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To: Maurice Winn who wrote (100272)	4/21/2013 4:28:09 PM
From: bart13	2 Recommendations Respond to of 217664

So new cars have been in a massive deflation for decades then. Do I hear 25, 50 or 100 times better for everyone?

To: Maurice Winn who wrote (100272)	4/21/2013 7:53:58 PM
From: bart13	3 Recommendations Respond to of 217664

I started out in a Model A, then Vanguard, then Hillman and heck, I have had a lot of vehicles over decades. The comparison period I noted was from 1970 to date, and does not include those vehicles. Spark plugs did not last hundreds of thousands of kilometres without servicing. Oil needed changing every couple of thousand kilometres but mostly leaked out anyway, topping up being needed with each tank of fuel A 15 minute max job to replace plugs in the 1970s, maybe $20-25 if you had it done - including the plugs. Oil still needs changing, on average about 1/2 as frequently, perhaps a bit less... but at least 5-10x the price now as in 1970. I have no idea what you were driving but neither myself nor anyone I knew then (~1970) had a vehicle that needed topping up on oil during every gas fill-up. Even my ancient and high mileage MG-A only needed oil added every 1000 miles or so, and the gas station attendant did it for free with my oil. So far we've saved a few oil changes and spark plugs. which was needed frequently as fuel consumption was high. And gas was MUCH cheaper then, plus it was relatively trivial to find cars that got over 20mph starting in the early 1970s if that was your choice. No savings. I carried loads of tools with me and did not expect to make a trip without conking out for some reason. Then the car rusted out in a short time. I have no idea what you have been driving since 1970, but they must have been real clunkers or POSs. Repair shops and petrol stations were scattered everywhere. They still are. Perhaps you haven't noticed, but even the BLS notes that repairs have gone up 300% faster than new car prices. No savings. Tyres needed replacing regularly and punctures were normal. You should have bought decent radials (they went 60k miles or so, even then), or at least new tires. Many punctures still exist. Visit a tire shop and look or ask. No savings. Apart from the mechanicals, the seat belts did not exist. I added seat belts to my first MG in 1962. They existed, but you didn't have them? Seat belts became mandatory around 1977. Heaters were a swanky addition but air conditioning didn't exist. Heaters, swanky?... oh... Air conditioning for cars was invented around 1928 and became available in the early 1950s on higher end cars, and was available as an option very broadly in the 1960s. In other words, your experiences are not only anecdotal (and the facts are frequently outright incorrect) but don't even extremely vaguely come close to 300% improvements, let alone your dissembling 1000%.