Aren't cars rubbish?

[Moodyman]

' If this job turns out to be a keeper then I can't see me bothering to replace the now ageing Toyota when (if) it gives up the ghost.

They don't die easily. My Corolla is 23 years old this year and I reckon it's got another 10 years in her so long as parts are still available.

 

[Levo-Lon]

The Toyota Hilux..ohh yeah


http://www.topgear.com/car-news/toyota-hilux-car-even-clarkson-couldn’t-kill

 

[Salty seadog]

Get a Toyota!

10 year old Corolla; 96k miles; 1 headlight bulb and 1 number plate light in all that time. (Awaits a series of blown bulbs as a reward for my smugness).

Yep, 14 1/2 year old Corolla. 130,000 miles, couple of bulbs, and a leaky windscreen. I did clog up the fuel filter by running the tank too low all the time years ago but that was my fault not the cars. Oh and replaced headlights as the originals degraded by sitting in the sun. I'll take that in nearly 15 years.

 

[skudupnorth]

Ooooo, I used to have a Favorit. Was pretty bomb-proof until it finally fell apart. I now have a Felicia - a bit tatty cosmetically, but it's served me well for nearly 10 years. Only major drama was a blown water pump and subsequent failure of the replacement - which the garage replaced FOC as that batch of parts were found to be faulty.

Good choice, strange how Felicia's struggle with tin worth more than Favorits. Love the Fav though, it's been brilliant for lugging bikes and kids about plus I have another in the drive waiting to be fetters for its mot

 

[simon the viking]

I had a brake light blow the other day...... not working in the trade for the first time in nearly 30 years I had to pay retail price of £3.49 for a pack of twin filament 21/5w I begrudged every penny as I know the cost price would have been 30p..... Arrrgghhhh I used to have loads of em!!!!

 

[Reynard]

Good choice, strange how Felicia's struggle with tin worth more than Favorits. Love the Fav though, it's been brilliant for lugging bikes and kids about plus I have another in the drive waiting to be fetters for its mot

I've got the 1600cc GLXi, and it's really nice to drive. Plus it's a bit like the tardis inside. Yes, tin worm... It're the wheel arches where the paint is flaking off. Mind, with all the mud that's currently on the car, you don't notice it quite so much

 

[marzjennings]

[QUOTE 4650903, member: 259"]Ours was ridiculously reliable as well. The rear sliding doors stopped working properly after a few years and Mazda fixed them free of charge out of warranty.[/QUOTE]

I about killed my mazda5 after only 80000 miles. Clutch about gone, slipping in 2nd and 3rd, though I will admit that's more my fault that the car's. Very heavy right foot.! Traded it in for a Mazda CX 5, which the wife drives and so far so good. I'm looking for something with a bit more umpf this year just to address my encroaching mid-life crisis.

 

[Piemaster]

The big problem now is access. I used to happily change starter motors, alternators and drive belts, strip carbs etc without dreaming of going to a dealer. Everything was visible under the bonnet and there was little or nothing in the way of whatever bit needed doing. Now many of the ancillary components have to be attacked from beneath the engine, something in itself made more difficult because cars sit lower to the ground. The last such job I did was an alternator on a Mondeo, an absolute pig of a job whist lying on your back and trying to get a deep socket to bite on a recessed bolt you could not see.

And of course the big lump of plastic beneath the bonnet, a 2nd level bonnet on some now. I'm suspicious one of it's functions is to dissuade the owner to poke about with the engine and restrict them to topping up the washer bottle.
Even Alfa have gone the same way now, instead of showing their engineering off

 

[slowmotion]

[QUOTE 4651263, member: 9609"]Many failing components on modern stuff register faults to on board computers, even if you fix it yourself you may still have to go to stealership for a £40 plug-in to de register the fault and get it back out of 'limp' mode. Not sure if this will include light bulbs but don't rule it out.

I guess the next move will be for the car manufactures to be permanently monitoring everything your vehicle is doing through the internet so as it can do little updates and adjustments etc. It is already happening with lorries, they know what road you are on and adjust engine management to optimise performance, they will monitor if you are driving them correctly and complain when you are not.[/QUOTE]
Wistful sigh....and they didn't start angrily beeping at you if you didn't put your seatbelt on within a nanosecond of picking up your car keys.

 

[Lonestar]

Stupidly difficult bulb replacement or motorists who just don't care? The same people who would cycle unlit?

Probably a combination with plod not pulling them up?

It seems rife here now.

Cars are great, I would like to see parking spaces made smaller though.

In the crusher....Is it true now that we are advised not to exercise due to pollution?

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/people-arent-buying-sadiq-khans-193329976.html

I like the replies.Instead of not exercising why not fix the problem?

I mean this is bloody ridiculous.

 

[screenman]

Yep, 14 1/2 year old Corolla. 130,000 miles, couple of bulbs, and a leaky windscreen. I did clog up the fuel filter by running the tank too low all the time years ago but that was my fault not the cars. Oh and replaced headlights as the originals degraded by sitting in the sun. I'll take that in nearly 15 years.

The headlights are easily stripped and recoated, I normally do a couple of sets a week. They come up like New.

 

[Salty seadog]

The headlights are easily stripped and recoated, I normally do a couple of sets a week. They come up like New.

I had them done 2-3 times during service and MOT at about £20 a time so £100 on a new set didn't seem like a bad idea. Don't know if you can keep stripping them ad nauseam tokeep a good beam but I have one now and no degredation.

 

[screenman]

I had them done 2-3 times during service and MOT at about £20 a time so £100 on a new set didn't seem like a bad idea. Don't know if you can keep stripping them ad nauseam tokeep a good beam but I have one now and no degredation.

As you say not a bad price, but I would also add that they were certainly not done properly by whoever charged you £20. I charge £50 a set and they look like new and in the five years I have been doing them have never seen one deteriate again.

Trouble is with the motor trade and far more so glass repair there are many doing it who have no clue at all. I bet you garage did not recoat your lights and just polished them.

 

[Salty seadog]

As you say not a bad price, but I would also add that they were certainly not done properly by whoever charged you £20. I charge £50 a set and they look like new and in the five years I have been doing them have never seen one deteriate again.

Trouble is with the motor trade and far more so glass repair there are many doing it who have no clue at all. I bet you garage did not recoat your lights and just polished them.

It's posible that they were not recoated as they only spoke of buffing them out. Cheers for the info if it ever happens again I know what to get done. I must say I can't really fault the garage, I have used them for the whole life of the car, they are 5 mins walk away and they have never done any work or found anything wrong with it on it's mot's in the 12 years i've had it. In fact they have done a couple of simple little things for free like replacing a headlight bulb just before I went over to France, no charge for the bulb or fitting. The front light assembly is a real pig to get to on the corolla, you may know this.

 

[toffee]

Mines going in to have the cam belt replaced this morning .