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Should "Beaters" Be Taken Off the Road?

124

Comments

  • gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    which car were you driving? Hope it is not serious.

    I steer clear of those beaters whenever possible. Not so bad with a truck or big SUV. I straddled a big piece of something yesterday out on Interstate 8 I thought it was going to hit something underneath when I ran over it. Thank goodness for 9 inch clearance.
  • nippononlynippononly Member Posts: 12,555
    Yeah, I was in the Echo, I think it has about FIVE inch clearance. But then, this piece that broke off was BIG. Chances were good it would have snagged on something underneath and dragged no matter the ground clearance. :-(

    2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)

  • boaz47boaz47 Member Posts: 2,747
    I am sorry to hear about your mishap my friend. It is no fun when something happens to your ride. How much damage did it do and will it be hard to fix?

    Getting back on track I sometimes worry about what some people call a beater. My second car is a 92 Sun Bird with 32,000 miles on it. It gets 26MPG and works very well as a daily driver. I can save the Tahoe for bad weather, weekend trips and going out to dinner with friends. I have kept the Pontiac in good shape yet still some people call it a beater.
  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,652
    Getting back on track I sometimes worry about what some people call a beater. My second car is a 92 Sun Bird with 32,000 miles on it. It gets 26MPG and works very well as a daily driver. I can save the Tahoe for bad weather, weekend trips and going out to dinner with friends. I have kept the Pontiac in good shape yet still some people call it a beater.

    I think "beater" is one of those words that can have multiple meanings, like so many words in the English language. For instance, if you see some dogpile driving down the road, losing parts and spewing chemicals along the way, that's one definition of a beater. But in another sense, when you have a car to drive and run into the ground and keep the miles off your good car, and you really don't care if something happens to it, then that's your beater. Even if it's in good shape.

    For example, my uncle's '03 Corolla, which he bought to keep the miles off his '97 Silverado, is his beater. And I'm sort of to the point now where my 2000 Intrepid is my beater. Even if it's my newest car!
  • nippononlynippononly Member Posts: 12,555
    Well, I think there is a difference between your own car that you call a beater, and what others seeing your car might call a beater.

    YOUR beater is probably an older car with low maintenance and operation costs that you use in foul weather and to keep miles off your newer ride.

    OTHER PEOPLES' beaters have to meet one of the following conditions, IMO:
    - belching smoke every time it moves
    - enough body damage to cause its sheet metal to extend beyond its original "footprint" (applies to my miscreant of yesterday)
    - body damage causing it to have inoperative or patched-together lights, reflectors, or signals and/or missing glass - my little "friend" from yesterday qualified on this count too.
    - riddled with rust
    - brakes and/or suspension that is shot (this one is less evident to the casual observer), or bald tires (and I mean BALD, not just worn)

    My incident yesterday smashed one of the underbody trays - it is plastic and should be cheap to replace, I figure it is not urgent. However, that in turn connected to the left front wheel well, where the inner wall is now hanging down in such a way that whenever I go around right-hand turns, ti rubs on the tire and makes a loud noise. That's probably not urgent either, mechanically speaking, but it is annoying me every time it occurs, so I will probably get it fixed next week.

    I'm sick of beaters, and I'm sick of car owners being so irresponsible about the upkeep of their vehicles. :-(

    2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)

  • lemkolemko Member Posts: 15,261
    My cars fall into three categories:

    Good Car = 1989 Cadillac Brougham
    Everyday Car = 2007 Cadillac DTS Performance
    Beater = 1988 Buick Park Avenue

    My newest car is practically becoming another good car like my Brougham as I don't like driving it in the winter as it is black and a royal pain to keep clean in inclement weather. It doesn't help that the city recently threw down an ocean's worth of salt on the streets.

    I would drive the 2002 Seville STS just about every day when I had it and reserved the Park Ave for really bad weather or excursions into the less desirable parts of the city. My Park Ave has been driven 99.5% of the time these days.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    I think "beater" has to have cosmetic implications, like "salt car" does. In other words a true beater has to look BAD.
  • lemkolemko Member Posts: 15,261
    ...I never let a car get to the point of being a beater to the point it was offensive-looking, offensively polluting, overtly unreliable, and downright dangerous to be on the road. I would either get rid of the car or scrap it before it got to that point.
  • oldfarmer50oldfarmer50 Member Posts: 22,559
    "...In other words a true beater has to LOOK bad..."

    That's a slippery slope my friend. I could classify your car as a beater simply because I didn't like it's LOOKS. Subjective classifications like that lead to snobbery.

    I don't care how a car looks as long as those looks don't indicate underlying safety concerns. I drive some pretty beat-up vehicles but they all are maintained.

    "You can have my beater when you pry the steering wheel that just came off in my cold dead hands" ;)

    2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible

  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    "If it's cheap and it runs," it will find a home in Mexico, Zavala said.

    That's precisely what is worrying environmentalists and new-car dealers, who say falling trade barriers are fueling an invasion of smoky junkers. More than 3 million late-model vehicles have rumbled legally south of the border in the last 2 1/2 years. Millions more are on the way, thanks to the North American Free Trade Agreement.

    The vintage metal is rattling Mexico's retail car market. Sales of new vehicles have stalled at 1.1 million a year as used imports have overtaken them. Sales of new subcompacts -- the most popular class of cars in Mexico because of their price -- skidded 16.4% last year as buyers snapped up cheaper, roomier used vehicles from the U.S."

    In Mexico, old U.S. cars find new homes (LA Times - if you can't view it, try a Google News search for the headline.)
  • boaz47boaz47 Member Posts: 2,747
    It has to be more than looks. If it were looks the xB starts out as a beater. :P

    But in truth there are some vehicles we see that should be taken off of the road. Not like the Japanese do however. We don't need to retire a vehicle just because it is old.
  • gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    I can tell you for a fact what many vehicles are used for. I traded a 1978 Honda Accord to Drew Ford here in San Diego. My ex-wife had driven it from Minnesota to NM then here for 3 years. She never got new tags. I traded it in on an Escort for her. In 1987 it still had 1983 MN tags. Never stopped in CA or NM. In 1990 the Highway Patrol called and said they had our 78 Accord in San Jose. It was being used to smuggle illegals from Mexico. It still had the 1983 MN tags. I explained that I had traded it in to Drew Ford and never heard anymore about it.

    That story I am sure is duplicated over and over with wholesale car auctions. Cars get sold and re-sold over and over. Used in who knows what kind of clandestine operations.

    PS
    It was a beater after about 3 years.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    It's not subjective. They call it a "beater" because it looks like somebody BEAT on it with a baseball bat. That's the whole cognitive function of the word.

    But yes "beater" also implies a lack of safety and a strong aura of neglect. It is MEANT to be a derogatory term.

    Just because you have a grass stain on your Levis that doesn't make you a bum, so a couple dents in your car doesn't mean you have a "beater".

    But if you have red tape on your tail light lenses and Goodyear Bald Eagles on your rims, you could be driving a beater and not know it! :P
  • oldfarmer50oldfarmer50 Member Posts: 22,559
    "...But if you have red tape on your tail lenses and Goodyear Bald Eagles..."

    LOL. I love it. "Goodyear Bald Eagles". How much does a set of those cost. :)

    I have a 1985 F-150 pick-up that I use for farm work that looks like it has been through a war. It ain't pretty but I keep everything fixed and up to specs. If you just went on looks it would be taken out and shot. I bet it is safer than some of these late model cars that have never had the oil changed and go years without service or inspections.

    I've got no problem taking dangerous cars out of service but it has to be more than a beauty contest. If junkers are endangering the public it is up to the respective states to enact inspection laws. The laws here in New York are a PITA but they tend to weed out the really bad vehicles.

    I worry that if we set the bar too high the burden will fall hard on people who are too poor to afford better.

    2019 Kia Soul+, 2015 Mustang GT, 2013 Ford F-150, 2000 Chrysler Sebring convertible

  • jlawrence01jlawrence01 Member Posts: 1,757
    Good.

    Let's retaliate. Let me go down to Mexico, purchase and import one of the many subcompact models that are readily available down there ...
  • jlawrence01jlawrence01 Member Posts: 1,757
    If junkers are endangering the public it is up to the respective states to enact inspection laws. The laws here in New York are a PITA but they tend to weed out the really bad vehicles.

    If you are going to have a state inspection where the car has to undergo inspection once a year for safety issues like in Virginia, I am all for it.

    If you are going to have an inspection like in Missouri where honest shops like WalMart fail 35% of the vehicles and other places fail NOONE, forget about it. It irritates me when my car fails inspection when there is a crack in my headlight plastic yet another vehicle with MAJOR front-end damage (including a missing headlight) passes.

    BTW, I see some great looking 1980-1990 Chevy Caprices and older GM cars with no rust and in good shape in Chicagoland. Unfortunately, I never make it to the estate sales that they are offered at.
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Let me go down to Mexico, purchase and import one of the many subcompact models that are readily available down there ...

    I sort of like the Ford Ka (no one else did - it's no longer offered in MX as of last month due to poor sales) and you can't beat the old VWs (I guess they finally quit making them a few years ago).

    For real, I could see myself driving an Nissan X-Trail. Nissan sold those in Canada too but I don't know if they are still on the market up there. Boxier than a Rogue, more like an old Cherokee.
  • jlawrence01jlawrence01 Member Posts: 1,757
    Personally, from Mexico, I liked the Nissan Tsuru and the Pugeot 206 and a few others.
  • bumpybumpy Member Posts: 4,425
    Sadly, this is the last year for the Tsuru. 18 years is a good run for the B13 Sentra.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    YEAH. Peugeot 206 turbo diesel. Nice little car.
  • jlawrence01jlawrence01 Member Posts: 1,757
    YEAH. Peugeot 206 turbo diesel. Nice little car.

    Saw a lot of them in McAllen, TX. In fact, I was so smitten with the vehicle, I chased the car 10 miles to Reynosa in order to figure out what it was. Heck of a nice looking car and I am not a car person.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    Today I got behind what I call a 'Joe Dirt Special' - this time it was an early 90s Chevy fullsize truck, with commercial plates and some junk in the back. It was pretty banged up...and when the driver would hit the gas (from like 0-20), it would smoke worse than a poorly tuned 220D under hard acceleration, a nice plume of thick black smoke. Who knows what else was wrong with it....but this is the kind of thing I see as a beater.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    Ah YES! A true "beater" should smell bad, that's a plus. Or at least smoke badly. But that black sooty belching of hydrocarbons as the car rocks back and forth on 7 cylinders---it doesn't get much better than that! It helps though if the side view mirror is loose so that the glass quivers with the engine. That's a nice touch.

    And twine run through the punched out trunk lock hole is a pretty good credential. And of course, a coat hanger around the tail pipe is...well....classic.

    I think a beater should say something...it should say...."Stay away from this car".
  • gagricegagrice Member Posts: 31,450
    The beaters that scare me the most are the stake bed trucks coming up from Mexico to haul stuff back down. I see them loaded so high with old appliances, leaning like the tower of Pizza. Or enough old bald tires to fill a football stadium, stacked to the heavens. They are usually in the right lane on the freeway headed South. Coughing, sputtering, smoking and swaying their way toward home. I have never seen one stopped by the Highway Patrol. It is like they don't exist.
  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,652
    If you are going to have a state inspection where the car has to undergo inspection once a year for safety issues like in Virginia, I am all for it.


    I've heard though, that those yearly inspections aren't all they're cracked up to be. PA has a yearly one too, and I think West Va might, as well. Here in Maryland, a used car only gets inspected when you first register it. Back in 2001 I bought a 1979 5th Ave from a little sales lot in West Va. The seller said he'd guarantee it to pass inspection in PA, VA, or West Va, but in Maryland, I was on my own, and good luck with that! So I'm guessing the Maryland inspection is a lot more stiingent?

    Luckily, I got through it without too much trouble. Obligatory headlight adjustment, new rear brake shoes, some minor suspension work, and one new tire.

    BTW, I see some great looking 1980-1990 Chevy Caprices and older GM cars with no rust and in good shape in Chicagoland. Unfortunately, I never make it to the estate sales that they are offered at.

    I've always had a soft spot for those old beasts. Comfy, roomy, decent fuel economy for their size, cheap to fix, okay handling with the right tires, and easy on the eye.
  • jlawrence01jlawrence01 Member Posts: 1,757
    Andre,

    The inspections in Virginia looked fairly reliable. They would adjust headlights and at least, would go through the vehicles.

    The ones in Missouri were a joke. People, hearing that my car failed for something minor, gave me a list of a station where it would pass for a small fee. And of course, never take it to WalMart as they were very straight.

    Drove a 2003 Intrepid this weekend. Wish I had one off lease when I needed a car last year. The gas mileage wasn't that great though.
  • hpmctorquehpmctorque Member Posts: 4,600
    I predict that as generic green transportation capsules replace today's cars in showrooms, due to federal mileage and emissions regulations, more people will keep their beaters rather than scrap them. Look for the average age of vehicles to rise.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    That will probably turn out to be true unless air quality starts to deteriorate again in major problem areas. Right now, it's obvious that 40 years of emission regulation has cleaned up the air considerably. If the air quality starts to plunge however, and auto emissions are part of the culprit, then you'll no doubt see a "war on beaters", or at least on gross polluters.

    What we call 'beaters" nowadays are probably still emission-controlled vehicles. It's not like the old days, the 60s, when one car's emissions might be the equivalent of 60 modern car's output.

    I was disappointed that "sniffer" technology never worked out, wherein a state vehicle could sniff the tailpipe of a visually offending car. I often see cars spewing black (not blue) smoke and I know that this vehicle is putting out enough hydrocarbons to drop birds out of trees. These vehicles should be off the road.
  • lemkolemko Member Posts: 15,261
    Generic green transportation modules are one thing, but the primary reason people will keep their beaters rather than scrap them is that many can no longer afford new or even late model used cars. Lower-income and frugal people will keep their older cars on the road for a longer period of time, especially during this dismal economy. I intend to keep my '88 Buick Park Avenue as long as possible barring any serious accidents or catastrophic mechanical failures.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    All well and good but nobody has the right to poison the air with a car that isn't running on all its cylinders, for instance. In fact, nobody has the "right" to drive under the law, much less drive a gross polluter. Driving is a privilege granted by the state by means of a license and a registration.

    There are plenty of 8 cylinder beaters to be had for cheap. One doesn't need to be driving a 7 cylinder beater. You can buy running beaters on craigslist for $500 bucks. If you can't afford that, you can't afford insurance, and that is totally irresponsible behavior IMO.
  • hpmctorquehpmctorque Member Posts: 4,600
    I recently read that average vehicle age is increasing, due to the employment situation and consumer confidence. Of course, vehicle quality generally improved steadily since the '70s and '80s, so higher average age may not necessarily mean there are more beaters on the road than, say, five years ago. The "Cash-For-Clunkers" program removed quite a few of them. Your thoughts; are there more of fewer beaters in service than five years ago?
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    That would be pretty hard to measure I would think. Probably the best you could do to get an answer is track the average age of cars on the road. They do calculate things like that.

    I'm not so sure that the modern cars built in say 2000--2001 (given that the average age of cars on the road is something like, roughly, 9-10 years) would TOLERATE being neglected like an old 1970s American V8 would be.

    In the old days, when Shiftright was younger and the earth was still cooling, you could easily patch up a car and keep it running. But now, all the duct tape in the world is not going to fix a faulty MAF sensor, nor can you disassemble your little DOHC 4 cylinder motor in your driveway so easily and hand-lap a new valve into the cylinder head.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    Thanks to modern paint and body panels, most cars age a lot better than they used to, so I would say as time goes on there are less "beater" looking things on the road. But I would assume in the past few years there are more cars on the road with marginal brakes and tires etc, not to mention deferred maintenance otherwise.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    certainly people will skimp on things like tires and body work---all but the crazies go without brakes, though.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    I bet there are a lot more older highline cars going without expensive scheduled servicing, too. I am sure there are more warped brake rotors lately.

    I once drove my fintail knowing fully well it had a leaking brake line, I told myself it had "3 or 4 stops left"...but this was on deserted residential streets for only about a mile on the way to the shop.
  • lemkolemko Member Posts: 15,261
    Rust isn't this issue it once was. A lot of cars would be fine mechanically, but rust had seriously compromised the structural integrity of the bodies.
  • lemkolemko Member Posts: 15,261
    My local mechanic was just telling me about a lot of low-income people trying to look rich cheaply with older Mercedes and BMWs. They couldn't afford to properly repair their cars nor were they really willing to. Instead of following the proper maintenance intervals, these people would drive the car until something broke, then ask him to do a "band-aid" repair just to get the car running again.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    edited October 2010
    And most of those cars can limp along with a lot of faults that would be prohibitive to fix. Looking rich cheaply doesn't work...a 10-15 year old S class or 7 series with cheap heavy big Chinese made wheels and tacky chrome B-pillar trim doesn't look rich, it looks poserfied. An old rich looking car is pristine and stock.

    Regarding rust...bodies don't rust like they used to, but I bet some cars still get some structural rot, especially in the suspension.
  • lemkolemko Member Posts: 15,261
    edited October 2010
    I don't put any of that self-destructive aftermarket garbage on any of my cars. My 1989 Cadillac Brougham is pristine and stock as it was when it was new. I don't even use non-GM parts for wiper blades or oil filters. There's an older lady in my neighborhood with a pristine early W126. She kept it bone-stock and that car looks far sharper than any of those newer molested examples with the cheap blingy wheels. I've even seen one knucklehead put aftermarket Buick portholes on his 7-Series.
  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,652
    Regarding rust...bodies don't rust like they used to, but I bet some cars still get some structural rot, especially in the suspension.

    I've heard some mechanics say that suspensions are actually LESS durable and long-lived than they used to be! Supposedly, the older suspensions that had all the grease fittings you had to lubricate every so often actually were more reliable...IF you kept them greased up, that is!

    And I guess it would make sense that, with the proliferation of independent rear suspensions, they'd be more complicated than the simpler, older live axles of yesteryear.

    I dunno how much truth there is to that, though. Thinking back, I think the only suspension-related work my 2000 Intrepid needed was one new bearing hub around 130,000 miles, and then the other around 138,000. My 2000 Park Ave needed new swaybark links around 60,000 miles. I'll have to ask my stepdad if their '99 Altima ever needed any suspension work. That thing has about 320,000 miles on it now, and still looks pretty good. They offered to sell it to me really cheap, and I was tempted, but with that kind of mileage, it's a rolling time bomb, no matter how nice it may look.

    Going back a bit further though, I don't think my '85 Silverado, with around 134,000 miles on it, has ever had any suspension work, although it does need it. Grandma's '85 LeSabre needed new upper ball joints around 144,000 miles. I don't think my '86 Monte Carlo, which Mom bought new, ever needed any suspension work in the 192,000 miles that it lived.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    You have the classy old luxury car, just like a pristine W126. Those cars speak of more money or class than their neglected or messed up 10 year newer relations.

    Wheels and stick on chrome trim are the worse offenders. I loathe the chrome rings posers put around the front and rear lights of some MB. Big 20"+ wheels are also inexcusable.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    edited October 2010
    From what I have seen of some Toyotas and even a run of late 90s MB, modern cars can be be bitten by the rust bug too. A rusted out spring perch is a common failure on some late 90s E-class that live in harsh areas.

    My E55 needed some front suspension component at 45K miles - I forget what it was, probably related to cruddy local roads and lots of tight parking garage maneuvers. Warranty covered it.

    The fintail needed new kingpins at about 200K, and it got some bushings and junk then too, along with a steering bushing. Other than that, I don't bother with it...it has old bits, but its an unrestored car. Maintaining it as new just isn't economically feasible.
  • nippononlynippononly Member Posts: 12,555
    that made cars beaters 20 years ago still apply today: let the brake and tire maintenance go, let the bodywork go, etc. Yes, the mechanicals of today's cars need less maintenance than they did 2 decades ago, but brakes, tires, suspension, and emissions systems wear out just as quickly as ever.

    Meaning we are in worse shape with respect to beaters today than we were two years ago, because in that time about 8 million people who would have replaced their cars in years past decided not do so because of the economy. I would bet good money that the average age of the roadgoing fleet increased by a year or more just in the last two. So if 9 years is now the average age of a car, we have a significant number out there that are 12 years old or more. On their original suspension, with balding tires, and screeching brakes.......watch out! ;-)

    2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)

  • lemkolemko Member Posts: 15,261
    edited October 2010
    I've been told you can tell the general condition of a car just by looking at the wheels and tires. Wheels coated with brake dust and grime and bald tires are a good sign the remainder of the vehicle was neglected as well.

    Just after WWII, the average age of a car was 7 years old and the majority of the nation's rolling stock was about on its last legs. This fueled the huge sellers market following the war.
  • nippononlynippononly Member Posts: 12,555
    ....and 9+ years of neglect can get a car into pretty bad shape. I definitely don't want a beater like that anywhere near me on the freeway, ESPECIALLY behind me.

    I have a friend whose folks have a 12 year old Camry, ALWAYS has at least two bald tires, cracked windshield, and I drove it once - scary experience, the front suspension is totally shot, the thing just bounces everywhere. Yet it's still a daily driver, and they take that thing out on the freeway every day. Perfect example of the kind of car I DON'T want behind me on the freeway when all the traffic suddenly slows down......

    2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)

  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    edited October 2010
    I remember putting matchsticks in the generator of my mid-70's SuperBeetle to keep the brushes pushed in. Back then you'd adjust the valves on those old Bugs every 3,000 miles.

    Nowadays I think it's easier to neglect cars and get away with it. You sure can't kludge a fix on a sensor, but they don't go bad all that often.

    Back in the day, you could get 3 years out of a new car before you really had to start repairing and replacing stuff besides the wear and tear items. I didn't do much at all on my '82 Tercel that I drove for 17 years; I got 10 years out of a Voyager (thanks to the extended warranty) and my current rides are both in their second decade of service.

    We thought about trading in the '99 Quest during Cash for Clunkers, but nothing really appealed all that much. It still runs good and we put 10,000 miles on it the last couple of months doing road trips, and just passed 150,000 miles. I wouldn't hesitate to hop in it tomorrow and drive cross-country.

    I think new cars tolerate neglect pretty darn good. Shoot, that reminds me - I'm overdue (as usual) for an oil change. Last one was back in March, a little over 12,000 miles ago. :)

    And like Fin says, the paint is so much better these days the old rides still clean up pretty well.
  • anythngbutgmanythngbutgm Member Posts: 4,277
    My buddy came across this a week or so ago when we were discussing his old lemon Sierras.

    Like a Rust

    Yup, same thing was already happening on the bumpers of his 04 and 06 Sierras that he had before he got his Tundra. Harsh New Enlgand winters... :sick:
  • hpmctorquehpmctorque Member Posts: 4,600
    edited October 2010
    Sorry, but your handle suggests that you're hardly an unbiased source of information. Do you have any impartial comparisons on rusting for GM and Toyota trucks to support your inference that GMs rust more than Toyotas?
  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,652
    Well, here's a happy GM truck story. I let a buddy borrow my '85 Silverado, and today he said it was shifting funny. I drove it, and sure enough, it was holding the gears too long. It wouldn't shift into 2nd until around 35-40, and wouldn't go into 3rd until around 55.

    My first thought was crap, another unexpected expense I don't need. But then I remembered my '67 Catalina did the same thing, just with a harsher lurch, and 3rd not engaging until almost 70. That just turned out to be a vacuum leak. So, I was hoping it would be the same thing with my truck. However, I couldn't find the problem on the Catalina, and had needed to pay the mechanic to do it, and I was worried the same thing would happen with the truck. But I decided to take a chance and look under it, and see if I saw anything. And sure enough, there was this long black hose dangling down, almost as if to taunt me. I saw a metal tube that looked like where it would fit, shoved it in place, test drove it, and voila!

    So, the old rustbucket has had a stay of execution. Although honestly, even if it needed a transmission rebuild, I'd probably do it. The local shop said with a transmission that simple, they could do it for around $650.

    Oh, on the subject of rusty GM trucks, I have to say my uncle's '97 Silverado ain't holding up so hot. Now, my '85 looks worse, because the rust is visible on the body parts. But last fall, he got his truck stuck in my back field when he drove back there to dump some leftover deer parts (don't ask, long story. :P ), and I had to pull him out with my '85. I remember when I hooked the chain underneath his truck, being shocked at how rusty it was. Everything seemed covered in scale, and it seemed to be getting pretty thick, to the point I could foresee bolts being hard to get out, welds that probably weren't long for this worlds, etc.

    In contrast, my '85 still looks pretty good underneath. And the odd thing is, my '85 has spent a lot of time parked on the grass and such, which can't be good for them. His '97 has spent most of its life on asphalt, or gravel at least.

    This is in Maryland though, where our winters aren't all that brutal (although '09-10 wasn't exactly a picnic). I'm sure in New England, both the '85 and '97 would be ancient history.
  • greg128greg128 Member Posts: 526
    Rust isn't this issue it once was

    tell that to the thousands of Toyota Tundra and Tacoma owners whose
    frames are rusting away to the point of being unsafe to drive
This discussion has been closed.