Not Like They Used Too

Here's an old adage which many of us use: 'They don't make 'em like they used too'. I'm no so sure that it applies generally.

I remember a day about 30 years ago where a guy in the Shop remarked about cars, 'They don't make 'em like the used too' and me Pops replied, "Good. I'm glad the don't". His point was that even in the 1990s he wasn't having the amount of car troubles he was having in the 1960s. Cars by and large were made 'better than they used to'.

I second that. I don't have nearly the amount of car issues I was having in the Nineties, and I readily admit that what I drive isn't anywhere near mint condition (Quiet, Ron). The fact is that powertrains (the engines and transmissions) are capable of a quarter million miles on many vehicles today; Dad recalled that when a car might  hit 100,000 in 1952 it was such an anomaly as to be almost unbelievable. Rust out is much more rare than it once was too.

On the whole, they do make them better than they used too, and that's good. I need the aftermarket.