<VV> "low mileage" Corvairs and any vehicle old enough to

[Bill Elliott]

I firmly agree that condition is more important than anything else... 
but especially with unibody cars there seems to be a real difference in 
the "feel" (likely chassis stiffness) between a true low mileage car and 
a well-used high mileage car. Even if the "low" mileage is 70k or more. 
The car with 70k may have 40 years on it, but the car with 200k has 40 
years AND 200k... so given cars in comparable condition and price, I'll 
take the "low(er) mileage" one.

I will say, though, that the most troublesome Corvairs I've owned or 
worked on have been low mileage essentially unmodified cars... leading 
me (a second genration fan) to muse if the cars really were that bad 
"new" and it took 20 years of enthusiast owners to work the bugs out... 
though a more likely theory is that sitting caused more damage than use...

Bill

airvair wrote:

>Au contrare! First off, who says that an old car (even a Corvair) can't
>go 200,000 miles or better? Heck, my '84 Impala has over a quarter
>million miles, and all the fancier it has is a "computer" carb. Compare
>those with my '03 Cavalier, which barfed its engine at a mere 77,000
>miles. So much for old-car vs new-car comparisons.
>
>Second, ANY car with almost 70,000 miles on it is STILL high-milage, in
>my book. Dividing milage by age mostly becomes a meaningless
>intellectual curiosity after about 10 or 15 years. Besides, you said it
>yourself. Even AGE takes its toll, so what "wear" the car doesn't get on
>the road, it gets sitting.
>
>So I'd still have to ridicule the idea that that car was "low miles".
>Not with me it isn't. That's my viewpoint and I'm sticking with it.
>
>-Mark, STILL LMAO!
>
>Padgett wrote:
>  
>
>>>there's an '88 with 69,900 on it, described as "low milage". I 'bout
>>>fell off my chair laughing!
>>>      
>>>
>>Dunno about anyone else but I would consider a 20 year old car with 69k to
>>be "low milage", that figures to 3.5k per year and modern computer cars are
>>generally good for 200k miles. Frankly I would be more concerned about less
>>mileage since would have to figure on major seal replacement - three
>>factors lead to deterioration: miles, exposure (sun), and age. Different
>>elements are affected by each.
>>
>>Padgett
>>
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