How long are 914s supposed to last?, Sorting through the myths |
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How long are 914s supposed to last?, Sorting through the myths |
JeffBowlsby |
May 6 2021, 08:13 PM
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#21
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914 Wiring Harnesses Group: Members Posts: 8,535 Joined: 7-January 03 From: San Ramon CA Member No.: 104 Region Association: None |
We like these old cars for our own reasons, but we often hear:
"...remember, these cars [or their parts] were not built to last more than ___ years, they are commodities with a limited useful life." "we live in a throw-away society"...but our cars are not generally disposables with a short time line or priced as such. I recently saw a Model A with 20K original miles, original paint. At 90-some years old it was a great car for its time and for what it is today. I think the draw is more than just nostalgia, its respect for good design, engineering and an owners regular maintenance. Todays cars are generally not made from water soluble materials or short life span elements (other than disposable maintenance items) - they have steel not wood chassis, glass not plastic windows, durable leather/fabric not paper seats, etc. With exceptions, generally capable of lasting more than a few years and they cost enough to justify the durability. Todays manufacturers give warranties of X years, Y miles. All that seems to mean is that they won't pay for maintenance or service after that limited time is up which is just a limitation of liability for those costs, not that the car is only expected to function that long. Not an unreasonable condition of sale, and most cars won't explode when the warranty expires. Seems counter to the disposable argument that 50-ish years later the original manufacturer still supports these old cars with many factory OEM new parts (albeit of limited selection) and many 914s are still thriving. If it were true that they were only intended to last a certain short period of time, then the mfr. would not be obligated to continue to support them. But they do. |
horizontally-opposed |
May 7 2021, 06:58 AM
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#22
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Advanced Member Group: Members Posts: 3,432 Joined: 12-May 04 From: San Francisco Member No.: 2,058 Region Association: None |
In the old days (pre 1975~), and in certain (many) places, rust determined longevity. And it still can.
In the modern era, plastics getting brittle, soy-based wire insulation, expensive/complex repairs, and cheap lease/purchase payments send many otherwise serviceable cars into oblivion. I actually think there was a high point when it came to materials quality used in cars, perhaps sometime around the end of oil-based paints. You saw it with BMWs of the late 1980s and early 1990s, with paint that just kept shining, and shining, and shining—even if it wasn't cared for. Glass headlights back then, too, and the plastics were more limited than they are now. The 914 had a lot of metal parts, and the plastics that were there held up pretty well. Not that there weren't other issues with cars of the 1970s through the 1990s, but I think cars have become more disposable. When was the last time you saw an E60 5 Series driving around? There's only one that I still see regularly, a V10 M5. But the guy stopped washing the wheels months ago, which I fear means he's seen the DSG warning light of death. The inline six version of those cars may be worse, as there was a 55-gallon barrel/drum full of what appeared to be the same part in a shop where a friend and I were working on my 914. "What's this?" I asked. "E60 injectors," he said. "They go bad, and you have to replace all six at once." He then mentioned some insane parts price for one injector (x6…), plus labor, and explained that shops now collected the used injectors to have them rebuilt. I just about never see E60s on the road anymore, and they were everywhere not so many years ago. There are plenty of other examples… My take is that most cars, whether Model As, 914s, or more recent cars, can stay on the road for a very, very long time (300,000 to 1,000,000 miles) with the right care and feeding, a little luck, the right environment/use, and committed owners. Ever see the million-mile Lexus LS400? Makes my 255,000-mile 914 and those 400,000-mile Carrera 3.2s look like underachievers… |
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