Richard, maybe I should get a Chromebooks LOL! Anyway, just to say that I enjoy these long post sometimes but I doubt I will ever write them. I think it's great that some of us write short posts. What if we all wrote long posts?!
On Monday, November 25, 2013 9:53 AM, "pundits...@gmail.com" <pundits...@gmail.com> wrote: P.S. I typed up this report on old cars using a new Acer Chromebook I bought for $199 at Best Buy and it was very clunky and kinda weird. Of course, I'm a half-blind four eyes, but it was a lot different than making a document on my Windows machine with the 26 inch Samsung monitor. Chromebooks are alright I guess, for browsing the web at Starbucks, but for authoring a long document they really suck, unless it's a Tweet or a one-liner to a discussion group. LoL! ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <punditster@...> wrote: Some guys just love to drive older cars. There are people that say newer cars are better because of all the technological advances that have been made in the last fifty years. Yes, that is true and I have used an OMBII engine analyzer to confirm this. Newer cars are more efficient, safer, faster, more dependable and more economical to operate. New cars don’t need tune-ups and they have air pollution systems. And I still prefer older cars. There are several things new cars just don’t have. First, simplicity. In my old car, a 1957 Chevy, I could change the spark plugs in ten minutes; one time I was driving home in the dark when the alternator light came on. So I pulled over to the Auto Zone, bought an alternator for $35, drove home on battery power, and swapped out the alternator in fifteen minutes without even using a flashlight. One time, I watched an ace mechanic replace a water pump on a 1970 Ford with just one hand (the other hand was in a bandage) and he was drunk too. LoL! These days if you take your car into the dealer for a new fuel pump they have to drop the fuel tank, drain it, and install an expensive pump, which could cost $500 or more. In my old Chevy there were two bolts holding the fuel pump on the inside of the fender and a replacement cost $30! Modern cars are very complex - hardly anyone works on new cars anymore - you have to take it into the dealer for servicing. The electrical system is very sophisticated on new cars - has anyone popped the hood on a new Camry to have a look around? You can't even see the engine under that funny plastic cover. On my old Chevy I could sit on the fender and dangle my legs inside the fenders! And, then there’s the cost. Have you priced a new Camry? The best deal I could find was $23,000 - that’s more than some houses cost! A new car depreciates about $2,000 the minute you drive IT off the lot. And, if you finance your new car, you could wind up paying close to $25,000. And, the value will keep falling every year. New cars are not a good investment. Back in 1970 I bought a 1957 Chevy for $600 and it was in good shape. These days you can find a restored 1968 Mustang with a V8 ENGINE for $15,000. A 40-year old classic car will go up in value - it’s money in the bank, since most banks don’t pay interest on savings anymore. And, then there’s styling. As I drove through the parking lot of the Gold’s Gym yesterday all the cars seemed to look alike - I could NOT tell one car from the next one. Most OF THE CARS were either grey, white, or some weird brown color - one new car was painted pumpkin seed gold. And, then there was the Cube - box. I would not be caught dead driving around in a box! In the old days cars had style - you would not mistake a Studebaker for a Oldsmobile! Back then cars had individual identities, and interesting colors, inside and out. Today’s cars are all grey or black inside. To people back then, a car’s styling meant a lot - you parked it in the driveway so your neighbors could see it and appreciate it’s unique looks. Most people park their cars in the driveway so you can see how much they spent on their Lexus or Beemer. Go figure. Older cars are also more sturdy and durable. Modern cars may last longer but they are in the end disposable like a BIC lighter. That’s because they were not made to last in the first place, unlike a 1947 Packard. Try driving down to Baja on a dirt road with potholes in in it and see how far you can get! So, new cars are better, but better for what? One guy I know is a big guy and he drives a little Honda Civic nine miles to work; his wife is a little gal and drives a big Toyota 4-Runner thirty miles across town. My old Chevy was fast enough, cheap to maintain, and gots stares and thumbs up everywhere I went and it was still worth $15,000 when I sold it! That old car just took a licking and kept on ticking even though it had over 200,000 miles on it. I could change the oil every 1000 miles if I want to and I could put a cardboard box under the engine the garage to keep the floor clean.
