Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire I'm fed the hell up with today's automobiles!

smarquez: In the 23 years I have driven my current vehicle, it has only left me stranded once, and that was recently when the transmission gave out at 235,000 miles. I’ve had many, many vehicles over the years, the worst of which was a 1999 Jaguar XJ8 that regularly went into limp mode due to shoddy engineering, electrical issues and mechanical issues. I couldn’t get rid of that POS fast enough. Another extremely poor vehicle I had was a 1992 Infinity Q45, which was in the shop more often than not, plagued with both electrical and mechanical problems. You may not have had any electrical problems with your vehicles, but I assure you that they are a big problem in the automotive industry.

I believe you’re reading too much into my statements. I never once said that I’d prefer to be in a severe crash in a 50’s or 60’s vehicle. In fact, I said just the opposite in post #13360978 on page 3 of this thread. The main point of my post was that government/EPA regulations have done much to harm the automotive industry, particularly with the egregious mileage (CAFÉ) standards, which have become more and more ridiculous over the last decades. 0bammy’s CAFÉ standard of 50 MPG by 2025 was outrageous. These regs have become more and more onerous for manufacturers to meet and have played a significant role in the continual rising cost of cars to an average of $35,000 today, which makes purchasing a new vehicle unaffordable for many Americans. Additionally, manufacturers have had to scramble to meet these regulations and one of the main ways they accomplish this is to shave as much weight as possible off the vehicles they manufacture. One result of lighter and lighter vehicles is that they are not nearly as crash-worthy as older cars and as an example of what I mean by the phrase “older cars,” personally, I would much rather be in an accident in a 1994 Mercedes E class than a 2018 Ford Focus, Chevy Cruze, Honda Fit, or any number of other small to mid-sized modern vehicles. The said E class is an extremely safe vehicle and is engineered to a high standard and has all the safety equipment you mentioned, which includes crumple zones, side impact door beams, collapsible steering column, air bags, etc. Additionally, in an effort to meet these governmental regulations, manufacturers rely heavily on computer controlled nonsense such as cylinder deactivation and complete engine deactivation, which increases wear exponentially. Smaller engines, turbo chargers, and hybrids, which utilize TWO modes of propulsion, etc. are other tactics for meeting these regs. It’s all about increasing control over the population and pushing us into products we do not want. Americans don’t want and are not interested in the anti-car agenda of liberals and commies, nor do they want the government telling them what kind of cars and trucks they can purchase, which is clearly unconstitutional, just as the ACA was and is.

Regarding diesel emission controls, you are certainly correct that an owner should not fully delete one during the warranty period, but the fact remains that the vast majority of the problems with late model diesel trucks is related to all the EPA mandated emission controls on these vehicles. Once the warranty period expires, fully deleting all that crap results in increased mileage, increased performance and increased reliability. I believe many would agree that they would not want a truck that leaves them stranded or goes into limp mode due to emission-related crap - a truck is less than useless under such circumstances, and can, in fact, be extremely dangerous if it suddenly goes into limp mode at speed on the highway. The former Pant-Load-in-Chief was a big proponent of electric vehicles b/c they are viewed as clean – what a crock! No one seems to realize that electric vehicles require ELECTRICITY that is generated mainly by coal-fired plants, not to mention the incredible pollution produced by the manufacture of millions of lithium batteries required to power electric vehicles and the environmental nightmare which results from their disposal. What about the environmental issues caused by the mining of lithium and rare earth minerals – I guess that one doesn’t matter since most of it occurs in China and Afghanistan – two countries that are openly hostile to the US. What about trading our newfound energy independence for almost complete reliance on these batteries and rare earth minerals from countries hostile to the US – see any parallels to OPEC?

They dont have mechanics anymore..... just parts changers. If changing this part dont work, we'll change that part and you're gonna pay for both of them plus our time.

Course, I dont guess it's the mechanics fault. They didn't build the cars.

Sorry, but I strongly disagree.

I owned a repair shop over 38 years and began working on vehicles when the only emissions system consisted of a pcv valve, and continued up until the computerized systems we have today. Changing parts haphazardly will only cause trouble for anyone in the business, incurring excessive expenses for the repair shop owner and the customer. Repairs are expensive enough, good mechanics almost never guess.


BTW, my customers were under the false assumption that we just had to plug our computer analyzer into the adlc or obd connector and immediately diagnose and repair the problem. This could not be further from the truth. The "scanners" just put us at the starting gate as to the area where the problem exists. It takes a fairly knowledgeable technician to pinpoint the exact problem and what parts, if any, need to be changed.

-Ken

They're so computerized you can't do sheet to fix them yourself and all the mechanics at the dealership know to do is hook them up to a computer and start switching parts until they get it to work.
I had my Chevy truck in the shop for almost 2 weeks until they figured out a low oil pressure warning issue. Now I have Toyota Corolla (of all cars!) in the shop with an issue that the mechanic is in the process of sending the computer info. to Toyota headquarters to see if they can figure it out.
New car technology is nice and all, but dang it's a pain in the a$$!

I'm about THIIIIS close to saying to hell with it and finding me a pre-1974 gas-guzzling, carbureted, pre-emissions controls vehicle like a Chevelle or Monte Carlo - something I can work on and is simple to fix!

I've made my living as an auto technician since 1984.
Yes cars are more complex and more computer controlled than when I started.
And no a scanner doesn't tell you what parts to replace, all it does is points you toward whatever system or subsystem is malfunctioning, i.e. fuel/ air ratio, ignition, emissions etc.
And now we are dealing w camera systems and radar systems that are tied to the brakes, airbags etc.
I spend more time digging through technical bulletins and wiring diagrams than I do working on cars.
Most of the BS is there to start with due to mandates from the government.

Quite honestly I personally will never buy a car that has all this crap on it.
My daily driver is a 98 BMW M3 that has 215k on it and my 2001 F250 has a 7.3 in it.
It's got 195k on it.
They'll keep getting repaired by me as long as I'm physically capable of it, then I'll pay someone to do it for me.

We bought a 2009 Toyota 4 door truck and I hated all the crap on it. Dog sits in the passenger seat and the seat belt alarm goes off. Try to four wheel and it cuts power to the tires when they start spinning. Anti-lock brakes won't let you drift around corners (not kidding). Bells, buzzers, and beepers for just about everything, all unnecessary. While the world is going headlong into more and more automation, dinosaurs like us want more and more control for ourselves. It's our independence vs. the generation that loves having all their thinking done for them.

For hunting trucks I settled on a 92 Toyota 4x4. Wing windows, air conditioning/heater, power steering and brakes, fuel injection, clutch start cancel switch with a manual transmission. Added air lockers, lift and tires. Everything beyond these features for me is fluff or worse.

smarquez: In the 23 years I have driven my current vehicle, it has only left me stranded once, and that was recently when the transmission gave out at 235,000 miles. I’ve had many, many vehicles over the years, the worst of which was a 1999 Jaguar XJ8 that regularly went into limp mode due to shoddy engineering, electrical issues and mechanical issues. I couldn’t get rid of that POS fast enough. Another extremely poor vehicle I had was a 1992 Infinity Q45, which was in the shop more often than not, plagued with both electrical and mechanical problems. You may not have had any electrical problems with your vehicles, but I assure you that they are a big problem in the automotive industry.

I believe you’re reading too much into my statements. I never once said that I’d prefer to be in a severe crash in a 50’s or 60’s vehicle. In fact, I said just the opposite in post #13360978 on page 3 of this thread. The main point of my post was that government/EPA regulations have done much to harm the automotive industry, particularly with the egregious mileage (CAFÉ) standards, which have become more and more ridiculous over the last decades. 0bammy’s CAFÉ standard of 50 MPG by 2025 was outrageous. These regs have become more and more onerous for manufacturers to meet and have played a significant role in the continual rising cost of cars to an average of $35,000 today, which makes purchasing a new vehicle unaffordable for many Americans. Additionally, manufacturers have had to scramble to meet these regulations and one of the main ways they accomplish this is to shave as much weight as possible off the vehicles they manufacture. One result of lighter and lighter vehicles is that they are not nearly as crash-worthy as older cars and as an example of what I mean by the phrase “older cars,” personally, I would much rather be in an accident in a 1994 Mercedes E class than a 2018 Ford Focus, Chevy Cruze, Honda Fit, or any number of other small to mid-sized modern vehicles. The said E class is an extremely safe vehicle and is engineered to a high standard and has all the safety equipment you mentioned, which includes crumple zones, side impact door beams, collapsible steering column, air bags, etc. Additionally, in an effort to meet these governmental regulations, manufacturers rely heavily on computer controlled nonsense such as cylinder deactivation and complete engine deactivation, which increases wear exponentially. Smaller engines, turbo chargers, and hybrids, which utilize TWO modes of propulsion, etc. are other tactics for meeting these regs. It’s all about increasing control over the population and pushing us into products we do not want. Americans don’t want and are not interested in the anti-car and anti-oil agenda of liberals and commies, nor do they want the government telling them what kind of cars and trucks they can purchase, which is clearly unconstitutional, just as the ACA was and is.

Regarding diesel emission controls, you are certainly correct that an owner should not fully delete one during the warranty period, but the fact remains that the vast majority of the problems with late model diesel trucks are related to all the EPA mandated emission controls on these vehicles. Once the warranty period expires, fully deleting all that crap results in increased mileage, increased performance and increased reliability. I believe many would agree that they would not want a truck that leaves them stranded or goes into limp mode due to emission-related crap - a truck is less than useless under such circumstances, and can, in fact, be extremely dangerous if it suddenly goes into limp mode at speed on the highway. The former Pant-Load-in-Chief was a big proponent of electric vehicles b/c they are viewed as clean – what a crock! No one seems to realize that electric vehicles require ELECTRICITY that is generated mainly by coal-fired plants, not to mention the incredible pollution produced by the manufacture of millions of lithium batteries required to power electric vehicles and the environmental nightmare which results from their disposal. What about the environmental issues caused by the mining of lithium and rare earth minerals – I guess that one doesn’t matter since most of it occurs in China and Afghanistan – two countries that are openly hostile to the US. What about trading our newfound energy independence for almost complete reliance on these batteries and rare earth minerals from countries hostile to the US – see any parallels to OPEC?

I have talked to a few that said they wouldn't want to own a diesel with a functioning DEF system after the warranty was up.

I'm about THIIIIS close to saying to hell with it and finding me a pre-1974 gas-guzzling, carbureted, pre-emissions controls vehicle like a Chevelle or Monte Carlo - something I can work on and is simple to fix!

Id be interested in hearing your take on my post above. Many dont know there is a small filter ahead of that oil pressurd sensor, from what i hear.

And these 10k mile oil change intervals ?
BS.

Change it every 7500 miles.
Oil is cheap compared to the cost of a new engine.