How old is the car?, was Sloppy Steering

[dardal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Quoting Mark McDonald <tomswift@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>:

> I appreciate your help, but in my opinion 73,000 miles on a 35 year old
> car is
> relatively low mileage.  That's less than 2100 miles a year.

As Chris said, the wear and tear of a car is not only based on its mileage, but 
its age.  People tend to say that modern cars "last longer" that older cars.  
That is, because their modern car will reach 200K miles, while the 196something 
they used to have needed this and that done at 80K miles, or whatever.  
However, a car that sees 20K or more miles a year (as the modern driving habits 
often require) means it saw lot's of highway miles and much fewer heat cycles 
(warm up-cool down).  But, a car with under 100K miles but 30 years on its back 
probably has a lot more cold starts and short trips, while the elements took 
their toll on rubber parts, regardless whether the car was driven or not.  
Therefore, this is far "older" car than a 5 year old modern of the same 
mileage.  In other words, a modern type of car with "only" 100K miles but 30 
years on its back (say 25 years from now), will probably be finished.

As for Mark's car, he may be right, it may not be time for a new front end 
yet.  He knows his car better than all of us.  The symptoms suggest that his 
suspension bushings are fine.  Again, look at the drag linkage

For all you fellows with "low mileage" cars, do not hesitate driving them, 
especially when it comes to long highway drives.  You enjoy your car while 
adding low wear and tear PER mile.

D^2