[Milsurplus] [ARC5] British Radios Quote

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

On Wed, Jan 22, 2014 at 11:24 PM, <WA5CAB at cs.com> wrote:

> I've owned at least one Land Rover every year since 1969.  The worst
> quality problems Land Rover had over that period were during the years
> that they
> were owned by BMW, aggravated by BMW refusing to pay LR/RR/Jag suppliers.
>

I've had a number of Brit vehicles over the years: 2 Land Rover 88s,
several MGBs, a Triumph TR-6 overdrive, a Mini (real one, not the bloated
BMW version), and several older Jags. Loved 'em. Fun to own, easy to work
on. 9 times out of 10 I found the problems with them were clearly a result
of poor/no maintenance by previous owners.

Oil leaks? Sure - things like swivel balls on the Rovers that hadn't been
maintained. Electrical problems? All easily fixed as they used the same
type of bullet connectors that older Fords and probably others used. Once I
went through a vehicle and cleaned up someone else's mess, they were
reliable, fun cars. From what others say, I must've been incredibly lucky.
They do require some basic maintenance(how many people even know what a
dashpot is?), something Americans are notoriously lazy about doing. Plenty
of US cars with appliance-minded owners show similar problems. The
difference is, our cars are manufactured more for a consumer mentality. Try
rolling your new car into the garage for some repairs. Bet you end up back
at the dealer. The evolution of consumer-ism.

And let's not forget America's premier motorcycle manufacturer, Harley
Davidson, and their partnership with AMF. OPEC no doubt loved that, and
Harleys got a bad rep for leaking oil they're still trying to shake today.
My dad is on his 4th one, never a leak.

There were certainly some questionable design decisions made in Brit cars,
clearly done on the cheap. Using something better than the bullet
connectors, or at least better materials in those, would've stopped 90% of
the electrical issues. I blame that more on poor business management,
letting government get involved in private industry is never a good thing.
The outcome is clear by where so many British marques ended up.

But it's true - British cars, like old radios, aren't and never were for
everyone. If you're someone who just wants to get into a car and drive it
into the ground, get a Honda or Toyota. Or back in the day, the venerable
VW Beetle. I confess - never had a new one, so I can't compare overall
reliability. Just the results after cleaning up and tinkering, something I
enjoy anyway. I've heard that Ford cleaned up a lot of the quality issues
with Jag. They're well beyond my pay grade and it wouldn't be the same.

Worst car I ever owned was a 1997 Audi A4 Quattro that I bought used. Great
ride, great performance, dealer-maintained from new. Something broke just
about every week. The entire dash had to come out to change a bulb (sold it
with several burned out). Think I paid for that car 2-3 times over. The
thick folder full of receipts should've been a hint.

~ Todd,  KA1KAQ/4