I’m sure there’s some truth to this. However, I make it a habit to compare all the ‘problem areas’ in the CR reliability scores, and Toyota/Honda score better in many areas that aren’t maintenance related. So better maintenance is only a part of the story. Better cars is the other part.
I scrapped a 1983 Chrysler LeBaron (wife’s car) because it was a menace to society. It was less than 3 years old but had continuous problems since the day it was bought. She got it when it was 2 years old at about half of it’s loan value. It was beautiful but it broke down on the drive home from the car lot. The car lot finally gave her the title after about 6 payments because they did not want to pay for any more repairs. About 3 months later…she crossed a set of rough train tracks and both doors refused to open for her. The frame structure had failed and jammed the doors. I crawled through the window and was going to drive it home but the engine failed to start. I climbed back out of the window and called a wrecker. I rode with the guy to the scrap yard and had the car crushed on the spot. I even got to push the big red button that controlled the crusher. I bought lunch for the scrap yard crew for the privilege. It was money well spent. My wife bought a new Jeep Cherokee the next day. She drove it for 10 years without a single breakdown.
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While I personally agree with Deming on this, as did the management of the company I retired from, it is impossible to do if you are ISO 9001 certified. Annual reviews are not specified in ISO but there is a clause that to be certified, you have to have annual document that each worker is fully competent. Most ISO inspectors are simply not competent enough to understand any other method than an annual evaluation.
The movie “Mr. Mom” was about this.
Are you serious ? It was a comedy and not a very good one at that.
That’s a funny story MM. Well said. And you are right, what with the RR track involvement, that car WAS a menace , both to your wife, and to society.
After 40+ years of “buy and hold” car ownership I’ve scrapped quite a few but it all comes down to 3 reasons
- Safety - 1980’s Subaru - Rusted frame rails & suspension / engine supports.
- Accident - Chevy II - Flood, TR6 - Hit, chassis bent into a “U” and totaled
- Economics / Reliability - Maserati BiTurbo - Continual breakdowns, parts unavailable and/or cost more than the car is worth
I suppose you could keep a car “forever” but eventually everything rusts or wears out until it becomes like the “Three hundred year old ax” (the heads been replaced five times and the handle’s replaced 15 times.).
Something to think about when you see a “restored classic”.
I didn’t see that one. With a title like that, I’d guess that not many men did, except perhaps with their girlfriends.
Why did you delete your post?
I enjoyed reading it 
db4690, I thought I was perhaps providing Too Much Information. I have a tendency to be overly talkative. Thank you for your compliment. 
I thought your post was quite interesting, actually
And informative. Lots of details, and WHY you got rid of those various cars
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Basically, my family has always done our best to maintain our cars well, drive them many years, and replace them only when they have become so worn as to be uncomfortable, or unreliable, or have trouble getting needed parts.
It ties in with another recent discussion thread about why some people keep cars a long time even if it is a vehicle needing above average repairs. Prime example, my '87 Olds Ciera certainly had some problems, including a head gasket. But I REALLY liked that buggy, having factory ordered to get the bigger 3.8L engine. Had it not been such a well suited car for me I doubt I’d have kept it 20 years.
Reposting rather than have deleted.
Only car sort of scrapped was parents’ car after my dad died. 1983 Olds Delta 88, 25 years old, well over 200k miles (240k?). Front and rear main seals leaked badly as did the transmission. Speedometer and cruise control didn’t work. Two window motors burned out. Trunk leaked badly. Interior seats, arm rests, carpet all with holes. Trouble finding parts. Carbuerator always needing work. Needed new shocks, brakes, belts, hoses, etc. But the killer was a cracked steering knuckle or ball joint (can’t recall which). I had only three weeks after Dad died to pass safety and emissions inspections and get it retagged. I didn’t need the extra car. Was going to scrap it but a teenage kid wanted it to work on to start learning auto mechanics. So I sold it “as is” for what the scrap yard would pay. But I made him bring his mom to whom I made clear and in writing that the car was unsafe to drive due to the cracked balljoint or steering knuckle. Kid got a junker to work on and saved me the trouble of getting it to the junk yard.
1973 Toyota Corolla ran 16 years and over 160k miles with no major issues other than one wheel bearing repair and later frying three cylinders one morning from driving too fast in daily interstate commuting with about 140k on the engine. But rust was the enemy. Both rear quarter panels were mostly Bondo toward the end. Had been given to me by parents (originally Mom’s car) when I was in college. Gave it back when I got my '87 Olds. Dad got two more years use then sold it due to all the rust.
1987 Olds Ciera with 3.8L 6-cyl engine. Kept 20 years and over 180k before giving to a nephew who needed a car. He still has it. It had its share of problems but I liked the car, especially the engine, enough to repair and keep going. Engine oil leak, transmission leak, later trans failure needing a rebuilt trans, intake manifold gasket, and head gasket.
2007 Impala. Traded after 7 years / 54k due to too many chronic early repeated failures of major parts and systems. But everyone else I know with an Impala from that time frame have had good use with few problems.
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Yes, rust is the common enemy. My sister who lives in the Great Lakes rust belt last year disposed of her 1992 Corolla for that exact reason. The car had less than 100,000 miles on it and ran perfectly, always started and everything on it worked. She got another Corolla and this will likely be her last car.
I think the movie about US/Japanese car manufacturing with Michael Keaton was Gung Ho. Cool flick.
This was a nearly scrapped or could have been scrapped. I inherited a 1984 Buick LeSabre from my grandfather. I had decided that I had to drive it until it was as dead as he was. It was nearly 20 years old when it suffered multi organ failure. IIRC, it had about 130k on it. The AC compressor quit (Note that I lived in S. Louisiana at the time and still do.) The air filter was constantly soaked with oil due to excessive blow-by. There were a couple of other large problems that I don’t remember. The clock was ticking. I addition to that, it was going to need brakes and tires soon. I sold it but I kinda still feel bad about it; I should have given it away. It was an Olympic edition car and I dearly wanted to make it to the 2004 Olympics to make it 20 years. Alas, it did not, by a couple of years. I had become attached to an independent auto shop here the day after i here before I could find my tools. An oil pressure sender blew out and I was in no position to fix it. My mechanic,the owner, told me around that time that he “could get $1000 for any car with working AC”. Maybe that factored into my decision since mine did not.
My question to myself whenever an old car needs an investment is not was the car is worth that much or more. It was how many miles does that amount need to take me to make it worth that investment. (Need new tires? How far will $200 take me,…)
That Buick had a V6 (CAFE). The trans was only a 3-speed. It nearly had to be pushed up the hills in central NY unless I got an illegal downhill lead on it. It leaked water badly onto the front carpet when it rained. (It smelled moldy when I got it, but I lived in Tucson at the time so that baked out.) I always felt like we (grampa and I) got ripped off since it was a Buick, but it did not have Buick “holes” in the front fenders. Clearly, it was not the best era for Detroit iron.
The mid 1980s was the time when Japanese car quality passed average US quality, as is generally believed. Detroit was stagnant and Japanese companies were moving steeply up the quality curve.
I had a 1984 rear drive Chevy Impala V8, bought new, and was generally happy with it and it stayed in the family till my son finally sold it for $600 to an apprentice mechanic.
Still, in the time I had it till 1998, it incurred: two sets of shock absorbers, 2 complete brake jobs, new front ball joints, 2 batteries, one alternator, 2 exhaust systems, one fan motor, one water pump, one heater core, one radiator, one gas tank, a paint job, new front springs, front end parts, EGR valve, speedometer cable, fuel pump, and starter motor., Over a period of 14 years this did not seem a lot based on 1984 levels of car quality and 200,000 miles of driving…
Today I would not tolerate this from a Toyota, for example.
I would still consider many of those items maintenance given the high mileage, @Docnick.
Yeah, that’s it
I saw it years ago
I remember that Michael Keaton was the plant manager, or something along those lines
Wasn’t there a scene, where he decided to endorse the cars being produced, by personally selecting one for himself, yet it somehow turned out to be shoddily built . . . ?
I would consider the gas tank, front springs, speedometer cable, paint job to be something that you would not have on today’s better cars.
These cars were staple for police forces, taxis, FBI and other government agencies. Some 7 million were built from 1977 to 1984 as Chevies, Pontiacs, Buicks and Oldsmobiles.