Modern cars seem to be a tad CR** in my experience

Towed someone's Xsara Picasso to the garage yesterday…ha ha! Just can't be fixed without special tools and diagnostic equipment. Been a few so far I've had to rescue (all a good 16 years younger than the mk1). I wonder if when my Golf was bought by the 1st lady owner in 1982 she would have believed it would be towing an MPV over 20 years it's junior to the garage nearly 26 years later!  
There's a heck of a lot of very 'young' cars at the side of the road with the AA man under the bonnet thesedays. Whenever I see them it's a nearly new car! Usually French.   Piggin electrics and computers going wrong all the time it seems! At least with an old car if something goes wrong you can improvise and use a temporary solution to get you home in a lot of cases. If an engine computer goes wrong on the other hand you're up poo creek without a paddle!  8O

had to tow my brother in law home the otherday after he hydrolocked his nice shiny new diesel vauxhurl. it made be laugh (he on the other hand was not happy)

mind you i've been towed once or twice in the golf so no biggy.

They've got good at saving every last penny when designing and screwing a car together. Thinner plastic, less metal, plastic instead of metal, etc. So now they are designed to last until just outside the warranty period!

A bit like a toaster but you can't take the car back and get a new one!

I think that's what they designed some of the new super-minis on!  :wink:

As much as I love old cars, I have to disagree. On a like for like basis new cars are cheaper, safer, more economical, more powerful and have all the creature comforts most people want.

dubboy said

As much as I love old cars, I have to disagree. On a like for like basis new cars are cheaper, safer, more economical, more powerful and have all the creature comforts most people want.

How likely then that your 07 Vectra will still be around in 25 years and someone will have a list of as many vectra's as you have Golfs..

Suprised to here that coming from you Rajan, although i do know what your saying. I miss things from my Audi that arent in the golf . But if your vectra broke down at the side of the road, could you get it home with basic tools???

I repair a list of cars everyday,scary some of the repair bills,and were not main dealer prices,thats why i drive a 91 jetta TD everyday as it will start,2 mk1 golfs in the dryer months,they will not let me down,as i look after them and to be honest no ECU or sensors to play up,yes theres no posh add ons but they get to where i want to be.
Bert
And the passat is on ebay for sale……..

I think you need to compare like-for-like for manufacturers. Cars used to be widely different qualities, but now they are not too dissimilar. For example VW, Mercedes have reduced in quality and Vauxhall, Skoda, gone up. Dunno where Citroen lies, were they ever reliable? I vaguely remember the DS being a good car but the smaller ones (GS, GSA) not so clever. So they're probably about the same. Peugeot were never that good but were better than today.

All cars have increased the amount of kit on them, what was once a luxury item on the top end Merc (for example power steering, aircon, etc) is now found on pretty much every car!

Nobody expects that old is better than new. The chief reason is cost….cost and individualism….. the two reasons are cost and individualism…….and ease or DIY repair. The Three reasons are cost and individualism and ease of repair and great events….. The four reasons…no….amongst the reasons are………

Well you get the idea

Lawsy said

dubboy said

As much as I love old cars, I have to disagree. On a like for like basis new cars are cheaper, safer, more economical, more powerful and have all the creature comforts most people want.

How likely then that your 07 Vectra will still be around in 25 years and someone will have a list of as many vectra's as you have Golfs..

Suprised to here that coming from you Rajan, although i do know what your saying. I miss things from my Audi that arent in the golf . But if your vectra broke down at the side of the road, could you get it home with basic tools???

I think more Vectras will be about than Mk1 Golfs after the same amount of time from initial production %wise but it will be a question more of taxation than anything else. One thing is for sure, the car as a means of transport will change more in the next 25 years than in the last 90 odd. Dare I say who can guarantee you will still be allowed to drive a Mk1 Golf in 25 years?

Maybe the time will come when if you break down, the fault will be diagnosed remotely, possibly fixed remotely or the new part delivered and fitted roadside where possible.

I love old cars and intend to enjoy them while I can!

dubboy said

Lawsy said

dubboy said

As much as I love old cars, I have to disagree. On a like for like basis new cars are cheaper, safer, more economical, more powerful and have all the creature comforts most people want.

How likely then that your 07 Vectra will still be around in 25 years and someone will have a list of as many vectra's as you have Golfs..

Suprised to here that coming from you Rajan, although i do know what your saying. I miss things from my Audi that arent in the golf . But if your vectra broke down at the side of the road, could you get it home with basic tools???

I think more Vectras will be about than Mk1 Golfs after the same amount of time from initial production %wise but it will be a question more of taxation than anything else. One thing is for sure, the car as a means of transport will change more in the next 25 years than in the last 90 odd. Dare I say who can guarantee you will still be allowed to drive a Mk1 Golf in 25 years?

Maybe the time will come when if you break down, the fault will be diagnosed remotely, possibly fixed remotely or the new part delivered and fitted roadside where possible.

I love old cars and intend to enjoy them while I can!

Interesting insight into the future. they'll probably reduce the total 'replaceable' partcount, so that instead of the thousands of parts a car has, there will be maybe 50-100 'modules' on it - a fuel module, electrical module, power generating module, etc. and more and more plastic going into the structural areas - I believe the Chinese are trying to engineer a car made entirely out of plastic, in an effort to make mass production cheaper still. (Steel isn't that bad for the environment, since around 70% of any steel has come from recycled sources and is added into the steel production process at quite an early stage).

And yes, I'd rather take an old Merc (pre 1990s) than a newer one! The fintail saloons are very over-engineered, its the old age vs overengineered balance you need to get right.

One day man will invent a wing like jacket that you can slip on so you fly like a bird and the car will be no more.

one of these then

Value for money wise new cars are probably the best they have ever been. Looking at average wages, average cost of a new car and the design and spec etc they are a fabulous deal compared to 25 years ago when the MK1 era was ending. Back then on most cars you were lucky to get laminated windscreens, door mirrors, halogen headlamps, rear washwipes, rear seat belts etc. These days most cars come with PAS, electric windows, ABS, aircon, airbags etc and will easily last 10+ years, well the mechanics and bodywork will do.

Also the running costs have been dramatically reduced. My old Clio had a service every 2 years or 18,000 miles. A early MK1 Golf would have been in the garage 3 or 4 times by the time the clio was going in for its 1st service.

Against all this does mean that a complicated and fully loaded new car when its about 5 year old and well out of warrenty can become a bit of a liability. Its not like an old MK1 that you can repair most things with basic tools and a bit of common sense but needs main dealer computers and main dealer only parts and main dealer ?75+ a hour techys.

The optimum is probably a late MK2 GTI. No cats or too fancy electronics but a well tried and test fomula with good performance, good mpg, PAS, sunroof, elecy windows, cheapish widely availble parts etc etc

Get a good one while you still can