My wife learned 4 languages while growing up (Spanish, French, Italian, English), with Spanish being her first language–in many other countries it is common to know more than 2 languages. Yes, she has an accent and once in awhile may construct a sentence incorrectly, but she has my utmost respect because I, like many North Americans, am still working on just my first language–English! Back to the car, a brand new factory engine shouldn’t hurt the resale value.
@oldtimer Years ago worked for a Swedish company with operations all over the world. One year we had an international business conference in New York State on new products and markets. The conference was held in English.
Over cocktails, however, the conversation went from German to French to Spanish and English. No Swedish was spoken since all that firm’s managers outside the US had to speak at least 3 languages, and one of them had to be English. The manager from Brazil did not mind either since he spoke fluent Spanish and English.
The Americans had the most difficult time, since most only spoke English.
So the manager from Brazil spoke three languages?
@keith Yes, most Brazilian professionals and managers speak their native Portuguese as well as Spanish since they are surrounded by Spanish speaking countries. Most engineers there speak English as well since it is the international language for technology, especially petroleum technology.
Most Europeans speak 3 or more languages fluently, but–of course–the proximity of their own country to other nations is what drives that ability–in most cases. What has always impressed me is the way that Scandinavians speak English with almost no detectable accent. That is apparently the result of mandatory English instruction in those countries, beginning in the primary grades.
By contrast, in The US most of us are barely proficient in even our native language. While I think that I can hold my own with virtually anyone in English, I have to confess that my Spanish language skills are deficient, and my skill in German is rudimentary, at best.
About 15 years ago, when the NJ State Board of Education implemented a requirement that all students had to pass 2 years of a foreign language in order to graduate, it brought forth squeals of protest from some quarters. Even though I had nothing to do with the implementation of that requirement, I had to listen to countless nasty complaints from parents about that ruling.
The most commonly-heard complaint was something along the lines of … …Everyone else in the world should have to speak English. We shouldn’t have to speak none of them foreign tongues!
Yes, it was embarrassing to hear the comments from many of those parents.
To return to an automotive theme, I think that the OP’s worries are unfounded. Just drive on with your rejuvenated Impala.
@VDCdriver I agree that Europe is compact and very multilingual. I was offered a job by my Swedish employer in their Stockholm head office. I told them I did not speak Swedish and they said “no problem” since the whole company there worked in English. Only at the plant level do they use Swedish.
The same is true for other large firms like Shell and Unilever. These multinationals with offices in both Holland and England work mostly in English.
A couple of years ago I got lost in Houston, the Woodlands to be specific. It was a quiet afternoon and no one in sight except some gardeners. I started in English but was soon told “no hablamos Ingles”, so I switched to Spanish and they were very helpful.
Since 70% of all newborn babies in Dallas hospitals are from Latino immigrants, Spanish will soon be the second language in the US South. In Miami it is already.
Just to defend us a little bit, if every US state spoke a different language, we would be more inclined to speak more than one. 50 years ago in high school, I told my then boss that I was taking German. He said what do you want to take that for? Take Spanish. Half the world speaks Spanish. I guess he foresaw the influx. Now when the Spanish influx meets the French in Canada, I’ll wait to see what happens. Don’t think there’ll be many French speakers taking up Spanish and visa versa.
One day on the radio in McAllen, a language expert said the reason it was decreed not to end a sentence (or clause) with a preposition was because educated folks spoke Latin and in Latin it was not even possible to do so.
I no longer avoid using a preposition to end a sentence with! In fact, I go out of my way to use a preposition to end a sentence with!
@Bing I was told by a historian that the US came close to adopting a language other than English after the Revolution. There were many Germans and Dutch then and there was almost universal hatred for the British. Those that sided with them went to Canada as the “United Empire Loyalists”.
Martin Van Buren did not speak English well and spoke it with a heavy Dutch accent.
In the “Jason Bourne” and “Covert One” books the US already has a Latino president.
Swedes start learning English at age 7 or 8 and 80% of adults there speak English. The musical group ABBA wrote and recorded all their songs in English for a worldwide market.
The French in Canada (Quebec) are having a difficult time keeping pure French in all their transactions., The provincial government has legislated French as the day to day language and store keepers and businesses have to comply. They have numerous manuals for French in the workplace. This leads to some ridiculous translations. For instance, Montreal Smoked Meat, a JEWISH East European delicacy is called “beuf marine” referring to the marinating process. No one else in the world calls it that. In most French countries you will find STOP signs; In Quebec it is “ARRET”.
On a recent trip to France I found numerous signs in English that would be subject to fines by the Quebec Language Police; yes there is such an organization.
Needless to say there is no great taste for learning Spanish, except in English Canada, where there are numerous courses available.
On Ending A Sentence With A Preposition…
A Sophisticated, College Educated North-Eastern U.S. Tourist Was Visiting The South-West U.S.
Detecting that our scholar was not a local, a curious local person asked the tourist, “What part of the country are you from ?”
With a bit of arrogance the tourist replied, “I’m from a part of this nation where people don’t end their sentences with a preposition.”
The local didn’t hesitate to reconfigure his question and asked, “OK, What part of the country are you from Jackass?”
CSA
Can we get this back to cars, please? 
If anything, a new engine is a value enhancer. We had a new transmission installed under warranty and it is still running well after an additional 100,000 miles. And there is no reduced value until you sell the car. Don’t worry about it.
@jtsanders My friend with the Buick had trouble selling his car when he downsized to a one car family. It’s really a non-issue and need not even be mentioned.
I don’t see a new engine as being necessarily a problem, but I don’t see it as a value enhancer either. I would be questioning why and if it were due to maintenance issues, hard usage, the car quality itself, etc. I guess I would want to know why but I suspect the casual buyer would not be impressed and might walk by. Of course you just trade instead of trying to sell it yourself so as Hillary would say what difference does it make?