You guys are going to love this.

[JohnBrowning]

Ok I spent 2.5 day's in Cardiac Ward at a major hospital due to a Lab mix up! So I have been under feed heavily medicated and just about every test that can be done without splitting your chest open has been performed!So after I passed the treadmill echo cardiograhm with flying colors they release me. As soon as we were away from the hospital my little country girl wife makes me drive. She does not drive in big cities or through Atlanta at rush hour!!! I still have electrodes attached to me. So I start driveing home and she tell's me she deserves dinner. So I do not mind. So I driveing in Lansing wich happens to be home to the Capital of Michigan and Michigan State Univeristy. So you see a very diverse cross section of the population in term's of people and vechiles. I have the window's down and happen upon a rather new looking say 2005 or newer Toyota Carolla. It was a deep shade of blue and looked to have some metalic flake in it. As we get closer I can hear a awful clattering noise. The girl in the car has here window's up so I know the AC is on. She was very attractive. The car had an errier smoke like that of burning oil seeping out from under the splash shield. It sounded like the engine was out of oil or close to it. She did not seem to notice tht her car was makeing the sounds of a death rattle! So it would seem that not all Toyota owners are well educated even if they are attending University!!

By the way the lab mistake was becuase my wife made me drive 35 miles away from our local hospital to a cheaper one. So after drive 35 miles past my local hospital I also got to take an ambulance ride about another 25 miles to a yet bigger hospital. The reason being origanaly becuase we have no insurance and the first hospital had a program to help people with no insurance. I am sure that my wifes cheapness will probably cost us 10X what it would have if we had just gone to the local facility!

 

[adam123]

On the flip side; while Ive been attending college, it seems like cars are all "Throw aways". There's 5 speed bumps when you pull in the parking lot, I slowly creep toward em while every body else is almost jumping their cars.

 

[Vilan]

Didn't anyone tell you? You don't need to check the oil in a Toyota. Imports last forever.

Maybe her windows were rolled up to help muffle the engine noise.

 

[JohnBrowning]

Vilan even the greatest more durable product that Toyota has ever made needs to be cared for! I grew up in the military and know that if they cannot make a Tank GI proof then nothing can be made idiot proof either. I am not by the way calling our GI's idiot's either! I only mean that with all the training they recieve on how to operate the vechile properly and all the money they spend to build a battle hardened vechile they still have plenty of part failures!

 

[ThirdeYe]

John - Do you live in Michigan?

 

[RippyMan]

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On the flip side; while Ive been attending college, it seems like cars are all "Throw aways". There's 5 speed bumps when you pull in the parking lot, I slowly creep toward em while every body else is almost jumping their cars.

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It's the same at my college. I see people doing 30-35 MPH over speed humps that are meant for 20 MPH or less. Most people drive much newer cars than I do and I drive much slower. I guess as soon as they graduate, they get a job and a new car loan, so their college car is basically short term. I don't hear a lot a loud mechanical noises coming from them though.

 

[brianl703]

I saw a Toyota pickup the other day that was making some sort of terrible clattering noise that varied with engine speed. The hazard flashers were on, too. I guess the driver figured it'd be better to turn them on before the truck breaks down in the middle of a traffic lane.

It wasn't a very old truck, either--less than 10 years or so.

 

[PF52]

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It's the same at my college. I see people doing 30-35 MPH over speed humps that are meant for 20 MPH or less. Most people drive much newer cars than I do and I drive much slower. I guess as soon as they graduate, they get a job and a new car loan, so their college car is basically short term. I don't hear a lot a loud mechanical noises coming from them though.

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Based on my memories of college, most of those kid's cars were provided by their parents, and were treated as consumables. Hey, if it breaks, just ask daddy for a new one!

 

[Benzadmiral]

I'd have sold a body part (well, no, not THAT one) to have any kind of running car when I was making the trek to college in the '70s. After my daily 45-minute bus ride in each direction, I'd have treated any car with tender loving care. The same care, I might add, i still lavish on my cars, because I'm so glad to have one!

Spoiled brats.

 

[c502cid]

Off Topic, but I was one of those in college that didn't get a car from mommy and daddy so I had to buy my own. Had to have wheels! SO I bought a Ford Pinto for $100 with rust so bad you could see the road as your drove it. No matter how hard we tried (with the exception of getting rear ended) we couldn't kill that car. I never changed the oil, ever. We used to shove that car in park at 30 MPH on snowy roads just to see what would happen (lots of noise!). Ahhh, the college car days!

 

[TallPaul]

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Ok I spent 2.5 day's in Cardiac Ward at a major hospital due to a Lab mix up! So I have been under feed heavily medicated and just about every test that can be done without splitting your chest open has been performed!So after I passed the treadmill echo cardiograhm with flying colors they release me.

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The only consolation is now you know that you are not likely to have a heart attack or any other cardiological problems. But the cost!!!!! But if it was a lab mixup, rightfully they should not charge you for unnecessary testing. After all it was their fault. I would appeal to the hospital director and try to get some charges reduced or eliminated.

 

[TallPaul]

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We used to shove that car in park at 30 MPH on snowy roads just to see what would happen (lots of noise!).

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Yeah, I once shoved a car into park at 30 mph. Very loud ratcheting sound as the car slowed down and then a final lurch to an abrupt stop. Didn't break off the parking pawl though. '71 full sized Ford sedan with a C3 automatic.

 

[01rangerxl]

I go to a large school (UNCC) and live in an apartment complex right next to it. My problem isn't so much the fact that a lot of other people do not take care of their cars, it is that they disrespect other people's cars. This place is door ding central, and there isn't really a way around it since all the parking lots are packed. On top of people not caring if they kick their door into yours, they always try to park inside of your space. No offense to people with small cars, but it is often the people with the smallest cars who do the worst parking jobs here. The guy with the lifted F-250 can get his truck between the lines, but there are a bunch of Civics that are all over the place.

 

[c502cid]

I feel the same way about airport parking lots, thats why I have a dedicated airport car. My 98 Ford Escort can take all the abuse they can dish out!

 

[JHZR2]

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It's the same at my college. I see people doing 30-35 MPH over speed humps that are meant for 20 MPH or less. Most people drive much newer cars than I do and I drive much slower. I guess as soon as they graduate, they get a job and a new car loan, so their college car is basically short term. I don't hear a lot a loud mechanical noises coming from them though.

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Based on my memories of college, most of those kid's cars were provided by their parents, and were treated as consumables. Hey, if it breaks, just ask daddy for a new one!

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It is in no way indicative of spoiled rich college kids, though they are just as bad.

it is indicative of the increased idiocy and degeneration of our population in general. I lived in an apartment complex before i bought my house, and it had speed bumps EVERYWHERE. Id see people racing from one to the next, just to slam on their brakes and still wham it straight on. At work we have some of those small but deadly speed bumps at the entry and exit points... people hit those so fast Im suprised their wheels dont fall off... I hit it at 2 MPH and it is still a bit much for me, as I cringe over what it is doing to my alignment and suspension...

people that trade their cars every 2-4 years (most folks these days) dont own them long enough to see what they are really doing to them... and this is why I will not buy a low mileage used car.

JMH

 

[Merkurwwu]

You guys should see what the do to cars on durability test tracks. They beat cars harder than any average owner could ever dish out. Hitting normal speed bumps and what you guys think is too fast isn't going to do anything. We've had elevated crosswalks (Like long speed bumps) and large, 5-foot-wide speed bumps in our neighbor hood for 10 years. Myself and none of my neighbors have ever had any kind of problem taking them at reasonable speeds (I slow down enough to not top-out the supsension travel).

Realistically, you're suspenion components aren't moving that far and the only stress is on the spring and shock absorber- which is what they're designed to take. Hitting a curb, yes, you will do damage by bending parts that aren't supposed to move fore/aft. Hitting a speedbump, making compents that are designed to go up-and-down go up-and-down? No.

 

[drivewaytech]

A friend of mine was helping me once with a transmission issue. The vehicle was a 77 Chevy pickup with a 350ci engine and th350 auto. We took it for a drive so that he could listen to it. We were doing about 50 mph we decided to switch it back and forth from drive to neutral. Sure enough he dropped into reverse on accident. The back wheels locked up and fish tailed until he could get back into drive. Darn thing seemed to work better after that. When I finally replaced the transmission a year later, the bell housing had cracked to a point were only 1 bolt was holding it to the engine.

 

[Pablo]

So, why did you marry her?

 

[JHZR2]

Quote:

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You guys should see what the do to cars on durability test tracks. They beat cars harder than any average owner could ever dish out. Hitting normal speed bumps and what you guys think is too fast isn't going to do anything. We've had elevated crosswalks (Like long speed bumps) and large, 5-foot-wide speed bumps in our neighbor hood for 10 years. Myself and none of my neighbors have ever had any kind of problem taking them at reasonable speeds (I slow down enough to not top-out the supsension travel).

Realistically, you're suspenion components aren't moving that far and the only stress is on the spring and shock absorber- which is what they're designed to take. Hitting a curb, yes, you will do damage by bending parts that aren't supposed to move fore/aft. Hitting a speedbump, making compents that are designed to go up-and-down go up-and-down? No.

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Ill buy all that, but in the world of cars that are kept well beyond 200k miles, its the difference between new suspension parts at 150k and new suspension parts when the rubber gets old and sloppy. The delta can be a LONG time.

A test track is all well and good to tell if the parts can withstand it, but in the end all, its the ten years plus out that is what I care about. The test cars get junked after how much hard use? Im sure its a lot, but it is not the combination of age, long term use, etc.

I still maintain that being easier on the components will yield better results in the long term...

JMH

 

[psudaytona]

Before I purchased my daytona I was riding the bus to my campu s as well. Took 2.5 hours to get there and 2 back. Since it was 2 buses each way.

When I got the car, I babied it so it would hopefully last. It was in rough shape to begin with and lasted almost 2 years. I see alot of folks who just beat on their cars. Some do it knowingly, while others are totally clueless. Most of the girls I knew were clueless about such things as checking oil(not being sexist but its true). I think being helpful aided me in landing the girl I liked in my class.

She was in her car already when I went walking past hers in the lot and she was just sitting there with an odd look on her face. She had a fairly decent older cavalier and it was making an odd clatter sound. Not being a fan of those old powerboat sounding cars I chalked it up to being what it was and almost walked away. Instead, I just walked over and asked her is she was alright. She said her engine just started making that sound. I just casually asked her if she checked her oil recently. *Clueless Look*. I popped her hood and showed her where it was. Oil was just barely creepin at the bottom most of the stick.

Being the helpful lad I am, I went to my car and grabbed the spare quart I always carried and dropped it in. For the most part the clatter was gone.

We talked more in the following days and eventually started goin out for a while