Lifespan of an Automobile ...agree /disagree

Maintenance/Repairs
61

I think engines and oil have improved to where you could go as long as you wanted on an engine if the oil, coolant, and such is maintained. There are very few engines that seem to fail with decent car these days. More and more cars use timing chains instead of belts so these will last a LONG time if you take car of the oil. Even cheap cars have gone to timing chains again.

I agree about the electronics. This stuff will fail before the engine and other major mechanical parts. Keep it as simple as possible.

Rust is the killer overall here. I have purchased pefectly good used engines cheap out of vehicles that were structurally coming apart. Someone here was mentioning that there is no point in using synthetic oil in a car that doesn’t require it when the engine will outlast the rest of the car anyway. That being said, I still use synthetic but stock up when there are deals/rebates so I find it is actually cheaper to use synthetic by doing this.

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62

I support the concept, and cars last far, far, far longer than they did in “the day”, but in reality all engines will eventually wear out. Good operation relies on good sealing the rings and good operation and sealing of the valves. The metal in the rings “fatigues”, causing the rings to lose their spring tension and seal less well, valves are exposed to extreme environmental conditions thousands of times for every minute the engine operates, and valve springs lose their tension too, adversely affecting valve operation.

Beyond that, cylinder walls, rings, and bearings wear over time. Especially susceptible are the connecting rod bearings. Main (crankshaft) bearings have to sustain lateral pulses with every combustion, but they get to share the load along the crank and among the bearings, and they distribute it over a larger area per bearing than rod bearings. Rod bearings are subjected to extreme lateral shocks thousands of times a minute, and each has to absorb the shock alone, with no help from the other bearings. And they absorb it over a smaller area than main bearings. IMHO they’re the most susceptible bearings in the entire engine.

But I absolutely agree that with proper lubrication and maintenance engines will generally outlast the vehicle
 IF one buys a vehicle with a history of longevity to begin with. I’ve personally never worn out and engine over the 45+++ years I’ve been driving, even after 338,000 miles.

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63

Agree! The last time I did internal engine work (rings, valves, etc.) was the summer of 1964 on a 1957 Plymouth flathead 6.

Since that time I have repainted 3 used cars (1966 Chevelle, 1984 Impala and 1988 Caprice) and the only transmission work done was in 1974 on a Ford C-4 transmission in a 1971 Mercury Comet.

On the whole powertrains now outlast the bodies, and the used engine rebuilding business has dried up for cars, but not for heavy duty trucks and other power plant applications.

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64

the lifespan of an automobile is until it starts to rust,it doesnt matter if its 5 years old or 50 years old, once the rust starts the timer starts counting down the days remaining until it goes to the junk yard.

65

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jimgorzelany/2013/03/14/cars-that-can-last-for-250000-miles/#57ff55722ae7

Today’s cars are built to last as long as 250,000 miles or more with simple routine care.

Climate and usage are also variables.

66

Man, click, click, click. CNN Money used to do this all the time but not so much anymore since they banned comments. Don’t know why that relates but so easy to just list the top ten and allow you to click for more info if you want. I let my Forbes subscription lapse though-just too dry to try and wade through every month. I did get the issue though on the richest people in every state but man that was what, 2013?

67

Nice to see your name in print, eh Bingster?

;-]

68

Not me. My neighbor is the one with the money. Came home with three new cars a couple years ago because he said it was a good deal. The house next to him was for sale so he bought that too. Retired banker but a nice guy.

69

true rusted brake line was caught in my drive way if it happened on the LIE I wouldn’t be writing this reply now.

70

M-m-m-mathematically imp-p-pos-s-s-s-sible.
First, 3000 miles round trip / 60 hours in the time allowed = about 50 mph including time for fillups and restroom breaks. And no sleep.
Second, no one would be consistently willing to spend twenty minutes, let alone three hours, with someone who had just driven in a car for twenty-four hours straight.
Third, I think whoever dreamed up this story underestimated the amount of stress and alertness flight school requires, or how much intelligence it demands. Top Gun made it seem easy but they didn’t know much about flight school, even for a so-called natural flyer. No student pilot would be that stupid.
And they wonder if this country is falling behind.

71

Come on satusficer, didn’t you walk 6 miles uphill both ways in blizzards most of the year as a child. I did, or at least that is what my great grand children have been told.

72

I feel vindicated! Apparently I’m not the only one who occasionally responds to a very old thread!
haven’t heard from satusficer in a very long time. I doubt if he/she got your response, my friend. :grin:

73

When I learned how to drive a commercial truck, our instructor told us 50 MPH is a good place to start in estimating travel time, including stops for fuel, but not breaks. When I became a truck driver, I found 50 MPH to be pretty accurate, between driving 70 MPH, slowdowns, traffic, etc.

In my younger bartending days, when I was used to staying up all night, I once drove 24+ hours straight from Miami to Dallas. I can’t do that kind of thing anymore, but it can be done in the right conditions.

Before you claim something isn’t mathematically possible, it would help to actually do the math.

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74

Just so you know, though I can no longer remember his name, he was a WWII ace, and this tale was in his autobiography. There are always nay-sayers, usually don’t believe something only because they know they can’t do it themselves, and it makes them feel good to call an ace, a liar. Give it up.

I could never have been a Navy flier for many reasons. However, in late December 1964, I climbed in my newly reconditioned 1953 Chevrolet, and 50 hours and 2050 miles later, pulled into Fort Lewis. I picked up a hitch-hiker not long after starting, and he drove a very few hours in the daytime, but never at night. I-80 was not complete, and because of a rebuilt motor mostly drove around 50 mph, until the second day, when I upped it to 60.

And, I drove through heavy blizzards in the mountains. Every time I re-fueled, the attendant told me they were closing the highway behind me as I went.

It was not easy, and I couldn’t have done it the next weekend. However, I also was not a Navy flier and could never be.

A lot of those aces had tales, not the same, but of the same magnitude, to tell.

One of my favorite tales was of an ace who in his civilian car crossed a state line, and an agricultural inspector gave him a hard time.about something. He came back with his WWII aircraft loaded with watermelons which he bombarded the general area of the inspection station with, in a high speed practice bombing run. Next time he drove through there, there were watermelons growing all over the place.

The personal profile it takes to be an ace, or any kind of major hero, is usually also the profile of a major risk taker.

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75

I couldn’t find the first story on-line, but the second one, the watermelon guy, was Robert Scott, the author of God Is My Copilot.

76

I have seen many bumper sticker’a & other thing’s where God is my copilot, but the best I have seen was on a church sign that said if God is your copilot change seat’s.

77

In Mexico, advertising signs for Quaker State claim your copilot is Quaker State.

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