The reliability of our classics

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Purchasing classics there

There are undoubtedly AMK readers who remember that a car had to have a small service and fresh oil every 2500 km and that a coupling with about 50D kilometers and a block with 'a ton on it was' really' used up. But from the XNUMXs, the reliability of the technique went very well. That was the time when the technique usually beat the rust that actually caused the slaughter across all brands. The Mercedes diesels my father drove for work left with two tons on the clock.

Some classics are real marathon runners

In the front Auto Motor Klassiek we are working on a Volvo 740 story. In between: One subscription to Auto Motor Klassiek is dirt cheap. And you no longer have to go outside to get your magazine. Because 'outside' is currently a thing, despite the fact that we certainly do not share roll panic in the toilet. The Volvo 740 sedans have four-cylinder engines that are incredibly tough. In addition, according to quite a few people, they are also extremely ugly. But the lifespan of the blocks? There is money to be made with that, In Eefde there is a 740 with a hair after 1.000.000 kilometers on the clock. It may give Corona some sliding work on the calendar, but there will be a local event 'soon' for which the owner will sell lottery tickets for a good cause. The winner gets to drive the Volvo over six zeros. After that, the Volvo will just do its thing every day. Nice is not it? Funny is that for Volvos, Mercedes and Saabs with between three and five tons, serious money is still being asked.

Other marathon runners are more modest in terms of pricing

A well-known commuted with his Citroën BX GTI between his hometown in the central Netherlands and his family in Austria. The rides were mostly on highways and unlimited Autobahnen and where possible, the travel speed was 160+ km / h. With four tons + on the counter, the BX went to its previous owner in a complicated transaction, in which a Saab Cabriolet played a role. When the carriage got too crispy, the 16 valve block was put in another BX.

An acquaintance who lost his Peugeot 504 diesel Break did so because his car parked on the Lekdijk was impaled by the drawbar of an escaped tandem axle. At the time, the diesel had run 680.000, but the tiller piercing was deadly.

Friend Peter van Burik has just had his Lexus replaced

It needs some work. That is mainly cosmetic and ordinary maintenance work. The Lexus has covered 700.000 kilometers. Where car builders once proudly produced at the top of their production, things are often different now. Because everything can now be precisely calculated and regulated, we now see that many cars now have a calculated lifespan of something like 240D kilometers. Manufacturers have come up with, and they have the ability to ensure that their products don't last 'forever'. Because cars that last forever are an emphatic obstacle to the sale of new cars.

And where the mechanical technology remains intact, electronics prove to be the pain point. The economic residual value of many modern cars above 240.000 kilometers is therefore often very low. Repair 'does not materialize' because the repair costs exceed the market value. So whether they ever reach classic status? Too bad and a shame right?

They don't make it all ...

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8 comments

  1. up to and including 1998, manufacturers such as Volvo and Mercedes took great pride in producing the very best cars, and competed with each other,
    then they made agreements to all do the same: the car can last up to 240.000 and then quickly buy a new one ... and ugly that most are ...
    I drive forever in my 25 year old Volvo 940 estate, a top and super handy car with everything on and on… and with very little and disturbing electronics….!

  2. We are talking about the end of 1970, from the time when blocks with 150.000 km had to come to an end. Then drove Ami6 break. Because I often drove Almelo-Amsterdam vv I was looking for faster. Eye fell on a year-old Volvo 121 with 95.000 on the counter, made a great test drive, but not bought because of that 'high' km. Regret regret regret, afterwards of course. Then bought a Ford Cortina MkII GT with 12.000 kms. Badly run in by 74 year old, who just thought it was a nice car, at 35.000 in need of engine overhaul! Nice car but unsuitable for highways, if only I… ..

  3. My Mercedes, bought new by myself in 2002, type E 270 CDI, also has almost 700.000 seats.
    I have never refilled a drop of oil between turns.
    The car drives and still functions fully as it should.
    Optically perfect too.
    Unfortunately it is no longer possible to drive into certain cities.

  4. A few years ago, I was waiting at the Borculose DSCXXM specialist when a man arrived with his '71 -er DS 2.1liter, optically restored just two years earlier.
    He came to ask if it was wise to do the engine now, because he thought the oil consumption of a liter on the 2,5k was a lot ..
    When I asked what had walked the block, I was reported as bone dry; "1,2 million ..." ..
    The surprise must have been in my face ...

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