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>In my experience cars last about 10 year, 15 if you are careful. Huh? How can 'time' kill a car? My car celebrated her 30th birthday. Under 200K miles. Tim

by pravda 11y ago

>In my experience cars last about 10 year, 15 if you are careful. Huh? How can 'time' kill a car? My car celebrated her 30th birthday. Under 200K miles. Time does not kill cars, and neither does mileage. It just gets to a point where it is cheaper to replace then to repair.

AlisdairO 11y ago
Well, various materials corrode or perish given time, so it's not inconceivable that time would render a vehicle not worthy of repair.
- deleted 11y ago
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acdha 11y ago
There are huge regional variations: someone who lives in an area where the roads are salted in the winter or near an ocean coast with salty air will have a very different experience with this than someone who lives in a desert. There's a reason why classic cars are so much more common in the Southwest than New England, Florida, etc..
- pravda 11y ago
  That is absolutely correct. I did not account for rust. Rust can eat away a car in 10-15 years, at least at latitudes that use salt on the roads. My car is galvanized, which I think was unusual for the 1980s. So I have not had rust problems. I remember seeing a lot more rusted-out cars on the roads back in 80s and 90s. But not so much anymore. I think most manufacturers started using galvanized steel by the 90s. Ok, this is from the "Steel Market Development Institute": "In the 1970s, automotive sheet steel was simply cold rolled, primed, painted, and put on the road. Corrosion resistance wasn’t very good. By the early 1980s, however, carmakers decided it was time to eliminate rust failures in their vehicles. Ten years later, steelmakers had installed continuous electro and hot-dip galvanizing lines, and carmakers switched to two-sided galvanized steel for cars and light trucks. These steps improved the corrosion resistance of steel bodies so much that companies began offering corrosion-perforation warranties."

by pravda 11y ago

AlisdairO 11y ago

Well, various materials corrode or perish given time, so it's not inconceivable that time would render a vehicle not worthy of repair.

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

acdha 11y ago

There are huge regional variations: someone who lives in an area where the roads are salted in the winter or near an ocean coast with salty air will have a very different experience with this than someone who lives in a desert. There's a reason why classic cars are so much more common in the Southwest than New England, Florida, etc..

pravda 11y ago
That is absolutely correct. I did not account for rust. Rust can eat away a car in 10-15 years, at least at latitudes that use salt on the roads. My car is galvanized, which I think was unusual for the 1980s. So I have not had rust problems. I remember seeing a lot more rusted-out cars on the roads back in 80s and 90s. But not so much anymore. I think most manufacturers started using galvanized steel by the 90s. Ok, this is from the "Steel Market Development Institute": "In the 1970s, automotive sheet steel was simply cold rolled, primed, painted, and put on the road. Corrosion resistance wasn’t very good. By the early 1980s, however, carmakers decided it was time to eliminate rust failures in their vehicles. Ten years later, steelmakers had installed continuous electro and hot-dip galvanizing lines, and carmakers switched to two-sided galvanized steel for cars and light trucks. These steps improved the corrosion resistance of steel bodies so much that companies began offering corrosion-perforation warranties."