How long will new cars last?

[Ghoste]

So there is hope.

[bakerhillpins]

You need to start a Ferrari salvage yard for all the little pieces too.  Unfortunately, it isn't that easy to just go throgh town and find derelict cars from the House of teh Prancing Horse to haul off to your yard.

Yea, well, that's where the  came into play.

Here is an excerpt of an interesting article by Mike Sheehan with some bits and pieces of what is happening in the Ferrari world.     You can substitute just about any brand given enough time as similar general problems are relevant regardless of brand.

Yea, this kinda reverse engineering stuff is what I do quite frequently as a paid gig. Too bad I don't have any spare time.    I'd be rich... 

[Mytur Binsdirti]

I bought my first '69 Charger in 1975 for $750.00 with 65,000 on the clock. The 318 ran well, but every panel has rust & holes in it, the exhaust was rusted, the front seats were ripped pretty badly, water leaked into the trunk & onto the passenger compartment floor. Today, you really don't see 6 year old cars with these issues any longer.

[JB400]

I bought my first '69 Charger in 1975 for $750.00 with 65,000 on the clock. The 318 ran well, but every panel has rust & holes in it, the exhaust was rusted, the front seats were ripped pretty badly, water leaked into the trunk & onto the passenger compartment floor. Today, you really don't see 6 year old cars with these issues any longer.

You must not be looking than

[Ghoste]

No kidding, come to southeast Michigan.

[A383Wing]

I bought my first '69 Charger in 1975 for $750.00 with 65,000 on the clock. The 318 ran well, but every panel has rust & holes in it, the exhaust was rusted, the front seats were ripped pretty badly, water leaked into the trunk & onto the passenger compartment floor. Today, you really don't see 6 year old cars with these issues any longer.

that's because it's all covered up with bondo

Bryan

[Mike DC]

The typical 2006 model does not have visible rust in every panel, trashed exhaust system, ripped seats, and water in the cabin.

[1974dodgecharger]

I bought my first '69 Charger in 1975 for $750.00 with 65,000 on the clock. The 318 ran well, but every panel has rust & holes in it, the exhaust was rusted, the front seats were ripped pretty badly, water leaked into the trunk & onto the passenger compartment floor. Today, you really don't see 6 year old cars with these issues any longer.

that's because it's all covered up with bondo

Bryan

bondo technology got better?

[Cooter]

Well, NOTHING will live in the Rust belt..MAYBE with line-X on Every single panel..We get some of those "Northern" cars and DAMN, 6 Years on those things, they are ready for the scrapper.

[b5blue]

So for a new car, bought today 10-11 years, figuring average daily use? (No extreme to good or bad.) Then sharply down hill?     

[JB400]

So for a new car, bought today 10-11 years, figuring average daily use? (No extreme to good or bad.) Then sharply down hill?      

The way most people use cars and trucks now adays, yes.  It don't take 10 years either.  Try 3 to 4 years.  I'm not talking rust buckets, but general wear and tear.  I go to car auctions all the time.  You'd be surprised at what rolls across the block.  No BJ that's for sure.  The best bet for any car  guy is to make friends with a dealer, or become one.  Go to the auctions if your in the market for a different car.

[GOTWING]

I guess it's where you live, my 2004 ram and 2005 300c sit outside and are driven daily, not one has a spot of rust anywhere. That's in De. near the beach too.

[Cooter]

It's all in how one takes care of his/her car in the rust belt. How many spray on undercoating? How many even wash their truck/car after salt/snow is down? I'm not referring to the "Lazy mans" car wash, I'm referring to underneath the car.

[c00nhunterjoe]

My 99 durango only has rust on the bumper filler and that's cmmon on all of them.  My 07 charger shines like new with 108k on the clock

[bill440rt]

I had a '98 Ram for 10 years (bought it new). Notorious rust buckets. Not a speck of rust on it when I sold it. It was driveway kept, but I always kept it waxed & clean.

If you take care of your vehicle, it will take care of you. 

[Fred]

I had a '98 Ram for 10 years (bought it new). Notorious rust buckets. Not a speck of rust on it when I sold it. It was driveway kept, but I always kept it waxed & clean.

If you take care of your vehicle, it will take care of you. 

Amen!

[aussiemuscle]

i think computers in cars is about to become an issue when old. atm, cars with bad ecu you can just swap out the whole unit. that will soon be impossible.

The Solstice and Saturn Sky will probably have some potential over the long run.    I certainly am not an advocate of putting any car away new in the wrapper.    Ask the '78 Pace Car Vette guys how that worked out.

Reminds me of the Falcon Cobra. in 1978 Ford Australia had 400 coupes left that they were having trouble selling, so they painted them all white, with bold blue stripes over the whole car and they sold out in record time. a couple years ago they did a celebration BF Falcon 'Cobra' scheme (modern car with the same paint scheme) and collectors snapped them up thinking they'd be valuable just like the original. they aren't getting more a few thousand more than a standard Falcon and are no where near the what they paid for them.

[Mike DC]

i think computers in cars is about to become an issue when old. atm, cars with bad ecu you can just swap out the whole unit. that will soon be impossible.

Absolutely agree. 

[Mytur Binsdirti]

So for a new car, bought today 10-11 years, figuring average daily use? (No extreme to good or bad.) Then sharply down hill?      

The way most people use cars and trucks now adays, yes.  It don't take 10 years either.  Try 3 to 4 years.  I'm not talking rust buckets, but general wear and tear.  I go to car auctions all the time.  You'd be surprised at what rolls across the block.  No BJ that's for sure.  The best bet for any car  guy is to make friends with a dealer, or become one.  Go to the auctions if your in the market for a different car.

I give it far more than 3-4 years IF you take care of it.Today, most everyone I know has a car with 125,000+ miles on the clock. That was absolutely unheard of in the 60s & 70s. In fact, back in the day (pre-fuel injection), it was normal to trade your car every two-three years before things started to go wrong & rust started popping. If a car had more than 80,000 miles, it wasn't long before it would be in the junk yard. That's just the way it was.

[JB400]

So for a new car, bought today 10-11 years, figuring average daily use? (No extreme to good or bad.) Then sharply down hill?     

The way most people use cars and trucks now adays, yes.  It don't take 10 years either.  Try 3 to 4 years.  I'm not talking rust buckets, but general wear and tear.  I go to car auctions all the time.  You'd be surprised at what rolls across the block.  No BJ that's for sure.  The best bet for any car  guy is to make friends with a dealer, or become one.  Go to the auctions if your in the market for a different car.

I give it far more than 3-4 years IF you take care of it.Today, most everyone I know has a car with 125,000+ miles on the clock. That was absolutely unheard of in the 60s & 70s. In fact, back in the day (pre-fuel injection), it was normal to trade your car every two-three years before things started to go wrong & rust started popping. If a car had more than 80,000 miles, it wasn't long before it would be in the junk yard. That's just the way it was.

Problem is people DON'T take care of their cars. 

[Fred]

So for a new car, bought today 10-11 years, figuring average daily use? (No extreme to good or bad.) Then sharply down hill?      

The way most people use cars and trucks now adays, yes.  It don't take 10 years either.  Try 3 to 4 years.  I'm not talking rust buckets, but general wear and tear.  I go to car auctions all the time.  You'd be surprised at what rolls across the block.  No BJ that's for sure.  The best bet for any car  guy is to make friends with a dealer, or become one.  Go to the auctions if your in the market for a different car.

I give it far more than 3-4 years IF you take care of it.Today, most everyone I know has a car with 125,000+ miles on the clock. That was absolutely unheard of in the 60s & 70s. In fact, back in the day (pre-fuel injection), it was normal to trade your car every two-three years before things started to go wrong & rust started popping. If a car had more than 80,000 miles, it wasn't long before it would be in the junk yard. That's just the way it was.

Problem is people DON'T take care of their cars.  

Some of us do. 

[1970Moparmann]

I have friends that don't do jack to cars and trucks except change the engine oil, and have 200k miles.  I've always have used Amsoil oils and fluids and take care of my stuff.  Knock on wood haven't had anything major go wrong since a POS 98 Blazer.

[elacruze]

I have a '96 Pontiac Sunfire convertible, 2.4 TC automatic with 180,000 miles on it. It was well-cared for until about 3 years ago when I gave it to my daugter, now it gets only 'normal maintenance'. It runs as good as ever, shows no signs of giving up, and has no significant rust. I have to admit the car has never seen salt other than beach air. Some of the cheap plastic parts are showing age, and are obsolete and hard to find-all the junkyard cars have the same troubles.

In the future, if the computer craps out, I'd replace it with a non-OEM computer. The Electromotive box I have to put in the Charger is fully capable of operating the drivetrain on a new car, and fully tunable to boot. Of course, you actually have to tune it...but on the day when OEM is no longer available I have an option.

The metal on new cars is so much better than it was before the 90's, the number of good cars with bad engines will be very high in the future, relative to the past.

[Cooter]

On the '98 Blazer...Oh boy. We got one that boss owns as a used car right now and are trying to sell it.

First off, the 4.3 engines use a plastic Intake gasket.. Aftermarket ones are metal. Go figure. Love to meet the genius GM Engineer that thought plastic would hold up.

Next, was the door pin bushings in the hinges. Wow did GM get that one wrong. Bushings aren't made of sh*t.

Next, transmission lost OD. Wonderful.

Door panels falling off from having to remove them due to 5 Power window motor replacements.

And on and on.

[F8-4life]

Here in ohio rust never sleeps. When I get lucky enough to find classics in a salvageyard, they are soo rusted out its unbelievable. I found a '59 chevy and tore off one of the batwing fins using only my hands! (garage art) that is how rusty these cars are! Another time while looking over a '68 charger in a boneyard... I went to rest on the front fender and fell through!

So basically in a harsh midwest enviroment metal doesnt stand a chance... take a 50's-60's car and set it in a feild for 40 years. It will end up being a pile but the car will still "exist". Cause they are tanks!

I'd wager if you did the same with a modern car iwth todays metals, come back in 40 years and the car will have vanished! All that would be left is all the plastic garbage.

In the future todays cars will be very scarce, because they are cheap disposable appliances. The nature of the beast is...everything that makes your new car soo conveniant and great, is also the same technoligy that will outdate it and make it obsolete in the coming years.

Even if someone was nuts enough to love a modern jellybean, 30-40 years ahead and they simply WILL not be able to rehab/fix/restore it. The car itself would not allow it. The technoligy will not age well.