Modern vehicles are just so much shite

monquixote

Modern cars are far more reliable and less hastle. The 1988 Escort I used to drive about in when I passed my test broke down once a month. My 04 Skoda hasn't broken down in 9 years and 175K miles. 

For people like me that do shed loads of miles in cars that are a few years old the irritating thing is that the newest diesels tend to run without a murmur and then die in ways that are either terminal or uneconomical to fix. 

Phil_aka_Pip

ICBM said:

 the modern technology is still more reliable, not less.

It is, until it goes wrong, then you can't fix it. I never intended to imply that the older designs were more reliable. What I wanted to say was that they were more useful because they could be fixed, whereas the modern ones are not designed to be fixed, or worse, designed not to be fixed.

Evilmags

VimFuego;61138" said:

I guess my only complaint about modern cars is that when they go wrong, you often have to take em to a main dealer or specialist dealer. I was talking to my local mechanic (bloody good spanner monkey) and he was saying that he doesn't have the diagnostic tools for some makes which means he can't work on their engine systems. Guys like him are getting kinda forced out of the market.

Most of them can be found online. A fair few independent guys who used to work for BMW Merc or Audi are around in big cities and have acquired the software. Management systems are the big rip off. 3 grand for something most smartphones could run. Again easy to find refurbed ones online.

ICBM

Phil_aka_Pip said:

It is, until it goes wrong, then you can't fix it. I never intended to imply that the older designs were more reliable. What I wanted to say was that they were more useful because they could be fixed, whereas the modern ones are not designed to be fixed, or worse, designed not to be fixed.

I would have to agree with that. On the Renault handbrake motor, the cables that connect it to the calipers are an integral part of the motor unit - so if the *cable* fails, you have to junk the whole assembly even though the motor itself is probably fine. Very annoying.

To put it in rough terms, it still comes down to whether you want a 50% chance of a £100 repair or a 10% chance of a £500 repair though, really. (Figures chosen for illustration not accuracy .) For most people, they'll take the smaller chance of an expensive repair rather than the other way round even though on average it probably works out about the same. But for those of us who can do the £100 repair for a tenner, it's very frustrating.

mike_l

bertie said:

apart from changing the EGR valve on mrs berts zafira.  Ive never fixed (or had to) a car in me life.  Tinkering wth engines is like plumbing,  a "get a man to do it"  job for me.

Despite having all the City & Guilds Mechanic quals, not having kept up with all the latest training, I'm not that comfortable working on modern engines. Especially without any diagnostic equipment. I'm all good on the mechanical side, but the electrical things tend to be what goes wrong.

bertie

thats shocking

chillidoggy

My first car was a 1966 Ford Anglia estate, which was a total pile of shite. My old man bought it for me, and the engine was in bits in the back of it, which he put together and dropped it in. It broke down so often that it would have been easier and quicker to walk, and when someone wrote it off by hitting it up the chuff on the motorway, I couldn't have been happier.

Mind you, I did later buy a 1972 850 Mini Van that had been hand-painted black, and since then I've never understood the appeal of a Mini. It leaked that much oil through the driveshaft seals that for 18 months I never bothered changing the oil, I just hoovered up all my mates oil changes and poured it in the engine. Not that you could reach the oil filter to change it. I hated the thing with a passion but couldn't afford to buy another car. I remember driving back from a gig one night at 1am when the engine seized up due to a burst hose. I was tempted to leave the fucking thing by the side of the road and walk home, but a mate of mine eventually towed the bloody thing back for me. Starting it was a well-timed sequence of throttle, choke, and sheer luck. The steering would suddenly lock up on occasion, and when I sold it for scrap, I breathed a sigh of relief.

 

Yes, you might be able to get an old car going again, but the chances of a modern car breaking down are far less, and given the choice, I'd have a modern car every time.

Sporky

New cars are awesome.

My first car was a VW Derby. It had a manual choke. My current car is faster, more economical, comfier, more reliable and has automatic everything. Stuff you, VW Derby!

Phil_aka_Pip

I junked the automatic choke on my Volvo 740, put a proper manual choke in. Engine started better, pulled better from cold, and never argued about starting when hot.

Phil_aka_Pip

And another thing. What's with the LCD stuff on the instrument panel? In bright sunshine I can't see the mileage or the time of day, why couldn't they give us displays that can be seen in ANY light conditions?

Myranda

My vehicle has no windows to go wrong, no engine management to go wrong, no interior lights and no central locking... 

And I still get 50mpg 

Also, with only 2 cylinders and associated gubbins it rarely breaks down.

Can I has a cookie?

Phil_aka_Pip

you can have a WOW!

VimFuego

only if you can drive it in sub zero rain for 6 hours and still be warm and comfortable.

Phil_aka_Pip

that depends on having the right clothes. I used to wear leathers, and if it were wet/snowy, waxed cotton on top. I also had silk thermal long johns and vest. Sometimes the ride was unpleasant with car drivers giving you less than half the distance you needed to brake in but that kind of gear did me well in bad weather. Shame I'm too fat for it now.

holnrew

VimFuego said:

only if you can drive it in sub zero rain for 6 hours and still be warm and comfortable.

Wouldn't sub zero rain be snow?

VimFuego

shouldn't you be outside practising how to clean vomit off the back seat?

Iamnobody

Buy yourself an old Jap car...

It will be the basic spec you desire and fairly reliable.

Sporky

Mine's fine.

Col_Decker

Old skool cars all the way for me now (ignoring the 2012 207 my mrs bough last week). Yeah my camper has its faults but you've got to expect that with a 30yo van built on 50yo technology. And when it does run out of go its usually 1 hr with the tools and £10 on parts. (But I do admit to having my SatNav set to avoid motorways to make it easier to pull over when needed)

Oldies are much more fun to drive too as you drive them not the on board computer.

I saw a great Citroen 2CV Box van today. I want one now. 

Tex Mexico

I don't know anything about vehicle engineering. What I do know however is that I haven't seen a single car built in the past twenty years that didn't look like a lobotomized regional divisional manager's spreadsheet-inspired, bollock-shaped eyesore. For a few decades between the forties and the eighties we seemed to have an eye for making a few cars that looked like the could be driven by someone other than a fat balding accountant in a short-sleeved salmon pink workshirt. I'd rather own a leaking 76 Chevy Nova that got twelve miles to the gallon on the rare days it would start, than a Ford fucking beigemobile Galaxy.