I’m of a certain age and can remember when cars used to last twenty plus years. I can’t see many modern cars (petrol, diesel, electric) lasting ten years these days:
They don’t build them to last these days, not like they used to:
3 Likes
Where and when did cars last 20 years, before now?
In Michigan, in the 70s, cars rusted out in less than ten years.
Consumer Reports used to include, in their car reliability tables, the frequency of ring jobs and valve jobs, because major engine work used to be routine. My dad’s 64 Galaxie, with the excellent, for it’s time, 289, required a valve job at barely 100,000 miles. I have had both a Civic, and a Focus, that were tight and strong at 100K miles. No oil consumption, no great loss of compression. My 9 year old VW looks nearly new. No rust-through at all. The media reports the average age of cars on USian roads is the oldest it has ever been at 12.5 years.
That being said, some companies may be suffering from an excess of Welchism. Maybe consumers should avoid those certain Welchist companies?
Steve
7 Likes
I have bought only used cars for the last 30 years. I find that they last much longer than those of parents’ times. One of my two current cars, a Ford wagon, has 220K miles on it and keeps on rolling, just fine. The other car is a cheap piece of junk 2018 Brazilian Renault that I got for close to free. It just passed 100K and, other than how crappy it is in handling transmission and trim, is also looking to be just fine to last past 200K.
I plan on buying a new car in a few years, once the Mexican Tesla plant ramps up to full speed.
david fb
4 Likes
Yeah, flip the durability on its head. Japanese manufacturers road roughshod over Detriot on this issue. Japanese cars just get better and better.
If you can build more into it that is what the Japanese car companies do.
If you can make it half a cent cheaper it might fail but hey we have to make a profit because sales are declining…that is the American way.
You’d imagine with an MBA someone in top leadership would figure out that they were losing business.
1 Like
I think your data is a bit backwards
Mike
And from Wikipedia
In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency assumes the typical car is driven 15,000 miles (24,000 km) per year. According to the New York Times, in the 1960s and 1970s, the typical car reached its end of life around 100,000 miles (160,000 km). Due in part to manufacturing improvements, such as tighter tolerances and better anti-corrosion coatings, in 2012 the typical car was estimated to last for 200,000 miles (320,000 km).[4]
2 Likes
Cars are way more reliable these days and it isn’t even close. It used to be that used cars sold at a big discount to new. That’s still true for luxury models. But it isn’t true for standard Hondas and Toyotas, because the cars are likely to last 200K+ miles and so 30K on the clock doesn’t mean much. It is usually the interior that wears out before the engine. I just spent a day detailing the interiors of my cars because, well, got a lot more miles to go before I need replacements.
4 Likes
I drive a 2008 dodge Ram 3500 diesel and it isn’t even close to giving up the ghost. Pretty sure I will get at least another 15 years out of it.
Andy
1 Like
I drove a 1993 Dodge Shadow for 20 years. Now I drive a 2010 Ford Focus I bought used in 2013.
1 Like
Ha! I’m driving a 1997 Infiniti. That’s 26 years and it’s dandy. Except for a slight dent in the driver’s side door from a tree branch that fell, and it will cost more to repair it right than the car is now worth. My Home Depot van is a 2005, with plenty of miles to go. Last year I sold the Geo Tracker (1994) that we pulled behind the RV, and used when we needed a 4WD for some reason.
10 years. Ha! I laugh at your silliness.
4 Likes
You sure about your math there? 
Maybe you need a calculator.
Andy
1 Like