Neanderpundit

I feel safest of all

Kim had a post the other day that mentioned cars, and of course it all went back to the American vs everyone else car debate.

First of all, esthetics is the item most touted- “europeans simply make prettier cars than Americans. ”

That’s a matter of taste. Alfa makes some nice looking cars. So does BMW (now). There were some old mercedes cars that were gorgeous. But that’s my opinion. I am not an artist. However, plenty of artists DO love american cars, and some notable artists helped create them. BMW, VW, Volvo, all WISH they had Harley Earl. Styling is a matter of taste, and for everyone who swoons over a 70’s vintage MG, there are thousands who love the lines of the Buick Wildcat. So, I’ll discount taste- the idea that one car looks better than another? You’re welcome to it. People buy Honda Elements, futhuchrissakes, even though the “Element” in question is clearly “Butt Uglium”. Hell, I myself owned a Land Rover. No, not one of those cushymobiles they sell these days, but a REAL land rover with a tire on the hood. OK, a “Tyre on the Bonnet”.

While esthetics can be a matter of some opinion, what isn’t open to discussion is function. Euro cars function in a way suited best to their environment, which consists of predominantly narrow, twisty roads. American cars are suited to their function, which consists predominantly of long straight stretches of highway. Since little cornering is required, the suspensions are made to provide the best possible ride for the commonest conditions.

if America was full of twisty little roads, the car manufacturers would have made cars that were suited to that, but it isn’t, and they don’t. Does this make american cars worse? No. It makes them what the market wants and asks for. And for the purpose for which they were designed, they are perfectly designed.

As far as quality is concerned, there is no contest. The sheer numbers of cars manufactured in the united states, on either a car for car basis or a percentage basis, American cars are more reliable, on the whole.

There was a time when the Japanese kicked our asses in reliability, but we’re giving them a run for their money these days, and that’s the truth. The reason they kicked our asses? A guy called W Edwards Deming. Who we sent to them, to help rebuild their manufacturing, after the second world war. yes, American ingenuity is at the heart of Japanese efficiency.

As far as the reliability of American cars, let’s take a look at what causes most breakdowns.

When a British car breaks down, it is caused primarily by it’s electrical system. The british auto industry is world famous and has a well deserved reputation for unreliability. Everyone who hasd ever owned an MG has had personal experience with the headlights that only work in the daytime, the brake pedal switch shorting and leaving the light on all the time, the fuel gauge setting fire to the dashboard. This is not in America, all british cars everywhere succumb to this. Period. I had a Land rover, and the only parts that consistently gave me trouble said “Lucas” on them. My landy ran reliably, of course. Because it had a Chevy engine. The best thing that ever happened to Jaguar was their purchase by Ford- same for Aston Martin. Both of those vehicles had serious trouble until the Ford engineering department put together reliable electronics for them. And that’s a fact. Period.

German cars have their own whole set of troubles, and don’t get me started on the Italians. If it says “robert bosch” on it, you can pretty much be assured it will cause you trouble, and it won’t be cheap to find nor to fix.

American cars have had quality and reliability issues over the years, and a lot of them had to do with the imposition of stupid government regulations (emissions and fuel mileage standards) and the addition of toys designed to attract gadget-focussed consumers. The classic example of this is the 1989 Buick Riviera- it had a touchscreen CRT in the dashboard. Now, almost every car over 30k has something like this, but in 1989, it was a revolutionary device, and it came with it’s own set of troubles.

Through the history of the motor vehicle, the US manufacturers have been on the bleeding edge of technology, and have taken the knocks for putting that tech into production, and learning from it. And the people that want that super-advanced technology first, that pay the extra money for it, are often disapointed by the reliability. The same people then buy an Acura with a digital dash and are amazed at “How much better” it is than the old Riviera. Of COURSE it’s better, it had ten years of letting someone else be the pioneer (read: arrows in their back) before they came out with their all-the-bugs worked out version.
Power windows? Lincoln.
Air conditioning? Packard.
Intermittent Wipers? Ford.
Modern brakes? Ransom E Oldsmobile.
Cruise control? Chrysler.

All of those companies took hits for the troubles caused by their early adoption of these products. Reliable safe power windows weren’t commonly available until 1980. Air conditioning has gone therough a half dozen iterations. Intermittent wipers originally were mechanical on some cars, and they were a disaster. And half a dozen car models were shipped from the factory in the hundreds of thousands with malfunctioning cruise control.

If you want the cool technology, you have to make a choice: Buy the shit before the bugs are worked out, or wait until it’s become old hat for everyone. If you buy the new cool stuff when it’s new, there are invariably problems, and this goes for cars, computers, iphones, lawnmowers.

For the most part, though, regular American made cars are reliable as bricks. Since the mid 60’s, the quality of steel, lubricants, and electronics are such that the basic components of a car are reliable as hell. The engine, if the oil is changed regularly, has a service life that is measured in hundreds of millions of revolutions. Transmissions are also durable as dirt, as long as they’re serviced regularly. With rare exceptions, the common transmissions by Ford and Chevy have a practically unlimited service life assuming proper regular maintenance. The rest of the drivetrain consists of Universal joints, the axle and differential, the suspension and steering.

There is no reason that these components on a modern motor vehicle should last less than forever.

One of the obstacles to this is the planned obsolescence of the industry. Ujoints, balljoints, and other suspension components are devoid of grease points because of the cost savings- four or five dollars per unit. I’m replacing the balljoints on the truck, more on general principles than wear, but I’m putting in joints that have zerks so these WILL last forever.

Not everyone wants to do this, andf frankly, I usually don’t want to do it. I do the work to my vehicles because I know it will be done properly, and I will benefit financially and in peace of mind. I know my shit works, in other words, because I take care of it.

Most people have trouble with their vehicles because they don’t take care of them. OK, there is the occasional manufacturing defect, but they are fewer and further between than most imagine.

No, there is a specific language a car speaks, and it will tell you when it needs help. And most people are completely ignorant of it. A hesitation during accelleration. A slight tug to one side or another while braking-or under accelleration. A misfire at a wierd time. A tendency to hesitate in damp conditions. Hard cranking in deep cold. All these things are signs to he who listens, that there is something amiss.

An American made car has a narrower failure range in most components. By that I mean: If the front suspension has two struts, two ball joints, two inner tie rod ends, and two outer tie rod ends, the liklihood of one component having a catastrophic failure (while the other components remain serviceable) is better than on a foreign car, whose components usually wear at a more uniform rate. The point of this, is that the foreign cars components will fail all at more or less the same time. Honda, Toyota, et al count on this, and count on the original owners dumping the cars before this happens. Consequently, the next owner often gets to replace the entire front suspension a couple months into his ownership.

Most US made cars have the expensive components sized to last a very long time indeed, while the cheaper parts are less well made and need to be replaced more often. This comes of literally hundreds of millions of units of experience. It’s a simple difference in philosophy between manufacturers. Consequently, there are tons of people who say “My toyota never gave me a moment’s trouble” and in the same breath “My Pontiac ate four tie rod ends in ten years!!!” Perception, not a difference in quality at all. The four tie rod ends come to about $60 in parts total, and the rest of the components are stil pretty much factory fresh, while the Toyota is a couple miles away from needing ALL the components replaced, at a cost of about $2k.

I DO this work. I KNOW. I have SEEN THIS WITH MY OWN EYES a hundred times. And the sales of components by the manufacturers bear this out. The Ogwife’s honda has had two total front suspension replacements due to wear, because she kept it twice the time Honda expected her to keep it. In the same number of miles, my 1982 FOrd Escort needed a tie rod end. $9.

And I drove that bastard hard.

The point I’m making, and this is not a claim, but a verifiable fact, is that while the way US manufacturers and asian manufacturers make cars is different, care and maintenance is what makes a car run reliably and last. I have owned many cars, and I have never yet walked away from one that I put less than 200,000 miles on. I have not busted my ass repairing them, either.

As far as maintenance and predictive repair are concerned, one of the primary issues is finding a mechanic, if you don’t want to or aren’t skilled enough to do your own repairs. Herin lies the rub.

A brake job costs me $14, the first time I do it. The second time, and all the times thereafter, it costs me $0. I buy lifetime warranty parts, and I am good enough to do the job in mere minutes. it is patently ludicrous to me to spend $99 (the advertised price today at my local Muffler Shop) to have my brakes done. And this is the simplest example.

if you don’t know anything about cars, you will be ripped off by every garage you find. Period. If you paid someone $1000 for a repair, rest assured that the actual cost of the repair was close to $100. AC recharge? Most places charge $300. Cost? $9. Rear wheel bearing? $1100 bucks. Cost? $14 plus two hours labor.

I have a few friends and family members who I protect as best I can from the predatory practices of auto repair houses. I do the things I can for them,. and those things I cannot do, I direct them to places I know and trust.

There are good shops, and shops that take care of their customers. I know some around here, and I reccomend them to people where and when I can. They often go out of business because of the integrity they display, there isn’t a lot of money in auto repair if you’re honest.

yes. There are some major differneces between American cars and others. The differences in quality are more perception than fact, and this is not a claim I’m making but a fact I know, because I have been doing auto repair for dozens of years, I am (or was, I haven’t kept the certs up to date)an ASE certified mechanic, and I put together systems for all the major manufacturers of automotive components in America. (Including, incidentally, the driveline components for Mercedes and BMW, made in a factory in Aurora IL. ) I developed the automation systems that make the fuel injectors for the two most popular truck diesels in the world, and I work with all the major players in the industry. The people I work with, who know more than anyone in the industry what is made where and how well it’s made, drive (to a man) American made vehicles.

So, I’m overqualified to say this: If you think a specific foreign car costing X is better than a domestic car costing X, you are probably wrong. if the esthetics of a $24000 Honda please you more than the esthetics of a $24000 Chevrolet, that’s purely a matter of taste. if you care for both cars equally well over the long haul (say 200,000 miles) the maintenance and repair costs will be approximately the same, and the vehicles will, on the whole, be equally reliable.

I’m not an expert on a lot of things, but I am an expert at this. Personal preference does not equal quality. Period.