They were literally made to last only 130,000-140,000km before dying off. It’s what planned obsolescence does to a car.
I find the claim that “they were literally only made to last 130,000- 140,000km before dying off” seems insane, back then I thought cars weren’t even meant to be driven at highway speeds until they passed the 100K mile mark… and I see no way there could be more planned obsolescence in older cars that are actually made from more materials that last like steel rather than plastic which becomes weak over time.
Edit: and over here in the states you do normally see cars like that everyday.
I thought that the engine needs time to get worn in and everything before the car can be driven somewhat hard like you might need to to reach highway speeds, the hundred thousand mile mark thing may be because I heard it from an old guy who was probably stumbling over his words when he said it, probably meant just one thousand.
Break-in regimes only dictate not flooring it unless in the case of an emergency for anywhere between 300 to 500 or even 800 or a 1000 miles, depending on the individual car. After that there are further guidelines to follow.
Well breakin is different for every engine. And to be fair after an hr of idling on a dyno most rebuilt engines can be used at full throttle to break in on a dyno. The myth that you cant use full open throttle on a new car is rubbish. Most cars will have done 30-100kms after the dealer takes delivery and i can tell you that demo cars are thrashed by the dealerships and in most cases a demo car has had 100’s of people “test” drive which lets be honest no matter whar car it is at least 50% of people will thrash the poor dealer demos for a year doing very short distances only… and how many cars do you think blow engines in the first 10000kms…I mean think about it for a second
Most cars need to be rebuilt around the 100K (city) mile mark, lol.
[quote=“Darkshine5, post:29, topic:18097”]
Well breakin is different for every engine.
[/quote]This. Your owner’s manual will tell you what you can and can’t do for the break-in period.
My manual says the following;
During the first 1,000 miles (1,600km) follow these recommendations for the future reliability and economy of your new vehicle. Failure to follow these recommendations may result in vehicle damage or shortened engine life.
Do not drive over the legal speed limit and do not run the engine over 4,000rpm. Avoid driving for long periods at constant speed, either fast or slow.
Do not accelerate at full throttle in any gear.
Avoid quick starts
Avoid hard breaking as much as possible
Do not tow a trailer for the first 500 miles (800km).
That’s all it says.
So not flooring it is not a myth for a KA24DE, and letting her idle on a dyno for an hour is also detrimental to it.
on top of what everyone else has said, you DON’T want to get a classic for your everyday use car, as you are still in your primary schooling. If you drive a classic to school every day (and park in a public/school parking lot), you WILL get door dings and miscellaneous scratches in it. That’s just a fact of life.
It’s been well covered in these forums: many newly or not yet licensed drivers come asking about getting a classic as their first car, and we always say: “NOT A GOOD IDEA”. Your first car is going to be scratched, beaten, abused, dinged, etc, even if it’s not directly by you.
So get a reliable beater of a car and use that for a good 2 years of driving.
(and ask around to get educated a bit more on cars, we will help you there. That way you don’t end up trying to replace your blinker fluid on your own)
I’d think the part about not driving a classic if he gets one kinda goes without saying, when I was considering getting an older panther platform car I would have had no intentions of ever driving it much except to just make sure the tyres aren’t laying on the same spots and occasionally just running it a bit in the driveway so minimize chances of it getting mechanical damage from siting arouind, I would probably just keep it in the garage and use my parents car if I needed to go somewhere.and that is for a “classic” car that I would have already considered a bit of a worthless beater in all honesty
[quote=“lukerules117, post:24, topic:18097”]
I find the claim that “they were literally only made to last 130,000- 140,000km before dying off” seems insane[/quote]
As Conan said, this is called designed obsolescence. All manufactures practice this.
Most modern cars have a MTBF of 130k miles This is why you can only get 100k mile warranties, lots of parts on engines are designed to fail after 100k now.
Iridium Spark Plugs, Oxygen sensors, and Timing belts have a rated expected life of 100k miles (avg) Most EL Coolants have an expected life of 5 years. Many modern transmissions are considered to have a “Lifetime fluid” are are considered un-serviceable.
The list just keeps going on and on. Modern cars are throw-away. Yes there are exceptions. But most cars die due to timing failure, or head gaskets because owners do not see the value in flushing coolant systems, or replacing critical timing components.
Cars from the 40’s-70’s are no better, while they are all designed to be maintained from the get-go, parts are becoming ever scarcer, and the knowledge on how to work on them is fading.
The best thing any new driver can do is to get a vehicle within 20 years, that has less than 70k miles. Or some very well documented maintenance up to 150k
Well if as you said the cars from the 40s-70s were designed to maintained than that kind goes against that logic, but yeah, I’m well aware of modern cars being throw aways
Anything north of 86 with Fuel Injection is easy to maintain. (And by easy I mean the lack of maintenance needed)
Prior to Electronic controls. Engines needed constant upkeep to be running well. (Petrol engines will run in pretty poor shape mind you, so we are talking about keeping it running well) If some one wants to learn, by all means. But know that buying an old car is a dedication, and will require a level of diligence to keep running well that most Millennials lack.
Yes, but I’m talking more about when they were more new that they were at least designed to be somewhat serviceable, and I’m aware parts would be hard to find and that they need more maintenance, but the simplicity of them means that you might be able to do some servicing yourself and yes, I would expect dedication and diligence to be needed as well as the ability to actually diagnose problems on your own(or at least tell if there IS a problem), and yes I am aware of the lack of parts would be a big concern, but once again thats to be expected. and as you said modern cars have many things designed to be serviceable, and I am also aware of some of the disadvantages that carburetors have but they are also more simple and serviceable.
As for the planned obsolescence concept… all cars at all times were built with that in mind. The only difference was how much “extra” they gave the cars; and that varies with era and manufacturer. In my opinion, Japanese cars in the 1980’s to late 90’s had the greatest quality.
For maintenance; same thing really. Older and you get into the horrors of carbs or bi-yearly valve-lash adjustment. You do not want that. As for newer cars, they lack the need for any screwing around in them, (except for direct injection’s headaches of cleaning out the intake runners)… but when something does inevitably break or wear out, it tends to be a major headache because cars are so needlessly complex to pass emissions and other regulations. Electronic problems have always been a major issue, and engine bays tend to be very tight these days. Every era had it’s pros and cons, and problems. I prefer the mid-80’s to late 90’s Japanese cars. Best balance of advanced technology and simplicity in my eyes.
Yeah that still Seems a bit more simple than fuel injection and with most of my knowledge on carburetors how carburators work is more regarding the earliest of them and I still understand a fair bit of what those parts do, and yes 4- barrel carbs are pretty complicated and a do know all cars were designed with planned obsolesce but it seems like it would be easier with in terms of overall simplicity…
Ask @adamd if carbureted cars are simple to get running right. Just look at his thread to see how much fiddling around he had to do to get his 2CV running decently well.
