Re: New cars (was: Re: snow and ice)
  By: Joe Mackey to Daryl Stout on Sun Jan 26 2014 09:51 am

 DS>> The older cars were built like tanks. Nowadays, you practically
 DS>> breathe on it, and it crinkles up.

My comments are in regards to my 2002 Toyota Camry - not the most current
thing, but I've been keeping it running since new. I'm coming up on 180K in 11
years and it's doing fine.

 JM>  No longer can you just pull out the plug and change a burned out stop
 JM> light or turn signal.  You need to replace a lot bunch of costly parts
 JM>  as well. 

Nope, I replaced all of my bulbs as they failed, at about 150K. I figured if
one brake light went out, I'd replace both. I replaced the interior lights with
LEDs, just 'cause.

 JM>  The only good thing is the engines now go for 100's of thousands of
 JM> miles, if the body makes it undamaged.

Spark plugs, 90K. Timing belt, 90K. Good thing about the spark plugs, since you
have to take a bunch of crap off to get to the back 3 plugs. Might as well do
both at the same time.

Power steering and ATF are going to get flushed this month at 180K.

 JM>  But all cars seem to have too many things that can go wrong, which run
 JM> into lots of money to repair/replace.  Electric windows, door locks,
 JM>  etc.

My back window motors failed. I took the door panels off, hit the motor with a
hammer, put everything back together and it started working again.

The AC started acting up - the AC light would blink and no cold air would come
out. Take out the AC relay and hit it against my palm. and it'd work for a
month or two. I replaced it with an aftermarket unit for $10.

 Ever try to change a fan belt on a new car?  Sheesh, you nearly
 JM> have to pull the engine to do that.

The fan belt you can get to, timing belt is a pain. I save everything for the
90K.

My starter failed at 130K, it was a simple replacement.

I had a $200 detail, interior shampoo, claybar/wax the body, and restore the
plastic around the headlights. I've lost an MPG or so over the years, but the
car car looks straight, drives nicely, is dependable, repairs are cheap and
it's all paid for.
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