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Sick of cars getting more complicated

T

Torquemonster

CEG'er
Joined
Oct 7, 2001
Messages
44
Location
Toronto
...I'm about to buy a '97 Suzuki Swift 1.3L 5 speed with about 80,000 miles on it. Its quite clean and running well. Had a '91 before and it was a great little car to get to work and back and super easy to work on.

I'm also going to sell the SVT and look around for a clean VW Bug (old one) and make that the project car. Goal will not be speed. Just a clean nice bug for summer or nice days :)
 
I miss my project '69 bug

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Did a bit of body work to it , new pans, Civic seats, paint work, ect....
nothing like driving a street legal go cart...
 
I've had 3 air-cooled VW's. 2 bugs, both 73's, and a Camper Bus, a 69. Super easy to work on, as well.

Now, having said that, all the "complicated stuff" does increase fuel efficiency, power, and reliability. Granted, it is tougher to work on the SVT than it was on my old 81 Camaro. But the 4bbl 350 could be a finicky little :censored: , too. Fuel milage, hmmmm, about 10 mpg. :laugh: . Just my opinion, but I'll take the technology and deal with the hassles when I'm working on it.
 
LOL yes you are missing something :) I'm sick of complicated cars and so if I posted that I'm just about to buy a '97 swift, I'm doing something against what I dislike - which is complication.

The swift is a very simple car compared to newer cars and the VW should be very basic. Basically I want more power back to me as far as repairs and diagnoising problems.

BAD SVT said:
lemmie get this straight. the 97 suzuki is a very complicated car? or is there something i'm missing?
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This is true. Mileage will definitly be less than great on the bug... and I assume almost no power. As for the suzuki, I've had one before and mileage is fantastic but of course it has zero creature comforts and not a lot of power either. It was reliable though.

getsum111 said:
I've had 3 air-cooled VW's. 2 bugs, both 73's, and a Camper Bus, a 69. Super easy to work on, as well.

Now, having said that, all the "complicated stuff" does increase fuel efficiency, power, and reliability. Granted, it is tougher to work on the SVT than it was on my old 81 Camaro. But the 4bbl 350 could be a finicky little :censored: , too. Fuel milage, hmmmm, about 10 mpg. :laugh: . Just my opinion, but I'll take the technology and deal with the hassles when I'm working on it.
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IIRC, our 73 Superbeetle got about 25 mpg. Not super, but not too bad, either. Just need to do regular mainainence, like oil screen, adjust valves, etc. It was kinda fun to work on.:cool:
 
Torquemonster said:
LOL yes you are missing something :) I'm sick of complicated cars and so if I posted that I'm just about to buy a '97 swift, I'm doing something against what I dislike - which is complication.

The swift is a very simple car compared to newer cars and the VW should be very basic. Basically I want more power back to me as far as repairs and diagnoising problems.
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oh i see. my mistake. i thought the complication u were referring to was in regards to the sophistication not the ease of working on them. :)
 
I'm willing to live with some complication on four wheels, but insist on simplicity on two.

One of the things I like about my Honda CB250 is that (dog though it may be) there isn't an item on that bike that doesn't have to be there by law. I like the minimalist philosophy, and it won't be quite the dog one I get the 450cc engine bolted in place!

Since I use it to bomb down the desert, I don't want anything that JB-Weld and bailing wire can't fix...:crazy:
 
If you're the same age as most of the people here (20's or 30's), there is a very significant chance you will be involved in a very serious car accident in the next 5 years. If someone with a normal size car hits you in your Suzuki or Bug, your life will get very complicated in a hurry.

For my money, the Contour is one of the safest cars on the road and that is pretty important to me and my family.
 
Define "very significant chance". From what I see, the chances are actually very small the accident will be severe enough where it will make that big of a difference. I think people get paranoid about car safety.

Seriously, I have a greater beef with the increasing polarization of cars. It is becoming far more difficult to get a car that can function well as an only car for a performance car enthusiast.
 
96RedSE5Sp said:
If you're the same age as most of the people here (20's or 30's), there is a very significant chance you will be involved in a very serious car accident in the next 5 years. If someone with a normal size car hits you in your Suzuki or Bug, your life will get very complicated in a hurry.

For my money, the Contour is one of the safest cars on the road and that is pretty important to me and my family.
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I'd LOVE to see some data on this. Significant chance? Like what...50%? You're saying that half of people in this age group will be in a seroius car accident within 5 years? Really?
 
This is exactly the reason I bought my 2004 Lancer. It's about as simple a setup as you can get, powertrain-wise. Tons of room under the hood, a simple old fashioned engine where you can adjust the valves with a screwdriver and a 10mm wrench, and a basic manual transmission. I did my timing belt in less than a half hour not too long ago.

Contours are unfortunately not easy cars to work on-- I think they tried to shorten the front end of the car too much and everything just got jammed together.

And as far as the safety thing, if everyone drove simple, lightweight cars, accidents would be far less serious. The problem is that some people like me choose to drive small economical cars, while others feel the need to ride in stupid SUVs that weigh 7000lbs. It's that size/weight difference that's the problem.
 
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The IT in cars is generally is an improvement, but I wish engineers wouldn't do things like burying the PCV valve behind the exhaust manifold or situating the thermostat so low that you need to drain the coolant to replace the thermostat.
 
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Agreed. I work on Toyotas for a living and their 4-cylinders are far easier to work on than the zetec. The V6's are another story entirely, but that's the same with most any FWD V6.
 
You guys want to see complicated? Go look under the hood of a new Ford Super Duty Powerstroke. :crazy: Definitely one of those vehicles to get rid of once the warranty period is over.
 
Too complicated?


oh well... See ya! dont let the door hit ya on the way out!
 
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