Nothing lasts forever. If you don’t believe it, look around. My first luxury car was a 1981 Oldsmobile 98 diesel. It had all the bells and whistles. Perhaps my favorite was the fender skirts that served as the signature series for the best Oldsmobile had to offer.
The car was a bitter disappointment. When the car was new, we drove from Austin to Odessa and back. On our return drive, our top speed for much of the way was 35 mph. It was a very long ride. That certainly took the fun out of driving. I hated that car, and I had a three-year car note!
I was young and dumb at the time and I absorbed a huge financial loss when I traded the car at nine months. During that period, my car was in the shop for 9 weeks. The dealership didn’t provide me anything to drive in the interim.
They say you live, and you learn, but I didn’t. I traded the 1981 Olds 98 model for a 1982 just like it with a gasoline engine. It put the fun back in driving and I was a satisfied owner. The car was substantive and represented quality.
It wasn’t many years after that the Oldsmobile came out with “the new generation” Oldsmobile. Their tagline was: “It’s not your father’s Oldsmobile.” I don’t know if the designers had been smoking with Willie, but what they had to offer didn’t represent anything I wanted to drive. I suspect that if Oldsmobile had stuck with “your father’s Oldsmobile,” I might still be driving one.
Oldsmobile was in business for 107 years and they manufactured 35.2 million cars. I’m sure the folks in Lansing, Michigan still remember the good old days. The last Olds rolled off the assembly line on April 29, 2004.
It is true almost everywhere you look. Brands of anything that once represented quality have gone by the wayside. Take appliances for example. Back in the day, a refrigerator lasted 20 plus years. Today, they tell you may get half that period out of a new brand name refrigerator.
When we were in interim housing while our home was being built, the Microwave only worked 30 seconds at a time. The 30 second button was the only button that worked. The microwave was approximately a year old and had seldom been used. It, too, carried a name brand known for quality.
As we reached the anniversary of the first year in our home, I was offered the opportunity to purchase an extended warranty. The builder provided a 10-year structural warranty, but all of the appliances, heating and cooling units, etc., were not covered by the warranty.
My dad operated on the notion, if they can make money selling you an extended warranty, you can save money by not buying it. As a rule of thumb, how could I argue with his logic?
On the other hand, I know that many name brand American products have been outsourced to China and Mexico and they don’t live up to the standards associated with the brand.
Take for example, Trane air conditioners. I thought they were made in the USA. They are assembled in the U.S. but the parts come from Mexico. Other brands may be assembled on U.S. soil, but the parts come from China.
It was more money than I wanted to spend, but I decided to go with an upscale warranty that provided substantial coverage. The builder’s warranty on our home expired on May 22, 2024. One of the air conditioner units stopped cooling on June 24, 2024.
So why did an air conditioner need freon as quickly as it did? That didn’t seem right to me. The repair person had planned to just add freon and take a “wait and see” approach. When I asked him at what intervals freon needed to be added, he said it varies. He then asked, “Did you want me to trace the leak and identify the source of the problem?” Duh!
It was a brilliant idea. Of course, I wanted the source of the problem corrected! He subsequently found a broken part in the with the system located in the attic. He patched it for now, but will be back to replace the part as soon as it arrives. Did I mention that sometimes extended warranties are worth every dime you spend?
As a side note, I had a 73 Oldsmobile two door hardtop, and it was an exceptional car.
All My Best!
Don
Carpe Diem 