Honda Car Forum

Peter Hill wrote:

> 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.

At $35 for plugs and new wires for my V-6 engine, I swap plugs($12
for a full set) every year and wires every two years.

Plus, it's actually fun and simple to swap plugs if your engine isn't
crammed in there like the Audi A4(worst design I've seen so far).

If it's something like a typical inline-4 or inline-6, 5 minutes
tops.

dold@AtXwhatXpo.usenet.us.com wrote:

> 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.

Heh. I see a pattern here. Old versus newer. The older designs were
built to last as they didn't have computer models to determine longevity
and so they overbuilt a bit.

A new Dakota - plastic and flim-flam everywhere. Horrendous amounts
of things that break by comparison.

In rec.autos.makers.honda Joseph Oberlander <josephoberlander@earthlink.net> wrote:

> Heh. I see a pattern here. Old versus newer. The older designs were
> built to last as they didn't have computer models to determine longevity
> and so they overbuilt a bit.

The same will be said of the newer car when it gets older.

My 96 Mustang had 125,000 miles on it. One bad A/C bearing and a cracked
intake manifold at 105,000. I sold it before the parts fell off, I guess.

My 2000 Durango has 80,000 miles on it. No problems. When is the plastic
supposed to fall off of that one?

If it is old enough to establish longevity, it's too old to count?

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

Vehicles will last as long as you want them to. Take care of your vehicle,
and it will last indefinitely. Abuse it, and it will not last much past
it's warranty. I have a 75 Dodge truck , that is worth more now, than when
it was new. It's been well maintained and parked out of the weather,
original auto tranie, engine, diff etc (98 % original from factory). I have
a 77 Merc XR7 (bought it in 82) that is in excellent running condition,
256,000Km, body was neglected. Now it's toast. All because I didn't take
care of the body (only the running gear) we need to replace it. Replaced
with a 03 Eclipse, lets see if it'll last 25 plus years.
All the vehicles that my wife and I have owned, over our combined 55 years
of driving, cost less than half, what we bought the Eclipse for.
Maintenance cost for that time would be less than $5,000. That comes from
buying good used cars, and being a self maintainer.
My only lemon was my first car (English) all the rest have been Detroit
iron, (well, except the new Eclipse) and even that one was assembled in the
US of A.

Life is, what you make of it.

Nirodac



"Peter Hill" <peter.usenet1@nospam.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:j5fs30lggtktpjtt6mm7q8a0oqqm7t8u9k@4ax.com...
> 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!

A national CAA survey (equivalent to the AAA) among 20000 respondants
performed in 2003 revealed the average cost of maintenance for passenger
vehicules is :

age of car
1 $200
2 $350
3 $500
4 $800
5 to12: $1100 per year

Survey respondants claimed driving an average of 19k km per year, or app
12k milles. (I am sure most respondants dont keep a detailed history of
repair costs. So let's add a couple of hundred dollars to the age 5 -12
figure.)

In the last 12 months, I spent $1400 on my 1998 Max. I drove 22k km. It now
has 103k km on the odometer.

In my estimation, the economical break point for owning a vehicule is when
it reaches 7-8 years old. At that point, the average yearly total cost of
depreciation, repairs and capital cost is at minimum. Beyond 8 years, the
average yearly cost does not get any significantly lower. As a matter of
fact, you increase the risk of being stranded, car downtime, time lost while
at shops, and loss of income if you depend on the car for such. The most
economical strategy is to buy a used car between 2 and 5 years old and keep
untill it reaches 7 or 8 years of age. A made myself a rule of thumb to
seriously consider getting rid of the car if the last 12 months actual costs
or next 12 months forecast exceeds $1500. But often emotions get in the way.
Or life has other plans.

Dan, Montreal

On Thu, 26 Feb 2004 19:23:42 GMT, Joseph Oberlander
<josephoberlander@earthlink.net> wrote:

>> You are supposed to take them out once a year and look at them.
>
>At $35 for plugs and new wires for my V-6 engine, I swap plugs($12
>for a full set) every year and wires every two years.
>
>Plus, it's actually fun and simple to swap plugs if your engine isn't
>crammed in there like the Audi A4(worst design I've seen so far).
>
>If it's something like a typical inline-4 or inline-6, 5 minutes
>tops.

Maybe a bit longer if you have coils over the plugs... 8)

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?
>
A friend of mine put 470,000km (292,000 miles) on an '86 Honda Accord. The
engine and auto tranny never needed a rebuild. It was still running great
when he ditched it a few years ago (due to excessive rust).

On Thu, 26 Feb 2004 23:25:48 GMT, "Daniel" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote:

>A national CAA survey (equivalent to the AAA) among 20000 respondants
>performed in 2003 revealed the average cost of maintenance for passenger
>vehicules is :

....this obviously is NOT Toyota... <g>

I'm at 12 years and spent 200 USD for repairs last year...


>
>age of car
>1 $200
>2 $350
>3 $500
>4 $800
>5 to12: $1100 per year
>
>Survey respondants claimed driving an average of 19k km per year, or app
>12k milles. (I am sure most respondants dont keep a detailed history of
>repair costs. So let's add a couple of hundred dollars to the age 5 -12
>figure.)
>
>In the last 12 months, I spent $1400 on my 1998 Max. I drove 22k km. It now
>has 103k km on the odometer.
>
>In my estimation, the economical break point for owning a vehicule is when
>it reaches 7-8 years old. At that point, the average yearly total cost of
>depreciation, repairs and capital cost is at minimum. Beyond 8 years, the
>average yearly cost does not get any significantly lower. As a matter of
>fact, you increase the risk of being stranded, car downtime, time lost while
>at shops, and loss of income if you depend on the car for such. The most
>economical strategy is to buy a used car between 2 and 5 years old and keep
>untill it reaches 7 or 8 years of age. A made myself a rule of thumb to
>seriously consider getting rid of the car if the last 12 months actual costs
>or next 12 months forecast exceeds $1500. But often emotions get in the way.
>Or life has other plans.
>
>Dan, Montreal
>

Scott in Florida

"Daniel" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote
> In my estimation, the economical break point for owning a vehicule is when
> it reaches 7-8 years old. At that point, the average yearly total cost of
> depreciation, repairs and capital cost is at minimum. Beyond 8 years, the
> average yearly cost does not get any significantly lower. As a matter of
> fact, you increase the risk of being stranded, car downtime, time lost while
> at shops, and loss of income if you depend on the car for such. The most
> economical strategy is to buy a used car between 2 and 5 years old and keep
> untill it reaches 7 or 8 years of age. A made myself a rule of thumb to
> seriously consider getting rid of the car if the last 12 months actual costs
> or next 12 months forecast exceeds $1500. But often emotions get in the way.
> Or life has other plans.


Every year, cars are made safer- more of them have more air bags, ABS
systems, traction control, a higher percentage are AWD, they are
tweaked based on better computer and physical simulations of crashes.
Car crashes are by far the largest cause of accidental death. Your
life is worth an almost infinite amount of money to you. The time to
get rid of a car is when it is old enough that you no longer feel safe
because newer cars are so much improved. It is likely that you will
no longer feel as safe as you could be with a newer car, long, long
before the expense of maintaining the old one becomes annoying.

On 27 Feb 2004 03:49:39 -0800, rocker1@shegolfs.com (Dave Arbok)
wrote:

>"Daniel" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote
>> In my estimation, the economical break point for owning a vehicule is when
>> it reaches 7-8 years old. At that point, the average yearly total cost of
>> depreciation, repairs and capital cost is at minimum. Beyond 8 years, the
>> average yearly cost does not get any significantly lower. As a matter of
>> fact, you increase the risk of being stranded, car downtime, time lost while
>> at shops, and loss of income if you depend on the car for such. The most
>> economical strategy is to buy a used car between 2 and 5 years old and keep
>> untill it reaches 7 or 8 years of age. A made myself a rule of thumb to
>> seriously consider getting rid of the car if the last 12 months actual costs
>> or next 12 months forecast exceeds $1500. But often emotions get in the way.
>> Or life has other plans.
>
>
>Every year, cars are made safer- more of them have more air bags, ABS
>systems, traction control, a higher percentage are AWD, they are
>tweaked based on better computer and physical simulations of crashes.
>Car crashes are by far the largest cause of accidental death. Your
>life is worth an almost infinite amount of money to you. The time to
>get rid of a car is when it is old enough that you no longer feel safe
>because newer cars are so much improved. It is likely that you will
>no longer feel as safe as you could be with a newer car, long, long
>before the expense of maintaining the old one becomes annoying.

How about taking a driving course and improving your ability to avoid
a crash?

Why do people make themselves feel safer by some stupid computer when
they have the most powerful computer on the planet between their ears?

Cars don't avoid crashes...PEOPLE do...


Scott in Florida