Modern hire car horrors

[Hanuman]

Originally Posted by John.

Maybe people should get a questionnaire/test with their MOT and if they're deemed thick as $h1t then the car stays put?!

It should be part of the driving licence requirements. If you have no appreciation of what it should be like when it's right, how will you know when it's wrong?

[leggy]

Originally Posted by missfire

...Where are the droves of older volvos and mercs these days? In the crusher, because if not garaged, the are rotten....

Can't speak for the Volvo's, but there's certainly a Merc garage around here that has been around for as long as I can remember, H A Locks, known to the locals as the 'merc graveyard' ->



As you can see from this 2010 Google street map, the yard (and roadside) is just jam-packed with Merc's, always has been, and there are even more of them now, some really old one's too, all ungaraged and a lot of them are now under ripped/torn covers, revealing mostly bodywork that would require restoration of some sort, but certainly nothing so rotten that they couldn't be restored.

You could be asking the same of the any other yesteryear car, including the Audi's, because in fact the majority of them 'are' now being kept in garages, and who can blame the owners for wanting to keep their precious cars tucked away when so much b***** hard work has gone in to restoring them. Even the very few that are still on the road and being used as daily's, such as my own which isn't garaged, are b***** hard work to maintain! My point being, the older cars 'are' worth keeping and restoring.

The question you should be asking is, where will all the droves of modern cars be in 20-30yrs time?

[leggy]

Originally Posted by missfire

Leggy.

That's what it is yes, a tool for carting people around. And it's a damned sight bigger than that toyota you've hired.

As for the crash videos, come on.. compare these then, same test, 'same' car. Look at the deformation of the superstructure, dashboard leg amputation etc. especially from above. Things move on quickly -


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ELl5tN9zexM

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3vuoBJQiHFE

Old cars have more personality, originality and character no doubting that. I've been passng cars on the road recently and thinking, there's a kia! No, it'a Ford. There's a Kia! No, it's a Vauxhall. Etc. They're all the same now. But my main concern, (aside from not having time to keep an old car tip top as a daily at the moment) when I'm not driving, is safety. Sad reality, but if you hit any modern car bigger than a Fiat panda, at any speed in your 80, you're dead, end of story.

Not hired the Toyota by choice, and the Kia's I know are small, but then again, I don't really care much or have any interest in the newer cars, they all look like 'bubbles' to me.
When I'm out & about, never mind just in my 80, in any car, the cars that have always stood out for me 'are' the older one's, which generally get a thumbs up, a huge grin due to the sheer joy that it brings to see them on the road, a "wow, my Dad/Grandad used to own one of those", or "dam it, wish I could take a photo of that!".
We could argue the safety issues of old vs new all day, but either way, I'd rather die in my old 80 than in your Kia, in fact, I'd be doing so with a smile on my face rather than with an airbag in my face, but hey, some of us are loyal to our cars and some of us just aren't, simple as, end of story!

[missfire]

Same place as the literally over one hundred million cars sold new in the UK in the last 30 years are, in the crusher, or on ebay unless her majesty's assholes run aother scrappage scheme.

There are 2300 20-30 year old cars on ebay right now. 33 of them are audis.

Ther are over 35 million vehicles on the road right now in the UK, if the old cars are better, why do businesses not use them?

I'm not asking the questions here, just stating facts, old cars give a different type of enjoyment. But they're not better. If they were there'd be a hell of a lot more of them on the road and a hell of a lot more than 2300 of them on ebay today.

[missfire]

Originally Posted by leggy

some of us are loyal to our cars and some of us just aren't, simple as, end of story!

Do you have children? Unfortunately loyalty to all kinds of things goes out the window by default, you don't have a choice in the matter.

[Hanuman]

Originally Posted by leggy

The question you should be asking is, where will all the droves of modern cars be in 20-30yrs time?

Recycled.

Service intervals, life span of components etc, all slowly coinciding with design life of the vehicle. The anomalies in the distribution curve being the cosseted pride and joy, or the ragged rotten, abused rep mobiles and hire cars.

It's all going that way.
3 fridges in ten years, but the secondhand fridge used as a year-'round beer cooler still going strong, after 30 years.

There's less profit in storing parts, or maintaining equipment compared to selling new, where the core business is.

[vorsprung durch technik]

I can't believe this thread has generated 6 pages all over leggies dislike of a hire car.Mind you i can't blame her. Modern Audis are definitely superior to older audis in the way they handle and ride.End of!

Yes they are not quite as well built as older Audis in so much as they feel slightly more flimsy and all their parts have probably been recycled a several times, unlike the virgin plastics and steel that made our 80's,90's,C4's well engineered cars so great etc. Quality of components even original audi stuff has fallen of a cliff. If you have a very low mileage audi from the nineties you need to think about buying a new rubber shield instead of buying a new ball joint that will be worn out in 30k instead of the legendry audi balljoints of the 80/90's.

One other thing. 20k mile oil changes are there to lull you into a false sense of security and the more obvious one is the perceived lower running cost Audi would like you to believe.Its only any good for the first owner who has the warranty.Once it gets into the second hand market it's buyer beware.

Long service oil changes don't do you or the car any good.Oil changes should be no longer than 10k miles on the more modern audis and more like 5k on much older stuff. I am looking at buying a more modern audi but am not interested in buying one with 70k with only 3 oil changes carried out. Penny pinching audi owner that says to me.Avoid like the plague!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am adding an edit to brighten up this thread.This Url somes up how i feel about some older Audis.Enjoy and think about the words and how they apply and make us feel about some of our beloved Audis.......... https://youtu.be/83I9El6C47A.............. Rock on fellas. Ha Ha Lol.

[leggy]

Originally Posted by missfire

Same place as the literally over one hundred million cars sold new in the UK in the last 30 years are, in the crusher, or on ebay unless her majesty's assholes run aother scrappage scheme.

There are 2300 20-30 year old cars on ebay right now. 33 of them are audis.

Ther are over 35 million vehicles on the road right now in the UK, if the old cars are better, why do businesses not use them?

I'm not asking the questions here, just stating facts, old cars give a different type of enjoyment. But they're not better. If they were there'd be a hell of a lot more of them on the road and a hell of a lot more than 2300 of them on ebay today.

Originally Posted by missfire

Do you have children? Unfortunately loyalty to all kinds of things goes out the window by default, you don't have a choice in the matter.

Ask yourself why those old cars are on eBay and not being sent to the crusher.
Business don't use the old cars because they are no longer being made and neither are the parts to maintain them.
I brought up the subject of old cars being better than new cars merely due to the cheap/flimsy way in which they are now being made, and I was merely stating that they have changed to the point of not being enjoyable anymore.

No I don't, but I still wouldn't buy a Kia, and I'd still take them out in my 80 if I did, because for me personally, my loyalties would not be solely based on a car full of gadgetry that does everything for you, but on the cars history, the true sense of enjoyment that only the old cars can provide, and in teaching my children about the importance of maintaining a car. That way at least, they would have more of a sense of a cars true value and would realise that racing them around like there's no tm not only puts their own lives at risk, but also puts the lives of other road users at risk.

[leggy]

Originally Posted by vorsprung durch technik

I can't believe this thread has generated 6 pages all over leggies dislike of a hire car....

Me neither vorsprung durch technik!!!
It's certainly taking my mind of what is likely to be a huge repair bill though, not to mention the poxy Toyota that's now sat in my parking bay.

[vorsprung durch technik]

Originally Posted by leggy

Me neither vorsprung durch technik!!!
It's certainly taking my mind of what is likely to be a huge repair bill though, not to mention the poxy Toyota that's now sat in my parking bay.

Mind boggling springs to mind. Leggy....i added a little something on my first reply to shake up the boring farts and it's something that is intended as a reference to how i feel about my old audis and by the looks of it your undying passion for your 80.