Honda Car Forum

"Netsock" <netsock@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:c1j1hq$t4g$1@charm.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu...
> "Richard Smith" <mrpchatesspam@texas.net> wrote in message
> news:t7ednaf8xL6jm6Dd4p2dnA@giganews.com...
>
> [snip]
>
> > 1983 Nissan Sentra, made in Japan...sold at 138,000 mi in 1983...ac
> perfect,
> > engine perfect, tranny shot...lost 5th gear, ran fine in 1-4, door
handle
> > broke off (exterior). Plastic parts on this car seemed to rot.
>
> [snip]
>
> Wow!
>
> 138k miles in less that a year...now that's something!
>
>
> --
> -Netsock
>
> "It's just about going fast...that's all..."
> http://home.insight.rr.com/cgreen/
>

Damn betcha!!

Ooops, shoulda been 1993.

That car would get better than 40mpg at 60 mph. Sigh.

Now I only get 35mpg @ 70mph with my Protege. Darn.
(Ya'll keep driving the SUVs to sponsor oil exploration, thank you! :-) ).
>

"Crunchy Cookie" <LSC400@Yahoo.com> wrote in message news:<9Sd%b.413137$na.800850@attbi_s04>...
> "Richard Smith" <mrpchatesspam@texas.net> wrote in message
> news:t7ednaf8xL6jm6Dd4p2dnA@giganews.com...
> > My $.02...
> >
> > My 1984 Mazda 626, made in Japan...sold at 196,000mi in 1996...AC was gone
> > and the exhaust manifold had a hole somewhere. Engine was fine, 5spd was
> > still original. New waterpump, new alternator, boots a couple of times, and
> > the gas tank rotted out under the rear seat.
> >
> > 1983 Nissan Sentra, made in Japan...sold at 138,000 mi in 1983...ac perfect,
> > engine perfect, tranny shot...lost 5th gear, ran fine in 1-4, door handle
> > broke off (exterior). Plastic parts on this car seemed to rot.
> >
> > Current ride: 1990 Protege SOHC (yes Virginia, not DOHC), currently 206,000
> > mi, original motor and tranny/clutch. AC replaced last summer, and of
> > course the famous rotting plastic radiators keep cracking. CV joints a
> > couple of times, alternator once, water pump once (165Kmi & 132Kmi). This
> > was also made in Japan. My only problem now is the platinum plugs seemed to
> > be seized. Ooops.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Richard
>
> This is all very encouraging.
>
> > My '76 Chevette was dependable up to around 70,000 then everything
> > broke...sold it at 132,000 with only the engine and 3spd auto still working.
>
> Not that I really care (hence why I didn't ask), but so, do you think the
> average lifespan of American cars even hits 6 digits?


Of course! You see lots of domestics with 100,000 or more. I can
think of *many* vehicles owned by myself and my brother and parents
that had over 100K before it was sold. I'm done buying domestics for
the time being, however.

Apropro to this discussion:

Do manual transmissions last longer than auto transmissions?

Does anyone know of a Japanese car with an auto transmission that went over 250k
on the original engine and original auto transmission?

"Crunchy Cookie" <LSC400@Yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:YhO_b.391899$xy6.2203355@attbi_s02...
> I thought I'd get a little cost/benefit analysis discussion going. I've
always
> thought the best used-car deals were ones between, oh, 2 and 8 years old.
If
> it's too new, you might as well buy new, but if it's too old, you're just
asking
> for trouble, right? What's the average (range of) mileage where cars
start
> konking out to a higher expense than their value? Most people seem to
casually
> say between 100K and 200K; most consider 200K to be a long life. The
engine and
> transmission rebuilds are the only really huge items, right? How much
does
> rebuilding those cost? Anything else to watch out for?
> And is it me, or do Japanese car alternators die really easily?
>
For me the math is simple:

A car's time is up at the point at which the cost of maintaining/repairing
the old car approaches (or exceeds) the cost of owning a new car OR the
point at which the effort of maintaining the old car (lack of reliability
etc.) exceed the value of my time.

What mileage/age is that? Depends! I've got a bike that's 25yrs old, whose
value is now increasing, easy to maintain, fun to ride (moreso than a new
one - in a retro kind of way...). But I've also got a 10 year old car that
lacks the safety/reliability factors of a newer car which I am in the
process of replacing it with. Plus the older car is starting to need
substantial work (clutch, etc.). There's no magic number, or as Indiana
Jones said "it's not the year it's the mileage". Some folks kill a car in 5
years, some never do.

On Thu, 26 Feb 2004 10:45:40 -0500, "AMG" <martinez@nojunkrica.net>
wrote:

>
>
>"Crunchy Cookie" <LSC400@Yahoo.com> wrote in message
>news:YhO_b.391899$xy6.2203355@attbi_s02...
>> I thought I'd get a little cost/benefit analysis discussion going. I've
>always
>> thought the best used-car deals were ones between, oh, 2 and 8 years old.
>If
>> it's too new, you might as well buy new, but if it's too old, you're just
>asking
>> for trouble, right? What's the average (range of) mileage where cars
>start
>> konking out to a higher expense than their value? Most people seem to
>casually
>> say between 100K and 200K; most consider 200K to be a long life. The
>engine and
>> transmission rebuilds are the only really huge items, right? How much
>does
>> rebuilding those cost? Anything else to watch out for?
>> And is it me, or do Japanese car alternators die really easily?

It's you.

>For me the math is simple:
>
>A car's time is up at the point at which the cost of maintaining/repairing
>the old car approaches (or exceeds) the cost of owning a new car OR the
>point at which the effort of maintaining the old car (lack of reliability
>etc.) exceed the value of my time.
>
>What mileage/age is that? Depends! I've got a bike that's 25yrs old, whose
>value is now increasing, easy to maintain, fun to ride (moreso than a new
>one - in a retro kind of way...). But I've also got a 10 year old car that
>lacks the safety/reliability factors of a newer car which I am in the
>process of replacing it with. Plus the older car is starting to need
>substantial work (clutch, etc.). There's no magic number, or as Indiana
>Jones said "it's not the year it's the mileage". Some folks kill a car in 5
>years, some never do.

On cars with FWD by the time a clutch needs replacing, the high cost
due to the need the split the front suspensions and remove drive
shafts can easily exceed the value of the car. eg plate £50 labour
£350, you have to know enough to search around for someone working
from a lockup or railway arch who will do it for £200 all in and not a
franchise chain or a main dealer (VW golf £800). DIY it's a pig of a
job.

A cam belt change on some FWD V6 engines like Fiat and Vauxhall can
also be very expensive. £1000 is quoted on one Fiat unless you can
find someone who can do it without taking the engine out. If they
don't have a receipt it hasn't been done.

--
Peter Hill
Spamtrap reply domain as per NNTP-Posting-Host in header
Can of worms - what every fisherman wants.
Can of worms - what every PC owner gets!

On Thu, 26 Feb 2004 10:26:03 GMT, Joseph Oberlander
<josephoberlander@earthlink.net> wrote:

>
>
>Jon Dalton wrote:
>
>> With Toyota, 20 years or 400,000 kilometers is normal, unless the body is
>> allowed to rust out. I checked out an -81 Tercel with 800,000 miles, the
>> original engine worked fine.
>
>Wow. Buy that car. You could get a ton of money from the factory
>or a mention or something if it hits 1 million miles. IIRC, only
>a dozen or so cars have ever hit 1 million miles, and 800K is very
>close.

It's only got to carry on going for the whole life of most other cars.

--
Peter Hill
Spamtrap reply domain as per NNTP-Posting-Host in header
Can of worms - what every fisherman wants.
Can of worms - what every PC owner gets!

On Wed, 25 Feb 2004 18:41:10 -0500, Horseman <me@privacy.net> wrote:

>Richard Smith wrote:
>>
>> My '76 Chevette was dependable up to around 70,000 then everything
>> broke...sold it at 132,000 with only the engine and 3spd auto still working.
>
>That sounds exactly like my father's '94 Pontiac Grand Prix. Engine and
>tranny were fine (surprisingly), but seemingly everything else had problems,
>especially the alternator. The car was on its 4th alternator when he got
>rid of it last summer at a mere 146,000km (91,000 miles). He now drives a
>2004 Toyota Corolla.
>
>I drive a Japan-built '93 Honda Accord automatic that now has 211,000km
>(131,000 miles) on it. The only unusual issues I have had with it were a
>shot fan blower motor and a defective distributor bearing. Other than that,
>just regular maintenance. It's been a great car. Engine and tranny run
>like new, and everything works.

That's the difference between Japanese and the rest. Japanese
electrical systems keep going on and on, the rest don't. Every Ford
in the breakers yards round here has no steering column controls, they
all die at about 6-8 years old, one breaker has taken to stocking
pattern ones as he can't get good second hand ones. Cheap Bosch
electrics made down to a price for French cars die regularly - it's so
common there are firms making pattern ignition modules. I have heard
of a 7 series BMW that was up for sale for peanuts, the electrically
adjusted drivers seat had failed, cost £3000 and due to production
demand back order at factory was over 1 year, the owner wasn't going
to wait. If you didn't fit it how it was set it would be useless.

--
Peter Hill
Spamtrap reply domain as per NNTP-Posting-Host in header
Can of worms - what every fisherman wants.
Can of worms - what every PC owner gets!

On Wed, 25 Feb 2004 14:31:57 -0600, "Richard Smith"
<mrpchatesspam@texas.net> wrote:

>Current ride: 1990 Protege SOHC (yes Virginia, not DOHC), currently 206,000
>mi, original motor and tranny/clutch. AC replaced last summer, and of
>course the famous rotting plastic radiators keep cracking. CV joints a
>couple of times, alternator once, water pump once (165Kmi & 132Kmi). This
>was also made in Japan. My only problem now is the platinum plugs seemed to
>be seized. Ooops.

You are supposed to take them out once a year and look at them.

--
Peter Hill
Spamtrap reply domain as per NNTP-Posting-Host in header
Can of worms - what every fisherman wants.
Can of worms - what every PC owner gets!

In rec.autos.makers.honda Peter Hill <peter.usenet1@nospam.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> That's the difference between Japanese and the rest. Japanese
> electrical systems keep going on and on, the rest don't. Every Ford
> in the breakers yards round here has no steering column controls, they

My 88 Dodge Dakota has 288,000 miles on it. Tough miles as an oveloaded
ranch truck carrying a cabover camper and pulling a horse trailer. I've
had to replace the A/C compressor, and I replaced the starter when it
probably only needed brushes, but I was in a hurry. Lots of trips for this
truck never left the yard at the ranch, so I might have had 20 engine
starts in a 10 mile span.

--
---
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5

Caroline wrote:

> Apropro to this discussion:
>
> Do manual transmissions last longer than auto transmissions?
>
> Does anyone know of a Japanese car with an auto transmission that went over 250k
> on the original engine and original auto transmission?

Manuals can last longer because you have control over how you
abuse it. They also cost less to replace/repair, let you
drive the car instead of it driving you, get better mileage,
and can technically be used with a completely dead clutch
to limp to a garage.

Automatics are the exact opposite. Money pits that just
save you a tiny bit of effort. A manual transmission
mated to a non-turbo inline 4 engine is probably the most
reliable combination you can buy. Something like a Corolla
or Camry with a manual transmission.

I personally wouldn't buy a car with 80-120K on it and the
original automatic transmission. But a clutch? Simple to
fix if it need to - or I can be easy on it and get a year
or two out of it. My record is 2 years on a nearly dead
clutch before I finally decided to replace it.

My automatic in my old beater Buick? Gave me 1/2 mile warning
before it stopped working and had to be towed.