I love these posts where someone asks about a specific fault on a brand A vehicle.
Invariable this leads to a discussion about all brand A's being the worst and brand B being the only one worth getting. If you don't believe me spend an hour reading the archives.
My point is this:
Yes, there are a couple of vehicles that do have real and common problems.
The majority of them however are reliable and do what they are designed to do.
A couple of important factors to keep in mind are.
Modern 4WD's a highly, highly complex machines that because of mass production are relatively cheap to buy and own. (try buying a low volume piece of machinery of equal complexity for anything like the same price)
We then push them to, (and often over) their design limitations.
Picture, say a 100 series loaded to the gills towing a camper with a few jerry cans and assorted other stuff on the roofrack, Mum Dad and the kids in the back watching a DVD, GTW too frighteing to think about, belting along at a 110k along a corrugated potholed outback track when it's 45 in the shade. (slight exageration maybe, but we all know it goes on)
Is it any wonder we have problems? Maybe the cars are getting too good and we are expecting too much of them.
Getting to my topic at long last, the most reliable vehicle I ever had was a 1971 Holden Belmont Panel Van. The Victorian Gas and fuel Corporation had thrashed it for the 54,000 Ks it had on it when I bought it. This was the 173cid powerhouse, single barrel stromberg etc etc, with three on the tree and a blue vinyl bench
seat, white of course.
(while red cars go faster, white ones are more reliable)
I replaced the badly slipping clutch immediately threw a matress and a portable gas cooker and esky in the back, and that was my setup. Over the next seven or so years I did almost 300,000k in that car. It was serviced whenever I could afford it, which was not that often. I replaced quite a few sets of tyres, did the brakes a few times and replaced another clutch and a couple of batteries.
Nothing ever broke, It always started, apart from when I left the lights on.
I went into all sorts of
places where I now know you can only go with a 4WD that is accesorised to the hilt.
The moral,
well I'm not so sure. Maybe it was just a simple basic car, some would say crude, that was mainly used within it's limitations.
(before anyone raises this, I'm not hankering for the "good old times" merely making a point outside the square)
I wonder if anyone else ever had a car that did not fall to bits immediately it was driven out of the car yard.