I hate to ask - what do you think The Blazer is worth?

[Deuling]

I am willing to bet that none of the trucks/cars made today will be around 25,30,40 years from now like some of the rigs on here without major restos and replacement off all kinds of electronics (my grandpas 09 silverado had the computer complely die after not even a year, really?). Heck ive seen new chevys only year or 2 old with rusty fenders. WTF!! The feel of new cars are junk, they feel so light and crappy and they are impossible to work on in some cases if you arent smart with all the electronic bs. Ill take an old azz carborated truck that gets under 10 mpg any day over a pos new car. I just dont understand why companies all over need to slack on everything. I went to a car truck show this winter and me and my buddies couldnt beleive how $hitty the paint looked on so many of the vehicles. Alot of the fords had horrible orange peel, i mean really? Paul stated it all perfectly above, and i so wish i would have been born in the era of quality and not this bs.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

My cousin's about 35 and in his adult life has owned...counting...5 bought off the dealerlot new Chevy trucks. One S10 and four half ton 4x4's.

The low mileage BS trouble he's had has been discouraging. Electrical and computer stuff especially.

Meanwhile my friends' and neighbors' have had similar issues. None of it speaks well to longevity.

 

[Chief Brody]

I am willing to bet that none of the trucks/cars made today will be around 25,30,40 years from now like some of the rigs on here without major restos and replacement off all kinds of electronics i would have been born in the era of quality and not this bs.

I agree on the electronics...but I am told that the new metals are coated so that they don't rust unless of course that coating is breached...

As for the era of quality...I witnessed this first hand with my tailgate debacle...these trucks may be simple and nuts and bolts but the metal itself was made to a higher standard...too bad the rust protection didn't come until after mine was made...

I can tell you this...when I was 8 years old in 1972, the cars we owned were 1960's models...me and my brother played on these cars...we walked on them...the hood and even the roof...and they didn't bend...I wouldn't recommend that but we were kids...the metal was so thick...but that was before the "artificial" gas shortage and communist greenies decided we needed cars made out of paper mache and aluminum cans....I think we are lucky that our trucks somewhat survived through an era of Gremlins, Pacers and the egg car era.

The thing that strikes me the most about this, seeing it first hand is that it really was true....American made steel was the best made steel in the world...it wasn't just a slogan...baseball, hotdogs, apple pie and U.S. Steel...quality...with quality control...flagusa

 

[Deuling]

Idk about the rust protection coating chief, but its prolly the excuse for using steel half as thick lol. I had an 01 2wd pickup i bought from my gpa who hardly drove it in winter and it was in a garage. The cab corners were rotted, along with the rear fenders bubbling through the paint and this was in 09! 8 years and thats it? It pisses me off lol.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

It isn't any more. Our production techniques are obsolete and our costs are high.


That said modern steel is thinner because we can make it thinner and stronger than in the old days. Also most auto bodies are galvanized now so that prevents rust. The modern primer, paint, and clearcoat is also supposed to protect better...

...said. Even if the body isn't rusty they don't protect the underbody at all any more.

 

[Chief Brody]

Idk about the rust protection coating chief, but its prolly the excuse for using steel half as thick lol. I had an 01 2wd pickup i bought from my gpa who hardly drove it in winter and it was in a garage. The cab corners were rotted, along with the rear fenders bubbling through the paint and this was in 09! 8 years and thats it? It pisses me off lol.

Wow! I believe you...but I thought they had all but eliminated rust....at least that's what "they" say

 

[Chief Brody]

...said. Even if the body isn't rusty they don't protect the underbody at all any more.

I thought that's where they made the biggest advances?

They used to say so...there is no rust at all on my 1999 Ranger...not inside, outside or underneath...

but you could cut the metal with a can opener

 

[Deuling]

Wow! I believe you...but I thought they had all but eliminated rust....at least that's what "they" say

Heck around here probably 50% of that body style look exactly the same and worse than mine did. Not all but i see it alot. Almost every single ford f250 of that same era around here has both rear fenders with big ole rust outs on the rear fenders.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Somewhere on here there's a couple pics of my buddy's MIL's 2005 Silverado's brakes after we had to cut and beat the rotors off the truck. Driven by a 60 yo woman in West Michigan, fairly well taken care of, and lower than average mileage for it's age.
Suckers were solid on there and it had more rust on the frame and suspension than 20 year old trucks I've seen. They don't put preventative coatings on them anymore. One of the first things they ganked when times got tough.

Deuling, to be fair, how diligent was gramps in cleaning out under the body? Seen people bitch about that type of rot before but when you ask they never even once so much as stuck a hose under the body.

 

[Deuling]

Haha to be honest the man taught me the trick when i was younger, on that truck i might add, of getting the nozzle up in the fenders and along the rockers because thats where they rot out and you wanna get all the junk out haha. Despite his efforts however..... MI got the best of it lol

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Fair enough.

 

[Deuling]

Not saying the man waxed the thing all the time and what not, but he sprayed it down and washed often, just seemed so odd to me.

 

[AJMBLAZER]

Hard to say. I bought a '96 Ranger in '03 that had 142,000 miles on it and was in great shape.

A-factory under body protection was in existence then.

B-The guy I got it from did daily trips between GR and Detroit for work for several years so it was mostly highway.

C-He was only religious about regular oil changes and it getting a good top and bottom car wash every week at a minimum. Thing had more sand under it than anything else. Was a duner.

 

[Cornfield creations]

Somewhere on here there's a couple pics of my buddy's MIL's 2005 Silverado's brakes after we had to cut and beat the rotors off the truck. Driven by a 60 yo woman in West Michigan, fairly well taken care of, and lower than average mileage for it's age.
Suckers were solid on there and it had more rust on the frame and suspension than 20 year old trucks I've seen. They don't put preventative coatings on them anymore. One of the first things they ganked when times got tough.

Deuling, to be fair, how diligent was gramps in cleaning out under the body? Seen people bitch about that type of rot before but when you ask they never even once so much as stuck a hose under the body.

Around that time, GM and I believe Ford also, eliminated chromium out of brake rotors, to reduce costs. Which chromium is a hardener and a rust preventative. We see rotors like this all the time, it's ridiculous. Then the costs come out of the owner's pocket.

Everything boils down to money. No matter the manufacturer, they all want to make the most profit possible. It's a game to see what they can get away with and make the most profit. Plus everyone needs to remember, they only continue to make money if you are buying another car or are buying factory parts.