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I drive a 30 year old vehicle at times, replaced the engine with a japanese engine at around 60k on it, at a cost of around $2,000 with new timing belt and ass

by borkt 8y ago

I drive a 30 year old vehicle at times, replaced the engine with a japanese engine at around 60k on it, at a cost of around $2,000 with new timing belt and associated accessories/pumps/etc. The engine is rock solid still pushing out about 450 HP but the suspension, frame, and body are pretty beat at ~200k miles on the car. I would say you really aren't going to have an enjoyable car at much more than 130-150k miles, whether or not the drivetrain is replaced. I did a good amount of work in college on fatigue cycles in metals, and with our roads and infrastructure deteriorating this is only going to decrease the usable life of an average frame/suspension.

WorldMaker 8y ago
Yeah, that's a fascinating technical question if someone were to try for a "car for life" model. My college car was still driving fine when I sold it (at about 13 years in its life and something less that 70k miles), but the interior plastics were deteriorating faster than I would have expected to the point where pliers were needed to be used to adjust the a/c as the knobs broke off and probably the window cranks were about to follow. The other side of it too is accidents are likely to always be an issue with cars (even in a world of self-driving cars, I suspect), and there are plenty of other safety reasons cars shouldn't be expected to be driven for too many years without replacement.
dhd415 8y ago
I'd dispute the idea that a car with 130k-150k miles can't be enjoyable. I've had multiple BMWs with more than that many miles that were plenty enjoyable. None of them had any drivetrain replacements though all of them had suspension replacements as should be expected as those are all wear components. I've even had other BMW owners remark that my 200k+-mile car drives better than their own with ~60k miles due to the recency of the suspension component replacements on mine. There's certainly degradation that occurs to a car with lots of mileage, but it's generally with the interior and the electrical systems. There may be some exterior corrosion, too, if you live in the appropriate climate though corrosion resistance has improved a lot on cars lately. And, of course, all bets are off if you don't properly maintain the car.
- jki275 8y ago
  I drive a toyota at 180k and it's fine. It's not pretty or perfect, but it gets me to and from work with no issue. I should get around to replacing some suspension components to make it more comfortable to drive, probably will later this year when I get some time. They're not terribly expensive.
fpoling 8y ago
In Belarus there are quite a few of BMW and Audi approaching 30 years or more. According to a person that works in a shop specializing in their repair the biggest issue is rust. The engine and other parts are mostly original with minimal repairs. In Belarus a good mechanic earns 700-1000 usd/month and his time is cheaper then getting replacement parts.
rconti 8y ago
Yup. I've got a 20 year old BMW with 150k miles on it, and it's a fantastic car. But things wear out. Electric or ICE, as you hit 150-200k, you'll have long since worn through all kinds of rubber bushings on virtually every part, you'll be approaching the point where you've had to replace starter or alternator, you'll have (hopefully) replaced your suspension a couple of times, and so on. As the value continues to decline, the 'value' of spending parts+labor money on any of these replacements starts to decline.
- lgleason 8y ago
  The transmission, especially on an automatic, is the thing that often does them in. I just recently had one go on a 18 year old Chevy Imapla and decided to sell it rather than fixing it. The body and interior are in very good condition. The problem is that other stuff is starting to go. For example the AC has never been serviced and will be an issue in the near future, I live in Atlanta where that is needed. I've gone through two EGR valves, throttle position sensor etc.. The car, working perfectly can sell for up to $4500 with new tires, but it has old tires (-$400), plus the transmission rebuild/replace is going to be between $2100-$2500. The engine itself is in great shape with no problems and if I wanted to dump more money into it I could drive the car to 300 plus thousand miles, but it is starting to need to have things fixed more and more.... It helped that I was able to get a brand new loaded Volt for $9,000 off plus an additional $7500 tax rebate. which in the end means that I have the best of both worlds for $25,000 with a full warranty etc..
- telchar 8y ago
  Can I ask what parts you're referring to specifically when you say "replace the suspension"? My car is past 100k at this point and I'm looking forward to what might need to be done to keep it reasonably nice.
  - btbuilder 8y ago
    Primarily the shocks / dampeners and their rubber bushings.
  - jccooper 8y ago
ams6110 8y ago
Most of the parts that degrade in a suspension are replacable. Bushings, stabilizer links, steering links, shocks, etc. are all easily replaced in most cars (n.b. EVs such as Tesla are the same as any other car in regards to these parts -- they will wear over time). The core frame structure is not going to suffer any significant fatigue from normal driving. Rust is another matter of course.

by borkt 8y ago

WorldMaker 8y ago

Yeah, that's a fascinating technical question if someone were to try for a "car for life" model. My college car was still driving fine when I sold it (at about 13 years in its life and something less that 70k miles), but the interior plastics were deteriorating faster than I would have expected to the point where pliers were needed to be used to adjust the a/c as the knobs broke off and probably the window cranks were about to follow. The other side of it too is accidents are likely to always be an issue with cars (even in a world of self-driving cars, I suspect), and there are plenty of other safety reasons cars shouldn't be expected to be driven for too many years without replacement.

dhd415 8y ago

I'd dispute the idea that a car with 130k-150k miles can't be enjoyable. I've had multiple BMWs with more than that many miles that were plenty enjoyable. None of them had any drivetrain replacements though all of them had suspension replacements as should be expected as those are all wear components. I've even had other BMW owners remark that my 200k+-mile car drives better than their own with ~60k miles due to the recency of the suspension component replacements on mine. There's certainly degradation that occurs to a car with lots of mileage, but it's generally with the interior and the electrical systems. There may be some exterior corrosion, too, if you live in the appropriate climate though corrosion resistance has improved a lot on cars lately. And, of course, all bets are off if you don't properly maintain the car.

jki275 8y ago
I drive a toyota at 180k and it's fine. It's not pretty or perfect, but it gets me to and from work with no issue. I should get around to replacing some suspension components to make it more comfortable to drive, probably will later this year when I get some time. They're not terribly expensive.

fpoling 8y ago

In Belarus there are quite a few of BMW and Audi approaching 30 years or more. According to a person that works in a shop specializing in their repair the biggest issue is rust. The engine and other parts are mostly original with minimal repairs. In Belarus a good mechanic earns 700-1000 usd/month and his time is cheaper then getting replacement parts.

rconti 8y ago

Yup. I've got a 20 year old BMW with 150k miles on it, and it's a fantastic car. But things wear out. Electric or ICE, as you hit 150-200k, you'll have long since worn through all kinds of rubber bushings on virtually every part, you'll be approaching the point where you've had to replace starter or alternator, you'll have (hopefully) replaced your suspension a couple of times, and so on. As the value continues to decline, the 'value' of spending parts+labor money on any of these replacements starts to decline.

lgleason 8y ago
The transmission, especially on an automatic, is the thing that often does them in. I just recently had one go on a 18 year old Chevy Imapla and decided to sell it rather than fixing it. The body and interior are in very good condition. The problem is that other stuff is starting to go. For example the AC has never been serviced and will be an issue in the near future, I live in Atlanta where that is needed. I've gone through two EGR valves, throttle position sensor etc.. The car, working perfectly can sell for up to $4500 with new tires, but it has old tires (-$400), plus the transmission rebuild/replace is going to be between $2100-$2500. The engine itself is in great shape with no problems and if I wanted to dump more money into it I could drive the car to 300 plus thousand miles, but it is starting to need to have things fixed more and more.... It helped that I was able to get a brand new loaded Volt for $9,000 off plus an additional $7500 tax rebate. which in the end means that I have the best of both worlds for $25,000 with a full warranty etc..
telchar 8y ago
Can I ask what parts you're referring to specifically when you say "replace the suspension"? My car is past 100k at this point and I'm looking forward to what might need to be done to keep it reasonably nice.
- btbuilder 8y ago
  Primarily the shocks / dampeners and their rubber bushings.
- jccooper 8y ago

ams6110 8y ago

Most of the parts that degrade in a suspension are replacable. Bushings, stabilizer links, steering links, shocks, etc. are all easily replaced in most cars (n.b. EVs such as Tesla are the same as any other car in regards to these parts -- they will wear over time). The core frame structure is not going to suffer any significant fatigue from normal driving. Rust is another matter of course.