More durable cars

[Jazzy]

Why don't we make car manufacturers build more durable cars, that would last like 10-15 years without breaking, and prevent them from building a new car every 2 years? Wouldn't that make more sense for the environment, rather than say, reducing farmer livestock?

 

[Fritz Kobus]

Around here all they have to do is stop using salt on the roads and the cars would last a lot longer. The salt also is impacting our ground water and even the salinity level in the Great Lakes.

 

[tango]

The key thing you need to remember is that the environment counts for more or less nothing where regulations are concerned. You comment on cars but the same applies to just about everything. No user serviceable parts means that when it breaks the whole thing goes to the landfill. Appliances break after a few years now when they used to last more or less forever. The fridge I bought in 1999 packed up and died in 2011 and people I knew were surprised it lasted so long. The fridge I have now came with my current house and dates back as far as the early 1980s and maybe earlier still.

My electricity company very kindly offered me a $50 rebate to replace it for a new energy efficient fridge. I'm not sure why I'd want $50 to trade something that seems indestructible for something that will cost me several hundred $$$ to replace within a decade.

The trouble is regulating manufacturers slows corporate profits. It's easier to dump the load onto consumers and them blame them for not doing enough, even as corporations actively undermine all the efforts individuals are making to save the economy. But for as long as consumers act against their own self-interest in chasing a goal they deem worthy the silliness will continue. Let's face it, the difference it makes to the global environment when I turn my heating down by a degree in the winter is trivial compared to the new coal-fired power station China opens that day. The reason I turn my heat down a degree is because the moment my hand touches the thermostat it starts saving me money.

 

[Josiah]

According to Consumer Reports, cars today are far more reliable and dependable than ever before... and on the road for longer. Never before has the average age of cars on the road been older than now. Some brands do better than others..... Toyota, Honda and Subaru are especially known for reliability and long-lasting.

In the 1950's, car engines had to be entirely rebuilt after about 50,000 miles (70,000 at best) .... today, it's not unusual for an engine to be relatively trouble free for 200,000 miles, even more. Pretty much the same for automatic transmissions. US odometers only went up to 99,999 miles before the 90's because few cars lasted more than that, today they are all 999,999. Of course, you could keep a car going forever (even Model T's) but it took a LOT of restoring and rebuilding to do it.

Where there are problems today, it tends to be with electronic technology rather than mechanics, aspects of cars that didn't exist a few years ago. This is why we have the oddity that generally, the more you pay for a car the more likely you'll have problems - it's that high tech stuff. But that too is getting a lot better, says Consumer Reports.


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[Fritz Kobus]

According to Consumer Reports, cars today are far more reliable and dependable than ever before... and on the road for longer. Never before has the average age of cars on the road been older than now. Some brands do better than others..... Toyota, Honda and Subaru are especially known for reliability and long-lasting.

In the 1950's, car engines had to be entirely rebuilt after about 50,000 miles (70,000 at best) .... today, it's not unusual for an engine to be relatively trouble free for 200,000 miles, even more. Pretty much the same for automatic transmissions. US odometers only went up to 99,999 miles before the 90's because few cars lasted more than that, today they are all 999,999. Of course, you could keep a car going forever (even Model T's) but it took a LOT of restoring and rebuilding to do it.

Where there are problems today, it tends to be with electronic technology rather than mechanics, aspects of cars that didn't exist a few years ago. This is why we have the oddity that generally, the more you pay for a car the more likely you'll have problems - it's that high tech stuff. But that too is getting a lot better, says Consumer Reports.


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My 2008 Fusion is running strong at 175,000 miles. Wifes, 2008 Mazda 5 (same engine) is running strong at 150,000 miles. Some rust but not too bad yet. I got rid of my Chevy S10 (2001) because while running strong at 140,000 it had horrible rust underneath and I was concerned for safety. Had rigged something up front to keep the radiator from falling through the rusty mounts.

Electronics! Both the Fusion and the Mazda have problems with the driver's door window switch not always working. No problem for the S10 as that had manual crank windows.