In Praise of Older Cars!
Two weeks ago, on a very cool New England evening, I had dinner with a new friend who has a collection of sixties era sports cars. Which, I asked him, did you drive tonight?
He told me had his older Ferrari coupe parked in the lot. Nice, I said, don’t you have a modern car? No, he said, I have a modern truck for winter transportation.
I know him to be a collector of Fifties and Sixties sport cars but I was curious. Why not a modern sports car? Because, he replied, they are very complex and when you begin to have problems, they are very expensive to repair. Besides, he said, I don’t think they have an upside. In twenty years time the cars I now have will still be repairable. And I can do much of the work myself with the tools I currently own.
Manufacturers are obligated by law to supply parts for ten years from the date of manufacture. In order to protect their dealer service network, some manufacturers are known to make computer diagnostic programs difficult for the aftermarket to access. But after ten years, the dealer who can no longer get factory components, even with access to the computer diagnostics, is also shut out of the business. Where does that leave the car owner? Manufacturers will not let their customers down simply because the law says they can. That’s not good business and it is reasonable to expect that they will supply parts for a longer period. That is good business as anyone, with an old Ferrari can testify. But the parts won’t be inexpensive and at some point they could run out. When that happens, the traditional secondary source, the aftermarket, may not be able to supply.
My friend’s point here is not that computer equipped cars are bad, quite the contrary. We could never enjoy the power or convenience and safety features we have in our cars today without them. But for the most part, electronic components are not repairable. The factories fight to make their parts proprietary; that allows them to control price and availability. Aftermarket manufactures are loathe to reverse engineer and hi-end car computer for a comparatively low volume application. So, if your are considering the purchase of an eleven year old supercar you must ask yourself a few basic questions about who will repair it and where they will find electronic parts.
What are your thoughts?
Peter
