Hello, all. I've owned four cars so far in the 15 years I've been driving, with a fifth one likely in the works. It's seemed thus far that each one knows when its time has come, as I have yet to get rid of a fully-working car. They all seem to have gone out with a bang, or sometimes a whimper, but they all go out before they go.....
My first car was a '91 Dodge Spirit. It'd never been in the best of shape, and I managed to put a few dents and dings in it during my first year of driving, but it was a solid car overall. Its initial end came when I was handed down my second car. I parked the Spirit, which I'd nicknamed the Junkmobile (both due to its occasional mechanical issues, and its ability to haul a whole lot of junk ), behind our garage as a "final" resting place. When the second car crapped out six months later (I'll get to that in a moment), I saw fit to 'resurrect' the Spirit, and it indeed roared to life when I turned the key. However, my joy was short-lived, as I noticed fuel spraying from underneath the car once I drove it out from the back of the garage, to the side of our house. It was towed away as a donation not long afterwards.
The second car, aka Junkmobile MkII, was a '96 Chrysler Concorde. A wonderful car on the inside, with a leather interior and all sorts of features, it turned out to be an utter lemon under the hood. A month or so later, it started overheating; after a failed diagnosis, it was soon discovered that a belt had broken, which had gotten stuck in the electric cooling fan, blowing its fuse. Once that was fixed, it developed an issue with stalling when coming to a stop, or when going around highway off-ramps. Before I could get that fixed, its entire rear suspension decided to collapse while pulling away from a stoplight. We got it fixed, but more issues showed up when we tried to sell it, and it too ended up being towed away for donation.
My third car was a '95 Oldsmobile 88, aka Junkmobile MkIII. It had a nice engine under the hood, and basically rode like a couch on wheels. It was decently solid the first few years I owned it, but eventually it developed issues with both the motor mounts, and the front suspension. I figured one or the other would fail before too long, and sure enough, the entire front suspension decided to collapse as I pulled away from a stop sign. It was towed to a local shop, where it was determined that it'd cost more to fix than it was worth (as I figured), and that was the end of that.
My fourth car was an '02 Honda Civic, which eventually earned the title Junkmobile MkIV. It should've lasted longer than it did (was nine years old, and had under 100K on the clock when I got it), but it had substantial rust issues even when I got it (protip: when looking at a car to buy, don't do so at night), and an attempt to repair/paint over the rust mostly failed within a year. The rot continued over the six years I've had the car, and it's developed numerous issues, going through two alternators, most of its air conditioning system, and three automatic transmissions within the last few years.
Earlier this year, after the Civic lunched its second alternator, I decided to start looking for a replacement. A few weeks ago, I learned that the mechanic who had replaced the transmissions was getting in an '06 Honda Civic which would be available soon. I looked at it last week, mostly liked what I saw, and told the mechanic I'd take another look at it once it got done having some bugs worked out. Just today, during a quick trip to Savers, I get in to leave, turn the key, and nothing. Turn the key to the start position, hear a click, release it to on, another click. I tried it numerous times, with the same results. I called AAA, expecting the starter would be dead, and it'd have to be towed to the shop. The truck showed up, the driver hooked some doohickey up to the battery, I turned the key again, and it started up as if nothing had happened. I immediately drove it to the shop I'd be getting the 'new' car from, and there it sits.
To make a long story short (too late), I wonder if these cars somehow 'know' that their time has come. I'm not sure if I'd call it machine empathy, or just a case of dumb luck (dumbpathy?), but they've generally decided to conk out when the end is nigh. Granted, I probably could've done better with maintenance in some cases, but I tried to keep abreast of things as best I could, and none of the failures were due to dumb mistakes (IMO). Anyway, I figured I'd put that out there, and see what others think.
-Adam
My first car was a '91 Dodge Spirit. It'd never been in the best of shape, and I managed to put a few dents and dings in it during my first year of driving, but it was a solid car overall. Its initial end came when I was handed down my second car. I parked the Spirit, which I'd nicknamed the Junkmobile (both due to its occasional mechanical issues, and its ability to haul a whole lot of junk ), behind our garage as a "final" resting place. When the second car crapped out six months later (I'll get to that in a moment), I saw fit to 'resurrect' the Spirit, and it indeed roared to life when I turned the key. However, my joy was short-lived, as I noticed fuel spraying from underneath the car once I drove it out from the back of the garage, to the side of our house. It was towed away as a donation not long afterwards.
The second car, aka Junkmobile MkII, was a '96 Chrysler Concorde. A wonderful car on the inside, with a leather interior and all sorts of features, it turned out to be an utter lemon under the hood. A month or so later, it started overheating; after a failed diagnosis, it was soon discovered that a belt had broken, which had gotten stuck in the electric cooling fan, blowing its fuse. Once that was fixed, it developed an issue with stalling when coming to a stop, or when going around highway off-ramps. Before I could get that fixed, its entire rear suspension decided to collapse while pulling away from a stoplight. We got it fixed, but more issues showed up when we tried to sell it, and it too ended up being towed away for donation.
My third car was a '95 Oldsmobile 88, aka Junkmobile MkIII. It had a nice engine under the hood, and basically rode like a couch on wheels. It was decently solid the first few years I owned it, but eventually it developed issues with both the motor mounts, and the front suspension. I figured one or the other would fail before too long, and sure enough, the entire front suspension decided to collapse as I pulled away from a stop sign. It was towed to a local shop, where it was determined that it'd cost more to fix than it was worth (as I figured), and that was the end of that.
My fourth car was an '02 Honda Civic, which eventually earned the title Junkmobile MkIV. It should've lasted longer than it did (was nine years old, and had under 100K on the clock when I got it), but it had substantial rust issues even when I got it (protip: when looking at a car to buy, don't do so at night), and an attempt to repair/paint over the rust mostly failed within a year. The rot continued over the six years I've had the car, and it's developed numerous issues, going through two alternators, most of its air conditioning system, and three automatic transmissions within the last few years.
Earlier this year, after the Civic lunched its second alternator, I decided to start looking for a replacement. A few weeks ago, I learned that the mechanic who had replaced the transmissions was getting in an '06 Honda Civic which would be available soon. I looked at it last week, mostly liked what I saw, and told the mechanic I'd take another look at it once it got done having some bugs worked out. Just today, during a quick trip to Savers, I get in to leave, turn the key, and nothing. Turn the key to the start position, hear a click, release it to on, another click. I tried it numerous times, with the same results. I called AAA, expecting the starter would be dead, and it'd have to be towed to the shop. The truck showed up, the driver hooked some doohickey up to the battery, I turned the key again, and it started up as if nothing had happened. I immediately drove it to the shop I'd be getting the 'new' car from, and there it sits.
To make a long story short (too late), I wonder if these cars somehow 'know' that their time has come. I'm not sure if I'd call it machine empathy, or just a case of dumb luck (dumbpathy?), but they've generally decided to conk out when the end is nigh. Granted, I probably could've done better with maintenance in some cases, but I tried to keep abreast of things as best I could, and none of the failures were due to dumb mistakes (IMO). Anyway, I figured I'd put that out there, and see what others think.
-Adam