[masraum]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

The 1980s cars were certainly designed to be replaced in a few years. I bought my 86 El Camino in 1991 and the original owner drove it for 5 years and 39,000 miles. It is at 364,000 miles or so now. I have had to replace the front A-arm bushings twice, and I even wore out the yoke on the driveshaft. It only goes 350,000 miles before a new $40 yoke is needed because a grove wears into the yoke from the seal. Brake pads were $12 for GM Goodwrench pads. Every part on the car works as designed or better. Maintenance is the key.

Most people are tired of a car after a few years, and they get it paid off and just want a new one. I tend to bond with my cars.

There are different levels of TV sets. Buy from the big box store or discount sellers and you get the cheapest price. Buy from a shop that specializes in home appliances and the same TV on the outside is a higher quality. At least it was that way 10 years ago. Our TV is a 60 inch Sony and it has been flawless. We bought it at a local mom and pop appliance store.

I believe this is still correct. If the model number is the same, then it's probably the same item, but big box stores will often have different part numbers than the specialists.

This has been going on for at least 20-30 years. I remember years ago when shoe shopping that shoes that looked identical (Rebook, Nike, whatever) were clearly very different if you were at a Sears or Dillards vs one of the cheap, mall based sneaker/shoe stores.

Many years ago, my dad had a small JD tractor (looked like a riding mower) and then my grandfather had a much larger tractor that my dad eventually got. Then a Home Depot opened close to my parents' place. Dad went to check it out (previously, they'd had an old Scotty's.) Dad came back and said "if you ever buy a JD, don't buy it from someplace like HD because they aren't built the same quality as the stuff that you get from a specialist dealer."

This is an interesting article about Snapper and Walmart.
https://www.fastcompany.com/54763/man-who-said-no-wal-mart

Sadly, it looks like Walmart eventually won ^that^ battle.