The astonishing durability of automotive componants.

Orionaut

Orionaut

Orionaut

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I was just thinking about this today

I was reminded about an incident some years ago when my van had only 170,000 on it ( :D ) I had just pulled out of my drive when the gear change suddenly felt a bit strange. Moments later I was sitting there holding the gear lever in my hand! It had snapped clean through about halfway down! :eek:

Fortunately it was of hollow tube construction so I was able to keep going until a replacement could be obtained by sticking a large screwdriver down the hole!

My first thought was "What a strange thing to happen!"

My next was...

" Hang on, I have done 170,000 miles of mainly urban driving! I must have changed gear millions of times! Its a wonder my arms haven't dropped off let alone the gear stick :eek:!"

Looked at that way it is not bad really! and think about all the other stuff too!

Indicator stalks for instance! They look like flimsy placky stuff, but they must be good for hundreds of thousands if not millions of operations!

So lets have a big hand for automotive components!

Even the ones on piece-of-crap budget French motors (Yes Peugeot 107 I am looking at YOU!) are astonishingly durable! :p

I really am quite impressed! :cool:
 
Provided you don't take the metal past it's elastic stage of deformation and it doesn't rust away it should pretty much last a lifetime. Look at cars from dry environments, the south of America and Australia, you can find cars 50 years old or more in great condition.
 
The Glory days are over so don't get to comfortable. In my mind car manufacturers went through a stage of making the most durable car to win the sales battles but now they are making the most Eco car to win the sales battles. Old motors that are good for 250k are a thing of the past in most cases, Either they are tiny engines over stressed that won't last as long or they are over technical so will out price a 2nd hand repair.

I think of an old Mondeo or Transit good for an easy 250k but these new ones are becoming unbuyable once they hit 100k because of the Huge bills they may throw up.
 
^This. Everyone says at some point "wow, 6.0 v8 but only makes 300hp!?" but back then they would do 300,000 without any work... good luck getting that out of your modern supercar!
 
4T5 said:
The Glory days are over so don't get to comfortable. In my mind car manufacturers went through a stage of making the most durable car to win the sales battles but now they are making the most Eco car to win the sales battles. Old motors that are good for 250k are a thing of the past in most cases, Either they are tiny engines over stressed that won't last as long or they are over technical so will out price a 2nd hand repair.

I think of an old Mondeo or Transit good for an easy 250k but these new ones are becoming unbuyable once they hit 100k because of the Huge bills they may throw up.
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I agree entirely with this. My old mk4 Golf was an absolute tank but my mk6 is incredibly flimsy in comparison. I've also been test driving some cars from the late 80's and early 90's recently and the build quality is wonderful. My Corrado is 20 years on next month with around 145k and it doesn't miss a beat.
 
4T5 said:
The Glory days are over so don't get to comfortable. In my mind car manufacturers went through a stage of making the most durable car to win the sales battles but now they are making the most Eco car to win the sales battles. Old motors that are good for 250k are a thing of the past in most cases, Either they are tiny engines over stressed that won't last as long or they are over technical so will out price a 2nd hand repair.

I think of an old Mondeo or Transit good for an easy 250k but these new ones are becoming unbuyable once they hit 100k because of the Huge bills they may throw up.
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You are right of course. But I wasn't referring primarily to the durability of the overall machine, just these apparently trivial components.

Re the Mondeos/transits!

Gen 1 Mondeos and the old 2.5 transits were superb! (Transit engines lasted for ever ! It was only the bodies that died! Typically within ten years! (Astonishingly they still do! :mad: How many 12 year+ Transits do you see?? :eek:))

I just find the idea that I have tugged that stick or flicked that switch literally millions of times without issue is frankly astonishing (Though when I have thought about it, it is entirely credible)

but at the same time!

Modern engines! Pah!

I have just got myself a "New" van! (1994 T4 2.4D) Runs like a dream! :D

!70,000 miles! Barely run in! :D

I have every confidence that this will still be running when many vehicles that have just been driven brand new off the fore court within the last week will have been recylced into baked bean cans! :(
 
I feel modern cars are built to a much better standard and reliability then the older generation. Yes you have more complex engines and components but there manufactured to a higher and better standard. Rust is a big issue on older cars and wear and tear of much cheaper plastics. My 2013 Focus is very solid and will feel as everybit solid at 100k as it did when new. Get in a 15 year old focus now at 100k at it will feel like a shed. Old 90s cars age very baldly.

I dont agree saying modern day cars are worse built, just does not compute
 
86JR said:
^This. Everyone says at some point "wow, 6.0 v8 but only makes 300hp!?" but back then they would do 300,000 without any work... good luck getting that out of your modern supercar!
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No supercars will do 300,000 miles?? The engines your are mentioning are used in American cars which are used to travel huge distances.

Show me an old supercar that has done 300,000 miles?
 
I was thinking about this recently as my indicator storks are really flimsy looking and move up down and in and out. Especially as I have to hold the stork down on one junction every day as it immediately cancels and I feel it struggle to cancel and flick back on. Go 90s heavy solid car!
 
Most car engines will do hundreds of thousands of miles no problem, it's bits like injectors, pumps and turbos which die. Modern engine oils and engine tollerances are far beyond what could be produced 20 years ago.

Car bodies don't corrode like they used to etc...

Our second hand market is what actually kills cars these days, as value becomes so little maintenance becomes uneconomical.
 
MeEsH BaKkA said:
Most car engines will do hundreds of thousands of miles no problem, it's bits like injectors, pumps and turbos which die. Modern engine oils and engine tollerances are far beyond what could be produced 20 years ago.

Car bodies don't corrode like they used to etc...

Our second hand market is what actually kills cars these days, as value becomes so little maintenance becomes uneconomical.
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And the MOT. Long gone are the years you could easily get a 12+ year old car through one easily unless it was been meticulously maintained.

So much in it, ok it does get the death traps off the road but with the price of parts and labour even just a couple of items can go into many hundreds of pounds making owners believe they are no longer worth repairing.
 
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