A hard life for a car?

rorz0r

rorz0r

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So what exactly is a hard life for a car? People seem to think that all 2nd hand performance cars have had something done to them that will cause them to blow up at some point?

Is accelerating hard and driving fast (like 140-160 on highways) a lot of the time a hard life?
Or maybe driving at 180-200 long distance all the time?
Or maybe a little old lady that can't change out of first that does 60kmh @ 5000rpm?
Or a mommys car where she taught her kid to drive and he has mastered clutch control?
Or maybe a young guys car small hatch that had to carry around 6 friends every weekend?

One thing I can say for certain is not letting a turbo cool down a bit after driving the car...
I think the main problems seems to be clutches and turbos.
 
rorz0r said:
So what exactly is a hard life for a car? People seem to think that all 2nd hand performance cars have had something done to them that will cause them to blow up at some point?

Is accelerating hard and driving fast (like 140-160 on highways) a lot of the time a hard life?
Or maybe driving at 180-200 long distance all the time?
Or maybe a little old lady that can't change out of first that does 60kmh @ 5000rpm?
Or a mommys car where she taught her kid to drive and he has mastered clutch control?
Or maybe a young guys car small hatch that had to carry around 6 friends every weekend?


One thing I can say for certain is not letting a turbo cool down a bit after driving the car...
I think the main problems seems to be clutches and turbos.
Click to expand...

I think just simply looking after a car, any car is a good thing. Some people's driving style alone is shocking...i.e changin gear at 4000rpm all the time..you know, that SLOW rising of th erevs till 4000rpm and then changing. But the ones I bolded is on the spot...that messes a car up.

One can usually see with any car whether the owner has looked after his/her car, bodywork and cleanliness is a sign.
 
well in my car's hand book, "a hard life" refers to:
1) extremely short distances....i.e.egine does not get up to temperature and is switched off again, then started again and switched off again....CITY DRIVING...major problems..shop and back, you get the picture....this puts pressure on almost every component of a car, brakes, shocks, gearbox, tires, engine...etc..so in my book, avoid a car that has just been driven in the city...one with 20000 km and four years old....
2) extremely cold conditions
3) abnormally hot conditions

An engine is at its most efficient a 4000 rpm on average....so spinning along at below the "red zone" of the rev counter is just fine...so cruising a 180km/h is just fine, as long as its not in the red zone...
 
the graduate said:
well in my car's hand book, "a hard life" refers to:
1) extremely short distances....i.e.egine does not get up to temperature and is switched off again, then started again and switched off again....CITY DRIVING...major problems..shop and back, you get the picture....this puts pressure on almost every component of a car, brakes, shocks, gearbox, tires, engine...etc..so in my book, avoid a car that has just been driven in the city...one with 20000 km and four years old....
2) extremely cold conditions
3) abnormally hot conditions

An engine is at its most efficient a 4000 rpm on average....so spinning along at below the "red zone" of the rev counter is just fine...so cruising a 180km/h is just fine, as long as its not in the red zone...
Click to expand...

Agreed, however I was refering to...taking 10 seconds to get to 4000rpm lol...
 
Yesterday I went to check a Ford Fiesta 2002 at a dealership I saw on the internet, I was still 2 metres away and could see that it had a hard life and their R44 000 asking price was crazy, small bodywork indentations all aroud, backboard sagging/bent in the middle, bumper dull and full of scratches.

Thats poor car has had a hard life and i'm not gonna make its problems mine...
 
Bought my 1600 Corolla 10 years ago, secondhand.

Had to replace clutch and cylinder head at one stage - but it still is going strong, no issues there. :cool:

Best car I've ever had.
 
I was wondering that the other day... I think if a vehicle is well looked after it will show....

Mine lives above 6000rpm ... so I try keep it there....

I don't do hard launces, which I know is bad for my specific car and I make sure its serviced and the oil is always topped up.
 
the graduate said:
well in my car's hand book, "a hard life" refers to:
1) extremely short distances....i.e.egine does not get up to temperature and is switched off again, then started again and switched off again....CITY DRIVING...major problems..shop and back, you get the picture....this puts pressure on almost every component of a car, brakes, shocks, gearbox, tires, engine...etc..so in my book, avoid a car that has just been driven in the city...one with 20000 km and four years old....
2) extremely cold conditions
3) abnormally hot conditions

An engine is at its most efficient a 4000 rpm on average....so spinning along at below the "red zone" of the rev counter is just fine...so cruising a 180km/h is just fine, as long as its not in the red zone...
Click to expand...

More rev/min = more wear and tear.

I'd say 2nd hand performance cars probably don't get broken in a significant amount of the time, and that's frightening. But I guess the biggest reason I would be concerned is 1) letting the turbo cool down as you mentioned, 2) start and drive, without waiting for the oil to be circulated properly and giving the engine some time to warm up, 3) since it's a performance car, they bought it since they enjoy accelerating hard, braking hard, driving fast. Fact of the matter is, the total revolutions you have on it is directly proportional to how much it's worn, common sense.

I know people who drive normally and only shift just before the red line. One way to get rid of your car in a rush. The worse version of these is the one guy I knew who the 'Top BMW mechanic' in SA told him it's best to drive it hard all the time (maybe for the mechanic's pocket). I tell him, "Bad for your engine, man", he refutes. 3 months later, new car, I ask "what happened to the beemer?"... "engine seized".

P.S. 16 year old Honda, still outrunning most small cars of about the same engine size. Not really difficult to look after a car, keep the revs low when cold, have a light foot, put it down only when necessary.
 
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My UNO 1100 FIRE (other one was stolen last week) has been totalled 3 times, nearly killed by a truck (took out the driver side lights and front body panel), had its engine ripped out by a rock, had its gearbox ripped out by a rock, been stripped of all new parts (that were replaced with old rubbish) by a dodgy mechanic, been used to transport a family of 4 (with an extremely large father) to CT and back to PTA, was used by a sales rep across country and been used as a school and back transport for 5 children and an adult.

Tip of the iceberg.
 
Well, I'm not expert, but I'm doing what my father does...

With a brand new car....always run the engine in....even though the manufacturer might say 1000km, take 2500km. With "running in" don't rev the engine past 3000 rpm during this time and run maximum 120km/h in the first 1000km....thereafter ease it now and again into the 140 -160 km/h zone....

With my 17 year old merc, I start my engine and allow the oil to get up to pressure. Then I can drive off, but I'll never run my car's engine above 2500 rpm when the engine is still cold....until it gets up to proper operating temperature, then only will I get its lungs to breath and the heart to beat at full throttle...
 
the graduate said:
Well, I'm not expert, but I'm doing what my father does...

With a brand new car....always run the engine in....even though the manufacturer might say 1000km, take 2500km. With "running in" don't rev the engine past 3000 rpm during this time and run maximum 120km/h in the first 1000km....thereafter ease it now and again into the 140 -160 km/h zone....

With my 17 year old merc, I start my engine and allow the oil to get up to pressure. Then I can drive off, but I'll never run my car's engine above 2500 rpm when the engine is still cold....until it gets up to proper operating temperature, then only will I get its lungs to breath and the heart to beat at full throttle...
Click to expand...

+1

Also, the fun bit about a carb'ed car is every day is a surprise. Sometimes it feels like a lazy slump, other times it's ready to take on the world :D And even better with a double barrel, totally different engine note once the 2nd barrel opens! With Hondas, add to that, that all the power is at the top end and you get one of the most fun student cars ever!
 
the graduate said:
Well, I'm not expert, but I'm doing what my father does...

With a brand new car....always run the engine in....even though the manufacturer might say 1000km, take 2500km. With "running in" don't rev the engine past 3000 rpm during this time and run maximum 120km/h in the first 1000km....thereafter ease it now and again into the 140 -160 km/h zone....

With my 17 year old merc, I start my engine and allow the oil to get up to pressure. Then I can drive off, but I'll never run my car's engine above 2500 rpm when the engine is still cold....until it gets up to proper operating temperature, then only will I get its lungs to breath and the heart to beat at full throttle...
Click to expand...

Yes. Totally agree. I do this on all my cars, and the last three have gone past 330000 before they were sold (to friends) with no engine or gearbox attention. (And the friends are still friends) One was at over 500000 when it was stolen.
 
the graduate said:
1) extremely short distances....i.e.egine does not get up to temperature and is switched off again, then started again and switched off again....CITY DRIVING...major problems..shop and back, you get the picture....this puts pressure on almost every component of a car, brakes, shocks, gearbox, tires, engine...etc..so in my book, avoid a car that has just been driven in the city...one with 20000 km and four years old....
Click to expand...

I can agree that 20000km city driving is a lot harder on the car than driving at 120 between ct and jhb 13 times but is it really harder than a car with maybe 40000km driving a daily commute from pta to jhb?

I let my oil warm up to 90 before I push it, drive at least the last few blocks fairly slowly and then wait a minute or so before turning off. I don't ever launch hard (mainly because of torque steer) but once I change to second my foot will often be flat. Also launching hard and getting any wheelspin in daily traffic will just make you look like a ****.

If buying a performance car second hand, is there anything that you're really going to do differently to the previous owner?
 
Due to mechanical inertia, driving at wide throttle openings, but low engine speed (e.g. standing on the pedal in 5th gear when driving at 20 km/hr) is very bad for engine (especially the bearings - due to the loads as the momentum builds).

I think (?) this is even worse for diesels (heavier engine bits and owners who love to think that their torque is so impressive and drive around all the time in high gear).
 
Billy said:
So my Mother-in-Law's Golf at 22 years and 76000km has definitely had a hard life?
Click to expand...

Not necessarily a hard life, but you can be pretty sure that the motor will not be as sweet as one that did the mileage quickly.

My Wolseley has done 42000 miles in 43 years, and although it is mechanically superb, there is no way I would push it as something would break, simply due to age.
 
The hardest thing you can do to a car is to drive it hard when it is still cold - that is why ex-rentals are something you really want to avoid. If a car is on its normal temperature then you can go beyond 3000rpm all the way to where you want rev it. But when it is not on normal temperature you are putting a lot of unnecessary wear on the engine.
 
Umm... depends on the car?

A 1400 that has done 200000km will be kaput, lets face it. A 3.0l that has done the same, well... you might be OK - that's a big engine doing that work.

Typically I think of needing to replace the clutch after buying a used BMW as a good sign that the car has been driven! There are other examples but generally - things like that.

Hard and fast rules don't really apply outside of context.
 
Would anyone here consider buying a car like a 1.4TSI Tiguan after 100,000km?
 
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