skyl4rk said:
Does that mean before 1975?
I like the ones ranging from when the engines were moved forward from between the seats, up until the mid to late 80's when they started adding a lot of unneeded sensors and computer components.
Added electronics, sensors, etc. is just more added junk to have issues and need repair. Give me a amp gauge, oil pressure gauge, temperature gauge, and gas gauge and I'm good. Screw the oxygen sensors and all the rest of that BS.
I want a cable or linkage going from my gas pedal to the carb, not to a computer. Same for transmission linkage. I want manual heater controls, that if they break, I can still operate them the hard way.
You can't fix everything beside the road or in the woods, but the more stuff you can the better. The newer stuff is specifically designed to try and force you to take your vehicle to the shop and spend big bucks on it.
I prefer the vehicles that duct tape and baling wire can rescue you from the majority of problems you can get yourself into. If some unnecessary electronic component goes bad, you're dead in the water right there. Depending on where you're at, that could be fatal.
Most mechanical items will give you fair warning before failure if you're paying attention. The same is simply not true for many electrical items. On my 2004 Savannah, it was running perfect. Parked, all is good... Went to restart, wouldn't crank over. Tried to force starter, still nothing. Got it towed, and $1200 later for some stupid ignition sensor, it ran again. Only 6k miles on the rig. 36 days later, same problem all over again. Following month some other stupid sensor shut it down while I was going down the grapevine. Killed my power steering and brakes, and darn near killed me!
2007 Chev Express. Cruise control wouldn't disengage, took out of gear, no effect, turned off key, it kept running! This went on for miles. I finally started ripping out wires below the dash and it finally shut off. $5500 repair bill.
In contrast, on this old van when my accelerator spring broke and my gas pedal stayed depressed when I removed my foot, I was able to stick my toe under it and pull it up. Problem solved. I then tied a piece of twine to it so I could manually pull it up until I got it fixed. Cost me $1.35 for a replacement spring at a hardware store. I installed it myself in the parking lot.
I LOVE my computer and get a lot of enjoyment out of it. If it crashes, no big deal, I fix it, but my life isn't on the line and depending on it. In a vehicle your life can be dependent on those computers and that's a risk I'm no longer willing to take.