needed such stuff. Worried more about the headbolt heater doing it’s job & the vehicle starting all winter.

Have driven OVER 1 MILLION MILES-—NO accidents.

NOT GIVING UP MY VEHICLES—NOTHING OUT THERE IS WORTH IT.

THERE IS NOT A SINGLE CAR OR TRUCK OUT THERE TODAY I WOULD HAVE-—EVEN FOR FREE.

IF I HAVE TO SEEK ANOTHER-—I WILL LOOK IN HEMMINGS MOTOR NEWS.