Car shopping and avoiding "The Incredible Edible Car"

Skyfarmr

Jedi Master
So I've spent most of this week shopping for a used car, which always involves a lot of online research first. I've made numerous attempts of setting up appointments with sellers to check out a vehicle that fits our requirements only to have someone show up and buy it up before my appointment; I even made an appointment with a dealer just yesterday to check out a vehicle 45 minutes away, let the dealer know we were coming, only to receive a call back saying the engine light came on when he went to move it up from the back lot. While that was very considerate, I began wondering whether these circumstances are serendipitously preventing me from buying a money pit and I've come to the realization that patience is necessary, no, make that imperative! The right vehicle will reveal itself in time.

Anyway, while researching I came across an interesting article regarding soy-based insulated wiring, foam auto cushions and hood insulation on newer cars in the effort to make cars more "green". Seems rodents REALLY like that insulation not only as a source of food but for nesting, as well. IMHO, electrical car issues are the most mysterious and troublesome frustrations associated with car ownership. It's like chasing an electron! The car I'm trying to replace was riddled with electronic issues, the most serious one (worn fan and AC fuses...$85 fix) causing overheating and head gasket failure. Its' slow death wasn't related to the subject in this article, but if I could afford a newer car, I'd steer away from those listed in this article, and anyone else should, too, if you can't keep rodents out from under your vehicle.

Here's the article and...Caveat emptor! ( "Let the buyer beware")

Incredible Edible Car
http://www.synlube.com/IncredibleEdibleCar1.htm
A little "taste" of content
Why are vehicles being eaten NOW ?

The quest for being "Green" correctness started also in 1990's.

OEMs started by replacing the durable components that really did not need to last as long as they did, with generally untested improvements in material composition and with the use of "natural" materials to substitute for the petroleum in plastics.

OEMs also started replacing were[sic] possible any durable metal parts with limited lifespan plastic components.

Soy - has been utilized in just about anything from wiring harness covers, to wire insulation, to seat cushion foam and interior carpeting and trim.

Cars just started to taste way too good !

But mind you rodents (or Mother Nature, if you must) are not that stupid, indeed they are far more evolved and "smart" than humans give them credit for !

What one mouse or pack rat discovers is not kept as top secret for that individual rodent, or the immediate clan or family, that knowledge is very quickly "shared" with other rodents and becomes the knowledge of these creatures all over the world !

How that happens or how that is even possible is beyond the scope of this article, but there is definite proof that such animal knowledge "sharing" exists.

If one or two mice will eat something tasty and die shortly because of it, for example common automotive coolant that tastes sweet to animals, even if there are hundreds more starving mice near-by, they will no longer lick it, somehow they quickly learn that it is a deadly poison.

But if the stuff is not only tasty but also very nutritious, mice living hundreds of miles away will somehow gain this knowledge, and put the wiring harness or seat foam made with soy on their snack list.

Embedded in this article is a link to a hilarious supplement to this hair-brained idea. I think Ford was seriously trying to be charming, although, it's actually ridiculous in retrospect (.pdf) Thinking this may be a parody of sorts, not sure.

http://www.synlube.com/Rodent/FordCookBook_Summer_2016_Edition_print.pdf
So as you go through this recipe book, courtesy of Ford and Chef Justin Cournoyer of
ACTINOLITE restaurant in Toronto, enjoy a taste of what is in your Ford today and what may
be there in the future

Seriously looking at something old school like an 88 ford escort wagon being offered for $1000, no rust/rot, at least for the winter. No computers, and definitely no rodent food.
 
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