Classic example of corporate greed. When I shop for computers I always buy best of the best no exceptions, in the long run you save money.
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Here we sit with the most reliable cars in history, and folks call them junk. Okey dokeyā¦
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Speaking of junk cars, Iāve heard people say Rolls Royce makes the best engineered cars in the world and also that they make ā¦ junkā¦ waddaya guys think?
I think who ever said Rolls Royce makes Junk is just upset that they canāt afford one .
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Iāve never owned one so canāt say either way. Maybe junk with a good warranty. Back in the 60s in boot camp, my bil related an army buddy had a rolls. They had it out one night and twisted an axle on it. His buddy said no problem rolls would take care of fixing it. Gotta remember guys in reserves had outside jobs, family money, etc. and didnāt rely on $60 a month pay days.
A new RR is a deluxe BMW, plus handcrafted interior. Not junk. Old RR cost $$$ to maintain. Donāt spend the $$$, end up with junk.
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I expect @davesmopar was being facetious. Modern cars seem robust, at least for the first 10 years. Most folks buying new cars probably replace them by around the 10 year mark, so enjoy driving robust cars most of the time. The problem with modern cars imo is deciding what to do after the 10 year mark. Computer and electrical system problems can make it very expensive if nearly impossible (at least economically) to diagnose & repair problems enough to keep them on the road. Especially if the owner is paying shop rates for the repairs. Less modern cars had fewer failure modes so were less expensive to diagnose & repair at shops, & more easily mickey-moused by diyāer owners into submission. Modern cars, plusses and minuses. Iām not particularly in need of all that mod-con functionality myself, but my lungs definitely appreciate the clean fuel burn.
But yet a lot of members on here will tell someone to trade there vehicle in because it cost $$$ to fix itā¦ I was watching a show with a sweet looking RR until they had id dipped and it was full of rust, had to bring in a specialist to hand fab all the sheet metal on the rockers and loer part of the car cause it is all hand made, big money$$$$$ā¦
Yes had a customer with an old Mercedes with over a million miles on it, but they just spent $30,000 to fix everything at a MB specialist shop (we did all there alignments)ā¦ Iāve only been on this forum a short time, but I am pretty sure $30,000 would more then fix almost every car I have seen on here so farā¦ And btw the $30K spent on the MB was recently NOT total to keep it running all these yearsā¦ Another customer with a Bentley Continental GT had to go to the dealer for a car wash cause it had a $40K paint job and luckily he liked me cause we scratched it cause some idiot drew a picture of a body part on the trunk in the dust and we wiped it off with a soft cloth and scratched it, lucky for us he had ins on the paint and it was about time to repaint it anywayā¦ Very Beautiful car and fast with the 600+HP engine, but a valet made a Sharpe mark on his drivers seat and it had to be replaced at, wait for itā¦ $10K for one seat coverā¦(this was around 2016ish)ā¦ BMW and Mercedes Wheels with 35/40 series tires almost always cracked the inner part of the wheel when hitting a Pothole, were as a Lexus per say or custom wheels would just bend a little but still hold air, the MB/BMW wheels were very hard to get cause they cracked all the time and cost was around $600+ from the dealer most lower end wheels the same size were 1/2 thatā¦ So itās funny how the Perfect NON junk cars some members are talking about cost big money to maintain or repair versus the ones that the same people call actual junkā¦ Yes, buy a new car and trade it every few years and they all seem good other then when something breaks and or damaged, but if you keep them long enough they all cost money to maintain and have there problemsā¦
And yes I think it is funny how so many members get sooo up tight and defensive over a simple comment, cause it may or may not of meant to be a jokeā¦(Iāll never tell lol)
And Toyota is one of the least expensive vehicles to maintain over the years but guess what they still have/had issuesā¦
I have worked on many different makes and models as I worked downtown Nashville for 7 years and we had all the RICH kids vehicles from Vanderbilt, and many other colleges close by, plus we had the Tn Titans, Nashville Preds and all the big corp peps, layers and Drās with all there high end vehicles as well as the blue color workers with the Corollas etc that we worked on everyday 7 days a week, ran about 50-60 cars a dayā¦ next location I worked ran about 70-75 cars a day, so I have seen a lot of Vehicles out there over the years I have been in the businessā¦ I have also delt with 1000ās of fleet vehicles over the years as wellā¦
So like it or not, we all have our own opinion(s) and you all know what they say about opinionsā¦ 
Not disputing $30k would go a long way, likely enough to repair most cars; but for older classic cars in major disrepair, might take a little more that that. My reasoning is watching the tv show āCounting Carsā. Theyāll restore a disaster car to nearly new, then sell it. They claim they have to sell it for $40-50K + in order to make any profit.
I was not including rust on vehicles but normal/regular maintenance and mechanical repairs, not repairing wrecksā¦
It cost upward of 100K or much more to fully do a frame off restoration, depending on the amount of rust. and repairs needed and missing parts etcā¦ The old saying is if you can make money (you selling it) off a frame off restoration of an old vehicle (70ās and older) then you didnāt do it rightā¦ There are exceptions to every rule with some of the very low numbers matching stuff (high 6 to low 7 figure vehicles) and one or two offs, but the parts for them are very few and far between bringing the price upā¦ Nothing against the Count or Gas Monkey but they donāt do the same work that Mark Worman, Dan Short and the like, they will tell there customers in a heart beat, āyou do realize you are putting more money into your vehicle then it will be worthāā¦ One or two year+ full restorations are far more involved then a 4 week dead line, now I think the count does more to his cause Iāve seen a lot of Gas Monkey cars leave out with no head linersā¦ lol
And I defiantly know I have way more in my old car with the engine, trans and rear end mods I have done and still have to do yetā¦
Yes I have kept all but the rear end numbers matching stuff if I ever wanted to sell it (but I donāt plan on it as I have owned it since 1987)ā¦
Yeah patch panels are only made where there is a volume to be expected. Still rust is expensive. Talked to one body shop guy on help with rockers and he wouldnāt even consider. Said he sent his neighbor to another shop for rockers on his truck where they had the patch panels available. Final cost $5000 on a truck. So Iāll let ya know how it goes when the weather warms up.
Bad reasoning George that so is 95% B.S.
What part are you disputing @PvtPublic ? That Counting Cars has to sell their re-stores at $40-50K minimum to make a profit? Or that Counting Cars isnāt relevant to @davesmopar 's claim that a $30K repair budget would be enough to fix almost every car?
Iāve serviced two RRās over the years, (one once owned by Barry Manilow).
And both were junk
But itās expected, theyāre British cars.
Tester
During day light I suspect when lights were not needed.
Pretty much that āCounting Carsā is irrelevant to anything, besides cheap entertainment. Some cool looking cars but thatās about it.
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