I drive a car that is 22 years old. It is a Lexus IS300. I love it and have spent probably more that I paid for it over the years to keep it in tip top shape.
Robyn bought a Mini 5 years ago. Runs great and is very helpful in schlepping. It communicates with you in digital. Except for speed, all information on the dashboard is in letters and numbers. It doesn’t show temperature unless it is over whatever the manufacturer feels is too hot. Then it simply posts a message. The same is true of other engine vs you information.
The Lexus, however shows most information on dials on the dash. I know the temperature, charging situation, RPM (not that I have never used that bit of information), and other tidbits. I know from experience just where the dials should be, and when they stray off normal. I can anticipate problems and get ahead of them. I know that if something begins to creep off ‘normal’ just how long I have to get it to my repair guy.
This isn’t true with the Mini. Either everything is OK, or something is wrong. I have convinced myself that the elves in Bavaria have set the sensors to come on when there is enough time to get to repair, but I don’t know that for sure. Frankly I would rather make those decisions myself.
See, I don’t trust computers. I know, I know, the Lexus on board computer probably tells the analog dials what to say, but at least I can convince myself that I have some control over the information I receive from the engine.
A few years ago I went to the Lexus dealership to replace my IS300. I got as far as the closing room and they asked if I wanted the extended warranty that covered amongst other things, the onboard computer. I said no, I had had such good luck with the computer on my existing car, why spend extra to insure it. I was told that the new cars’ computers were flaky and had to be replaced fairly regularly, an expensive proposition. I got up and walked out.
I immediately invested about 5 grand in cosmetics and some internal fixes my ‘guy’ recommended and decided to press on. I have never regretted that. When I tell people I have a quarter of a million miles on my car they asked how many engines and transmissions I have gone through. The answer is zero. Regular maintenance has kept me on the road.
Will I replace my old analog car? Let’s see how it runs after I replace the shocks and touch the paint around the driver’s window. I get offers monthly from people who want to buy it. They must know something I don’t know.
We don’t drive the Mini a lot. It has 14,000 miles after 5 years. We maintain it regularly. My guess is that it will last until the computer gives up the ghost.
Yeah, maybe I’m just stuck in the 50s with cars that had dials that told you what was going on under the hood.
An aside. Willard Libby invented the process for carbon 14 dating. He won the Nobel Prize for this bit of work. In the sixties he was professor and did his research at my alma meter, UCLA. The next bit is a bit fuzzy, but for some reason he gave me a ride home on weekend. I met him in his lab and he said that it would be a few minutes. He was letting a carbon 14 test ‘cook’ over the weekend and a meter had to reach a certain number before he could leave. Damn if the meter refused to move. We looked at each other and he reached over and tapped the meter with his finger. It jumped to the appropriate number and we headed out. Try that with your digital crap.
🙂
JVH
