Reliability - it's not just about the car

[Eric]

I did post this in another thread but wondered what others points of view are on the subject.

My old 406 was faultless, well OK not faultless but didn't cost a lot to keep.
Broken indicator stalk, new glow plugs and relay, intermittent imobiliser light on dash from the day I bought it and the air-con stopped working after a couple of years.
Other than that it was fine.
It went through 3 or 4 MOTs without me spending a penny.

Sold it to my sister and brother in law about two weeks after the last faultless MOT.
Next day I get told the clutch is slipping badly.... erm really? never did with me (it was always a bit of a random biting point but never slipped.)
Two days later it breaks down and has to be abandoned and towed to a garage where no faults were found.
Breaks down leaving said garage and is towed back to the garage.

So is it likely that the car that had been faultless for 4 years for me instantly turns into a demon car from hell as soon as I sell it or is it the new driver?

I wonder how often cars get a bad rep for reliability when they are driven by people who can't drive or have no mechanical sympathy.

[DaiRees]

I wonder how often cars get a bad rep for reliability when they are driven by people who can't drive or have no mechanical sympathy.

Absolutely mate! I know loads of people who don't maintain their cars and treat them very badly, then complain when they go wrong. No regard for service schedules and no checking / understanding of when things aren't quite right, so they ignore minor issues and wait for catastrophic failure. I cringe when I ride in the car with some drivers who make no effort to be sympathetic to the machine, just things like curbing it and crashing through potholes rather than alter their course by a few inches really wind me up, also heavy acceleration and braking in traffic, what's the point??

[Doggy]

+1
Couldn't agree more.
In addition to your observations, there's also a psychological aspect to it - if you really like your car, you look for positives and make mental allowances for minor niggles - if you hate it, every glitch, real or imagined, goes down in your mental black book.

I like mine, but at times it's been close.

[OdinEidolon]

My mum has never serviced our ould 1.5 litre diesel 106 in the last 60000 miles of its life. I swear. (when we throwed it away it had 210000 miles)

[Eric]

+1
Couldn't agree more.
In addition to your observations, there's also a psychological aspect to it - if you really like your car, you look for positives and make mental allowances for minor niggles - if you hate it, every glitch, real or imagined, goes down in your mental black book.

I like mine, but at times it's been close.

I agree totally.
The minor niggles when you buy a new car can end up becoming really annoying once the rose tinted spectacles get crushed.
Not many people can buy a second hand car in perfect working order - I always try but fail ;)

I've decided that you have to view any minor faults when buying a car as long term faults as that's generally what they turn into when you are living in the real world and have to live as well as drive the car day to day hehe

When I bought the Clio I smoothed over the "niggles" until they mounted up and finally I even reached the point where they made me hate the car and then everything was wrong with it.
I was so glad when someone else drove it off my driveway.

My current car will hopefully have some of the niggles sorted when it goes in the garage tomorrow but if not I can live with them so I won't be disappointed either way.

[waue1978]

I wonder how often cars get a bad rep for reliability when they are driven by people who can't drive or have no mechanical sympathy.

Absolutely mate! I know loads of people who don't maintain their cars and treat them very badly, then complain when they go wrong. No regard for service schedules and no checking / understanding of when things aren't quite right, so they ignore minor issues and wait for catastrophic failure. I cringe when I ride in the car with some drivers who make no effort to be sympathetic to the machine, just things like curbing it and crashing through potholes rather than alter their course by a few inches really wind me up, also heavy acceleration and braking in traffic, what's the point??

I've serviced mine on the dot & even treated it to new belts & water pump since I bought it, I don't hammer it, but give it a blast up the dual carriageway each week to keep it clear & the b*tch still goes wrong.

[rwb]

+0.5

Well I normally just run it till sommat busts.
I do get really worried about new squeaks and rattles -- even the difference in engine noise when you move the blower temperature form hot to cold -- but I don't have the skill to investigate, or the money to pay someone else to investigate. Besides, it seems a bit silly to actively go looking for trouble.
The only regular maintenance is an oil and filter change every ~6000 miles, which is about three times a year (oh, and the cambelt etc.). I get this done by a mechanic, and he sometimes points stuff out.

About how you treat the machine, I think you reap what you sew: if you treat the machine badly then expect it to bite back.
One of the most pleasurable things about driving is finding out how the machine likes to be treated and then getting the best out of it.

[sirwiggum]

Once knew a friend who had an Escort that never saw a garage for servicing.

One day he said it was misfiring then wouldnt start. We call the RAC out, and they pulled a spark plug lead out - to show the oily remains of what used to be a spark plug

[FarmerPug]

Once knew a friend who had an Escort that never saw a garage for servicing.

One day he said it was misfiring then wouldnt start. We call the RAC out, and they pulled a spark plug lead out - to show the oily remains of what used to be a spark plug

did the spark plug seal go?

[sirwiggum]

Once knew a friend who had an Escort that never saw a garage for servicing.

One day he said it was misfiring then wouldnt start. We call the RAC out, and they pulled a spark plug lead out - to show the oily remains of what used to be a spark plug

did the spark plug seal go?

The car had done about 80k, so the Ford built-in-obsolescence (TM) kicked in.

Not sure what happened tbh, possibly some sort of seal. I think it was the seal went on my Orion with the Zeta engine to cause it to run on 3 cylinders. But his escort was the old engine (Pinto?).
Was a 1990 car, on an English 'J' plate.

I've heard of spark plugs rusting on Focuseses due to water escaping through the water jets holes into the engine bay and settling in the spark plug holes.
Also, an old work colleagues Focus is in due to a recall due to "risk of fire"

[FarmerPug]

at least my wee suzuki engine is strong, i changed the plugs when i put it in, and i think the old clock said something like 120k but it runs lovely. Great engine especially with oil in them.