Ode to the Air-Cooled Engine
No new cars, and just a dwindling handful of new motorcycles, have engines that rely on the air to cool them. Technically, it’s airflow which washes over the exterior surfaces of the engine (in some cases, is forced to wash over the exterior surfaces by an engine-driven fan—that’s you, old Beetle, old Corvair and also […]
Things You Can’t Do in a New Car
New cars can do all kinds of things—even drive themselves. But there were all kinds of things you could do in the cars of the past that you can’t do in new cars. Like Snuggle Up With Your Sweetheart, For Instance New cars and even new trucks have bucket seats and center consoles in between […]
A Shot across the Bow for Older Vehicles
One way to avoid having Big Brother riding shotgun is to buy a ride built before Big Brother came with the car or the truck. It has been legal since the dawn of the automobile age to buy a vehicle made before the advent of air bags, back-up cameras, driver “assistance” technology and all the rest of it—and […]
How Not to Sell Your Old Car
You want a new car or perhaps just a different car. What’s the best way to get rid of your current car? For most people, it will be the way that puts the most money in their pocket. Which isn’t the way many people do it. Trading it in This is probably the number one way to lose money […]
You’re in Good Hands with Auto Insurance Surveillance (Yeah, Right!)
Imagine if your insurance company knew immediately every time you drove faster than any speed limit, anywhere. Or that you failed to come to a complete dead stop at every stop sign before proceeding regardless of the need to come to a complete dead stop. Your insurance company also knew that you drove eight hours straight to visit […]
New Car Sales Are Flagging – Here’s Why
New car sales are down again for the seventh month in a row. Which means they’ve been slipping all year long so far. The last time it was this slow was about ten years ago, which was the last time the car business fell down and almost couldn’t get back up again. Several factors are in […]
Wash Your Car Yourself
One thing you can still do yourself is wash your car. And just as you used to be able to save a lot of money by working on your car, it’s possible to save money and more than you might think by cleaning your car yourself. It typically costs about $12 to run through a basic automated […]
Gimmicks and their Downsides
The problem with new cars is they’re too good for their own good. Well, too good for the car companies trying to sell new cars. Rust has become almost a non-problem. Reliability is a given. The internal combustion engine has been refined to near perfection; the huge gains made in the past from flatheads to overhead valves, from carburetors […]
No Scheduled Maintenance Needed!
One way that car companies attract business is by advertising that their vehicles are low-maintenance and sometimes no maintenance. This sounds too good to be true, and as is usually the case with such things, it is. Because of entropy. Things always wear out. Nothing lasts forever, and certainly not mechanical things. You can increase service intervals and reduce maintenance, but no maintenance is a […]
Another Way Uncle Costs Us
The fuel delivery system in a new car costs more than the entire engine used to cost. And still does — if you’re lucky enough to own a V8-powered American car or truck built before the mid-1990s. If you do, you can usually buy a brand-new/manufacturer-warranted crate engine for about $2,000. Compare that with the cost of […]