# Cheap Crappy Unibody Cars Rant **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 25, 2018, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-crappy-unibody-cars-rant/809528 "2018-02-25T06:18:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-crappy-unibody-cars-rant/809528/21 "2018-02-26T16:13:59Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > That is a fucking crime what they did to that Bel Air. ☹ Old Chevy’s like that are dime a dozen. There are a number of them on my local Craigslist. Chevy sold over 300,000 cars in 1959. A crime is what I did to a 1966 Hemi Charger. I built a short track race car out of one. Removed the Hemi and sold it. Dropped in a 440 and destroyed the car in a crash 3 months later. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-crappy-unibody-cars-rant/809528/22 "2018-02-26T16:29:56Z")
We also have spark plus that last like 100,000 miles or more, meaning giving up all of the advancements in automotive engineering to save a couple of hours of maintenance that’s going to be done once in a car’s life is a poor bargain. When I was younger and drove old, crappy cars, I used to bemoan how _disposable_ they felt. Cracked and faded dashboards, busted electrics, ripped and worn seats, etc, all made my cars really miserable but were expensive or essentially impossible to fix. “Back in the day,” I thought, “all of this stuff was readily repairable.” But now that I have a bit more money, I’d never want to keep a car running for more than say, 15 years, even if were easy and cheap to do. I have a minivan from 2006, it has all of the comforts and features of a car from that era. Even if I could keep it running for another 10 years, which I’m sure I could do, I don’t really want to. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-crappy-unibody-cars-rant/809528/23 "2018-02-26T16:40:16Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > In my head I think I imagine ok the Malibu weighs much less than the Bel Aire so it’s going to be like a dog slamming into a horse. You expect the dog to sort of bounce away. I didn’t expect the Malibu to drive so much force into the Bel Aire, I guess. But it would seem that the weight of the Bel Aire (and its engine) is contributing to the force, and the force is building as it shifts into the driver. Yowza. The difference in weight is at most 245 lbs and likely much less. Wikipedia says the 2009 Malibu weighed 3,415–3,649 pounds. Another source says the Bel Air weighed 3510-3660 ([https://auto.howstuffworks.com/chevrolet-bel-air17.htm](https://auto.howstuffworks.com/chevrolet-bel-air17.htm)). Assuming each car weighed the midpoint of those ranges, the difference is only 53 lbs. People don’t realize how heavy modern cars have become. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-crappy-unibody-cars-rant/809528/24 "2018-02-26T18:00:38Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > We also have spark plus that last like 100,000 miles or more, meaning giving up all of the advancements in automotive engineering to save a couple of hours of maintenance that’s going to be done once in a car’s life is a poor bargain. > > When I was younger and drove old, crappy cars, I used to bemoan how _disposable_ they felt. Cracked and faded dashboards, busted electrics, ripped and worn seats, etc, all made my cars really miserable but were expensive or essentially impossible to fix. “Back in the day,” I thought, “all of this stuff was readily repairable.” > > But now that I have a bit more money, I’d never want to keep a car running for more than say, 15 years, even if were easy and cheap to do. I have a minivan from 2006, it has all of the comforts and features of a car from that era. Even if I could keep it running for another 10 years, which I’m sure I could do, I don’t really want to. Yep, old cars suck. New cars are so much better. I have a 2012 Subaru that I bought new. The only thing I have done is to change the oil, air and cabin filters, and replaced the tires. I’ll take it in sometime this year for the 60K maintenance but this is the first real maintenance in 6 years. Now my 1996 Chevy K1500 that I’ve owned since 2002…I’ve nearly replaced the entire truck, one part at a time. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2018, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-crappy-unibody-cars-rant/809528/25 "2018-02-26T23:55:59Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > lemme 'splain… no, there is too much. Lemme sum up ( **Balthisar** knows way more about this than me, hopefully he can chime in) I build 'em, and PD designs them. I do tend to learn a lot through osmosis, though, and you’ve summed it up quite succinctly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cheap-crappy-unibody-cars-rant/809528.md?page=1)