Hi Chuck and Frank,
It's funny to see where this thread has wandered. I have similar concerns
about the "little things" that can go wrong with automobiles. My wife has
a 1989 Volvo 740 wagon that has only 66,000 miles on it, and it still has
the original cooling system hoses, though I keep planning to get them
changed. As we approached 80 years of age, I was concerned about the same
things that Chuck mentions, and bought a used Cadillac Catera. It ran
great, but had a number of small problems that I could never overcome. We
finally purchased a 2007 Volvo V70, which should last us the rest of our
driving life.
As an illustration of the little things that can go wrong, I will relate the
last one that stopped us dead in our tracks. Driving home in town in the
early evening, I made the last turn toward home, started up a hill, and the
Volvo 740 engine stopped dead. A passerby helped me push it back down the
hill into a parking lot. Using a small flashlight, I looked for a possible
cause, and could find none. We left it and got a ride home. The next day I
had my local Volvo shop pick it up. They found that the coil wire had
dropped off the distributor. On the Volvo 4-cyl the distributor is at the
back, against the firewall, and the wire attaches from below. There was no
way I could see this, or predict its likelihood of happening.
I still like the old ones for local driving. I use a 1994 Chevy S-10 pickup
for a variety of chores, and it gets the job done very well, but small
things still have to be replaced. I recently replaced the windshield wiper
control board for the second time since I have owned it.
Jim Nichols
Tullahoma, TN USA
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chuck Norcutt" <chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Olympus Camera Discussion" <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, October 04, 2011 7:23 AM
Subject: Re: [OM] IMG: Fully Restored 1948 Stinson 108-3
>I don't know the statistics either but I have a 2006 Buick with 46,000
> miles which is mostly dedicated to long road trips. It drove 10,500
> miles around the country (and through Death Valley :-)) in 2008 and
> regularly goes to Florida and back (2,500 miles round trip) as well as
> making many shorter trips of 300 - 1,000 miles.
>
> If the Chrysler has 60 microprocessors, no doubt the Buick probably has
> 100 or more. Even so, it's younger and I *assume* more likely to make
> the trip without incident. However, the Buick has shown a disturbing
> propensity to eat wheel bearings and tires lately (replaced just last
> week). But these are more like having a slow, chronic wasting disease
> and will not leave you suddenly dead in the desert from a heart attack.
>
> Chuck Norcutt
>
>
> On 10/4/2011 7:03 AM, Frank Wijsmuller wrote:
>> That is something different indeed.
>> Is a newer car the only measure on those deadly risks? Don't know how the
>> statistics go, but a number of years newer cars haven't been too reliable
>> because of electronics mallfunctions (both hard- and software), as I
>> understand.
>> Thanks, Frank.
>>
>> 2011/10/4 Chuck Norcutt
>>
>>> But driving
>>> it locally in a populated area is much different than taking it across
>>> the Nevada and California deserts. In some places failure can be
>>> deadly, not just inconvenient.
>>>
>>>
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