I know that Japan went through this stage were no one serviced or repaired their vehicles, just dumped them at a parts yard and bought another one. I think the auto industry is heading down a similar path, but rather than just supplying a replacement vehicle rather than doing warranty repairs, the manufacturers are throwing it back to the dealership to fix any warranty issues ...... but there aren't qualified auto techs still in the the industry so there is no one left to do warranty repairs or parts to actually repair them. This You Tube video sort of explains, couldn't find the original, just this talking head doing a copy and paste with him trying to sound like he put this together ...... There was a video recently of a bloke who broke his inside door handle behind the door trim panel. Tried to buy the simple part to fix it, no such thing, it's a complete replacement door trim panel at a cost of $550 or similar, even if it's an electric window switch, a whole new panel .... why is this even legal? What's left, the insanity of jumping in a robo taxi and putting your life in the hands of a self driving system that wouldn't pass a basic driving test ...... Maybe it will be the bus and trains ........ T1 Terry
The mechanic shortage is becoming a huge issue. I think my next car will be one suggested by the local mechanics. I had an EV, but nobody for hundreds of miles from here could work on it. I have a red triangle of death in my Prius. Where am I supposed to take it? No body is driving hundreds of miles from the city to work on a car like this, at least not for cheap. And now the Avalon looks like it's about to throw a red triangle of death at me.
Cars are almost never thrown away. They're among the most recyclable of consumer items. People that complain about modern cars prove the adage about nostalgia being "history after three drinks" if not Bogey's quip about the whole world being 'three drinks behind." Would I absolutely LOVE to have my old '70 Chevelle back? You bet your bippy I would!!!! HOWEVER (comma!!) I'd would rather pass a kidney stone than to drive it coast to coast on a road trip. I'd sell it to some chump that would drive it around town letting people marvel at a "classic car" and stick the proceeds into something more profitable like maybe some Space-X or Tesla stock. The Chevelle in 1970 went for about $3000. That's about $21,000 in 2020 dollars and my CFO's 2020 GMC Terrain went for 20% more than that. SO..... Did she get 20% more car? They're about the same weight...and they offer about the same top speed, believe it or not. Yeah, some of the SS Chevelle can make the earth rumble but that made them "quicker" NOT faster. The Terrain has double or treble the MPG rating, and a maintenance schedule that would starve a 1970's mechanic's family. My CFO's 2020 is over 100,000 with zero mechanical issues, and no recalls. Getting 100,000 repair-free miles out of a 1970's car - ANY of them is closer to science fiction than science. What about safety features? For the bow-tie crowd safety was seatbelts......and maybe optional front disc brakes. The F70-14 bias-ply tires on 14-inch wheels looked even more goofy than a Pre-G5 Priuses 'dolphin on roller skates.' - and they handled like a pig on roller skates. Anti-lock brakes were 10 years away from being affordable and air bags were something you used to relieve your backside from the adjustment-free vinyl seats - which were factory standard HEATED during the summer and cooled during winter. Traction control, rear cams, TPMS, cruise, and the alphabet soup of driver safety features were another 20 to 30 years off in some Buck Rogers inspired future. - soooo yeeeah. Cars are crap, alright. Actually the reason Gen-Z buys more cars is they have more money and access to credit rather than it being the car's fault. If we sell the 2020 today (smart people sell cars....) it will go to another driver, and stay in service for the industry standard of 15y and/or 200,000 miles. Vehicles from the 1970s averaged just 8 to 10 years in service and reached the end of their economic service life around 100,000 miles. So, yup. Cars ain't what they used to be. THANK GOD!!!
“Trading in” every 4~5 years, is pretty much disposable cars, at least from the first owner perspective.
I think it's hard to quantify everything that has changed about cars as being good or bad. Pros: Modern cars are much safer. Modern cars do get much better fuel mileage. Modern cars are much bigger for the same price point of what new cars used to cost. Modern cars last longer. Cons: It does seem harder to find a mechanic, at least where I live. It also takes a lot longer to get a car fixed. I've known plenty of people waiting for MONTHS because a part just hasn't come in yet. Personally, I've got a flat tire and called around and the soonest someone within 70 miles could look at it was over a week later. We even had to wait 2 days just for the tow truck to show up. Cheap beaters no longer exist. If you want a car that runs it's going to cost at least some $5,000. You used to be able to buy a car well under $1,000 that ran well enough to get you around. The cost to own any used car seems to be almost as much, if not as much or more than, the cost of buying a new car. If you can't afford a new car you probably can't afford a used one either in today's market. Add to that the deletion of the econo car. Basically, if you want an econo car, your only option is a scooter. Insurance seems a whole lot more expensive than it used to be too.
The price of a lot of the significant parts are tantamount to FU quotes. Remember one guy here, looking to replace his 4th gen touch screen, the bigger version: the part alone had suggested retail price (dealerships mercifully often discount, some) around 6 grand USD IIIRC. That’s about the price of our first car, an 81 Civic. (I know, inflation. Still…) (Screen was cracked, he eventually disclosed he’d punched it )
And yet I can get a set of new, high quality pistons and cylinders for an air-cooled Volkswagen for less than $200 before tax and shipping. Another thing that affects the car market is the price of everything else. I'm still beating myself up for not jumping on buying a house back when they were under $100,000. Now I'm faced with rent that's over $2,000 and no chance of purchasing even a 50-year-old condo with no yard.
My take: Factories want to sell more cars, because they got very large following the old ways of selling them -- (sell enough to crowd out competition and gain hegemony in their markets) that a certain profit margin (ever growing) needs to enforced just to stay afloat. Marques have been making brinksman's car since mass-production... but the amt of risk said mfrs were willing to take, was much less 3 gens ago than now... thus why Ford 302s and Mopar 318s and Chevy 350s are still trolling streets, yet so cheap to upkeep, save thirst (Chevy's LS-based V8s are directly-descendant to this kind of engineering, yet more efficient than an SBC by miles). Those days of vehicles capable of 250K-mi-w/-love, are largely over, tho...
Ah the age-old question! Many "depends" on the answer! Is it a model that can last 30-years, like a Toyota or Honda? Or is it a make that's known to start going south after just 100,000 miles? I remember seeing a video a while ago by Ahmed (The Car Care Nut) who's a 20-years Master Toyota mechanic....goes through the process of when to hold em and when to fold em!!
