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Complicated expensive repairs of broken cheap plastic parts...Here's why I buy the lowest option

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by Georgina Rudkus, Jun 15, 2023.

  1. Georgina Rudkus

    Georgina Rudkus Senior Member

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    Here's why I buy the lowest option of any particular vehicle model.


     
    #1 Georgina Rudkus, Jun 15, 2023
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    fortunately, none of the plastic on my eleven year old car has failed yet
     
    #2 bisco, Jun 16, 2023
  3. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    meh.

    If you have a 15-year-old car, stuff's gonna break.
    Fortunately, if your 15-yar-old car has been paid off for 10 years you SHOULD be able to afford to get it fixed.
     
    #3 ETC(SS), Jun 18, 2023
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  4. jdenenberg

    jdenenberg EE Professor

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    Yes, things break in old cars. It's just that some old cars will get you stuck on the road due to broken plastic parts and others tend not to leave you stranded. My 2004 Prius only stranded me twice and both times it was due to dealer maintenance errors, not the fault of my Prius.

    My Daughter's 2001 VW Jetta stranded me twice due to plastic parts breaking. Once it lost all coolant and the other time developed an air leak that confused the ECU. Both times I had to be very clever to get back home.

    JeffD
     
    #4 jdenenberg, Jun 18, 2023
  5. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    I get it.
    Not everybody can DIY their car maintenance, but with a little bit of time and a few credit hours at the University of YouTube (UYT) you can make yourself a harder target for being scammed by both dealerships and independent mechanics.

    One of the biggest problems is IMO is NOT 'plastic' parts.
    After all...they make freekin GUN parts from plastic!
    Ten-twenty years ago, it was "those lecronic parts!"

    Many people presume that if you buy a car, and make the payments on time, then you can throw the keys at the dealership's "service" department every now and again and not have any problems over the term of the loan.

    That "might" work out if it were not for two inconvenient truths:
    1. People are not always honest OR competent.
    2. Owners will sometimes not be familiar with the maintenance schedule for their vehicle nor the difference between maintenance and repair work.
    3. New Automobiles "sometimes" become MORE expensive to buy over time.

    This means that "sometimes" even IF you do everything right in terms of maintenance, AND you have just a dash of good luck in the repair department, AND you happen to have a fairly honest mechanic, people STILL sometimes find themselves staying on the hamster-wheel by buying new cars every 5-10 years or so.
    This is because of the bizarre notion that a lifetime of vehicle loan payments will somehow insulate them from the temporary inconvenience of a vehicle break-down.
    o_O


    Your Time.
    Your Money.
    YOUR call......
     
    #5 ETC(SS), Jun 19, 2023
    Last edited: Jun 19, 2023
  6. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    mrs b's 90's chrysler minivan left her stranded because a plastic part in the tranny broke. low miles too.
     
    #6 bisco, Jun 19, 2023
  7. Georgina Rudkus

    Georgina Rudkus Senior Member

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    The emphasis in the video is "cheap plastic parts."

    The gear teeth in the components mentioned in the video are made of POM (polyoxymethalene) also known as acetal copolymer spold under various trademarks like Delrin, Celcon and Duracon. They are erroneously referred to as nylon gears. They are not nylon.

    Gun parts like the so called "polymer" frames are made of 35% powdered glass filled nylon 6-6. The stress applied to these parts is applied to a wide surface area, not to a concentrated point known to engineers as "stress risers." Those gun parts place under high concentrated stress are made of high strength hardened alloy.

    There are exceptionally high performance plastics like PEEK or polyetheretherkeytone. These have replaces many titanium rods and braces implanted in the human body. These plastics, however, are more important than titanium.
     
    #7 Georgina Rudkus, Jun 19, 2023
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  8. tochatihu

    tochatihu Senior Member

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    Wow, somebody who speaks polymer chemistry.
     
    #8 tochatihu, Jun 19, 2023
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  9. ETC(SS)

    ETC(SS) The OTHER One Percenter.....

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    If they made all of the plastic parts out of some of the Gucci polymers that you referenced then you wouldn't be able to afford the car.
    If you have to pay some wrench $2000 to replace an HVAC actuator for some 15-year-old has-been performance SUV then....the market is doing what markets do.

    If you want to see what happens out on the sharp end of the stick - go see what they're doing in military procurement.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Cooperstown
     
    #9 ETC(SS), Jun 19, 2023
  10. Georgina Rudkus

    Georgina Rudkus Senior Member

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    That POM gear with the broken tooth in the actuator cost about 10 cents for the manufacturer in quantity. Making the gear from the exceptionally durable PEEK in quantity would cost about a dollar each in quantity.

    It's the bean counters and actuaries that decide to choose the material and determined that the gear needs to satisfy the design life of the warranty period.

    In the case of the James Webb telescope, all such components are made of PEEK, since repair is impossible once the telescope is deployed.

    The car manufactures often gamble on using parts with high frangibility factors for cost savings to the bottom line. When they gamble and lose, the result is a massive recall at great expense that could result in the end of the company's existence.
     
    #10 Georgina Rudkus, Jun 20, 2023
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  11. bwilson4web

    bwilson4web BMW i3 and Model 3

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    When the purchasing departments try to play engineer, grief follows.

    Bob Wilson
     
    #11 bwilson4web, Jun 20, 2023
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