Bad quality parts...

[Noxnabaker]

This I've been aware of since quite some time:
(That's why I've given up driving newer cars & only drive old enough cars since the mid 90's...)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdtJ5vlqVMk&t=52s
& sine I've had every imanginable US car brand (+ many European ones), exept Oldsmobile & Pontiac, & also because I have MoPar running gear in Josephine, I've checked out this guy's videos many times & he was on the same subject about cams not long ago.
No fun, this!

[345 DeSoto]

I have found that, generally speaking, it is much less expensive to maintain a "Classic" car than a new one...

[Noxnabaker]

Yep, & the most anoying thing with newer cars I think is that suddenly(!) there's no parts to buy anymore; such it went with Sonja's Cadillac.

[studegary]

Yep, & the most anoying thing with newer cars I think is that suddenly(!) there's no parts to buy anymore; such it went with Sonja's Cadillac.

Out of curiosity, what model year Cadillac are you referring to?
This is nothing new. In the 1970s, I needed a power brake check valve for my 1968 Buick Riviera GS. I went to the local, fairly large, Buick dealer. The parts man said that they do not have books that go back that far. He did have the part for a 1969. I took that one (it was the same).

[Noxnabaker]

It was a in-my-eyes-not-old STS, don't remember what year.
My Citroen AMI is from -69 but that's just a 2cv with different body so it's ok. The 2cv was produced between 1948-90 & I can buy every part exept the crank case new to a 2cv...

[studegary]

It was a in-my-eyes-not-old STS, don't remember what year.
My Citroen AMI is from -69 but that's just a 2cv with different body so it's ok. The 2cv was produced between 1948-90 & I can buy every part exept the crank case new to a 2cv...

The STS would be 2005-2011 (model years).

I was surprised that the Buick dealer did not have a parts book for anything over ten years old. That Buick dealership dated way back. I remember going to them in the 1950s and I think that they dated back to the 1930s. They were Buick only during that time. I know that they were in that building that I went to when my '68 was new because I remember going there when the 1965 Rivieras came out. Now, that dealership building is a Mazda store, after it was a Saturn store. Buick is now sold along with Cadillac and GMC in a different store (owner and location).

The Buick parts and probably the STS parts are probably available in other places, such as; Rock Auto.

[Noxnabaker]

We have a lot of car part shops in Sweden, even for US cars + speedshops but they were all out of it & said there wasn't any left in US either. & for us to order + paying extra taxes & toll just because we were private hadn't really been much idea even if the parts would have been avalible.
& I see many friends have to scrap newer cars because they're either way to expencieve or complicated to fix, a friend had a toyota (or some other *** brand car) that had the windshield cracked, it was expensive to fix & the car was worthless if the window wasn't replaced cuz it wouldn't pass the yearly road test...
& just that, at least here, many cars have cracked windscreens because it's glued to the body & like that also a structual piece of the body I find silly.
& so on...

[sweetolbob]

Annual safety inspections are both a blessing and a curse. A curse if your car doesn't meet road-ability standards but a blessing in that it removes a fair number of unsafe and under/un-insured vehicles. Around mid-Michigan with our winters and salt, everyday I see any number of vehicles that should have been put to rest a while back but they inhabit the roads and in any accident they are just walked away from and, my guess, is there is nothing for the other party to recover from the accident.

The adhered window is just part of meeting crash standards. While the cost of replacement is not cheap it helps keep prices to meet the standards lower. Those designs are worth their weight in gold if the car/truck is involved in a serious accident. I can decry the high cost of new vehicles, I just bought a new Ram Laramie (my first new vehicle in 20 years) but my wife drives a two year old Toyota Corolla. Those can be had for $17 to 20K new and will keep her alive in some pretty serious encounters. Used under $10K will put you in very nice one. I know, my grand daughter just bought on last year (under $8K).

I'd much rather be in the Toyota than any of my Stude/Avanti cars in a serious accident. Don't try to tell me the Avanti can out steer/perform the Toyota in an emergency, I've got enough miles on both to tell you I'll take the Toyota in every situation, although the 74 will probably out accelerate it.

Cost to repair, possibly! newer parts probably cost more because there is more to them and generally modular to perform more functions and are certainly more complex.

Cost to maintain, baloney - both new cars go 10K miles on synthetic oil and grease and you're done. No plugs, not points, no 3000 mile oil changes, no 50K mile rebuilds of any system, just hit the starter and go.

I won't go much into performance and mileage but my 5300# Ram Hemi gets better mileage than anything I've owned other than a couple of under-powered economy versions I drove to work for a few years. The new ones start in any weather, warm up quickly and perform at any temperature or altitude I'm at.

I still won't quit driving my Studes but it for pleasure not cost and performance.

Bob

[Noxnabaker]

Sorry Bob, read me right; what I mean is that I find it strange that pretty modern cars even have cracked winscreens without being rusty! Just thin steel that folds up so easy that the glass cracks after a few years withou being near any axident... & I don't question the safety in a modern car but it would be nice to be able to buy a new car & keep it by just treating it good. (As it actually used to be, otherwise there wouldn't be as many classic cars still around these days to use.)

[Noxnabaker]

Oh, just one more "exiting" thing with modern cars: Computers...

[GrumpyOne]

I've been driving old cars for years simply because I'm chea... er frugal and should add the term "practical" as well.

Currently I have been driving an '82 Honda Civic automatic hatchback for the past ten years. It just turned over 200K and the main issue these days is the EPA inspired 3BBl carb. Most people simply replace it with a Weber 2BBl and get rid of all of the pollution crap resulting in a basic old school car. Civics are roadworthy cars that are glued to the road, dependable and durable unlike the current domestic counterparts.

And as others have mentioned, my belief that computers should be on desks or laps has been reinforced!