Leave Our Cars Alone
Jun 18th, 2009 | By Linda Brady Traynham | Category: Featured, Morning Whiskey
THAT does it. This time the government has gone too far.
If there is one thing Americans will fight to the last ditch over it is our beloved automobiles. Most of us won’t use mass transit, we won’t carpool, we won’t walk, and we won’t ride bicycles.
The new ukase that DC throw away our debilitating tax dollars to attempt to bribe people via vouchers to buy hybrids they can’t afford and will hate in return for allowing their trade-ins to be scrunched into scrap has me close to foaming at the mouth. Where in the Constitution does it say such loony legislation is legal? Where does it say the Washington can dictate our choices, gas mileage, and harming our possessions to suit their ideologies?
This is an offshoot of a dictatorial California (where else?) scheme forbidding registration of older cars. By outlawing perfectly good vehicles, which the drivers pay the penalty of lower gas mileage for, the Greens are destroying wealth and continuing to back us into corners we aren’t going to like a bit–all for their crazy junk science.
Other ideas that have been floated are import duties similar to those in the Netherlands and elsewhere: a 100% import duty on foreign automobiles, a suggestion sure to find favor with Japan, India, Korea, and the EU who would like to keep selling their products to us. We’re already having grim rumblings about “protectionistic” legislation. In Egypt a foreign car runs about three times new car value, whatever its age. “Class” in Holland is an old black Ford sedan! California already offers a bounty in some instances and has banned other cars from the road. Still another proposal is demanding that cars past a certain age be destroyed–did those people ever hear of the “takings” clause? If I cannot drive a vehicle on public roads and/or if I cannot register it and/or if the government demands said car be destroyed, I will be impoverished without compensation.
Yes, we need to heed warnings that the USA has to cut back consumption and wasteful habits–but urging people to buy new cars is not a good way to go about it, nor is destroying perfectly usable machinery.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without,” the old Yankee doggerel goes, and we really should pay attention to it, so long as we leave our neighbors alone and do not become joyless Scrooges. That does NOT mean that we have to do without what we really want, merely that we need to be creative and check our priorities and goals more carefully.
The three biggest purchases most people make in their lifetimes are houses, college educations, and automobiles. Gary has my article on how to solve the college problem and it will appear in time.
The revolution starts right here, dear bar patrons, because I am going to tell you how to have what we want legally and economically. My contribution to the war effort where our treasured transportation is concerned will be showing you how you can all drive exactly what you want affordably and a pox on anyone who doesn’t like it. My family has been doing it for over sixty years and I guarantee that it works.
Life is about using our intelligence, our assets, and our character to get what we want, and no one I know wants to ride around in a motorized dog crate that has to be plugged in every night while the electric meter whirls as though powered by a demented squirrel. Imagine going to visit friends fifty miles away and having to ask if you can plug your car in during the evening so that you can make it back home!
Think of the danger of frail car substitutes. A fellow car-lover said that every time he takes his Miata convertible out he gets very nervous finding himself eyeball to hubcap with eighteen-wheelers. He is the second-best driver I know and his gaudy little roller skate has plenty of power to get him out of trouble. The same can scarcely be said for ultra-lightweight plastic baby bathtubs with bitty three-banger motors. Or worse.
This bears directly on the idiotic idea that we crush useful vehicles and send them to China as scrap–well, what did you think the government was going to do with the ones turned in? Give ‘em to Mr. Goodwrench to put on the lot at GovMot?! Destruction of wealth, the lordly “WE know better than you do,” and totalitarianism is what the left wing does professionally. Scrap value is bound to be part of phoney bologna “pay as you go.” Our steel industry is in trouble, too, so better we don’t sell metal of any sort we need to foreigners, even if we don’t get it back as tanks or 105 shells as happened during WWII. The casings of large caliber shells–such as a 105–are certainly made of brass, but the payload is steel, with a rotating brass ring that engages with the rifling and a secondary explosive burst that turns that steel into multitudinous shards named after Colonel Shrapnel. Give me any nonsense and I’ll tell you about anti-tank rounds with sabots on them and kinetic energy.
It is insanity to sacrifice perfectly good parts and cars with a great deal of useful life left in them on the sacred altar of Liberal theology.
One of our great problems as a nation is the “use it once and throw it away” mentality which has turned into machinery which cannot even be repaired for less than a new computer, for example, would cost. Ask to have a VCR repaired and the man will laugh. If I needed a new washer I would never think of buying precisely that; I would go find a sturdy older machine that was made out of genuine metal instead of plastic. Parts are still available, and for far less cost I would have a machine that would work another fifteen years, instead of Sears wanting me to buy an extended warranty for years two through four. I expect the things I purchase to be good for many years. I don’t buy junk, and I don’t buy fads.
Part of the answer on “What should the car of the future be?” (coming in the next segment) has to do with how long you expect it to last and how little you anticipate having to put into repairs. The rest is comfort, safety, sensible but not ludicrous gas mileage, affordability, and vehicles you expect to drive long term.
Having argued the case for diesel fuel and motors, based on lower price, higher mileage, greater availability in times of rationing/long lines/higher prices (diesel is more likely to be available than gas since the trucks must roll or most of us will starve), and the ability to store it for future need, unlike gasoline which is now useless as a means of running motors after six months, let’s go on to the more interesting part of how to choose perfect vehicles.
The first question is how many vehicles do you need? Almost certainly at least one more than you have! The classic Cavalry rule is 1.3 mounts per man, rounding up always since one cannot ride a third of a horse or drive a fraction of a car. Two people need three cars (since one always seems to be in the shop, or having the oil changed, or is the wrong size for the job.) Three people need four cars. And good driving records/grades, with the current price of insurance. Not to worry, since part of the solution is being certain that the guidelines I am going to promulgate ensure that we can both afford and enjoy our vehicles.
What sort and how many cars would it take to make your family blissfully happy? What would you love to drive and own? How about a luxurious sedan as a road car and for evenings out, a station wagon or pick up, a car for your teenaged daughter, and something that will get pretty good mileage if you insist? That’s a nice collection even if it is difficult to park in suburbia.
Could you get all of those and afford to run them? Of course you can! The solution is the very cars that the government proposes to destroy. You know what new cars cost even with desperate dealers offering all sorts of incentives, but with sensible shopping you could have all four for less than the cost of a Hyundai. Think about how much gas you could buy if you didn’t spend the money on a Honda Accord! Remember how much better things were constructed twenty or more years ago.
The newest car I own is a ‘95 and I’ll match my collection against an oil sheik’s. Other than being diamond-studded. I wouldn’t take a 2009 car (well, less than a Ferrari) if you gave it to me on the condition that I had to drive it.
Next time I will make specific recommendations on how to reduce car purchases to a proposition as simple as orthodontia: when you need it, you need it. Once you’ve had it, you don’t expect to need it again. Once you have sorted out the perfect fleet and freed yourself from five-year car notes and safety and repair concerns, you can finish accumulating the 30% of your portfolio which should be in metal and get on to sorting out the various interesting propositions our friends at Agora sends us.
Rebelliously yours,
Linda Brady Traynham
June 18, 2009
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“Class” in Holland is an old black Ford sedan! ??? What kind of idiot are you? Have you ever traveled outside the “Republic of Texas”?
I’ve always wanted a Volvo 240. Its gas mileage may not be better than that of my current 1995 Nissan Sentra, but they are known to be tough and reliable – and I do not have money to be changing cars every 3-5 years. Better to have a tough car that won’t quit easily, even if the whole world calls it a clunker.
My most preferred car is a Mercedes-Benz 240D or 300D. The diesel cars from MB are the last word in reliability. Yea, they’re slow and noisy, and sometimes throw up a plume of black smoke when you step on the gas pedal, but an ‘83 MB 240D will outlast a 2009 car many times over – provided you give it routine maintenance, of course.
Linda, you have got to quit espousing intelligence and common sense. Isn’t that what the big O was elected for? To show we members of the great unwashed what a high I.Q. applied to everyday problems and taken to the ultimate extreme can do to improve our daily lives. After all, the Green Revolution is real, large cars are dinosaurs headed for a richly deserved extinction and our calf muscles will thank us for forcing them to develop sufficient strength to pedal our new bicycle from Ft. Worth to Austin in a mere 11 hours and 47 minutes without breaking a sweat.
Whew! I feel better now that I’ve gotten my latest installment of sarcasm off my chest. Seriously, you have made a considerable number of very salient points that cannot be categorized as anything more than the Gospel truth. My own dinosaur, the 1993 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon that you know well and that I love, ain’t goin’ anywhere. If either the Feds or the State of Texas is crazy enough to try to legislate it out of existence, I guarantee you I’ll find some pasture where it can live out it’s life in peace and quiet.
Write on, Linda. Write on.
I’ve always wanted a Volvo 240. Its gas mileage may not be better than that of my current 1995 Nissan Sentra, but they are known to be tough and reliable – and I do not have money to be changing cars every 3-5 years. Better to have a tough car that won’t quit easily, even if the whole world calls it a clunker. ARIAN, WERE YOU READING OVER MY SHOULDER?!! THAT IS JUST WHERE THE NEXT ARTICLE GOES, THAT WE SHOULD BE DRIVING THE GREAT AUTOMOTIVE TRIUMPHS OF THE PAST! BECAUSE THOSE WILL GIVE US EVERYTHING WE WANT IN A CAR WITH REASONABLE MILEAGE AND WE CAN BUY AN AWFUL LOT OF GO-JUICE WITH WHAT WE SAVE. MY BROTHER DROVE OVER FROM MEMPHIS LAST WEEK IN A BMW HE HAS USED AS HIS ROAD CAR FOR OVER TWENTY YEARS. HE STILL HAS THE TR3 HE HAD IN HIGHSCHOOL IN THE FIFTIES. OLD CARS THAT ARE TAKEN CARE OF LAST FOREVER.
My most preferred car is a Mercedes-Benz 240D or 300D. The diesel cars from MB are the last word in reliability. Yea, they’re slow and noisy, and sometimes throw up a plume of black smoke when you step on the gas pedal, but an ‘83 MB 240D will outlast a 2009 car many times over – provided you give it routine maintenance, of course. RAH! RAH! WE BOUGHT A 240D RECENTLY (LOOKING FOR A BIGGER ONE) FOR THE REASONS YOU GAVE AND BECAUSE THEY ARE DIESEL. THEY AREN’T ALL THAT SLOW, EITHER! I DON’T KNOW WHERE YOU ARE BUT WE PAID ALL OF $1200 FOR THE 240D. BETWEEN 3500 AND 4500 WE FOUND SIX BIGGER, NEWER, NICER ONES. THAT’S THE BIGGEST PART OF THE SECRET: GET A REALLY GOOD CAR AND DRIVE IT FOREVER. THANKS A LOT FOR YOUR INPUT. CORDIALLY, LINDA
Linda, you have got to quit espousing intelligence and common sense. Isn’t that what the big O was elected for? To show we members of the great unwashed what a high I.Q. applied to everyday problems and taken to the ultimate extreme can do to improve our daily lives. After all, the Green Revolution is real, large cars are dinosaurs headed for a richly deserved extinction and our calf muscles will thank us for forcing them to develop sufficient strength to pedal our new bicycle from Ft. Worth to Austin in a mere 11 hours and 47 minutes without breaking a sweat. RICHARD, YOU ADORABLE NUT. TELL THE NICE PEOPLE WHAT YOU DRIVE!
Whew! I feel better now that I’ve gotten my latest installment of sarcasm off my chest. Seriously, you have made a considerable number of very salient points that cannot be categorized as anything more than the Gospel truth. My own dinosaur, the 1993 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon that you know well and that I love, ain’t goin’ anywhere. If either the Feds or the State of Texas is crazy enough to try to legislate it out of existence, I guarantee you I’ll find some pasture where it can live out it’s life in peace and quiet. ABSOLUTELY. IF ALL ELSE FAILS WE’LL PLANT PETUNIAS IN HER IN THE NEXT CENTURY. SHE’S A BEAUTIFUL OLD BEAST AND SO SAFE AND COMFORTABLE. JUST IN CASE, THOUGH, TODAY CHARLES BOUGHT ANOTHER HORSE! HORRORS! SHRIEKS OF RAGE! ADDING TO THE METHANE PROBLEM…
Write on, Linda. Write on. YOU, TOO. HUGS, LINDA
I’ve been rather quiet recently, but can’t help but chime in on this one. Mrs. Traynham you are soooooo right. Merely calling it the “gospel truth” doesn’t quite do it justice, although you really can’t get much better than that.
Although I don’t drive it much anymore, it would look rather funny with my truck camper sitting on top of it (which is my prefered method of long distance travel), I did buy a 1972 Toyota FJ-40 Landcruiser (featured in the “Wild Geese” movie, they’re not Jeeps, but look similar) in 1982 after I moved to Colorado and realized I needed a 4X4 if I was going to get anywhere to go hunting/fishing.
One of the better things about it is that when it needs to be wrenched on, I understand it and do most, if not all the work myself, something I can’t do with my 2004 Superduty Ford truck, which carries the camper quite well. This is one tough vehicle, as Toyota does make very tough trucks. If you don’t believe that I’ll send you pic’s of what happened when a Tundra rear ended me at a stop sign last summer while driving the Ford. At least I was able to drive away, not so with the Toyota (short moral: “lady, hang up and drive!”).
Mrs. Traynham is more than just correct whe she writes that a well maintained vehicle will last just about forever, just check the odometer the next time you get into an older taxi cab, especially a V-8 Ford Crown Vic or Chevy Impalla, the old big one (or Caprice). An odo reading of 300,000-500,000 or better is not uncommon. I remember an old taxi driver coming up to me whilke he was waiting for a fare. He told me to take care of the patrol car I was driving (Ford Crown Vic) as someday it would be a taxi cab. I’ told him “man, you don’t want this after my police dept. is done with it”. I was serious, still am. But he had faith and told me to take care of it anyway.
Vehicles deteriorate much more than they wear out. I did, about ten years ago find the need to rebuild the engine on my ‘Cruiser. I did all the work (except the machining of course) myself. The interior condition of the motor was amazing to me, in that I was surprised at how good it was, even though it had lost enough compression to be viable without the rebuild. It cost about $2500 for the engine and a bunch of other things I did while it was undergoing surgerey anyway.
I figure, over the years I’ve got about $6000 into the thing (initially paid $1400). That works out to about $18.50 per month, including tires. Check that against your monthly payment for a newer vehicle, or my Superduty paymment for that matter.
For this I get an extremely reliable (if somewhat uncomforable) ride that I can actually fix when neccesary. It gets (I’m not kidding) 18-20 mpg, on good, not ethanol polluted gas (no clunker deduction for me, unless I lied). And that is with the original 236 C.I.D straight six engine, three speed tranny and original running gear with 4:11 differentials. It’s not fast, unless you compare it to a Mercedes 404 Unimog. The Unimog however is somewhat better off road, but the last time I sailed her over the crest of Vail pass, the ‘Cruiser was doing about 68mph, which was somewhat faster than my much newer Ford half ton six banger I had years ago.
Your first few paragraphs almost alienated me enough to stop reading your washed-up drivel. You’re ill-informed: old cars pollute (especially old American cars) and are inefficient – that’s why we need them off the road. Railing against the act of “plugging in” a vehicle is as relevant as the caveman railing against the wheel.
I’m sorry you’ve chosen to base your self-worth on what kind of vehicle you drive. Out of curiosity, how much do you weigh? A bicycle may be just the answer for our oil dependency and obesity problems in this country. Lazy entitled boomers will cry, kick, and scream as they have their entire lives to maintain the status quo (look how that worked out) while Gen X and Y figure out how to pick up the pieces and rebuild this country. As a Gen X member, I would appreciate it if you stopped standing in our way. We’re asking nicely but we won’t ask again.
Brian,
Sadly you do not understand a love affair with a dinosaur.
D C Trant
[...] @tapoutrightnow I see. Just didn’t make much sense to see so many from us posting Leave Our Cars Alone – whiskeyandgunpowder.com 06/18/2009 THAT does it. This time the government has gone too far [...]
I’ve been rather quiet recently, but can’t help but chime in on this one. Mrs. Traynham you are soooooo right. Merely calling it the “gospel truth” doesn’t quite do it justice, although you really can’t get much better than that.
Although I don’t drive it much anymore, it would look rather funny with my truck camper sitting on top of it (which is my prefered method of long distance travel), I did buy a 1972 Toyota FJ-40 Landcruiser (featured in the “Wild Geese” movie, they’re not Jeeps, but look similar) in 1982 after I moved to Colorado and realized I needed a 4X4 if I was going to get anywhere to go hunting/fishing.
One of the better things about it is that when it needs to be wrenched on, I understand it and do most, if not all the work myself, something I can’t do with my 2004 Superduty Ford truck, which carries the camper quite well. This is one tough vehicle, as Toyota does make very tough trucks. If you don’t believe that I’ll send you pic’s of what happened when a Tundra rear ended me at a stop sign last summer while driving the Ford. At least I was able to drive away, not so with the Toyota (short moral: “lady, hang up and drive!”).
Mrs. Traynham is more than just correct whe she writes that a well maintained vehicle will last just about forever, just check the odometer the next time you get into an older taxi cab, especially a V-8 Ford Crown Vic or Chevy Impalla, the old big one (or Caprice). An odo reading of 300,000-500,000 or better is not uncommon.
Vehicles deteriorate much more than they wear out. I did, about ten years ago find the need to rebuild the engine on my ‘Cruiser. I did all the work (except the machining of course) myself. The interior condition of the motor was amazing to me, in that I was surprised at how good it was, even though it had lost enough compression to be viable without the rebuild. It cost about $2500 for the engine and a bunch of other things I did while it was undergoing surgerey anyway.
I figure, over the years I’ve got about $6000 into the thing (initially paid $1400). That works out to about $18.50 per month, including tires. Check that against your monthly payment for a newer vehicle, or my Superduty payment for that matter.
For this I get an extremely reliable (if somewhat uncomforable) ride that I can acutally fix when neccesary. It gets (I’m not kidding) 18-20 mpg, on good, not ethanol polluted gas. And that is with the original 236 C.I.D straight six engine, three speed tranny and original running gear with 4:11 differntials. It’s not fast, unless you compare it to a Mercedes 404 Unimog. The Unimog however is somewhat better off road, but the last time I sailed her over Vail pass, I was doing about 68mph, which was somewhat faster than my much newer Ford half ton six banger I had years ago.
Brian, try sticking that plug you know where. Plug that electric sewing machine on wheels into my electrical service every night for a month at 27 cents per Kwh then pay my electrical bill at the end of the month…. Nuff said…
Brian wrote: “Your first few paragraphs almost alienated me enough to stop reading your washed-up drivel. You’re ill-informed: old cars pollute (especially old American cars) and are inefficient – that’s why we need them off the road. Railing against the act of “plugging in” a vehicle is as relevant as the caveman railing against the wheel.
I’m sorry you’ve chosen to base your self-worth on what kind of vehicle you drive. Out of curiosity, how much do you weigh? A bicycle may be just the answer for our oil dependency and obesity problems in this country. Lazy entitled boomers will cry, kick, and scream as they have their entire lives to maintain the status quo (look how that worked out) while Gen X and Y figure out how to pick up the pieces and rebuild this country. As a Gen X member, I would appreciate it if you stopped standing in our way. We’re asking nicely but we won’t ask again. ”
Dear Brian:
What a pleasant letter! I scarcely no where to begin. Perhaps with being a “lazy entitled boomer who will cry, kick, and scream to maintain my way of life.” This is going to be a little difficult for you to understand, dear, since it contains concepts not in common use for some decades. I am not lazy, and I am certainly not “entitled.” I EARNED what I have, as quaint as that is. I do without things many consider indispensible in order to have others I want more. The ones kicking, screaming, and crying are the ones snout-deep in the public trough. I’m not even a Boomer, having been born in 1940.
Do YOU ride a bicycle or take public transportation as your only means of getting around? If so, more power to you, and no doubt the sanctimonious feeling of doing what you see as your part to save the world compensates you for a great deal of time you are unable to sell or hours you cannot fill pleasurably. I don’t know how to ride a bike and I’m a little old to be running around with skinned knees. It is fifteen miles to Krogers, and how many groceries could I bring back in a little basket? Do you recommend that I make the trip in the hundred degree heat, or should I wait until nightfall? How do you propose I move 100 pound bags of range cubes and 1500 pound bales of hay?
My beautiful old cars do not pollute (the very idea of allowing a vehicle to smoke or burn oil…dreadful), and they are quite efficient. They all get 25 mpg around town, and I drive far fewer miles than most people. Other than basic supplies and ingredients the nearest city hasn’t got a thing that I want. I don’t go to malls, movies, or fast food joints. My idea of a great week is one when I don’t have to leave the ranch.
No one in my family has driven Detroit Iron since a vast, gaudy red and cream Chrysler New Yorker in 1956. Unless you want to count a couple of Jeeps my darling Charles gave me the only American vehicle I own is a 1989 Chevy Silverado Extended Cab with a magnificently battered bed showing how many useful tasks it has done. It is used only on the ranch so the only air it “pollutes” is ours, and it doesn’t smoke or leak, either. Exhaust gases are the price of hauling feed, cutting brush, moving lumber and fencing materials, and being as self-sufficient as we can.
I do not “define my self worth” by what I drive. I never really thought of analyzing such a thing. (Upon reflection if anything I define it by my kindness, my knowledge, my drive, my principles, my intelligence, the quality of those who love me, and what I add to the world.) I just try to be the best person I can and to enjoy myself thoroughly, but I think I can offer you a couple of very useful philosophical guidelines: “What I think about myself is more important than what other people think about me.” “What I think about others is more important than what they think about me.” Isn’t that deliciously arrogant? I can only suppose you agree, having chosen to speak to me as you did. Here’s better advice I was given 50 years ago: “If you want to grow up to be a sweet little old lady you had better start practicing now by being a sweet little YOUNG lady.” I did, and it worked splendidly.
Gracious, what does an old-fashioned lady say to those who threaten her? This one says, “Cut loose your dogs when you’re ready.” Come try to take anything that is mine…but you need to read the new “hate crimes” legislation first, as well as various criminal statutes.
Do write again, Brian, when you have learned a little kindness and more about the world.
Sincerely yours, Mrs. John Charles Traynham
US Citizen wrote: Brian, try sticking that plug you know where. Plug that electric sewing machine on wheels into my electrical service every night for a month at 27 cents per Kwh then pay my electrical bill at the end of the month…. Nuff said…WHAT ABOUT THE “POLLUTION” RESULTING FROM PRODUCING THAT ELECTRICITY, TOO?
Thank you, USC, for telling the kid off, and I love your description of Greenie Mobiles. What do YOU drive?! Chuckle…I collect old Jaguars and belong to a club, and until this discussion that was the only place I had ever been where it was appropriate to ask “What do you drive?!”
Cordially, Linda
Brian,
Since you have not yet been alienated enough to stop reading “washed-up drivel”, I invite you to peruse my latest article titled “Buy an Economy Car and Save Money on Gas? Not Hardly.” In it, you will be introduced to Analysis 101 in which you will learn that driving and maintaining an old car is demonstrably more economical than the purchase, driving and maintaining of a new econobox that makes your green heart go pitty-pat.
In case you wonder why those of us who actually rub a sufficient number of brain cells together would reach a conclusion that allows us to “rail against the act of plugging in a vehicle”, I invite you to find yourself 200 miles south of Midland, Texas headed for Alpine, Texas in July and in desperate need of an electric outlet to plug in your electric green machine. Trouble is that the nearest town with so much as a general store is 40 miles away and your only companions in the immediate vicinity happen to be jackrabbits, antelope and rattlesnakes. That long walk you’re about to take in 112 degree heat ain’t gonna be that much fun.
You will also find that those of us who prefer big, older cars for perfectly logical, common sense reasons do not use those vehicles as a basis of our self-worth or how much any of us happen to weigh. As for bicycles in the summer in Texas, using them on a regular basis for long trips is essentially a one-way journey to the nearest cemetery. When it comes to the status quo, never mind maintaining it, I don’t give two flips about it. What I do care about is maintaining the individual freedom that created this country in the first place, rather than having it turned into a Nanny State that micromanages every moment of my life.
Hopefully you understand that I have not railed against you but have simply responded to your comments with typical, genteel Texas manners in pointing out the errors of your way and providing information that will assist you in re-evaluating your beliefs.
Regards,
Richard Marmo