[V8] [LAC] Facing Reality ...

[Dave Saad]

I think you are correct in your assessment that there is no way a new car will last 20 years - simply because they are too complex to be repaired at a reasonable cost when they hit the ten year mark.  That is one reason I am steering clear of newer Audis. ( I am pretty sure my next car will be a Ford Flex)
Ironically, I just cleaned out my glove box (on the V8) and found most of the smog test results for the last ten years - and the numbers still look great with little change in them.
Odd as it may seem, the V8 is not complex compared to most new cars. The 3.6L does not even have an EGR valve.  I think if you want to drive an older car, your V8's will be fine.
They do have problems with brittle wires though. In fact, my IAT wires also needed some attention 10 years ago - and they were cracked then.  Even so, I don't see any reason a guy like you with tech know how couldn't  keep these beasties running another 10 years.
Be strong Steve!

On the other hand, a friend of mine drives a mid-60s Buick Wildcat convertible. I could see something like that.  They get terrible mileage though and if you think parts are hard to find for a 91 V8...
That car is for sale by the way.  Probably just barely north of free.  It is complete and never wrecked but has rust and the interior is toast. Still, the right person could bring it back to its former glory.

Dave

On Jan 6, 2011, at 10:00 PM, urq wrote:

> What I'm finding as I work on #2's IAT wiring . along with some discussions
> with a neighbor who has an even newer M5 . has me contemplating what sort of
> vehicle I need to move to for the future . 
> 
> 
> 
> Regarding the Intake Air Temp sensor issue . as I'm repairing the wiring I
> realize that the insulation on the wiring in the engine compartment is now
> brittle and will continue to fail in spots.  The V8s are celebrating their
> 20th birthday this model year and I fear that I'm in for tracking down
> electrical failures X 2 as long as I keep them around.  
> 
> 
> 
> The friend of mine with the M5 barely got his car to pass smog . I don't
> know what year it is, but it is somewhere like 10 years younger than the V8.
> I'm not an expert on this car, but as he explained it there's some sort of
> EGR-like system that engages while the engine is warming up to minimize
> emissions.  This system consists of some number of small tubes that get
> plugged, and there's no way the car will pass smog when they are plugged.
> You can't clean the thing out, and repair sounds like a $10K project,
> involving disassembling the engine.  
> 
> 
> 
> Even though the emissions laws require the power train be designed to pass
> emissions for something like 80K miles, I'm thinking that the day has passed
> where people can expect a car they purchase today to be running well and
> free from major expenses for timeframes in the 20 year range.  Modern cars
> have so many parts . many of which have to endure life outside the passenger
> compartment during the car's life.  Oh that I had come to this realization
> before buying that '09 F-150!
> 
> 
> 
> While I hear the smog Nazis are working to change the rules, for now in
> California (notice not Kahleefohnia any more) if you have a car built before
> 1974 it doesn't need to undergo biennial smog checks . so I'm thinking that
> I should understand what sort of cars were available in the era before smog
> checks and work to find something I can make reliable enough to be something
> the family can depend on.  This is the purpose of the post . to see what
> sort of recommendations I'd get for a vehicle of the scale of our V8Qs.  As
> I recall the offerings were poor in those days . my family had a '72 Chevy
> Impala with a low compression V8 engine to minimize emissions . I'd bet most
> of them are piles of rust today.  My initial thoughts were that most likely
> I'd be talking about something like a Mercedes-Benz 450SE/SEL.  The funny
> thing is that the wife and I strongly prefer manual transmissions over
> automatics, but I don't know if it was possible to buy a full size sedan
> with an MT in those days.  
> 
> 
> 
> My secondary thinking is that it would be great to find a vehicle into which
> I could install a newer, more efficient, lower emission powerplant . one for
> which I would be free from smog check phobia due to the age of the vehicle.
> This means that I'm thinking the robustness of the carriagework is more
> important than that of the engine.  
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
> 
> Steve Buchholz
> 
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