Interesting Finds

"Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness" (long-voyager-2nd-edition) 01/04/2019 at 07:13 • Filed to: findings, Rustbelt

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So after getting in a discussion about this article on vehicles people keep for 15 years :

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I decided to keep tabs last night on my way home from work. Here’s the breakdown as I counted:

63 GM vehicles.

48 Mopar vehicles.

47 FoMoCo vehicles.

8 Mazdas.

5 Toyotas.

3 Jaguars.

2 Hondas.

1 Subaru.

1 Mercedes.

1 BMW.

Most of the GMs/Dodges were still pretty nice looking, the FoMoCos were a mix batch. Strangely enough, the Mazdas were all very clean. 1 Toyota was nice ( OC would have flipped for it ) , the rest should have been junked years ago. The Jags were all mint. The Hondas shouldn’t have been on the road, nor should the Subaru or Mercedes. The BMW was a clapped out 318.

Thought these findings might interest someone. Have a Toyota failing for your time:

RacinBob > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness 01/04/2019 at 07:43

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40 years same owner....

E90M3 > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness 01/04/2019 at 07:55

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I would like to see if income played a role in people keeping cars for 15 years. I’m sure there are cases of people not being able to afford a new car and cases of others who could easily afford a new car dishing out 6k on a repair on a 15 year old Mercedes because they see no reason to buy a new car and this one has served them loyally for 15 years.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness 01/04/2019 at 08:41

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‘89 Camry
‘90 Corolla
‘97 Safari

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > RacinBob 01/04/2019 at 08:42

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Looks like you’ve taken good care of it, too. I had a lady was going to sell me her Chevette, but I guess she forgot. Hers was in nearly as good condition.

How many miles on this one?

Danimalk - Drives a Slow Car Fast > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness 01/04/2019 at 08:50

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Did that cars engine just... fall off??

shop-teacher > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness 01/04/2019 at 09:06

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I see way more American branded cars as a percentage of vehicles when I'm in Wisconsin, than I do driving around Chicagoland.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > RacinBob 01/04/2019 at 09:29

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At what point does it become a case of Stockholm syndrome?

Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness > shop-teacher 01/04/2019 at 10:02

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If I look at all vehicles, regardless of year, it’s a pretty even mix, maybe slightly more A merican brands, but not by much.

When I start keeping tabs of older vehicles, it sways far more towards American.

Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness > Danimalk - Drives a Slow Car Fast 01/04/2019 at 10:05

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Guessing too much boost from the supercharger caused it to literally “pop” off the top of the engine.

Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness > E90M3 01/04/2019 at 10:09

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I would venture to guess it does.

Then again, that doesn’t really explain the abundance of American brands vs the “reliable” foreign brands.

shop-teacher > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness 01/04/2019 at 10:22

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Wisconsin skews far more towards American brands than a lot of places. Noticably so, every time I go there. I rarely see a privately owned current g en Ford Taurus around here. They’re all over the place in the land of cheese.

E90M3 > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness 01/04/2019 at 10:27

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It seems to depend on locati on when it comes to American brands vs foreign brands, it seems more rural areas are skewed toward American brands while more urban areas are skewed toward foreign brands. Whatever reason that may be, I would assume it has to do with mainly accessibility to dealers and part availability as well as maybe a potential basis toward American brands.

Future next gen S2000 owner > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness 01/04/2019 at 10:37

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I think it was under sized bolts not being able to hold the inertia from that heavy top end. Looked like it snapped off at the intake. Too small of bolts holding too much weight too far away from the CG.  

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness 01/04/2019 at 10:45

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This. That car count would lead me to guess you’re in the M idwest. Every time I’m out there I’m always dumbstuck by the number of american cars on the road . Out west, the big 3 are certainly present in big numbers for trucks and SUV’s, but when it comes to cars they’re far less common. Since at least the 90's in the urban and suburban west , the presumption tends to be that folks actually owning a car made by the big 3 that isn’t a sports car or   are either M id western retirees who escaped the cold for their golden years , or poor.

McMike > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness 01/04/2019 at 11:04

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I hold on to shit for while. 

Van #1: 26 years

Jaguar: 24 years

Mini: 15 years

Van#2: 12 years

Motorcycle: 7 years

SpeedSix > Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness 01/04/2019 at 12:01

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Absolutely no surprise.

In the 1950s, when the first import boom happened, all sorts of European cars came over by ship, which means that they land in port cities. Large cities along the coast were more progressively open to the idea of foreign cars long before the M idwest. Tapping into the progressive mindset, for the first few years of sales of every Japanese automaker in the U.S., retail was solely concentrated on the West Coast - no dealers in the Midwest or Southwest at all.

Dense cities meant that a specialty garage for your import would likely be nearby. Being able to have your import serviced properly would mean that you’d be less likely to dismiss all imports as junk, leading to a better reputation and more sales.

If the local mechanic only knew how to maintain low-compression OHV V8s on an American maintenance schedule, they’d deride foreign cars as pieces of junk, and fewer people in the Midwest would take a chance on something that they couldn’t easily have serviced.

Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness > Future next gen S2000 owner 01/04/2019 at 12:04

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This is very possible as well.