Pueblo chieftain., 1921-02-27
CARELESS OWNERS
KILL THEIR CARS

| The life Of a carlow long is It?
| Some automobiles, surely, are built
more substantially, more carefully. and
of highergrad material than others.
This is almost too generally known
fact to mention. 1t is self-evident
Were 1t not true, every car would cost
just as much f. o. b. the factory and
would wear equally long, given the
same treatment.
However, 1t is quite certain that the
great majority OF automobiles, no mat
ter how well or how poorly they may
be made, do not deliver the full life
time of service whereof they were cap
able at the outset. This is in large
measure due to the fact that they are
not given the proper care, day in and
day out, by their owners.
In the old days, when a man bought
Il wagon, "A buggy, or a carriage, he
expected 1t to last almost indefinitely.
Many vehicles are in use today that
have been drawn by two or three gen.
erations of horses. Yet, the modern
vehicle, tho automobile, rarely goes
beyond u ten-year period of usefulness.
This, despite the fact that the man
who in former days would have bought
a buggy now puts many times the
amount of the price of that buggy into
an automobile. He drives 1t year,
two years, repaints 1t, drives 1t another
year, and a new model catches his eye.
The old car, for him, is out-of-date.
He must have a new one. If this is
true of the man of moderate means,
how much more is it true of the man
of wealth! He must have a new car
every year. Yet, few years ago,
wealthy families prided themselves
upon riding in the carriages used by
their predecessors for generations back.
Because of the greater demands of
81 No. u,tt,,
mobile is a far sturdier machine than
the old buggy. 1t is heavier, stouter,
more solidly constructed thruout. Why
then, does it so soon wear out?
The higher the speed, of course. the
greater the vibration and strain. The
greater weight of the automobile must
be considered. But taking into con-
sideration these and all other factors.
sufficient cause for the deterioration of
the modern automobile is not found un-
less the carelessness OF the owner is
taken to account.
Daily, there pass by on the streets
automobiles that betray this careless
ness by squeaks, rattles, grinds, roars,
and mechanical noises that should be
immediate danger signals to their own
ers. Yet the average owner let's these
things so on getting worse, until such
time as the car becomes too bad to run.
Then, and only then, does he have the
tion of n few drops of oil might have
saved him n broken spring. The re-
placing of n single ring would have
saved his cylinder walls from scoring.
The twist of a wrench might have
saved him stripped gears. And too
often, when these minor faults have
grown into major ones, the final reck-
oning comes in n smashup that takes
its toll in suffering, manning, and loss
OF life itself.
But merely considering the things
that are allowed to run on until they
break down the general health OF the
automobile. altho they do not result
in real disaster. 1t is the little things
that kill a car. Automobiles OF the
cheapest makes. kept in proper re-
pair, properly oiled and tightened will
outlast cars many times greater in in
itial cost.
Is your car going to live to a ripe
old age, or must IL die in what might
have been Its prime?