Mundane resistors out of stock, what's going on?

I remember the bad old days of points and plugs fouling, carburetor problems, flat tires, brake problems, bad plug wires, things shaking loose, oil leaks, oil changes every 3000 miles, and carrying a tool kit in the trunk. Cars are amazingly complex now, and incredibly reliable.

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John Larkin         Highland Technology, Inc 

lunatic fringe electronics

That guy made up silly numbers. My car is a 2008 Audi, and nothing electronic has failed.

The transmission did, and some wheel bearings, but those were mechanical. Under warranty!

Several light bulbs failed, the filament kind. The electronic gas-discharge headlights and LED instrument panel are fine.

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John Larkin         Highland Technology, Inc 

lunatic fringe electronics

Maybe they expected a component shortage?

Rick C.

I don't believe for a minute that a car can run for 21 years and have zero problems. Or did the cars actually get driven? There are always some issues like alternators, water pumps, sticky windows etc, or do you consider that as maintenance?

Rick C.

Nope. They're now mandatory, effective May 1. The regulation was issued in 2014 but didn't become effective until now.

Some believe the Earth is flat. Beliefs don't change facts.

Absolutely! I remember having to have carbs replaced EVERY YEAR and standing in 33F rain, replacing points, and changing a tire on the breakdown lane of an Interstate, after a blowout.

Of course, you won't be interested in it because it takes more than

It's a fact. Only the usual scheduled maintenance.

78,000 miles total now. I used it for commting early on. Now that I am self-employed and cycling a lot it's 1000mi/year max. I just had to buy a battery tender because of that.

There were no such issues and no, I do not consider it that maintenance.

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Regards, Joerg 

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Depends on the car. There were huge differences in quality between brands and to some extent there still are. My old Citroen needed a lot of repairs. They were simple but it is still aggravating when something breaks. Same with a Chrysler. OTOH both my Audi and my Mitsubishi never gave me a lick of trouble and I drove those a lot longer and harder.

--
Regards, Joerg 

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

t-highway/

ows etc,

OK, 3k miles per year, around 20% of typical usage. Cars don't fail with t ime, they fail with usage. My truck has seen over three times that usage i n 21 years. It did have a few early failures on the bathtub curve, but did n't have any other issues until nearly 100,000 miles. Most of the early is sues were actually design problems.

Rick C.

Harder? You mean 79k miles?

Rick C.

I sold my previous car, an Audi station wagon, at 100k miles. The next owner put roughly another 100k miles on it. Only the usual maintenance. It was 30 years old when he sold it. I don't know who owns it now but that sure is a reliable vehicle.

My wife's Toyota didn't want to pass smog after 22 years. How dare it! Turned out the EGR path needed some cleaning. That was it, no new parts needed. One can't ask for better.

A neighbor has a Toyota pickup truck from the 70's. Hard use, lots of miles and the paint is totally faded. It runs and runs and runs. That one has hardly any electronics except maybe for the ignition. The first owner was too cheap to order it with a radio. He also regularly let it go until the oil looked like espresso and the dip stick barely showed anything. Oil filter? What's that? Still, no problems.

--
Regards, Joerg 

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

By harder I mean schlepping half a ton of firewood over rutted dirt roads and stuff. The Citroen and the Chrysler would have collapsed. The Chrysler literally did later, coil spring showed up in the passenger compartment, along with a cloud of rust.

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Regards, Joerg 

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

well it can, but one can diy fix it. With all these electronic systems, not really, and they get expensive.

NT

Even a 1902 car had more reliable carbs than that. 1890s not so much.

NT

In past times, if you wanted reliable parts you bought JAN or JAN-TX or RN's or CSR's... military qualified parts. Nowadays, if you want reliable parts, you buy automotive grade.

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John Larkin   Highland Technology, Inc   trk 

jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com 
http://www.highlandtechnology.com

He just called you a liar. He does that a lot.

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John Larkin   Highland Technology, Inc   trk 

jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com 
http://www.highlandtechnology.com

After the Lincoln Highway (just down the road from here) was completed in 1913, a coast to coast car journey was a major adventure.

From the Wiki article,

According to the Association's 1916 Official Road Guide a trip from the Atlantic to the Pacific on the Lincoln Highway was "something of a sporting proposition" and might take 20 to 30 days.

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John Larkin   Highland Technology, Inc   trk 

jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com 
http://www.highlandtechnology.com

It is amazing that you are witness to so many out of the ordinary events. Have you been looking at a power line transformer at the moment lightning h it it? I have a friend who witnessed that.

It doesn't matter what happens with the cars you drive or the cars your fri ends drive. What matters is the typical or the average. It is *far* beyon d average for a car to go 200,000 miles without needing any repairs. I sup pose when they tore off the front of the Toyota truck to replace the timing belt they replaced the water pump too preventing a failure there. How man y other preventative measures were taken which technically don't count as f ailures.

Averages are averages. Toyota makes vehicles that need fewer repairs than other brands, but they are still machines, machines with design flaws. I'v e had to repair the A/C in my T100 twice, so I guess that cancels out your friend's no repair record... on the average. Toyota A/C units have a worse than average repair record according to Consumer Reports. I think you've just been lucky with your cars. Don't think your experience is the same as others.

Rick C.