Over the past 20 years, automakers have adopted many mechanical and maintenance ideals that make cars perform better, safer and more reliably than ever. These measures help their vehicles last longer and make for better investments than many vehicles built prior and during the Regan administration.
Why?
Advances in computer controlled engine management and general vehicle functions helps optimize the vehicle’s life. Better, more inclusive warranties stretch the life of a vehicle’s components and more informative car care public information helps consumer’s basic understanding of their vehicles.
Add this up and you have a recipe for greater vehicular life.
Sure, there are many automotive owners who have kept their carbureted, pre-airbag, non computerized vehicles running in top form. Usually, these are enthusiasts or mechanically inclined people who understand far more intricate details about their vehicle.
Automobiles have never been easier to run and maintain – for everybody. Of course there are abused machines from every decade, but on a whole, the past 20 years has yielded mass improvements in engineering. Granted, the good-old-days of tinkering with power-plants is pretty much in the past; this is depressing for DIY mechanics, but joyous news for most consumers.
Do you remember the multitude of vacuum lines from cars built in the 80s? One loose line would spell disaster. Emissions systems of the 80s were a joke on many machines and shortened several engine’s lives. How about rust and contamination of nearly new vehicles from the 70s? My brother had a 1978 Chevrolet Monza that began to rust and peel by 1980.