A delightfully positive note from VO in the South. You know I am a petrol-head, all my life into cars, bikes and trucks. But here I drive a 1999 Toyota, built during that companies' so-called 'Golden Age' when huge amounts were spent on quality control, and even now in 2023 everything works as it should. The closest it gets to 'electronic interference' is Fuel Injection, but I posit that is essential in an age of ethanol additives in fuels. My phone is c.2010 and is made of metal. My motorcycle does not sport any ridiculously unnecessary add-ons like drift control, abs, launch or FST screens. It is easy to maintain and dependable, as well as being more frugal than the meanest man I know.
Recently, the UK MoD ordered a batch of Land-Rover Defenders for the military and specified that all electronic aids be removed. Vehicles like motorcycles and military equipment get wet, very wet. And you know what happens to electronics when wet. Just ask the owner of the F150 at the top of your story! Or ask any owner of a top-of-the-line Mercedes that is over, say, 6 or 7 years old. The cost of maintenance is so high due to electronic failures these $150,000 mega cars go for peanuts when a few years old.
Finally, a chum here has a Ford Ranger pick-up and he has spent a small fortune on electronics repairs and is now actively looking for a car like mine, or better still a Nissan Patrol as the old model Y61 is still made for the UN and some miltaries. Drive happy VO.
I've had my eye on older Patrols and Prado's for some time now. The perfect vehicle for Phils. I would even go for a Pajero. I bet we woul have some funny repair stories to swap.
I am a real fan of the Mitsubishi 4D56 diesel engine, they go on forever and I think the early Pajeros were blessed to have them. My 4WD Delica was a hoot and I still regret selling it
Only a real DIY guy or gal will appreciate that last picture. To me it ay F you globalists, I'm doing it my way.
I was just telling the girlfriend, "I need to find a younger vehicle, that is just below the tech threshold (so as few chips as possible). I have a 2005 Xterra, with 200K+ that just made a 13 hour (1000 mile) trip and will make the return trip in a month or so. I do all the work on it and know every issue it has - only two.
I had a 2003 Audi Allroad, which was a great car, when it ran. However, it suffered from the same problem as the Ford...integrated systems and circuitry. One code related to no less than 6 components. Finally had to let it go.
You are correct about the societal shift to accepted obsolescence and disposability.
I had a friend who's wife told him they needed to buy another car, because the side view mirror was broken. While this used to be a funny anecdote, it is reality, where the newer masses are concerned.
In the future, those "sophisticated and enlightened" Western countries would do well to take lessons from your corner of the world, but they won't.
Imagine a civilization that has been taught to take pride in a shiny, name brand, popular thing, that does not work...verses a dull, mundane and pedestrian thing that does.
I had a Passat GLX from the same era, a B5.5, probably cousin to your Audi Allroad. Could not keep tires on the thing, the 4WD would just wear them out, no matter how well it was aligned. Finally got a problem in the EVAP system, which necessitated dropping the whole rear subframe to get to the fuel tank, and I said no thanks.
Yea, that was not a great time span for German engineering, in some respects. In others it was. When that Allroad ran right (sometime 3 months in a row) it was the most comfortable, best handling, and pleasurable car to drive I have ever owned. But like a rescue dog, you were always waiting for something to trigger it into biting you.
My last straw was it going into limp mode or not starting at all - with a code indicating it could be the throttle position sensor, secondary air pump, cam position sensor, crank position sensor, coil packs, O2 sensor and Bank 2 primary cat. Luckily I had a junk yard that had quite a few Allroads, A6s and VWs with good parts crossovers. So swapping and testing parts was relatively cheap.
It became apparent though, that the older it got, it would just bring more and more codes and I'd be working on it, more than I drove it.
A delightfully positive note from VO in the South. You know I am a petrol-head, all my life into cars, bikes and trucks. But here I drive a 1999 Toyota, built during that companies' so-called 'Golden Age' when huge amounts were spent on quality control, and even now in 2023 everything works as it should. The closest it gets to 'electronic interference' is Fuel Injection, but I posit that is essential in an age of ethanol additives in fuels. My phone is c.2010 and is made of metal. My motorcycle does not sport any ridiculously unnecessary add-ons like drift control, abs, launch or FST screens. It is easy to maintain and dependable, as well as being more frugal than the meanest man I know.
Recently, the UK MoD ordered a batch of Land-Rover Defenders for the military and specified that all electronic aids be removed. Vehicles like motorcycles and military equipment get wet, very wet. And you know what happens to electronics when wet. Just ask the owner of the F150 at the top of your story! Or ask any owner of a top-of-the-line Mercedes that is over, say, 6 or 7 years old. The cost of maintenance is so high due to electronic failures these $150,000 mega cars go for peanuts when a few years old.
Finally, a chum here has a Ford Ranger pick-up and he has spent a small fortune on electronics repairs and is now actively looking for a car like mine, or better still a Nissan Patrol as the old model Y61 is still made for the UN and some miltaries. Drive happy VO.
I've had my eye on older Patrols and Prado's for some time now. The perfect vehicle for Phils. I would even go for a Pajero. I bet we woul have some funny repair stories to swap.
I am a real fan of the Mitsubishi 4D56 diesel engine, they go on forever and I think the early Pajeros were blessed to have them. My 4WD Delica was a hoot and I still regret selling it
Only a real DIY guy or gal will appreciate that last picture. To me it ay F you globalists, I'm doing it my way.
I was just telling the girlfriend, "I need to find a younger vehicle, that is just below the tech threshold (so as few chips as possible). I have a 2005 Xterra, with 200K+ that just made a 13 hour (1000 mile) trip and will make the return trip in a month or so. I do all the work on it and know every issue it has - only two.
I had a 2003 Audi Allroad, which was a great car, when it ran. However, it suffered from the same problem as the Ford...integrated systems and circuitry. One code related to no less than 6 components. Finally had to let it go.
You are correct about the societal shift to accepted obsolescence and disposability.
I had a friend who's wife told him they needed to buy another car, because the side view mirror was broken. While this used to be a funny anecdote, it is reality, where the newer masses are concerned.
In the future, those "sophisticated and enlightened" Western countries would do well to take lessons from your corner of the world, but they won't.
Imagine a civilization that has been taught to take pride in a shiny, name brand, popular thing, that does not work...verses a dull, mundane and pedestrian thing that does.
Good post!
I had a Passat GLX from the same era, a B5.5, probably cousin to your Audi Allroad. Could not keep tires on the thing, the 4WD would just wear them out, no matter how well it was aligned. Finally got a problem in the EVAP system, which necessitated dropping the whole rear subframe to get to the fuel tank, and I said no thanks.
Yea, that was not a great time span for German engineering, in some respects. In others it was. When that Allroad ran right (sometime 3 months in a row) it was the most comfortable, best handling, and pleasurable car to drive I have ever owned. But like a rescue dog, you were always waiting for something to trigger it into biting you.
My last straw was it going into limp mode or not starting at all - with a code indicating it could be the throttle position sensor, secondary air pump, cam position sensor, crank position sensor, coil packs, O2 sensor and Bank 2 primary cat. Luckily I had a junk yard that had quite a few Allroads, A6s and VWs with good parts crossovers. So swapping and testing parts was relatively cheap.
It became apparent though, that the older it got, it would just bring more and more codes and I'd be working on it, more than I drove it.