Omaha daily bee., 1910-10-02
WHAT Is THE LIFE OF A CAR?
Much Depends on Quality Of Work Of
Manufacturer.
CARE IN DRIVING MEANS MUCH
elements 90 he Considered In CAL
culnting Mileage Car May
Cover Before Reaching
junk Pile.

out" When an automobile reaches this
ytage of its existence II may be said to
have no value. Long ago It has probably
changed hands several times. For the in
dividual owner therefore, the practical
question is How far will this car run be-
fore 1 want to get rid of it, and what will
its selling value be Them
Until very recently 1t was the custom to
consider the automobile purely a means OF
recreation. If il was ready to run. we'll
and good II not, an afternoon would be
spent fixing it up, and no particular harm
was done. Latterly however, a new class
of owners has arisen, comprising physi-
clans, business men, commuters and others,
who depend on their automobiles for neces-
sary daily transportation. To these owners
their automobiles are useful only so long
as they can be kept in daily service. Two
or three weeks may be allowed during the
winter for overhauling, but II is essential
that the automobile shall not give out in
unexpected ways. II II simply wears out
the various parts can be watched and re-
placed or refitted. When, however, things
begin to break or come loose, the car must
be passed on to a less exacting owner,
though with care it's subsequent mileage
may be considerable.
To be specific, let us assume that a car
IL used to go a couple of miles to and from
the station or place of business in prac-
ucally all weathers. During the day the
owners wife uses II in various ways, such
as for paying calls. marketing and taking
out her friends; also it is run as a rule
on a pleasure excursion of from fifty to
80 miles each weekend. 1t is housed in
a private garage. and is kept clean and in
order by the handy man under the owners
directions.
The car for this service probably will
have from twenty to thirty horsepower.
In twelve months it is likely to run about
10000 miles. How many seasons such as
this will it bear before it ceases to be
thoroughly dependable?
where the Answer Lies.
The answer will depend almost wholly
on the quality of materials and workman
ship in the car. A high-grade. high priced
car may easily run 5000 to 5000 miles
without developing weakness in any part
1t will wear out it is true: but it will wear
out by degrees, and yearly overhauling
viii make everything sound for the next
twelve months, barring minor adjustments
and the like.
1t may. indeed, be said OF the high-grade
car that its useful life is not limited by
the durability Of the major wearing parts
cylinders pstons gears, bushings, etc
since all of these even the cylinders, can
be replaced without prohibitive expense.
The end of it's usefulness to the average
owner Is reached rather when the thousand
and one minor wearing parts become so
loose and so noisy that, although the car
still runs, there is no longer pleasure in
driving it. In modern cars more or less is
done TO defer the inevitable day when
minor parts wear out. but when they do II
IS frequently impracticable TO do anything
except buy new ones throughout, which
would cost more than the remaining value
OF the car. 1t is true that in many cases
ingenuity will avail to minimize the ex-
pense, and it is also true that the tendency
10 steadily toward making it easier to refit
or replace the small well as the large
wearing parts, and TO defer the day OF
their wearing out, by providing lubrica-
ton. Nevertheless, it may be said broadly
that the car has reached the end of its
usefulness when its noise is no longer
bearable.
How Is 1t with the cheaper cars?
For one thing the cheaper car does not
last as long. Where a thirty-horsepower
car. costing from $3.50 to s., 600 will run
5000 miles before ceasing to satisfy the
exactlng owner, the 81, 200 car of like horse
power is exhausted when Il has covered
1900 or 5000 miles. As for the cars rated
at twenty horsepower and thereabouts
and sold at $500 to $1,000. 10000 miles seems
to be about their limit of mileage in the
hands OF the first owner
Cost Determines Durability.
The fact is that 1t is impossible to build
good a car for the lower as for the
higher price. The gears, shafts aXles and
frames must be of cheaper steel, more
hastily finished and put together. The bear.
ings are necessarily quite different from the
costly, but almost indestructible ball and
roller bearing of the expensive cars. The
fitting is more hastily done, and detail re
finements Of both design and construction
are everywhere sighted In order TO get the
factory cost within the permissible limit
The result Is not simply that wear is more
rapid, hut that it can less confidently b,
predicted. The high-grad4 car is not ex.
Ectly like the, 'Oue-Hoss Shay; yet at al
events, ii doesn't break down, but simply
wears out. The design of the cheap car Il
not so well balanced; something or otheI
is FuIe to break or loosen before its time
and Gttle unpleasant surprises, such a,
this ioosening Of the steering gear tn,
sheRriug of a key, or the stripping of I
bRtJ hardened gear are to be expected
alter the first year OF service. These thing
may not necessarily condemn the car 70
subsequent pleasure use. but they do unfi
It for the eNacting requirements OF business
use.
AS for the value OF the car when sold
the end of Its 1O,OO0 or $1,000 miles, that is 1
subject on which it is hard to generalixe
Probably AS many used cars are sold at to-
high as at too low figures. A low-grad
car can generally be sold for about half Il
price at the end OF its first season, though
whether II is worth as much may some
times be questioned The high-grade ca
at the corresponding period OF its life vii
admittedly command lower sum- that
10 say, one cannot sell II after 5000 mile
at half It's first price. quarter is nor
nearly correct, but that is due partly L
the simple lapse of time and partly to tn
likelihood that similar cars can be bough
for less money than the used car COS
when new, owing TO lessened cost OF pro
duction. Even at that. however, the write
regards the high-grade car, bought with
view TO running it. say, 5000 miles befor
/