I would wager that 80% of cars that are crushed (which weren't in an accident) could be repaired (if broken) or 'fixed up' to operate better than the last owner thought possible for less than a days work and perhaps a few hundred dollars.
I do appreciate your point, but I think people are far too afraid of older cars and they are scrapped too soon.
I was hoping to convince some folk in this tech community that old cars can be a good idea. Save money, have fun, help the environment. Hell, buy an old Rolls Royce... why not?!
You may have luxury of feeling that way -- most people do not. The average age of the US auto fleet is significantly older than it once was. 10+ year old cars are like 5-7x more common than they were 10-15 year ago.
Hell, I drive a 2003 model year car that isn't going anywhere.
Mostly just wanted to point out that there are two numbers that drive how many new cars are sold:
1) Increase in total number of vehicles in use (relatively level 2008-2013, a quick google didn't find newer data)
2) Old vehicles taken off the road being replaced by new ones
The net effect of a particular person buying a slightly used car over a new one is basically nothing. The big picture only changes when people are choosing to keep an old car on the road for longer.
One of the side effects of emissions controls introduced in the late 90s is that cars are way more reliable. Basically these days most cars can easily achieve 200k miles or more without heroic labor.
I can't find a free source of the data, but I know in my state 10+ year old auto registrations spiked from 2008 onwards.
I live in Mexico, and a few hundred dollars will get you a complete new exhaust system for both your car and your partners car. It won't be OEM, but it will work.
And tires, I see that as a consumable like gasoline, so wouldn't include that in the few hundred dollars.
I totally buy the environmental impact argument on keeping that Mercedes vs buying the Tesla.
That isn't the only concern though. In a high speed collision against a modern 5-Star vehicle the people in the Mercedes are pretty much toast.
I think it's possible you could upgrade the safety of an older vehicle in many ways, but realistically most owners never would beyond tires and modest braking improvements. And you'll probably not see "city stop" like systems or airbag cocoons become common aftermarket systems anytime soon.
If I could install aftermarket side airbags I would. It's the main advance missing from the older cars.
I don't agree with your statement about the high speed collision though. If it's front on, the strength of the passenger compartment and the weight of your vehicle vs the other car are the most important thing, in which case the Mercedes is likely to come out even or better.
There's others on YouTube. It doesn't look pretty. A low belt-line doesn't help either (or so I've read, I'm not an automotive engineer).
I get the old car love. A P1800 or Volvo Amazon would be so cool. But you have to accept that even vehicles that were at the top of their game a decade ago are going to get the bad end of the stick in a wreck with a new vehicle. There's a 5th Gear video of a last-gen vs new Espace out there as well. Both 5-star rated at release. The new one absolutely demolished the old one. And we're talking about a much smaller time gap in releases here.
The W124 has only gotten more attractive with age. It's reliable and easy to service. It's better environmentally than running out and buying a Tesla. That's all admirable. and adults are totally capable of those outweigh safety for themselves.
But motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death among children and teens if you exclude suicide and cancer. If you could do something that would have a potentially large impact on that stat, as a parent, it's kind of hard to ignore.
(Which wow, that seems like a pretty stark class issue I've never considered before.)
I feel the same way. I drive a classic Range Rover, and it is a lot of fun. Yes, I spend around $2000 each year getting various components repaired or replaced, but that is enough to keep ahead of entropy, and between loan payments and the higher cost of insurance I'd be spending twice that or more on a newer vehicle. Plus, I have a relatively simple machine with no fancy DRM automation crap that won't report me to the FBI for crimethink.
Apparently you're 8 times more likely to die if your car is half the weight of the one you have a high speed collision with (sorry from memory no reference, could be bogus). Add to that the over-the-top strength of the Range Rover and even though it's a classic, I think you're going to be more likely to survive in a head on collision than 95% of other vehicles on the road.
That makes sense in a simple, back-of-the-envelope F=ma sort of way. I hadn't really thought about it from a safety perspective, though; it just suits my needs well. In general I'm happier to economize by buying really nice stuff that's cheaper because it's used, than by buying something newer that's just cheaper. It becomes an aesthetic thing - a feeling of shabby luxury suits me.
I do appreciate your point, but I think people are far too afraid of older cars and they are scrapped too soon.
I was hoping to convince some folk in this tech community that old cars can be a good idea. Save money, have fun, help the environment. Hell, buy an old Rolls Royce... why not?!