Photo found on the Web unhappy customer

Discuss all things Model T related.
Forum rules
If you need help logging in, or have question about how something works, use the Support forum located here Support Forum
Complete set of Forum Rules Forum Rules

Topic author
W Austen
Posts: 95
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2019 5:42 pm
First Name: Bill
Last Name: Austen
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1915
Location: CA

Photo found on the Web unhappy customer

Post by W Austen » Tue Jun 15, 2021 1:06 pm

:lol:
Ford-2.jpg


John kuehn
Posts: 3907
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 8:00 pm
First Name: John
Last Name: Kuehn
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 19 Roadster, 21 Touring, 24 Coupe
Location: Texas
MTFCA Number: 28924

Re: Photo found on the Web unhappy customer

Post by John kuehn » Tue Jun 15, 2021 1:32 pm

I don’t think there was a lemon law like there is now. I suppose there is still one depending on which state you live in.

User avatar

KWTownsend
Posts: 1121
Joined: Mon Jan 07, 2019 6:51 pm
First Name: Keith
Last Name: Townsend
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: late 1911 touring, 1915 runabout, 1919 touring, brass speedster
Location: Gresham, Orygun
MTFCA Number: 14778
MTFCA Life Member: YES
MTFCI Number: 16305
Board Member Since: 1999

Re: Photo found on the Web unhappy customer

Post by KWTownsend » Tue Jun 15, 2021 1:33 pm

I will pay him exactly what he paid for it to eliminate his source of grief.

: ^ )

User avatar

Rich Eagle
Posts: 6789
Joined: Fri Jan 04, 2019 10:51 am
First Name: Richard
Last Name: Eagle
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1909 TR 1914 TR 1915 Rd 1920 Spdstr 1922 Coupe 1925 Tudor
Location: Idaho Falls, ID
MTFCA Number: 1219
Contact:

Re: Photo found on the Web unhappy customer

Post by Rich Eagle » Tue Jun 15, 2021 1:50 pm

With the buggy rail I assume it's a 1909 or so. He didn't convince 15 million other folks. :lol:
When did I do that?

User avatar

TRDxB2
Posts: 5407
Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2019 4:56 pm
First Name: Frank
Last Name: Brandi
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: Speedster (1919 w 1926)
Location: Moline IL
Board Member Since: 2018

Re: Photo found on the Web unhappy customer

Post by TRDxB2 » Tue Jun 15, 2021 2:40 pm

21 cents / mile for garage bill? Maybe he should have driven it more in between his garage visits to reduce his cost. :lol:
The past is a great place and I don't want to erase it or to regret it, but I don't want to be its prisoner either.
Mick Jagger


Dallas Landers
Posts: 2786
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 12:26 pm
First Name: Dallas
Last Name: Landers
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 26 Rpu, 23 TT, 24 coupe,
Location: N.E. Indiana
MTFCA Number: 49995

Re: Photo found on the Web unhappy customer

Post by Dallas Landers » Tue Jun 15, 2021 2:42 pm

I knew a guy that bought a new Chrysler Cordoba. Ended up painting a giant lemon on the door. Now thats trouble. I bet a T costs more than that to run today .


kmatt2
Posts: 558
Joined: Wed Jun 17, 2020 1:41 pm
First Name: Kevin
Last Name: Matthiesen
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 26 T Coupe, 16 T Open Express, 21 TT Flatbed. 15 T Roadster, 13 & 25 T Speedster , 51 Mercury 4 door sport sedan, 67 Mercury Cougar
Location: Madera CA 93636
MTFCA Number: 11598

Re: Photo found on the Web unhappy customer

Post by kmatt2 » Tue Jun 15, 2021 2:54 pm

It has treaded rear tires, he must have got 4 or 5 years of use out of it even though at 21 cents a mile it sat unused most of the time. Just think what it would cost to board a horse for five years.


ModelT46
Posts: 1459
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 8:35 pm
First Name: Darel
Last Name: Leipold
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1910 touring
Location: Excelsior MN
MTFCA Number: 823
MTFCI Number: 953
Board Member Since: 1999

Re: Photo found on the Web unhappy customer

Post by ModelT46 » Tue Jun 15, 2021 3:27 pm

It is a 1909, 1910 or 1911. The rear end is later, 1913-14 or later. 21 cents in about 1914 would equal about $2 today.,my 1999 Mercury gets 20 mpg on cost of $2.75 a gallon. That is about 14 cents a mile, not accounting oil or insurance.


Rich Bingham
Posts: 1922
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 11:23 am
First Name: Rich
Last Name: Bingham
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1913 runabout
Location: Blackfoot, Idaho

Re: Photo found on the Web unhappy customer

Post by Rich Bingham » Tue Jun 15, 2021 4:40 pm

Not really enough information to draw many conclusions.

It's interesting to me to compare values from the past with today's prices. One source puts current values at a little over 27 times 1913 prices. Figuring that, his garage bills per mile cost him three times what a horse and buggy would have.

Five years to maintain a horse ? In those days, just over $108.00 imputing hay at $200 today.

I can't see the rear end well enough to say, but it looks reasonably like a 1909-10 case to me, but who am I to gainsay Mr. Leipold ?? :lol: :lol:
"Get a horse !"

User avatar

DanTreace
Posts: 3299
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 10:56 am
First Name: Dan
Last Name: Treace
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: '23 cutoff, '25 touring, '27 touring
Location: North Central FL
MTFCA Number: 4838
MTFCI Number: 115
Board Member Since: 2000
Contact:

Re: Photo found on the Web unhappy customer

Post by DanTreace » Tue Jun 15, 2021 5:14 pm

649199BA-7132-44CB-B01D-30C6C3CA69C7.jpeg

Close up, appears pressed steel clam shell rear end. Butterfly rear fender exposed brackets.
The best way is always the simplest. The attics of the world are cluttered up with complicated failures. Henry Ford
Don’t find fault, find a remedy; anybody can complain. Henry Ford


OilyBill
Posts: 552
Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2020 3:51 pm
First Name: William
Last Name: May
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1914 Runabout
Location: Tucson, Arizona

Re: Photo found on the Web unhappy customer

Post by OilyBill » Tue Jun 15, 2021 6:18 pm

Well, you have to look at the car from an owner's perspective from the era.
Really, the Model T is a pretty crude automobile. The early ones, with babbitt rear axle bearings, must have had more than their share of breakdowns and failures. Look at how hard it is to find and early engine, transmission, or rear axle today. Most have been changed, and that means they failed.
There is a reason that planetary transmissions went away. And the Model T Planetary is one of the crudest ever put in a motorcar. I have a 1910 Brush with a 2 speed planetary transmission, and it is better than a Ford T transmission in EVERY way. It has precise and easy adjustments, moves very smoothly in an out of gear, there is no grinding or whirring, and wear is EXTREMELY slow. I just pulled one apart, with the intention of changing the clutch discs, and quickly determined they were just fine. I have no idea of the mileage on that transmission, but the discs are barely worn at all. It was designed, like the rest of the Brush, by Alonson Partridge Brush, and he was a real engineer. He also was largely responsible for the first Cadillacs, and the Cadillac company was paying him royalties for his patents until 1908/1909.
The design of the Model T Steering is also pretty poor. At the very least, the reduction gears should have been down at the steering box, and NOT at the steering wheel.
I love my Model T, but I also acknowledge it's faults, which are many.
When you drive a Model T, you are driving a car designed in 1908. You should keep that in mind when you are operating it. You may have a 1925 Model T, but it is STILL a 1908 automobile, no matter what.
Just as a comparison, Brush lists their operating costs at 2 Cents per mile. It was cheaper to buy a Brush than it was to use a streetcar, and FAR more economical than a horse and buggy, which cost about $200 for the buggy, and $200 for the horse, and then the vet and shoeing bills, and feed bills for the horse were ongoing, even when the buggy was parked.


ModelT46
Posts: 1459
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 8:35 pm
First Name: Darel
Last Name: Leipold
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1910 touring
Location: Excelsior MN
MTFCA Number: 823
MTFCI Number: 953
Board Member Since: 1999

Re: Photo found on the Web unhappy customer

Post by ModelT46 » Tue Jun 15, 2021 6:32 pm

The rear end appearwd to be fatter than the expanded view, which could make them a clam shell casings.

User avatar

Will_Vanderburg
Posts: 811
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 3:59 pm
First Name: William
Last Name: Vanderburg
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 2
Location: Jackson, NJ
MTFCA Number: 28382

Re: Photo found on the Web unhappy customer

Post by Will_Vanderburg » Tue Jun 15, 2021 8:01 pm

My dad knew a guy who bought a car and painted the word "Lemonzine" on the side in big white letters.
William L Vanderburg

1925 Touring
1922 Center Door Sedan


Sarikatime
Posts: 622
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 12:47 pm
First Name: Frank
Last Name: Seress
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1912 Towncar, 1915 Touring
Location: Prescott, Arizona
MTFCA Number: 27707

Re: Photo found on the Web unhappy customer

Post by Sarikatime » Wed Jun 16, 2021 3:39 pm

In the old days there were no driving schools or driving instructors. You went in to buy a car at the dealer and you were given a five minute instruction on how to drive and you were out the door and on your own from then on. Most often the problem was the nut behind the wheel and too proud to admit he or she was a fool so it was easier to blame the car manufacturer. Yes there were lemons even then but lack of driving knowledge and or experience was the main problem. That problem has not gone away, there still is a lot of drivers with an official drivers license that can’t drive worth a damn.
Just my foolish thought.
Frank

Post Reply Previous topicNext topic