In its never ending attempt to jamb more technology in a vehicle inflating the price exponentially automakers have shot themselves in the foot then watched the bullet ricochet off the pavement going through both tush cheeks. It’s a rather impressive feat of managerial ineptitude. When tech first started appearing in vehicles there was an air gap which was titanium clad. One CAN-BUS for the engine and other mechanics and another for the cabin. Never the twain shall meet. Now we routinely see stories of vehicles getting hacked and other nasty problems.
Most Millenials probably can’t even relate to the phrase “rolling past 100,000 miles.” They’ve probably never seen an odometer which actually rolled. Sorry for the blur but camera on flip phone doesn’t like that extra layer of plastic there to protect the instrument cluster. For those not old enough to remember or have even seen, that white tenths of a mile thing used to roll around to 9 then the next digit would increment by one. When each digit rolled from 9 back to zero it would roll the one to the left. Really old odometers didn’t even have a digit for 100,000 so the phrase “it’s about to become a new car” had a completely different meaning than it does today.
With a mechanical odometer you had warning a bunch of zeros were about to come up. Whoever was driving would glance down and happen to see 999.6 or something like that and call out “Hey we’re about to . . .” and whoever was in the car would move so they could see the odometer. For however many tenths it took and, sadly, in many cases probably the driver too, would stare at the odometer watching it creep to a big string of zeros.
Watching the odometer “become a new car” was particularly thrilling in part because so few cars ever made it that far. Around 40,000 miles most Detroit iron started needing quite a few repairs. By 60,000 they were taking well over a quart of oil between those 3,000 mile oil changes and the token few which got to 80,000 seemed to take a quart of oil every time you hit the ignition. Having one both built and maintained well enough to hit 100,000 was on par with getting a gold medal at the Olympics or some other rarified feat.
Todays cars, with unleaded gasoline and synthetic oil routinely make it to 300,000 miles with proper maintenance which includes washing off the road salt before it starts to rot the body. Most digital gauges don’t even show you tenths of a mile. If you happen to remember the thrill of a big string of zeros coming up and happen to notice a string of 9’s on the odometer you actually have to watch for close to a mile because you have no idea when it is going to blink those zeros before you eyes. Yes that digital gauges is my current beater Jeep and yes I plan on making it last until 300,000 or beyond. The image of the mechanical odometer is the last vehicle I own with a mechanical odometer, my bucket truck. Ten years from now it might have a whopping 10K added to its total because it just goes farm to farm trimming trees and fixing security lights. Why climb a ladder and risk busting a hip when for just a few grand you can keep a bucket truck with both a generator and air compressor around? Some day I will fix a few more things on it and add a portable welder so it can be even more useful.
In their zest to appeal to younger buyers auto makers have taken away one of the not often experienced joys of owning a vehicle. No wonder Millenials don’t buy cars.