Why Don't People Take Care of These Cars?

[AV8R4AA]

I have 2 of these Big rigs. One with a stick shift, other 4.6 hot rod.
I treat these ladies very well. The 4.6 rarely sees the sun.

[cn90]

The vast majority of ppl treat cars like Styrofoam cups.
After it serves its purpose, they discard it.

It is down to:
- Interest...most ppl don't have an interest in cars.
- Desire to fix...it is a challenge to learn how to fix cars.
- Even if you want to fix cars, parts brands (made in Germany vs China), forum reading, reviews can consume a lot of your time.
- Then very often, the repair is not going well, things break, strip, seize etc.
- Not to mention your significant other complains you spend too much time with the car, while you should spend time on vacation.
- Time: between work, family, and other chores...who has time to mow the lawn or fix cars?
- Budget: dealer is both expensive and mostly incompetent; best is to have a mechanic who moonlights on the weekend but they are difficult to find
Dealers often rip you off. Private shops...are they competent/fair?

If you have a FT job, owning a car and fix it yourself can consume all the time you have left...
But it may be the necessity bc without a functional car, you can't get to work.

So, for young ppl with a FT jobs, find a weekend mechanic.
For old ppl that are retired, you can spend as much as time fixing cars as you want lol...

[Fifty150hs]

Originally Posted by cn90

The vast majority of ppl treat cars like Styrofoam cups.
After it serves its purpose, they discard it.

It is down to:
- Interest...most ppl don't have an interest in cars.
- Desire to fix...it is a challenge to learn how to fix cars.
- Even if you want to fix cars, parts brands (made in Germany vs China), forum reading, reviews can consume a lot of your time.
- Then very often, the repair is not going well, things break, strip, seize etc.
- Not to mention your significant other complains you spend too much time with the car, while you should spend time on vacation.
- Time: between work, family, and other chores...who has time to mow the lawn or fix cars?
- Budget: dealer is both expensive and mostly incompetent; best is to have a mechanic who moonlights on the weekend but they are difficult to find
Dealers often rip you off. Private shops...are they competent/fair?

If you have a FT job, owning a car and fix it yourself can consume all the time you have left...
But it may be the necessity bc without a functional car, you can't get to work.

So, for young ppl with a FT jobs, find a weekend mechanic.
For old ppl that are retired, you can spend as much as time fixing cars as you want lol...

I'm older (67) and have a full time job. My X is my only car and frankly, if I didn't work on it myself, I couldn't afford it. As it is, it has been less expensive to own on a monthly basis than a new car with a new car payment. It probably helps that I enjoy working on it. Except when it fights back, of course. When I've completed a repair or maintenance I have a feeling of satisfaction of a job well done.

Your points are well taken, but it still upsetting to see a nice machine that could potentially last a long time in good condition with some time spent treated like it is disposable. I've never treated any of my vehicles that way. If you own something, you take care of it. If you stay on top of maintenance items it doesn't take that much time per week. Sometimes there will be things like oil pan gaskets that take a huge chunk of time to replace, but you can plan for those. It makes me wonder if they take care of (or don't) their homes that way.

[Salty B.]

Originally Posted by Fifty150hs

I'm older (67) and have a full time job. My X is my only car and frankly, if I didn't work on it myself, I couldn't afford it. As it is, it has been less expensive to own on a monthly basis than a new car with a new car payment. It probably helps that I enjoy working on it. Except when it fights back, of course. When I've completed a repair or maintenance I have a feeling of satisfaction of a job well done.

Almost 64 here, and yep. While I could probably afford a new Sentra, ugh, no. These two BMWs will last what's left of this life assuming I can still drive them much less work on them. I know my limits.

I drive maybe 300 miles a month now, between the two below.

[Salty B.]

Mine was disabled for some reason and left to rot outside by the (original?) owner. No idea how long it sat.

The prior owner bought it and brought it back to life. Runs and drives beautifully, 5-speed manual, does not use oil. He didn't concern himself with cosmetics but put about $8,000 in parts into it. He replaced nearly all of the original beige interior with black parts from a donor, probably due to mold from it sitting outside in Georgia. He didn't replace the beige headliner and seatbelts. It oddly looks good like that, but a 2006 just hit the boneyard here so I'm gonna go see if it has sport seats which I don't have. Don't really care what color those are if so. Maybe yank the wheels too.

I paid him a lot less than what he put into it; I think he was kind of over that one and he had about five other project BMWs to deal with.

Everything works. It looks about average for it age, but the clearcoat on the roof and hood is long gone and there's some exposed primer on the roof. i wanted something I could park at the airport, uncovered, for 1-2 weeks at a time and not worry about someone whamming their door into the side as there's plenty of scratches and dings already.

[workingonit]

Nearly 76 here, with health problems and piss-poor retirement funds, so my '01 is getting less attention than it needs. Like on Salty's X, the paint is going away (I'm the 3rd owner, and like the other two, I've never garaged it...Texas sun does a lot of damage over 25 years).

I got it as my final "project car" 5 years and 2500 miles ago, and tried to improve it as best I could, but function over form became the theme. As long as it rides and drives OK, I can live with poor paint and stained carpet (it belonged to an oilfield contractor for 18 years... floor mats are good enough for me).





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[ChiefRider]

I am retired now, but bought my X5 when I was still working, 9 years ago. I don't mind doing "simple" repairs- plugs and coils, DISA etc.

I no longer have ANY interest in getting under a vehicle, or any significant dismantling- did all that years ago on cars that were much easier to work on. There are some things that I don't trust commercial shops to do- I have never had a good experience with anyone that had to remove a door panel, so door handle carriers, window regulators etc I'll take care of myself.

My X5 spends most of its time outside- I use it for everything, all year round. It still looks great- paint, interior and it is still rust free. I take good care of it, but use it too.

Over my 9 year ownership my cost to own currently stands at $94/month. This includes the original purchase price and all repairs over this period. It currently has 229k miles, and I still really like it.

[haigha]

I take pretty good care of my 04 4.4i... I've had it since 10/03. Garage queen.

Still it's imperfect. There's a little bruise near the front wheel-well, which you might be able to see in the picture. I did that backing into the garage with the mirrors folded. They don't fold anymore so that's unlikely to happen again

Lately, I try to do most of the work myself. My friend who did the maintenance since it was new died two years ago.

It's never been in a car wash, except very early on in the dealer's touchless one.

I'm going to tackle a brake fluid flush soon. First time doing that on my own. Wish me luck!

[wpoll]

Originally Posted by haigha

I take pretty good care of my 04 4.4i... I've had it since 10/03. Garage queen.

...

I'm going to tackle a brake fluid flush soon. First time doing that on my own. Wish me luck!

Good luck!!

Try either pressure bleeding or vacuum bleeding (I've done it this way) - WAY easier than needing a second person to pump the peddle...

[workingonit]

Originally Posted by wpoll

Good luck!!

Try either pressure bleeding or vacuum bleeding (I've done it this way) - WAY easier than needing a second person to pump the peddle...

Good Luck is right! Last vehicle I tried to bleed the brakes on, was my wife's '08 Cobalt, following replacing the blown-out master cylinder (my wife has a problem, stomping on her brakes...I've replaced MC's on three of her cars & trucks, so far).

I tried multiple times using all three methods, using a Motive Power pressure bleeder, an Amazon-Chinesium pressure bleeder kit, and a friend under the car while I operated the pedal and my Foxwell NT510 Elite (I have BMW, Toyota-Lexus, and General Motors software onit). Never got a hard pedal, but only 90%. Sold the car soon after, so I never had to buy a new ABS for it.