You Have To Buy A Newer Car And Other Senseless Mind-Think

I gotta admit - traveling down South on a serious six month road trip had its advantages. If anything, it was witnessing how people lived in another part of the United States - it was like viewing a different culture. It really didn't hit me until I drove below the Mason - Dixon line, and especially so when I entered the Carolina's. There were three distinct differences, automotive wise, I noticed right off the bat when comparing similar aspects to the Northeast... some more obvious than others:
 1). Cars were in MUCH better condition (read: less rust) then here in the snow belt. Even older cars that are least 25 years or more in age  - a higher percentage of those were still on the road. And older cars sell for cheaper money to boot.
 2). There are WAY more new car dealers than in our neck of the woods.
 3). Everyone drives like they're trying to draft - like in NASCAR. As a result, they wreck way more cars than we do per capita regardless of the weather conditions. Hence probably the reason for cultural difference number two.

However, aside from the hot rods and classic cars I saw, I also noticed that just about everyone drove the same mundane form of transportation. I spent about six weeks along the coast of both North and South Carolina, so 4x4 trucks were non-existent - it was mostly automobiles. As was the case in most situations, people were driving a car they need, as opposed to the car they wanted.

This got me to thinking even more when a friend emailed me and told me he was purchasing a used Jeep. It wasn't new, but newer than the one he was replacing. I replied back and asked him why - I thought he loved the 1995 Jeep he currently had. He told me that while it ran great and had decent cosmetics, despite the 168,000 miles on the odo, he was tired of futzing with the electronics. It would just randomly die - usually at the worst time - and throw zero check engine codes. Naturally, every time he took it to his mechanic, it would never act up. In turn, his mechanic was hesitant to really delve into the problem, because he's told my friend that he'll spend way more money in diagnostic time and repairs than what the vehicle's worth.

Another point to this trial and error game that had him pissed off is that there must a million cars out there that suffer from the same circumstance. What do you do? Junk a perfectly good vehicle just because there's some electrical gremlin somewhere or a intermittent operating bad sensor? And because no one wants to take the time to find it? This same friend has a 1975 Chevy pickup with almost 400,000 miles on it - when the 350 engine finally gave up the ghost, he just installed a rebuilt motor and was good to go. Down time was maybe three days.

Part of the problem I feel, is that believe it or not, it's easier to find parts for a simple, no technology in sight 50 year old vehicle than it is for 25 year old car. Face it - very few people are currently restoring a vehicle built in 1989 save for maybe a Mustang GT, V-8 Firebird, or Camaro Z-28. Ever try purchasing exhaust parts for a 1990 Pontiac 6000 with the V-6? Or maybe an intake manifold for the oddball 350 V-8 in a 1992 Buick Roadmaster Limited? Try it sometimes...

So when you factor in that more perfectly usable vehicles are being scrapped - it makes the whole "Green" concept sort of fall on it's face in the end. Then there's the boring part of the deal. It seems every vehicle in the last decade was painted either silver, grey, black, some shade of champagne, or a color that resembles a brick red - but every manufacturer tries to hide that sin by calling it something flashy. Yawn city, baby.

My friend finished his email by stating that if he gets the money, he may put some larger "mudding" tires on the vehicle so he'll look like less of a lemming. All I could say was, "Good luck, brother..."

Until next time, peace out.
Dave