Are OLD CARS more RELIABLE? Planned obsolescence and SUSTAINABILITY in the AUTO INDUSTRY
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- Опубликовано: 30 апр 2024
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“They don’t make them like they used to!” I’m sure you heard someone say this when talking about cars, or maybe it’s something you think too. But is it really true? Are older cars more reliable, easier to maintain and capable of longer lifespans? Are car manufacturers using planned obsolescence to make sure their cars don’t last much past the warranty period so we’re forced into buying new ones? Today we’re going to answer all of these questions
Let’s start from the basics. What do car manufacturers do? Obviously they make cars. Why do they make cars? So they could sell them for a profit. Car manufacture is a manufacturing business like any other. Making pots and pans, computers, shoes, etc. You manufacture things and sell them for a profit. If there’s no profit you go bankrupt and the company ceases to exist. So profit for car companies is like air for humans, without it we die.
To ensure their cars sell well car manufacturers have to meet the needs and expectations of the consumers and at the same time they also have to abide by various government regulations. Both the expectations of the consumers and the standards of government regulations are constantly on the rise. Consumers want ever better, faster, safer, and more attractive cars while governments want the cars to have ever lower emissions and environmental impact.
Obviously to meet all of these demands car manufacturers must make the cars more complex. The more complex they are the more parts they have, the more parts there are the higher the chances of failure right? On top all of this cars must be competitively priced so car manufacturers must somehow cut costs while at the same time increasing the number of parts. So this explains the plastic thermostat housing? It was made from plastic not because car manufacturers are evil but because they had to cut cost somewhere to keep the car competitively priced while meeting government regulations and consumer expectations. It’s the rapidly changing world that forced them to make plastic thermostat housings as well as plastic valve covers, water pumps, intake manifolds and more.
Well yes, cars have become a lot more complex over the years and as such they obviously require a lot more engineering and more parts and this does to an extent increase the possibility of failure. But there’s also an illusion that many of us have when it comes to the reliability of old cars. Many modern cars can easily do 150.000 miles without any major servicing or overhauls. In fact there’s a number of them that manage to do 500.000 miles and more. Back in the 60s and 70s a car that did more than 100.000 miles was considered “over the hill”, I mean they had 5 digit odometers that would roll over to zero when the car hit 100.000 miles. But by the 80s and throughout the 90s technology and quality control had become so good that factories gave birth to some truly memorable machines that seem to refuse to die. Even today, 30-40 years later there’s a high number of these cars still going strong on the road and racking up miles. But we also mustn’t forget that many of these cars are on the road because they’re exceptionally well taken care of and constantly maintained. Whether it is vehicle value, rarity, emotional attachment or something else, owners are willing to go to great lengths to keep certain old cars alive. For example the amount of money I had to spend to make and keep my 1987 Toyota MR2 roadworthy would be more than unacceptable for a newer car.
But here’s the elephant in the room, the Government regulations that only concern themselves with emissions and safety while the car is on the road. There are absolutely no laws and rules that tell manufacturers how long a car’s lifespan should be or how repairable or easy to maintain a vehicle should be. This means that manufacturers are completely free to make things like alternators and other components that cost a small fortune but aren’t serviceable. Or they can make components that are comprised of multiple parts fused into one. Of course when only a small part fails you have to replace the entire thing. Often the cost of these components can be as high as a third or even half the value of a 5 year old car. Of course all of this can easily be justified because it contributes to a 0.5% reduction in emissions and that’s all government regulations at this point care about.
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So back in the day they just didn't need the profit? I understand there's more engineering, but even adjusted for inflation new cars rarely exceeded $30k in today's money back in the day. High ups in the auto industry pocket way more of what the company makes than they used to.
@@frankrizzo2724 it was easier to make profit on cars back in the day due to less parts needed to assemble them.
I work in car headlights factory... old lamps from 80is had around 9-15 components
Do you know how many components does lamp have nowadays? More than 150. A d what are the most expensive parts? PCBs (printed circuit boards) which werent even exist in old lamps
I hope you get my point here
I hope there isn't any planned obsolescence on any of your merch
you had me hollaring at 5 minutes there :')
Actually I know for a fact for my car, had a plastic thermostat housing but funny thing is that the newer model had it in metal which is interesting so I just swap them
I think car design peaked in the 90's when it was just tech enough to be efficient but simple enough to be fixed in your backyard!!
Modern cars have too many ecu's. Not because electronics are unreliable.
But because the 2nd hand market now gets vehicles no one can fix, with parts they no longer make.
Based
Spot on , swap your spanner for a scanner , I hate limp mode , I hate my electronic parking brake , I would love to run an old car but they aren't as safe are they.
KISS - Keep it simple stupid - However I don't blame the auto companies 100 %. Onerous regulations put on by countries have driven the auto companies to come up with drastic solutions to keep the cars inside the specifications as set out.
Diesel engine cars have been driven off the market. The technology involved in making sure the engines comply to emission specifications has made them unreliable.
Yeah, I got a car from the early 90s, and it was cheaper to get it up and running than it was to fix one issue on my new car.
My first car was a 1978 Volvo, I sold it to a guy who's still driving it and constantly reminds me he's never had to repair it beyond annual servicing. Over 600,000 km, no critical failure. It still stings.
Using a volvo for an example is cheating!
Everyone knows, they are eternal 😅
I am Swedish, and in the modern world, we all have collective responsibility within our demographics, so you're welcome! 😎
I could never afford a Volvo but a 940 is still a good car. If I could afford a car today it would be a used Volvo 940 or a Mercedes 300D turbo.
@@thomaseriksson6256960 is also great, idk where you live but in europe you can get 940/960 in full option good condition for 5-8k$. They are much less popular than mercedes and volvo guys generally take care of their cars so in my opinion is much better pick especially if you consider that diesel fell out of favor and volvo gasoline engine are as good if not better than mercedes legendary diesels.
Does man let you drive it still?
Every time I meet a mechanical-automotive engineer I ask them about electric cars, and every time the reply is "if you want to be sustainable, buy a second hand petrol or diesel".
Aka asking the status quo about disruption
Been saying that exact line for 25 years. Lowest environmental impact possible
To be honest they are not wrong, when the market will be full of electric, you could buy second hand electric car 😂.
There are merits for both technologies, you should examine thoroughly the environmental impact on fossil fuel extraction, transportation and use of existing power structures that are used for refining storage and distribution and recurring extraction for the same car, as apposed to extraction of Lithium, comparable manufacturing processes between the two cars and then other exotic material that make up a battery powered car, not to mention all of the electronics both cars use including toxic materials that go into making those nice shiny LCD's in those vehicles. Power generation and the supply of power is one of the most polluting and toxic of all human activity on the planet. I know which I would choose.
@@rasoul786 The people I'm referring to are an engineering student, a designer of car lubricants in his late 20s, and an engineer from Jaguar's Formula-E division. Congratulations tiger, you exposed the "status quo".
My friend worked as a mechanic at Audi dealership, once a year engineers from Germany would come and brief them about next years models, they also told them what is going to break and how to fix it
Amazing. SMH.
We truly live in dystopia
@@watema3381 This is why I just want a leader who will stand up to corporate bullshit. How is a capitalist economy better than a planned economy if in both I end up with dog water products products just for different reasons?
You see zis part? We have intentionally designed it to be scheisse. As a joke. See? We Germans can be very funny!
Old cars are not necessarily more reliable, but they are easier to fix when they break down.
this pretty much, but sometimes all it takes is a bad sensor for the car to not work.
@@AlineaEuros And modern cars are filled to the gills with sensors. A mechanical fault will always be easier to diagnose/repair than an electrical fault. Especially on a vehicle where the wiring looks like a multi-colored pot of spaghetti.
My 94 Ranger = super easy to work on, super easy to fix.
My 00 Mustang = pretty easy to work on, pretty easy to fix.
My 05 Focus ZX5 = a bitch to work on, a bitch to fix.
if The new Cars were driven on the Gravel roads that the old cars were constantly driven on they wouldn't last a year, the new cars are all pavement queens! I have seen many new pickups that are trashed after 1 year of Gravel roads !
The Real problem I have with the new technical cars is. If Dealers Computer can't tell them what is wrong, there chances of fixing it is slim to none! i am fed up with taking My Car to the dealer 5 times for the same problem and it is still not fixed !
@@sixstanger00 used to own 2001 focus (eudm), it was pretty simple to work on, but You have different engines in US in those cars (not counting SVT/ST170)
From working in the industry my entire adult life, planned obsolescence is a real thing. They don't even build them good enough to survive the warranty period anymore.
They just get better lawyers 😂
I can confirm. I work in the industry also.
@@d4a Yes and look at the US political environment. We don't hire(elect) engineers and craftsman to office but lawyers and actors ONLY!
I'm designing electronics for LED lights (home and outdoor lighting). Often times we need to decrease the (theoretical) life span of the product from like 6 years down to 2 years just because "we" "need" to save 0.5 of a cent on a single component. This is so ridiculous and I can't understand it. However, I'm told to do so, otherwise I can search for a new job. Really hurts to do this crap to a perfectly fine product.
crazy to think about it :O
I've been working on cars for 40 years. The single biggest improvement that took cars from being junk at 100k and lasting well over 200k is the improvement in motor oil. Oil is refined so well now and so many contaminants are removed that sludging is no longer a major issue. I drive cars that are over 50 years old, and as long as you rebuild the engine with improvements to the valves so they can run on unleaded gas, the old engines can last far longer than 100k. The other thing is expense. Fixing my old cars is fairly easy with inexpensive parts. Newer cars with several computers have a ton of sensors that all fail frequently and can cost a fortune to replace. Safety is certainly better with newer cars. One of mine was manufactured without seatbelts as they were not required at the time. It all depends what you want. As far as sustainability, my cars do emit more pollutants, but just the manufacturing process to make a new car produces more pollutants than mine will emit over the lifespan of that new car. If you're interested in sustainability, buy and drive an old car. They are already here and almost all of it is recyclable. New cars are half non recyclable plastic. Electric cars are the worst. It's cheaper to buy a new battery than it is to recycle the old one. And none of those elements are removed from the earth cleanly.
Totally agree with you regarding improvements with oil, and is much more important than people realise. I agree to disagree with electric cars though if you know how to repurpose a used battery they can make a lot of sense if they have not been degraded by more then 50%. My battery is 10 years old and has lost 6.1% of its total capacity (and could be put back into an EV), in contrast my Renault diesel 1,5DCI of 2005 is complete scrap, engine blew at 110K miles and will cost more to fix than the car is worth! ICE no thanks!
Oh, God, yes.
I remember peeling valve covers off in the old days and there would be a perfect mold imprint of the rockers made out of sludge on the inside. 😂
Then, one day, I realized, _"I haven't had to scrape a cover in a long time."_
That's when I realized there was a jump in oil quality.
Funny how it always seems to be the sensor that goes and not the thing its supposed to be sensing.
@@BennyHolden-ls7sj My main point was just that by running out and buying a new car of any type, you are not doing the environment any favors at all. Cars are made up of thousands of components coming from several hundred different suppliers. Take something like an oil cap for example. Simple part, not much to it but Ford does not make them. They don't make most of the parts, they come from suppliers. I'm from Detroit originally and worked briefly in manufacturing of auto parts so I'm familiar with this. At one point I assembled dash boards for the 88 and 89 Chrysler minivans, and at another point I was assembling rubber and metal components for motor mounts.
So anyway, an oil cap is made from plastic, a rubber gasket, a piece of metal in most cases, printing on the top of the part, and so on. So this 1 part is made in its raw form, someone else makes the gasket or O ring, it's sent somewhere else to have the emblem inked on, sent someplace else to be assembled, then sent to the factory where it might be further divided and sent around the factory. How many times did that part move before it finally made it in a vehicle? And that's just 1 part. How much environmental damage does the movement of all these parts create? Now multiply by thousands of parts and hundreds of suppliers. Never mind the "break even" point of an electric car. My main point was just pointing out how driving a 50 year old car made from a majority of metal and recyclable components already exists. I have rebuilt my engines to be a little less polluting but even with no emissions controls, buying a new car of any type contributes more pollution than my old cars ever will. I'm not saying don't buy a new car, I think you should be able to buy whatever you want whether it's ICE BEV Hydrogen, whatever. But if your main concern is the environment, your least polluting option is an old metal recyclable car that has existed for 50 years already.
But the battery issue.... Have you seen what's involved mining elements for those EV batteries? What it does to the landscape and how much CO2 and NOX are emitted? Again... Not saying don't buy one, but as far as environmentally friendly I'll stick with my 66 Lemans and '70 Kingswood wagon.
@@NarwahlGaming It sure has made a difference. I remember taking the valve cover off my 77 firebird in high school and it was like a hard tar all over. But I haven't seen anything like that in years now. Can't remember the last time I actually had to scrape sludge off a valve train. 20 years maybe?
Modern plastics can be better than metal for some applications, making cars lighter and more efficient. The problem is when they start using them where they're not supposed to. My car's emission system was failing because a mechanical link made of plastic wore down and would become loose and fall. For a few years, there was no replacement for this part so you would have to hold the thing using your ingenuity and maybe some wire to keep it in place otherwise you would need to change the whole intake manifold at a minimum cost of $1500. The aftermarket now sells an upgraded version of this part for $15. What kind of engineer would approve plastic for applications subjected to friction in a car?! and why in the world the car maker wouldn't offer a replacement when it was so obvious that the thing would fail sooner than later?
Exactly this. People who believe just because it's plastic that it's worse quality (or less suitable for purpose) than a metal part know nothing about material science (which would be 99.99% of people).
@@jamesmay1322 You're not wrong at all. I hate plastic more than most people do but even I have to acknowledge that in some cases its not really a big deal. That being said I've worked on volkswagens where pretty much everything (even the fucking oil filter cartridge and the housing) is made of crappy thermoplastic and it cracks if you look at it wrong. Really pisses me off it could've just been cast aluminum.
@@jamesmay1322 cool story bro, now go enjoy your cracked plastic intake manifold 😂
I like plastic for certain applications too. It's a relatively durable material. Ductile, doesn't corrode, and lightweight. As long as it doesn't experience extreme temperatures, friction, or intense sun exposure, it's great.
@@jamesmay1322 They know that it fails prematurely compared to the metal part. That is enough to tell that it is worse quality. You don't need a medical science degree to tell that Dr. Fauci is a scumbag, either. 🤔
As a person who served an apprenticeship in a general car garage, I was a lot happier when old cars pulled in and I could leave my laptop and sanity in the top drawer
I know how you feel, and not having to remove 3000 shitty clips from 57 plastic covers just to gain access to the car.
LOL. Yeah I'd rather keep the damn snap on in the drawer...
I bought a 10 year old Ford Sierra (UK) in 1999 for £30 and ran it for 16 years,not that there was much of the original car left at the end.When I took it for MOT the mechanics would look under the bonnet and wistfully say 'It has a carburettor'.
that sigh of relief when a Honda or a Toyota pulls in for a service...
@@adeladd7638 Really? A 99 still has a carburetor?
"Who would make a thermostat housing out of plastic..?"
An ACCOUNTANT, that who....
😂😂😂😂😂
In my X5 there were concentric rings on the radiator hose barb. The thing was designed to fail after "x" many start ups.
@@Eluderatnight Sick.
@Darren dorion allmost all 90's European cars were made like that. The Japanese were more sane and just kept doing what they always did, build quality at a good price.
Chrysler 300 thermostat housing is made out of two pieces of plastic that are glued together. LMAO!
Not only did you give the only correct answer to the questions, you even pointed out many of the biggest problems that are going on in the world. You started so many different arguments but a single video about car companies not enough to finish all of them. We need more people like you in this society.
Thank you for your support and your kind words. I sincerely appreciate it!
this video is some of the stupidest "invisible hand" + "you're actually at fault for manufacturers feeding you crap" + "vote with your wallet" bul|sht i've heard in at least a couple years
Why is your comment that colour
@@MR_stone69 he is main character we are side characters
I just answered several time to this bath.tard bloger under his answer to my first comment but he hides my answer every time! so read here again! :
When the companies make the car in such a way that after the end of the short warranty period it is practically destroyed and it cannot be repaired except by spending high costs and it does not last even after the repair, they practically force people to buy a new car. ! A person who wants to diversify can buy a new car and sell his previous car (which is healthy and can be maintained and used for tens of years without much cost) to someone else to use, while the new car generations after around five years become a moving waste and its maintenance costs are very high, it practically goes out of the cycle, and people are forced to pay the high cost and take loans and do overtime to fill the pockets of your dirty masters in the automotive industry and banking industry sooner and more!
When microsoft company offer a new windows and don't update the previous windows that I got used to, and do things that can no longer be used over time, they practically force me to buy the new operating system! There are many more examples, but fraudsters like you in answer especially want to show himself as an idiot who dont understand !
Still driving my 1989 GMC Sierra Truck...I just rebuilt the transmission on the picnic table for $240. Borg Warner parts. Boring Farm truck but keeps on running and saving me money. $98,000. for a new truck. The old trucks are simple to fix.
Got a 69 Bug because I know I could fix it if I ever need to. Its 1500cc air cooled engine is very simple, and so is its electrical system. Plus, old vehicles are better looking.
Exactly.
Hell yeah, brother
I drove my 95 K1500 until the cab literally fell onto the driveshaft.
Then, I put wood blocks under it and drove it for a couple more years - until it happened again. 😂
@@brianworden7022 absolutely...I had a 1966 1300cc beetle in H.S. loved it. rolled it...shame on the younger version of myself..
The use of plastics throughout the engine compartment results in failures of parts that may cost a few dollars to manufacture, but often cost thousands of dollars in labor to replace. Worse yet, many plastics gets brittle with age, so when servicing engines, stuff that wasn’t broken often gets cracked during the disassembly process.
Let's not forget that there is a very long list of metal parts in the engine compartment that fail as well. Coolant systems, especially poorly-maintained ones, are hell on metals, like aluminum alloy. Material selection is a constant battle for automotive engineers, with the tradeoffs of cost/weight/longevity (choose two).
@@mattagnew206and most car manufacturers have narrow profit margins of around 3 to 5 percent. Even without dealer markups cars are expensive to make
@@imeakdo7cars aren't expensive to make. Following all the bullshit govt rules are.
@@imeakdo7 3% of a billion is still enough to retire on
cars do not cost alot to make (since most are made in china or cheaper place) just look at tesla profit and tell me again how narrow the profit margin is
@@mabisfab77paintball Tesla is known in the car industry for having absurdly wide profit margins, they have the widest margins in the entire industry far more than any other manufacturer, most big car manufacturers only have margins of 3%
As an engineer, machinist and automotive technician I can tell you with absolute certainty car manufacturers are evil!!!!😾
I agree
As Japan's minimal computerisation and standardisation of cars revolutionised Economy, reliability and manufacture. Cars, around 1996 were as good as they were ever going to get and have steadily grown colossally worse since then. The Honda Accord (triumph Acclaim, Rover 214i etc.) being the apex platform that spanned nearly a decade, repackaged by everyone and selling 100's of millions of mechanically identical cars into every market on earth. Cars were complete, with only future fuel sources offering any real need to alter this 'perfect' closed-loop of repair, to recycle, to drive. Buy a 1990's accord and you need never buy a new car again.
.
...Real Design, for once in well over a century. Resulted in a product that people actually Needed and therefore sold itself. The primary reason Honda still exist as a company at all, when nearly all of Japan's other multi-nations have failed. An impressive feat given that both Electric and External combustion (steam) have always been superior options, probably why an entire world of auto industry wasted so much time with the worse power unit. The Internal Combustion Engine.
/and dealerships
yeah. they intentionally engineer stuff to take longer to service so they can charge more labor. Example, how in the world does the book call for 2 hours to change a light bulb? a smart engineer would probably think "Lets make this simple to get to since it indeed will need to be serviced" (some) Parts are absolutely designed to fail after a certain period of time.
i am a machinist technologist, engineering student, and aspire to continue to become an automotive mechanic afterwards too! In my opinion, there are consumer grade products, and there are commercial grade products. Those are engineered VERY differently.
@@eonreeves4324 That´s mostly because car designers don´t cooperate with engineers. Instead, engineers are provided with the result of designer´s work and have to figure out things "on the fly".
Also, designers are paid to make designs, not to think in any way about practicality. That´s why most of the furniture sux as well.
My father was a mechanical engineer for GE. He retired in the mid '80's. He designed locomotives and giant mine trucks. The engineers were constantly at odds with the bean counters for designing it too well. They then would be told to "fix it.".
You need to understand that before engineers did NOT have the tools and simulators they have today, so most if not all cars were basically over-engineered. Nowadays, we can simulate wear down to the hour, so when a cost-cut is searched for, wear is in the shortlist. Yes, it is planned.
Also most R and D was done by people who were genuine and creative and new what to do to keep the customer happy and had integrity,now it is filled with people who have degrees but no Brains.
I just answered several time to this bath.tard bloger under his answer to my first comment but he hid es my answer every time! so read here again! :
When the companies make the car in such a way that after the end of the short warranty period it is practically destroyed and it cannot be repaired except by spending high costs and it does not last even after the repair, they practically force people to buy a new car. ! A person who wants to diversify can buy a new car and sell his previous car (which is healthy and can be maintained and used for tens of years without much cost) to someone else to use, while the new car generations after around five years become a moving waste and its maintenance costs are very high, it practically goes out of the cycle, and people are forced to pay the high cost and take loans and do overtime to fill the pockets of your dirty masters in the automotive industry and banking industry sooner and more!
When microsoft company offer a new windows and don't update the previous windows that I got used to, and do things that can no longer be used over time, they practically force me to buy the new operating system! There are many more examples, but fraudsters like you in answer especially want to show himself as an idiot who dont understand !
@@Polymath9000 not necessarily, you’re putting the blame on the engineers, but they just do what management is asking and demanding….
@@georgealex19 This is your view or experience.Mine is completely different.
maintaining and keeping your old car is more enviromentally friendly than buying a new one.
Yeah exactly
Tell this to the Tesla owners
Tell this to any new car owner.
Very put.
It’s not true. Read more.
Caption should read 'built to be owned' vs 'built to be leased'
Underrated comment.
"own nothing and be happy"
Also - 'If you can't afford a new BMW - you Definitely can't afford to own a used one...'
Today is a throw-away society - so, unless we develop a secondary market for the new EV's that makes sense to 'repower' and resell them (unlike today's inflated used car prices) we will definitely be wasting more resources at an even faster rate than we are now.
Exactly! They are pushing hard for this. To escape the trap, buy classic or modern classic. And take care of it like she is your wife.
Finally someone who understand that.
I recently had my daily drive, a 1976 Bmw E21, rear ended: rear metal bumper bent. Car body shop guy ordered a new bumper and was left flattened when found out that it would cost about 1/4 of the amount he has to pay for those new plastic bumpers, and bear in mind that the first is a bar of pressed and chromed steel, the latter is a piece of plastic.
More generally, my old car has really very few parts that could break (timing: double chain, no AC, no power steering, no electric windows, no sensor etc etc etc) so, given its annual servicing, it's pretty unbreakable.
I love old cars. Something about being able to fix your metal machine with your own hands without getting lost in 100 electrical components and sensors. They really did make em different, we'll never see those times again.
I must be in a small minority, everything I own I keep until I can no longer fix it.
no, I do the same, it is absolutely more cost effective to repair an old car than to buy new or used, considering that vehicles are upwards of 30k and you have to carry full coverage insurance if you have a note, no, that math doesn't add up, people are stupid, the depreciation alone is more than what I spend in a full restoration project
yep, that's why earth is doomed, because we are the minority
Glad to find a few more people who run and upkeep stuff until I can't even make parts for it.
I learn from my dad, we drive a vehicle and keep fixing it till it rots or the motor blows up. And even then we try to motor swap it, bought a f150 brand new and drove it till the motor flew apart at 370,000 and 70,000 of that was with leaking injectors
Let me be even weirder. I either get hauled by my family, friend or I use public transportation until my parents give me their 1986 Toyota Camry.
Planned obsolescence is NOT (necessarily) cutting manufacturing costs by using cheap parts. It is an ARTIFICIAL and DELIBERATE shortening of a lifespan of a product to FORCE people to purchase a replacement. Planned obsolescence often does not reduce manufacturing costs at all.
Which is funny, since people will always be put off by a car being too fragile, sending them directly to a competitor with a reputation that notes "high reliability".
@@DoodlezMusic You would have to reiterate that argument with an example, to make it a true argument.
As per example, of socio-economic factors.
For example, people suffering from medically induced mrna vaccination regret are largely unaffected by socio economic factors, but by education levels, same will apply to cars as well. Old cars really rock, new cars can sock dry squeezed hemmoroids suffering from fat american digitalized soyass
it starts with your toaster and ends with you car. my mom got the same washingmashine for twenty years. i got fuckin five of this new ones in ten years. and new toaster evry year. they are rly forcing us to buy new stuff.
@@HighTenner I exclusivly use old stuff, I like the new stuff, like global mass injection of unverifiable cooling conditions of gene prophylaxis. At least the war on drugs is going strong and we are healthily max boosted with 4 shots yearly including bivalent boosters for your regular updates. Finally EV vehicles and high taxes will save us from the weather change and stop le volcano and le quake 2
@@DoodlezMusic the fact that apple exists at all disproves that
I think you nailed it with the enthusiast owned vehicle comment. While you do see the occasional economy car from the 90s, most are dead because they were driven to the ground. The ones that do persist are owned by either enthusiasts or outliers. My mom owned a Toyota corolla from 98, that thing did make it to 200k miles, but it had been slowly dying, until finally it was pretty much a gonner. If you browse around car listings for cars from the 2000s and even early 2010s, you will see lots of vehicles for sale with nearly 200k miles. So its not like these cars cant make it, just that they are becoming more complex, and more parts = more chance for failure. If you think back on a 90s base model civic, crank windows, a radio, manual transmission, and a fairly simple engine. Not much to fail there.
Volvo stated that cars of other manufacturers would last for a decade, while their cars would last for a century.💪🇸🇪 So far they have kept their word about their reliability and timeles look.😎
They went broke and now owned by the Chinese, which reinforces what's been said in this video.. people want cheap and disposable, then bitch how everything isn't built to last
Swedish engineering is so underrated
I own a car parts store and we had a appointment with a big company that manufactures car parts and they told us that newer model cars have a shortened life span so they break easier, and seeing the build quality and problems of new cars the answer for this video is a big YES.
This is true of Ford, GM, and Chrysler, but this is because they're being absolutely thrashed by Honda and Toyota and are cutting corners out of necessity, not because it is profitable. The fact that the quality brands are beating the crap out of the value brands kinda proves that cheapness results in its own rejection the moment it goes too far.
And my uncle works at Nintendo and he says that they are going to send everyone a copy of battletoads.
@@theredscourge Still American cars are more expensive.
@@Carskinify The unions certainly aren't helping with that, but if you watch teardown videos of failed engines, you notice almost all of them are American brands, and hardly any are Asian brands, and almost all of the latter are because the owner didn't ever change the oil, or some maintenance guy accidentally left a loose bolt somewhere inside the oil system or something.
@@theredscourge I bought a new "89 Dodge Dakota and parked it along a street and a young guy walked by and said"You couldn't give me a damn Dodge." and the rear end (differential) failed not long after. American companies don't care. They depend on people's short memory. I've worked in union shops and all they do is cause trouble. They don't deserve a job esp. one that pays like they do.
This is not new, just more pervasive and precise.
25 years ago, one of my engineering school professors told us a story: as a fresh engineering graduate (perhaps 50 years ago at this point), he applied for a job with a US auto manufacturer "whose name we would recognize". During the interview, they handed him a drawing for an engine coolant pump. They asked him how he would change the design to preserve functionality, but reduce lifespan. He decided that he did not want to work for the automotive industry.
Correct me if I'm wrong but i think it's Ford
@@LaylaGaming_MLBB I don't know, he did not want to name names. I think he was just trying to warn us that not all employers are out to make the world a better place, which I think most of us did. Some are quite the opposite.
I just answered several time to this bath.tard bloger under his answer to my first comment but he hides my answer every time! so read here again! :
When the companies make the car in such a way that after the end of the short warranty period it is practically destroyed and it cannot be repaired except by spending high costs and it does not last even after the repair, they practically force people to buy a new car. ! A person who wants to diversify can buy a new car and sell his previous car (which is healthy and can be maintained and used for tens of years without much cost) to someone else to use, while the new car generations after around five years become a moving waste and its maintenance costs are very high, it practically goes out of the cycle, and people are forced to pay the high cost and take loans and do overtime to fill the pockets of your dirty masters in the automotive industry and banking industry sooner and more!
When microsoft company offer a new windows and don't update the previous windows that I got used to, and do things that can no longer be used over time, they practically force me to buy the new operating system! There are many more examples, but fraudsters like you in answer especially want to show himself as an idiot who dont understand !
@@danielclawson2099 yeah agreed 💯
Er, well what you are saying is actually different, because reducing lifespan as a deliberate objective is not the same as reducing *cost* subject to a lifespan constraint. Are you really an engineer?
We have to specilize: live closer to your workplace, driving alone in big city mostly? Buy Prius. Driving on highway a lot of miles? Drive diesel. Taking your rear end and lunch box with you to work every day? Buy small car.
If you go to Denver, take a train! Simple, eh?
The sweet spot is about 1995 to 2010. They got the good stuff right like fuel injection, ABS, traction control, airbags, rust is a non-issue almost, a 5 or 6 speed automatic transmission, but didn’t have touch screens and no satellite tracking you.
You lost me at auto transmission
The "Intelligent Consumer" is a myth.
This. That's how we got FWD BMW (just to mention one glaring example). And the system is rigged to keep people dumb. It's very complicated to get unbiased reliability statistics. Car magazines are paid by car makers and only focus on new cars, downplaying defects and poor design choices. Finally, too many adults can't stand peer pressure, and the herd goes and buys what the alpha man decided to.
I would say more like far and few between but do exist.
My dream car is a 1998 Volvo S90. However, it seems like the government where I live want to make it impossible to own an ICE-car in 15 - 25 years.
customer is never right, let's be honest lol
Well, in no corporation i've worked at single human was allowed to make purhase.
Usually they have special departament, equipped with specialists of minimum 5y of experience.
So everything , from components actually used in production to things like ballpoint pens or safety shoes goes thru this departament, wchich checks every little detail, negotiated warranty, even analyses broken items to estimate MTBF contributing factors. All this using computers and knowledge base systems, and basically scientist-grade educated personell.
It would be silly to even suggest single person could be somehow comptetent to buy sth as simple as piece of plastic. Machine like lathe? Laugh 😅
Then out of sudden for buying sth with thousands of moving parts, software, fluids, hydraulic systems, design strategies, financing plans, related to global market of fuels, taxes, insurances and without premium technical support... you send single layperson, and let him/her being manipulated by emotion-driven marketing.
Result must be Fail, and it's facepalm grade fail.
I know only a few people who did research like hiring 20y+ experience master mechanic as advisory, before buying a car. And even then they did it wrong - not paying right amount for time and experience required, not actually hiring someone who can properly communicate with such an expert but talking to mechanic in person instead, and finally not creating consylium, gathering data and doing proper statistical analysis.
All this when investing over 50 000e of cash!
If you wasted so much cash doing risky purhase even in quite crappy corporation, You would get fired with totally bad reference of breaching trust and mismanagement of investiment funds, if not outright arrested if the company was anyhow related to public money, probably ending up on the streets or doing physical worl for rest of your life.
But wrecking budget of Your family? Depriving your kids of education and spending cash on car repairs ? Not showing up on charity meetings for next 10y after You made bad decision to buy designer's clunker? no problem.
Well, there's less points of failure in an older car...so yeah, higher chance of reliability, in general. Incidentally I had a TV that died 1 day after its year long warranty...literally the day after the warranty expired. Creepy.
I have an LG phone that never worked properly, but they said they already had my money so they didn't care.
Literally our LG TV did that last year, died the day after the warranty expired.
Well, that's where the Right to Repair talk comes in but for home electronics, it already somewhat exists for the automotive industry
I wouldn't be surprised if it's just one fuse or capacitor that blew, the cost to repair would be small but good luck finding the parts, as the manufacturer probably told the factory not to sell those separately.
But a day after seems like you got unlucky, they can be accurate for planning it's demise, but not that precise. Or it was planned to be close and just cut their losses on the ones that broke before the warranty's expiration.
I also noticed a few replies talking about their LG devices. That's interesting, maybe we're somewhat lucky, but we've owned Fridges, TV's, Washing machines... basically all of our appliances were LG, all never had an issue, except for our microwave, which just stopped heating the food as quickly, I'm talking throwing the popcorn in for 5 minutes or some bs just to get half of them popped. It's unfortunate because that was a damn good microwave, but guess what? Suddenly "died" not long after the warranty expired.
The appliance industry really needs some improvement with Right to Repair. Not everyone can shill out a couple thousand bucks for a fridge and washer every couple of years.
Shameful.
@Jack K that why Europe has a 2 years obligatory warranty lol
3 of my last 4 mobile phones died 2 years after buying them where coincidence don't you think! 🤔
Excellent video - I agree with all of this. Not only are modern cars now made from cheap unsuitable materials like the Mini's thermostat housing but the proliferation of electronics in them is also a blatant form of inbuilt obsolescence. I have heard of countless instances where car electronics have failed suddenly and inexplicably and no one seems to be able to fix them - especially the dealers who just don't seem to be trained to cope. So many cars with perfect bodies, mechanics and interiors then go to the scrap yard. As you say, it's no good trying to claim that they are then sustainably recycled; it still takes a huge amount of energy to re-use materials, especially metals, so the most environmentally sound solution is to keep existing cars going as long as possible. Not something the manufacturers want to hear of course. They should be changing their business models to restore and update existing cars rather than build new ones. I believe Renault is beginning to think this way. However, you are so right about the silly snobbery about having a new(er) car - remember the nonsense in the UK over the annual change in year letter on the number plate?
I just answered several time to this bath.tard bloger under his answer to my first comment but he hides my answer every time! so read here again! :
When the companies make the car in such a way that after the end of the short warranty period it is practically destroyed and it cannot be repaired except by spending high costs and it does not last even after the repair, they practically force people to buy a new car. ! A person who wants to diversify can buy a new car and sell his previous car (which is healthy and can be maintained and used for tens of years without much cost) to someone else to use, while the new car generations after around five years become a moving waste and its maintenance costs are very high, it practically goes out of the cycle, and people are forced to pay the high cost and take loans and do overtime to fill the pockets of your dirty masters in the automotive industry and banking industry sooner and more!
When microsoft company offer a new windows and don't update the previous windows that I got used to, and do things that can no longer be used over time, they practically force me to buy the new operating system! There are many more examples, but fraudsters like you in answer especially want to show himself as an id iot who dont understand !
My 25 year old Mazda MX5 or Miata in the US, has never let me down in the twelve years I've owned it.
Old cars are more simple. Give me a socket set and a late 80’s Mercedes and it’ll outlive my great-great-great grandchildren
unfortunatly old cars have a problem called rust, unless you are in very specific regions. Also older cars, although simple, are kinda divas that require very regular maintenance to stay reliable.
Late 90ies early 2000 is the sweat spot: though enough to have simplified maintenance, still old school electronics, extensive use of galvanised steel.
My 66 Chevy looks better than my dad’s 95 F150. It does require more maintenance. But hell even an engine swap can be done in an afternoon for 300 dollars.
@@tinatpasselepoivre Actually, cars only have problem with rust in very specific locations. If you don't use salt and chemicals to melt snow, or live right next to an ocean, rust is not a problem.
@@gizzyguzzi sorry to disagree. Some (most) old cars have by design water & crud accumalation spots were water will enevitably pool and make rust appear no matter the conditions. They also suffer from poor rust protection (no galvanizing,...)
W124 drainage under the battery and rear rolling gear mounts
2cv rear bump stop mount, pedal box, wind shield emplacement
Traction avant from chassis arm (the so called '' ham '')
Old school Mini in general
Old school defe defender also
Ect, ect...
Unless you litteraly never drive under rain or in a region were rain is rare
@@gizzyguzzi on the 2cv, Traction and mini exemples those are un-maintable aera unfortunately.
They are not the only one...
And good for you rust is a a btich
"plastic valve covers, plastic intake manifolds, plastic thermostat housings" my poor little M54 would be very offended if it were running
LMAO
Look another twit that thinks "plastic = weak" pro-tip it's not and it's not even more durable in many cases if for no other reason then being almost impervious to corrosion in most cases. People go "OMFG it's PLASTIC" totally ignoring that "plastic" covers such a wide range of products with such vastly different material properties that the term is so vague as to be meaningless.
This also amuses me because the people that spout it are often irrational and inconsistent in how it's applied. Since anything besides metal is apparently super bad shouldn't you guys also hate like rubber hoses for example? If metal is so damn great shouldn't you want EVERY line carrying fluid in a car to be metal hydraulic fittings?
you forgot to mention a plastic oil pans, plastic belt rollers and gears,
😂👍
Whenever someone says M54, I have the urge to run to the nearest shop to buy some oil for top up.
New cars have fewer initial quality problems but once they get to the point where they do start having problems, the problems are typically much more severe and expensive to fix. I'd rather have more frequent small and easy to fix issues you'd find in a '60s or '70s car than no issues for 100K miles then BAM! Years of cylinder deactivation has eaten the lifters, tons of under hood plastic components start disintegrating, turbo wastegates start failing, carbon buildup from the direct injection is gumming up the valves, rubber oil pump belts dissolve and the CVT has destroyed its belt. The '80s and '90s cars as you said are optimal and really give you the best of both worlds. They were available with all the basic modern amenities (cruise, AC, power locks/windows, remote entry) while being simple enough to go for years without any major repair needed once you get one sorted. If its a vehicle with a powertrain that has historically had broad aftermarket support, parts are cheap to the point that its way more worth it to keep these older rigs on the road than to buy an absurdly overpriced new vehicle for 50K.
I just answered several time to this bath.tard bloger under his answer to my first comment but he hides my answer every time! so read here again! :
When the companies make the car in such a way that after the end of the short warranty period it is practically destroyed and it cannot be repaired except by spending high costs and it does not last even after the repair, they practically force people to buy a new car. ! A person who wants to diversify can buy a new car and sell his previous car (which is healthy and can be maintained and used for tens of years without much cost) to someone else to use, while the new car generations after around five years become a moving waste and its maintenance costs are very high, it practically goes out of the cycle, and people are forced to pay the high cost and take loans and do overtime to fill the pockets of your dirty masters in the automotive industry and banking industry sooner and more!
When microsoft company offer a new windows and don't update the previous windows that I got used to, and do things that can no longer be used over time, they practically force me to buy the new operating system! There are many more examples, but fraudsters like you in answer especially want to show himself as an idiot who dont understand !
I just answered several time to this bath.tard bloger under his answer to my first comment but he hides my answer every time! so read here again! :
When the companies make the car in such a way that after the end of the short warranty period it is practically destroyed and it cannot be repaired except by spending high costs and it does not last even after the repair, they practically force people to buy a new car. ! A person who wants to diversify can buy a new car and sell his previous car (which is healthy and can be maintained and used for tens of years without much cost) to someone else to use, while the new car generations after around five years become a moving waste and its maintenance costs are very high, it practically goes out of the cycle, and people are forced to pay the high cost and take loans and do overtime to fill the pockets of your dirty masters in the automotive industry and banking industry sooner and more!
When microsoft company offer a new windows and don't update the previous windows that I got used to, and do things t hat can no longer be used over time, they practically force me to buy the new operating system! There are many more examples, but fraudsters like you in answer especially want to show himself as an idiot who dont understand !
Must say that I am impressed with your reasoning and knowledge around cars and in general. All in all: bravo majstore!
I like the old auto owners manuals that told you how to lap the valves vs todays owners manuals tell you not to drink the fluids!
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Modern litiginous seciety it the reason for this garbage!!
... what? Do you mean lap? Whens the last time you pulled the heads off and pulled your valves out let alone lap them?
@@richmondvand147 Not me personally but how different manuals back in the day were vs now. It's like an analogy as well for how stupid people can be these days. Like common sense should tell already not to drink the fluids.
That’s priceless… completely accurate 😂
As a BMW owner, I can confirm the problems with plastic cooling systems. Seeing a puddle under my car is normal for me and I'm not even exaggerating
Man, I can't believe they put plastic crap on such key parts. A premium brand like BMW going cheap on a thermostat housing or cooling parts, what the fuck.
@@akafede4351 and they're still doing it today
@@madjoemak As a BMW owner, my 15 year old E90 330XD with 310 000km's does not piss itself with either either oil or coolant.
I understand that there are legitimate complaints to be made about BMW's excessive use of plastic and rubber for engine parts... But... You don't brag about your car pissing coolant everywhere you go. Coolant tastes sweet and animals will drink it. AFAIK OEM coolant for BMW's is ethylene glycol based. And it will happen regardless what car you have. I've seen Audi's also do it after the gaskets age and need replacement. Time and thermal cycling are not kind masters and no seal will last forever.
Diagnose where the leak is and fix it. In my case, on the M57, I know two parts will fail for sure - the thermostat return pipe gasket from the EGR cooler (it's both a plastic ring and a o-ring seal) and a plastic connector from the engine block for coolant return hose back to the reservoir.
@@D3humaniz3d I recently replaced my entire cooling system because it kept breaking and now it's been fine for the past few thousand kilometres. However now it's failed inspection because of rust. Fml
Lol happened to me once
As someone working in the auto industry, the issue is a lot more complex than what's said here.
I hate plastics like many of you do, but there are two benefits to using the material: weight and cost. Weight is the enemy of performance, fuel efficiency, handling dynamics, etc. To get those EPA fuel economy numbers as high as possible, they look at trimming weight everywhere. So those pretty metal aluminum intake manifolds, engine covers, etc. get ditched for plastic parts covered in ribbing.
Also, what is costlier for auto mnfr is also costlier to the end buyer, since OEMs aim for a certain profit margin to be cost competitive in the segment. If you as an OEM use more pricier components, you get priced out of the segment. So while Bosch can make a high-performing, long-lasting, rebuildable and over-engineered alternator, the OEM customer probably wouldn't want to spend that money. This applies to parts that have a bunch of integrated components--if they're separate then that's additional labor hours, and likely taking up more engine bay space since it has to make room for bolts, brackets and other stuff needed to (re)assemble--adding cost, weight and size.
Then there's the matter of biodegradable materials and eco-friendliness: old Mercedes Benz had much more durable plastics and wiring harnesses because those things aren't biodegradable. They get dumped in a landfill, they'll be that way for a long time. Dump a new MB wiring harness and rats will eat away at it. Or the energy cost of having a foundry to cast a metal part vs. plastic molding, etc.
I own a 30-year old BMW so I love my cars being analog, and yes they were definitely cheaper back then, and BMW definitely is guilty of adding tech to make DIY harder. The 90s imo are a happy medium of enough modern technology to be reliable, but not enough to be a liability, like all those giant screens and capacitive touch. BMW/Mini using plastic components where they shouldn't though has been a long tradition, be it water pumps, thermostats, radiators and other key cooling components.
"you get priced out of the segment." A truck which sells for 50% more than the sma eor similar models did a few years ago has less to do with the cost of manufacturing and less to do with the choice of materials. No-one is buying the argument that "OEM customer probably wouldn't want to spend that money" they certainly would and do, look at Toyota. Consumers are not buying these pieces of overpriced garbage which are now sitting on lots for 6 months because they're petrified of being upside down the minute they drive off the lot and of the incredible cost of maintenance, consequently being trapped in an endless cycle of buying new. Now we are being educated that all these efforts are for nothing, we are going to be worse off. It's a giant scam and a dystopian one at that because the alternatives are disappearing. The system driving these decisions are right out of the IT playbook, sunsetting support for perfectly good products and filling our landfills up with garbage.
My 2001 LeSabre has 333,000 miles on it and i don't plan on getting rid of her, she's one of the most reliable cars I've ever owned and I've only ever owned American vehicles in my 40 plus years of driving.
The incentive to build more robust cars is brand image and residual value, it's worked so well Toyota is the largest automaker in the world.
I know for a fact, that in the 90s Mercedes Benz decided that being THE original builder of every 30 year-old mega-mile taxi in the middle east and Africa was not the brand image they wanted. BMW didn't like young boy-racers were driving around in pimped up 20 year old 3 series either.,
You and I may have thought that having a long lived car proves the marque's build quality. They thought it devalues the brand image if any old Joe can afford to own one.
Planned obsolescence ensures brand exclusivity.
So now, built like a Mercedes means quite a different thing to what it did in the 90s.
@@DanA-fk6tl Agree! That is why the Mercedes-Benz that I truly desired are from the 1970's and 1980's. Especially the W123 300D, love how it is incredibly reliable, and very mechanical. A time when Mercedes-Benz truly justifies the tag line, "The best or nothing".
@@DanA-fk6tl Well you also have to think that Mercedes ceased to be Mercedes in 1996 when Chrysler bought them out.
Funny story.... women came into my job with a entitled attitude bitching about the price of changing a battery in her remote... than she points to her "New Mercedes" and tells me, "that is why I drive a Mercedes what do you drive?"
I just point to my mint 1983 240d and say... "that is a real Mercedes, you actually have a rebranded Chrysler."
@@DarknessNation women
Toyota is still making Reliable cars.
In India there is Model named Innova a SUV.The cost of maintenance is so damn cheap.
Most of tge Taxi operators buy that.
Even the cramped 3rd row is awesomely comfortable.Recently traveled 600kms sitting on the 3rd row.
Never felt any jolt and was not tired at all at the end of the journey.
This video is not about cars. this is about life. Sustainability is yours, mine and our governments choice! Well done sir!!
It is about freedom no about cars.
Meanwhile "enthusiasts" still arguing about ls vs 2jz or whatnot
@@eustahijelifetips what does that have to do with this?
There's no sustainability in the material world. The time factor does't allow it, plain & simple.
Exactly, so don't vote for handouts. God helps them that help themselves!
When i sold my NB mx5 2 guys came in an NA with 940.000km. i bought the NB not because i needed it, it was a fun car for me and i only drove it hard for 5 years and never had any problems with it. when i got a job where they offered me a vw golf 7 i didn't see much financial sense in paying for the mx5 when i could drive a new car for free so i sold my car and oh boy was it a mistake, that golf was so often gone for repairs i can't even count it, after that i drove many other cars in the company and i have to say looking back the MX5 was the most reliable and the most fun car i ever owned. i wish i still had it.
My friend you can never convince me that a new mercedes that requires like 2k a year in maintainance and service parts is better than a 1990 in mercedes that requires only oil changes. Planned obsolence and what not, im paying more.
"As a civilization we are still in the stage where we believe that the material things someone owns can increase their status in society and their value as a human being." Well said.
Sadly true.
That said, I will never buy a brand new car. The cost of turning that key for the first time...It's an idiot tax. 20% of the value (at least) gone in one second.
My best car? 2002 BMW e46. less than £1k when I bought it. 5 years and less than £1K in replacement parts later it still starts, stops, looks great, and is comfortable. I could easily afford a more expensive car. But why waste money that I could be spending on a holiday?
@@DanA-fk6tl Same for me.
My 1997 Volvo cost me 2000€+1700€ for the LPG system, and since then I had only minor issues and wear part to change (tires, brakes and belts).
Even the AC system was never touched and after 25years it is running like new (with 35°C outside gives me air at something like 8~10°C in a minute).
I mean, it sucks to cry but its a whole lot better to cry in a volvo.
@@ChunkyWaterisReal lmao
Men value their mate's girlfriends ( or boyfriends) by evolutionary design . Darwin was onto something from the start . There's the stage ... Those are our human limitations set by evolution over million of years ;) Evolution is cleverer than we are, Leslie Orgle .
The thing that makes manufacturers evil is how they design and control 3rd party production of the plastic assemblies in a way that prevents most of the parts from being bought from any other vendor. Then when they stop supporting said product nobody else can either. This is what right to repair bills aims to correct.
Interesting
New world order
Plastic parts could be made to last, with high quality plastic, or cheap aluminum would live 5x longer than that plastic thermostat.
@@uroskostic8570 I am not sure if plastic can even be made to last long term (5-15 years or 120-150,000+ miles) in an engine bay for a critical engine part. Abs, which is the hard plastic commonly used in the engine bay parts, melts at about 400°F (~200°C) and softens at about 105°C or 221°F. It can get up to about 500°F in some spots of the engine bay with the hood closed. Like next to the exhaust manifold or a turbo for example. The average overall engine operates at just below 200°F or ~100°C. So best case, you are running the plastic part right next to the point where it begins to soften and lose structural integrity all the time. It would be analogous to expecting a sealing part like the intake manifold or the engine block to not warp and maintain its seals while repeatedly heat cycling to just below red hot during operation. That is not even taking into account the fact that plastic gets brittle as it ages, and sunlight (uv light specifically) slowly breaks down plastics. That's why all the little plastic bits on a 10+ year old car break off even when you try to undue them properly and why the plastic dashes on older cars are commonly cracked.
@@joshnabours9102 i agree. thats why i said even cheap recycled aluminum is better than best plastic. and i think casting of aluminum is cheap
EXACTLY !!!! This dude is nailing the issue directly on the head . Manufacturers do social engineering studies so they understand that around 7 to 8 years is the limitation for what is considered a long lasting household product. This pertains to anything that you use whether it be an automobile, a dishwasher, washer dryer set, lamp, computer, cell phone, coffee mug , or a pillow . That is to say, the product last eight years, from the perspective of the consumer is understood as a quality product. If it lasts less than seven years, it is seen as an inferior product and a reflection on the brand. This indepth use of psychology along with computer simulations and statistical analysis allows all of the products that have purchased and are in your home right now to have very accurately determined lifespans. By the way, get used to it, AI will make things even worse.
What makes sense to me, is that this is a type of survivor bias. The old cars we see today, are the ones that were taken good care of.
If anyone starts a service where 3d printed metal parts can replace all the plastic crap in the engine, he'll make a killing.
It's a great idea, but it will be illegal to modify cars before 3D printed metal becomes cost effective.
There is currently an effort underway to create an industry like this to make 3D printed metal and plastic parts for older and antique vehicles.
@@tobyvision they can't police a personal car to that extent. Often aftermarket replacement parts are sub-standard to be cheap, this would be a great idea.
@@jmbpinto73 Just wait. They are already doing it with a few of the critical components in cars, and at large in farm machines. More and more car components will be internet of things networked and age locked. This will be backed by safety legislation mandated by the extreme reliability requirements for self-driving car networks.
@@jmbpinto73 yes they can...look at diesel emissions and pickups
Cars peaked in the 90s. Tech was fairly advanced, but regulations where not insurmountable and people bought to repair instead of replace.
My Audi 80 agrees
Emissions regulations are designed to crush people's access to personal transport that is independant of the main grid
My 96 Polo Classic that i use every day agrees, and for 10 years the only thing i put in it is gasoline=))
@@illegalopinions4082
They want everyone living in cities and using public transit. How dare some of us living away from BLM, mask mandates, and terrorist attacks.
Yes i still daily drive my 98 pontiac firebird and people ask what year is it and they don't believe it. Cause it looks better than most modern cars
First video watched of this channel because of YT's recommendation and I didn't expect to be an analysis so deep and anchored in the reality.
I think people more so tend to replace their cars early first because their needs change but then secondly because they expect it to develop some catastrophic problem and an expensive repair bill. Phone manufacturers actually do actively sabotage user's older model phones by designing parts that can't be replaced (like the battery in your phone), adding software updates that intentionally slow your phone down, and then fighting 3rd party repair and "right-to-repair" laws.
I've been a mechanic for twenty years. Newer cars have way more problems then the older ones. Nearly every job is heaps harder then it used to be and major repairs are extremely common. Just this year I have already changed engines or had to do head gaskets on more then two dozen cars that are less then 15 years old. My ute is 20 years old and nothing ever goes wrong with it. Except your usual wear like tyres and brakes.
Not true. New cars just have different sets of problems. However, main reason for those problems are 2. The manufacturer AND the customer. Unless the engine has been broken by manufacturer during its manufacturing, there should be nothing major wrong with it. But if it gets broken, it´s not intentional. Maybe some worker dropped a sensor before installing it. Or nobody checked the new shipment of parts. These things happen, when you shift from specialized workers to cheaper workforce.
It´s often the customer, who keeps driving around with "Check engine" light, ignoring potentially severe repair, simply because "it still works". Until it stops and then only the manufacturer is to blame, because facing our own part of guilt is hard. Also often caused by NOT READING THROUGH THE USER MANUAL - you know, that thick book, customer gets with his car?
However, in the end, it´s all luck-based, as with any other consumer goods. You may be lucky and only pour oil and fuel into it for many years, or you may be unlucky and know every mechanic in the vicinity.
Sometimes, it´s the mechanic´s fault. Not every one of you is straight and honest and people often have hard time figuring it out - especially when they know nothing about cars.
And at last - i had my own share of issues with an old car - it would turn 21 this year. 1000 little things, that kept piling up at constant rate. People just have to remember, that mechanical parts wear (thus have to be changed regularly) and electronics may work for many years until sudden death occurs. However, as car ages, more problems will arise, until you hit a treshold, when maintenance cost will become unsustainable.
Yet I see far fewer cars on the roadside needing assistance.
sounds like you own a diesel Hilux and are Australian. Am I right? Anyway Australia lagged a bit with the diesel emissions craziness and plus 20 year old utes were designed with that CAD sweet spot he described- enough to help manufacturing tolerances and efficient design, not enough to perfect planned obsolescence
@@Morpheus-pt3wq you day there should be nothing wrong with a new car. You are correct, there shouldn't be. Problem is, there are hundreds of problems in new cars. I have a successful business because so many cars 10 years and younger have countless issue's. The fix is always more time consuming and the parts are increasing in price every day.
Look at a thermostat as an example.
You used to be able to but just the thermo and change it. Cost under $100 for the entire job. Now you need to buy an entire housing that costs over $300 and takes hours to replace. Now a thermostat will cost on average more then $500.
@@manoman0 because these days they don't road side assistance. These days the road side assistance company just calls a tow truck.
My best car was a 1978 Mercedes 300D. That car was a tank. A comfortable tank. It was not very quick, but it got 28mpg in all situations. At that time, diesel fuel was about $.50/gal. It required very little maintenance but when it did have to go to the shop it was expensive. It was my first Mercedes, and I put quite a few miles on it, and it could have gone many more, but California decided to deoxygenate diesel fuel. They didn't research it, and it washed down the cylinder walls, causing the motor to lose compression. It never started again.
The state offered a $500 settlement to replace a $12,000 motor. I've had several Mercedes since then but that one was the best
"You lost your house? Here's some tents"
My dad had the 200 D , even slower but indestructible. Great car indeed.
You misspelled Commiefornia:
You should've gotten a lawyer. And a new engine that those idiots paid for.
still driving my w123 @400k miles
I wouldn't really say it's cost saving to use plastic, it's weight saving to meet ever tightening fuel economy regulations.
I had a car built in 1955. I had to disassemble it, put it back together and change all rubber parts. After that it did not fail even once for 25 years. All i did is changing oil. I stopped counting miles after odometer zeroed. My guess it was over 180000 when i finally sold the car in perfectly good condition.
The same car manufacturer model 1999 could not even survive 5 years. It got rust, oil splashing out of everywhere. Half of the car was replaced by warranty. Because they had to make cheap parts in order to keep the car price down.
No, they do not built them as good as before. Now you have to buy a 2020 Bugatti to get the Ford quality from 1950
Agreed
It's not about what breaks first. It's about what obstacles they put in fixing it.
Right. A cracked plastic intake manifold is less of a problem if it's not combined with two other components that are sealed shut in it.
@@soulextracter but more than that, everything made today is integrated with computers that require a copyrighted piece of company software to reactivate which requires 200$ just for the privilege of having them gaze at the car you reassembled yourself.
If I do not have immediate access to head bulbs I choose another car thank you. Even changing wiper motor can be a hassle, if it's over 30 min job time to change cars again to one that one can actually do diy fixes..
Car makers have been at it for years, look carefully at the bolts etc in your car. A lot of them will be torx or other silliness which makes working on things that extra bit harder.
@@Negativvv My GM Opel has some kind of reverse torx bolts, bigger sizes do fit to ordinary millimetre size sockets but the smaller ones do not. If I buy another Opel it's gonna be pre 1997 again lol..
My 30 year old 7 series: works just fine
Friend's 5 year old 7 series: already had an engine change and something craps up every 3 months.
I agree, I'm driving a '92 MB W124 230E: reliable, comfortable, low running costs... I don't need more.
No wonder Scotty, on his channels says that BMW now stands for "big money waster"
@@pattyeverett2826 no, Bring More Wallet. 😊
I would not brag about a BMW be it old or new, they have always been overrated cars, specially in regards to reliability. rather have a 70´s/80´s Mercedes than any BMW.
@@M.S-Music they must be nice for the first owner though (Motorplan etc.). I must confess, I quite liked my '87 316i, but then I sold it at 118k kms in '92. I would hate to see what it would look like now, it was already rusting at the top of the rear doors (condensation) back then, despite being in a warm, dry garage.
Yes, absolutely car manufacturers are making the cars so that they will break after guarantee finishes. I was visiting Mercedes Benz factory in Germany, Bremen it was part of my university partnership program, and the Representative of Mercedes who was giving us the tour told us himself that they almost bankrupted due to the cars not breaking down so they had to reduce the quality of production for everything except S class (I don't remember maybe E as well) and after the recovery period the main change they made is the testing process from testing parts to last at least 5 years to testing so that they will breake after 5 years. So yeah that's why you should avoid cars which are 4-6 years old because it is the highest risk period.
I drive a 1993 Audi 80. The build quality is insanely good. The vehicle is not too complex, to self-repair most issues. With 30 years, it is a classic car, here in Germany, so taxes and insurance are cheaper. All in all the car is cheap too own and drive, though modern cars use a bit less fuel. Let's see, if my Audi will last 30 more years. I won't buy a modern car, if I don't have to.
If they could,they just gonna make pistons out of plastic too.
Ford did so, in a research project engine, in the '80's or so. It ran, and IIRC, no one had ever heard of carbon fiber at the time, either.
The best piston material is ceramic. It can stand extreme temperatures, is incredibly hard and doesn’t expand.
That’s gonna last 2 minutes maybe
@@jimgordon3206 but i dout it and one good bang from bad settings or poor quality fuel ⛽️/leaks or antilag would crack the carbon or tungsten ceramic parts from the shock waves and heat spike. 🤷♂️ maybe im wrong but probably not as i looked in to doing 💻 stepper motor controled twin-cam-perhead and geared rotary sleeve valves mostly so i didn't need to hone it 👌 V-twin/X-4 test engine ( 4.5inx5in stroke and didn't finish it 😒 ) ( it was going to be a experience and experimenting for a X20 liquid cooled engine ( a Allison X4520 and liberty 24 / German/uk knockoff/hot rod ) and still would like to build it but courant life situation isn't allowing it to happen and have a use for it as i was go to use it in a full size 🇺🇸 truck ) in 2009 as a 20's something year old
and if it did work im game for a set for a 440/hemi 108mm/4.25 piston's 13:1 aka max dome mopar or at least some people with a v8 might be interest in a set or 2
@@richardprice5978
I’m sure the nay sayers said similar things about aluminum pistons when the norm was steel or cast iron.
The ultimate recycling recipe: when you tired of your car or your phone - sell it. Then a person who couldn't buy new would use it. Then another one and another one. I'm a 13th owner of Moskvich Svyatogor (2L, 115 hp, direct injection) and it still runs good and only needs a floor repair. Which I almost done. Things doesn't need to be recycled until they obsolete.
@SlavHammer47 yes. I was born in USSR and I can attest YOU HAVE TO FIX SOVIET CAR DIRECTLY FROM ASSEMBLY LINE. Stop saying things that are not true
@@chartedtravel he wasn't saying that they were good from the getgo, he said that if they were cared for they lasted almost forever...
@@juhasznagyjozsef every car if cared for can last forever
@@shirool1142 Even when the ECU fails and there's none available or it can't be programmed?
@@PJBonoVox then replace the ecu?
I want to point out two things.
One, some manufacturers DO have an incentive to reduce lifespan as much as they can, by providing repair services themselves. Renault for example incentivizes its customers to ONLY repair their vehicles at their garages, then charges a high premium rate. The initial sale is NOT their only source of income from you, in fact the repairs probably amount to just as much if not more in the long run.
Secondly, Samsung and Apple sold tons more than Fairphone because they have endless bags of money to spend on marketing (that they got in part thanks to their anti-consumer practices), while I had never heard of Fairphone before this video. Your argument doesn't hold, because if there were as many people aware of Fairphone's existence as they were Samsung's or Apple's, then the comparison would make sense.
Two things: Regarding the fairphone: People didn't really buy it because of the hardware. It was obsolete from the get go. That was its biggest problem. They were also fairly new and noone really knew due to poor marketing.
The other one: Maintenance periods. We used to have 5-10k km oil change cycles. Now we see up to 50k km cycles (seen myself on the current 740d). That alone is a huge deal, especially with direct injection and timing chains. Oil change every 10-15k km and those will last a lot longer.
Bonus: IF a manufacturer decided to make sustainable cars, those would be sold plenty of times since that's also a huge reputation thing.
Other than that: Really nice video :) Obviously obsolescence is a thing but that's not the only thing.
I own a diesel Mercedes from over three decades ago. They were built to last during that era. Reliable. No unnecessary tech. No black-box spying on you. No clumsy infotainment. Smog Exempt.
These are far better cars than today’s trash
Yeh but they still rusted , the main killer of most cars
Until you crash...diesels are also notoriously hard engines to kill if serviced every once in a blue moon.
@@LOTPOR0402 Not more than modern cars. Seen plenty of modern VW's and Audi's full of rust on the panels just behind the front wheels
@@LOTPOR0402 actually if you get a good body with a reliable engine the 90s cars are the best probably. I'm telling that of my own experience: I owned rusty Passat B4 1,8 with a very reliable engine (it was driving great even with very low oil pressure after 400000km) and now I own B4 VR6 with a few surface rust spots but a bit overengineered engine (nothing critical fails but still it fails sometimes), so it's very possible to find such a car from 90 which would be in a good shape and still reliable even in my country where snow-melting chemicals are being spayed onto the road for around 4-5 months in a year. The question is that you probably gonna have to service it yourself as not many people know how to do it properly nowadays; features in these cars and most importantly safety are questionable also but a lot of people including me are ok with that I guess.
@@LOTPOR0402 if you don't take care of it it's your own fault
As an owner of that old Mercedes (80s 300D) used in this video's comparison (along with many other cars from different manufacturers) I can assure you they are the most well built, reliable and useful cars ever constructed. I still drive mine daily happily communting to work, hauling kids around and towing a loaded trailer all while nearing 400k miles with a completely orginal drive train...
I have a '72 MB 220 Diesel in the garage. Runs all right...
This. Another funny thing with the old Mercs (at least in Germany, don't know if they also do this in other countries) is that you can just walk into your local dealership and buy basically every part that should break brand new so no need to scour scrapyards for used stuff that's been abused for decades or cheap Chinese crap that doesn't fit right
1984 500SEL here for the last 20 years, and it's my newest car.
The question is not "is it driving" with this merc, its "is it Holding together" since its rusting like a harbor rail
@@carhawara3394 depends on where you live - luckily for me they don't salt the roads here so it doesn't have rust.. but other parts of the country / world - yes, that's def an issue.
Buddy,
your vids are so good, you are a real gem on youtube,
so I would not "dispose" my subscription any time soon. lol
Honestly, you are outstanding.
Sorry for my excessive fanboying here, but you deserve it.
This is an impressive video. As an engineer I completely agree with you, the amount of resources and carbon emissions that go into producing the factories to manufacture electric cars totally defeats the purpose of their intent. And I’m very worried as after watching this and fully understanding why cars are being made out of plastic I don’t ever plan on buying a new car nor have I ever bought one before. I also can’t see myself buying a newer style of car because the ones I have from the 90s look so much better in my opinion than anything I’ve seen on the market in years.
No s*it ! But another "engineers" are creating this.
Bye ! ..... mr. engineer
Government initiatives to remove "old clunkers" from the road on the basis of "efficiency" always piss me off. The energy costs of forming and machining the complex hunk of metal never seems to enter the equation at all. It would be great to be able to compare the amount of CO2 produced during the construction of a car, versus the amount that the car itself would produce during its lifetime.
Check out the Engineering Explained video on this, he actually does the math. Long story short is that if you do an average American commute the total emissions savings are definitely worth it switching to a new EV. If you aren't doing a lot of miles it isn't.
That's one of the stupidest things governments did. I Still can't believe that Germany gave people money to have their old cars crushed and have them buy new cars. WTF was that?
@@wiegraf9009 Americans already own multiple vehicles so getting a small and affordable EV with 100 mile range or so for daily commutes would definitely be possible.
@@imnotusingmyrealname4566 Depends on the household but yes definitely possible for your typical suburban family!
@@wiegraf9009 But EVs currently in America don't make any economical sense, even with these insane gas prices. Corolla Hybrid AWD is just unbeatable as a commuter.
I bought a gorgeous Orange Mazda MX5 NB, I call her Clementine (because orange). She's got 100000 miles on it, and both an engineer and 3 mechanics said her engine is in an amazing condition for a 22 year old car with 9 previous owners.
I drive by so many broken down cars (15 years or younger) and I keep thinking when will it be my turn, but this video made me feel better. All she had replaced so far was the drive assist belt and the original 22 year old alternator. I love Clementine, I never want to get rid of her, she's a perfect image of Japanese 90's design, when engineers used to made cars, not marketing departments.
I hope you and Clementine do another 100k miles together. Even if she breaks down, it's likely an easy fix supported by a gigantic market. Remember the mx5 is the world's best selling roadster
I laugh everytime I drive past broken down modern cars in my 1976s Lada.
Ywnbaw, repent and accept nature
I drive a 45 year old Ford F250, a 95 year old Ford Model A, and an 18 year old Mazda Miata. The other car we have for my wife is the 10 year old Toyota Camry.
This video is spot on.
Your best defense is do as much research about your vehicle before purchasing as possible if you want it past its warranty.
I've owned about 15 cars and I can confirm, the newer the car the more problems you have, the costlier the parts, the more time consuming the replacing process. I ended up with a small 1998 BMW as a daily driver and a 1962 Cadillac for the weekend and now I'm happy.
Any Car newer than 2010 is not affordable to run unless it has a Warranty, the cost of Repair is more than the value of the car!
Well done
94 BMW here. Fantastic cars with some very basic mods. When set up correctly it drives miles better then anything from BMW now. New BMW'S feel like old Honda civics. 🤢
@@herbienbrian2 exactly, my E34 just turned 29
As a mechanic for thirty odd years I would say today's cars are like a phone or a fridge or washing machine they are throw away goods with lots of built in obsolescence I drive an old van and it's basic so less to fail and being old it's fix able.
That won't work for most people. It works for you because you know how to take care of the old van. But the days when people were wrenching on their own cars are over. Unfortunately.
@@johnnyblue4799 very sad but true the dealers and manufacturers have tied people in to leasing so every three or five you walk in and drive out a new lease car so they have no reason to build quality anymore just to stack them high and sell and then they talk about the green issues.
@@paulyarlett1238 Very well said. The 'green' plagues is the gift that keeps on giving. The more we try to make the cars pollute less, the more complex they become and more prone to failure and less accessible for the average person to maintain. That is on top of the planned obsolescence. Switching to direct injection is the last thing in this direction. Not only the engines got more complex by adding high pressure fuel systems on them, but now you need to clean up the carbon deposits every 40-60k miles on the intakes. I changed the PCV system on my 2001 Volvo V70 with 300k km (187k miles). I have pictures of the intake valves. Sparkling clean.
And for the DIYers like me it becomes cost prohibitive to maintain even a 20 years old car. You need expensive equipment if you want to properly diagnose a car like that. Gone are the days when with a pack of feeler gauges and a timing light you could tune up a car...
And what bothers me the most is that the service data is not available unless you pay a subscription. To me is like they don't want you to service your own car.
I like breathing clean air. A lot. But I feel like we're pushing this too far. And the story with the Diesel engines is even worse.
@@johnnyblue4799 in Britain at the moment there is a plague of catalytic converter thief's and diesel particulate filters being stolen we had a customer at work he is a delivery driver stop out side a shop he was inside a few minutes when he came out and started his Mercedes sprinter it had been got at we quoted the repair costs at thousands they cut the down pipe then ripped out the wiring loom with all the NOX and Lambda Sensors and cut the pressure sensors to an owner driver this is the difference between a roast at Christmas or cornflakes.
Same with old laptops, they were actually made to be fixed, seems after 2014 ish they made them throwaway and unfixable as possible.
Before that you could easily disassemble, fix and upgrade whatever parts you liked. Companies convinced people that their laptops were slow because they were outdated, when in reality its from a faulty hardrive or old thermal paste.
For everyday use it is pretty hard to tell the difference between a laptop made in 2011 thats running as it should and one made in 2020, cpu's have become more energy efficient but not that much more powerful in laptops the last 10 years.
Yes, yes, yes! Finally someone else saying what I've been saying about EVs and emissions! Another key thing is that the manufacturing process (particularly the part where all the components and materials get shipped all over the world on container ships spewing out pollution) produces MORE pollution than the car will save in its lifetime. I would argue that driving an old car and not purchasing a new car is actually better for the environment, no need to pollute while making a new car and no need for the old car to go into landfill. I myself am saving 5 old cars from landfill, you're welcome planet :D
I was kind of on the fence about getting a fairphone when my current one breaks. Never tought that watching a car video would be the decisive factor for that decision.
I just answered several time to this bath.tard bloger under his answer to my first comment but he hides my answer every time! so read here again! :
When the companies make the car in such a way that after the end of the short warranty period it is practically destroyed and it cannot be repaired except by spending high costs and it does not last even after the repair, they practically force people to buy a new car. ! A person who wants to diversify can buy a new car and sell his previous car (which is healthy and can be maintained and used for tens of years without much cost) to someone else to use, while the new car generations after around five years become a moving waste and its maintenance costs are very high, it practically goes out of the cycle, and people are forced to pay the high cost and take loans and do overtime to fill the pockets of your dirty masters in the automotive industry and banking industry sooner and more!
When microsoft company offer a new windows and don't update the previous windows that I got used to, and do things that can no longer be used over time, they practically force me to buy the new operating system! There are many more examples, but fraudsters like you in answer especially want to show himself as an idiot who dont understand !
I've got a 1999 Toyota Celica ST202, and a Honda Civic LS 1998 . I have so much confidence in their reliability .
I've had my 2001 Accord for 14 years. I'm keeping it 😉
It’s hard to beat a shitty old Honda. Even though I’m hardcore American muscle, I respect the older civics.
Oh Yes, Toyota's the way to go these days. I had the old square shape Mercedes 7 seater estate for years, which was amazingly reliable and well built, but my current Celica, which is almost 20 years old now, has thoroughly eclipsed that. As long as you change the oil regularly and observe a sensible service regime, they can almost last forever.
“Electric cars will do nothing for sustainabilty.” Few people seem to understand this and I'm glad you pointed it out. Apart from your ability to explain engineering concepts very well, you are also spot on with your observation about societal, political and enviromental issues. I really like your work. Keep it coming!
They are 50 per cent heavier so require 50 per cent more energy to move, so depending on how the electricity that charges them is produced ,they actually can be worse for the environment
@@irish-thinker4429 Not so, an electric motor is generally 90+% efficient Vs ICE at a max of around 35%. EVs are potentially way more easily repairable than ICE. Tesla,s 4680 cells and BYD's blade cells can last potentially for a car's life (Even then they're replaceable). Heck even the early Nissan Leafs can still have 90%+ battery capacity now and that's after 10+ years.
@@daviddunmore8415 yeah but you look like a gay driving any of them 🤣
@@daviddunmore8415 ev uses electric power from the typical fossil fuel power plants. Its just changing co2 load from vehicles to powerstations. Its not going to change anything.
@@bouzouSG Actually it changes quite a lot. You no longer have to extract crude oil, refine it and ship it halfway round the world, then offload it into tankers and transport it (Burning oil all the while and polluting the air) just to burn it in cars which are no more than around 35% efficient. Even charging your 90+% efficient EV with 'dirty' electricity will have a much lower environmental (CO2 and NOx) footprint than continuing to burn petrol and diesel to move your vehicles around. Anyway with the rapid growth in Solar PV and wind, plus tidal/wave and (eventually) Thorium modular nuclear generation the case for oil will be over (Even if it's not quite there yet).
You sum up our world of consumerism incredibly well! Also it has been a major topic for decades but it is getting worse year on year despite the constant chatter from everyone in society from all levels of social structure about upcycling, repurposing and bring green, it really is all smoke and mirrors and we are all drawn inexorably down the same path.
Very, very good video.
It all depends on your personal situation and what you want from a car. People romanticise about old cars a little too much if you ask me.
I bought a 2005 Civic Type R in 2013 and kept it for over 7 years. It was a very reliable car until things started wearing out (exhaust parts, drive shafts, fuel tank seals and engine mounts) just to name a few. The rust under the arches and sills meant it needed welding. It becomes a real pain to find the correct parts and have them fitted by someone who knows what they are doing. More often than not when I had something simple "repaired" it was never done right. In 2021 I changed careers and got a pay rise and decided to treat myself to a newer car.
I bought a 2018 BMW M140i with extended BMW warranty 2.5 years ago and I have had no trouble with it whatsoever. It is quite literally the best car I have ever driven by a large margin. Compared to other cars I have owned it is a dream come true to drive. Sure it costs money to buy such a thing but like everything in life you get what you pay for.
Great Video: As an engineer I can confirm that Planned obsolescence is '' fact'' in most manufacturing and in particular in the automotive industry. I have a Mercedes W123 1984 . Easy to work on not that much goes wrong. High quality materials used with longevity at design. My modern Mercedes is a minefield of hightech component failures! Same manufacturer but change in design strategy/ philosophy ! Certainly don't make them like they used to.
Capitalism sucks.
Something I think people don't realize about those old Mercedes is how expensive they were new. A lower trim W123 in 1985 started at $35k in the US which is about $95k in 2022. The maintenance should have occurred 2-3x as often. You get what you pay for and most people aren't paying $95k for a slow, bare bones car unless it's a 70 series Toyota Landcruiser with some upgrades or a military truck and both of those are reliable and fairly easy to service.
The rot set in with the W220 S-Class. They dazzle you with so much amazing tech in the hopes you won't notice that everything feels that little bit more flimsy.
That's why I only drive pickup trucks even modern ones cuz atleast the planned obsolescence is a bit longer cuz they are built tougher to be a work horse and can expect to drive longer miles for expected hauling. Can't say the same about sedans and SUVs but that is where Toyota steps in.
@@ben501st I own two lancia, Kappa and Thema, Thema was 91,000$ in 1993 and Kappa was 93,000$ in 1998. For that time, both were full luxury, with two zoned automatic airconditioners, electric leather Poltrona Frau seats , electric windows, child lock for rear doors, electric mirrors with 3 electric motors and mirror heaters, smart suspension, excellent turning, FWD, ASR, ABS, electric headlight adjusting, and all of that back then was very expensive. Those cars still run, and everything inside and around engine is made of steel or high quality aluminum alloys. Clutch set was replaced on kappa after 340,000km.
New cars are engineered to be assembled once, as quickly as possible. They are not made to be fixed.
'Design for assembly' as Steve Munro calls it. The proliferation of plastic parts has come about cos it's cheaper than metal.
@@strangelove9608 Mk. 5 Fiestas were like that cos they stacked the airbox on top of the engine like a cover. They were an inline 4 engine so you had to do this for all the plugs.
Indeed, how did we get to the ridiculous stage where you have to remove the front bumper to change a headlight bulb?
@@woofgbruk5947 We are a joke to them..
Such a good and insightful video!!
Thank you very much for spending the time to discuss this needed topic, and unfold many of the layers required to make a constructive answer. A great and instructive video once again. One point to add my 2cents for once. I agree that, collectively, price and look seem to weigh more than sustainability in people choices and I fear "total costs/lifespan" isn't a common reflex of the buyer anymore, car among others... But I think (or wish) it is too easy to put the responsibility only on the consumer choice. Fairphone, to follow your comparaison, is still on the market and making progress, demand is building up and their tech is definitely getting to a "usable" quality (and not "only" fair like the first model was)... Some competition is even building-up with other brands on this branch of market (it seems some brands do manage to build smartphones lasting 10 years+ I mean)... It is nothing compared to the big brands but, in their defence, I am wondering how much pressure Fairphone gets from those big brands and how easy it is for them to be completely hidden by the incredibly powerful marketing capacities of those big guys... At least there is a beginning of an option for those ready to buy online or leaving in big cities and not ready to get read of this tech.... But for cars, I am a bit shocked that there is not even one option of "sustainable", "lowcost", "lowtech", "repairable" on the market... at least here in EU... Maybe for the better one might think (because cheap car would mean all the "poor" like me would get their own car)?! (But, us "poor" , don't we get 2nd hand cheap bad cars anyway instead, because we don't manage to find alternative without being totally isolated from our surrounding society? The car industry is rich and enormous compared to many others right?! but no model get even close to what I guess would be a sustainable car (says someone out of this business but hopefully not completely unrealistic): 100km/h max (so I don't get crush on the motor way by trucks)... or only 80Km/h to do only small roads (but this often results in many more kms... sometimes pleasant sometimes not). Minimum electronic (manual mirrors, manual windows, forget about all the sensors and get the car checked every X kms or month and give people a check-list pined next to the driving wheel as reminder for routine?!) (from all, keep the lights of course but accessible and, well, is all the fancy looking worth? maybe one buzzer at each corner of the car to avoid damages while parking for tired/lonely drivers, maybe speed control, if it indeed makes great fuel savings, some music/radio is a pleasurable lux I am not ready to give up just yet I must admit... but a small Bluetooth rechargeable box might just do the trick today actually and a 12V/5V ), minimum ventilation options (under the screen, maybe feet too?! m), holes to easily fix a tarp good tar on the screen to protect whiskers from frosts and sun. Speed, oil, rpm (maybe T°) pins. seats I can unscrew or screw back in to put co-passengers and share the car or transport stuff I can't by bike/train/bus). Felt fabric for the noise, lightweight seats, cotton or leather (reparable/cleanable/taking care possible) . Maybe some wood instead of plastic, some titanium bars for light/strength (it is expensive and energy demanding to make but, forever lasting and recyclable if easy to get out and not all mix-up in alloys (would it avoid some more plastic?). Larger diam wheel to reduce suspensions like in bikes or is that engineering wrong compromise? finer wheels to reduce friction and material and wright again (maybe so fin that we could only go 70km/h max the few days of heavy rain (even in rainy countries like north EU, have you noticed how often it was terrible rain when you where driving? Could you have lost 40 minutes that day by driving slower and listening one more podcast meanwhile?!)... accessible parts... and of course, an adapted engin consuming as little as possible and top class filters or even EV but not with all the fancy luxury around it and TV screen... aerodynamic, and paint ideally not too nasty for the earth but even better let people paint some parts so that if it is produced in millions people still appropriate their car to themselves... I don't care about the look but if it makes people keeping it twice longer lets get a few designers on it and let people vote perhaps. We manage to make competition car running thousands of kms/miles on 1 liter... of course the driver is lying down flat on the ground on a stop and go machine but can't we find a nice ground btw typical SUV 8,5l/100Km and those 1L/11 000km!!! With fuel efficiency as priority, not responsiveness, torque or 0 to 100km/X second... most cars are to be useful not fun, spend 30-40 seconds more and start slower and make less noise at each green light perhaps (how much would that gain us)?!. Car are clever human inventions no doubt but keep the "fun" for hobbyist, not for the masses who might find plenty other source of fun IN other word... a beetle car with a new engine... Say 5 models (individual - for the guys far away that won't take co passagers in their work car unpredictable journeys-, utilitarian/family, both coming in countryside mostly long perhaps off-road - and city - mostly short repetitive stop and go--, and heavy duty but that last is probably where this dream car of mine might already exist in some minimalist design)... Dear car makers, get to work, with minimalistic/lowtech mindset and more R&D in engin efficiency/clean and less in adds and look!)... or the biking world will kill you by getting on this market (they started actually) and I maybe I will just stick and support those instead of speaking in vacuum
Before: "Simplify and add lightness."
Now: Bloat it with useless gimmicks that will break in 5 years time.
Sportscar of 1990: 280 hp for 1200 kg
Sportscar of 2020: 600 hp for 2000 kg
Sportscar of 2050: literaly a semi-truck
Auto wipers, lane assist Auto headlights parking censor, Auto parking. If you need all that you should not be driving. Its just more stuff to break and make bad drivers.
@@progste That's pretty high for a sports car of the 90s, they got sup 250 for the most part
Useless to you but modern cas wouldn't have all of these features if no one used them.
Colin Chapman
Elon Musk
I think another point is the discrepancy between what a new car buyer wants and what a used car buyer wants. All a new car buyer cares about is that it will last for the 5 years they plan to keep it and has a good resale value. Those of us who are perfectly happy to drive an older and reliable car are so far disconnected from the manufacturer and the original buyer that it doesn't really influence engineering or marketing decisions.
We are connected through perceived resale value and brand image. It has lots of inertia though.
I am absolutely not like this at all. Whenever I want to buys something new, I ask myself, what can I do with this new item that I can’t do with my old one? 90% of the time, the answer is I have no reason to buy something new. That’s why I drive a carbureted 87 cadillac, call people with an iphone 8+, and use a 10 year old PC. I just have no reason to upgrade.
I'm an Industrial Designer (Product Designer) and Design Engineer. Yes, planned obsolescence is real, and for many of the reasons you outlined. That being said, there is now a big push in the industry to design for repairable products for ecological reasons. That is because consumers are starting to demand that. Not only reparable, but also products to be made with more "green" materials. Also, to design products be produced with greener methods. (less material and less energy)
I hope this actually changes corporate behavior.
While there is an outspoken minority that would prefer sustainability, I am concerned that it's not enough to actually change profitability. Elon Musk pointed out that quality is not important enough to his market to drastically improve quality.
Unless a large segment of the buying public turns their nose up at current low quality offerings, it will not change corporate behavior.
“Endless money pits!” Scotty Kilmer.
Hell yeah!
Hell No!!!
Scotty's cars all look like shit though
AGREED, 100%
@@_Not_Retarded Which is why he's a multimillionaire and you're not 🤣
Old cars = less technology, less things to break. Simple is better for reliability
I was going to say the same thing, I own (7) cars currently and my newest is a (2006) after that they got too complicated
As Henry Ford used to say: everything that’s missing isn’t going to break.
Not necessarily true. Lexus also crams tons of technology in their cars yet their vehicles remain as robust and dependable as ever. These cars are unreliable because companies either want them to be, or because they flat out don’t know how to make a reliable product because their engineers are irresponsible and lack skill. So they throw a bunch of gadgets at customers to wow them at the dealership. The car as we know it has been around for over a century, it’s no longer rocket science. So why can one company consistently make reliable cars and another make junk?
@@Soh90 exactly, these guys are just making excuses for these trash companies lol
That's not true at all. I own an old car - a '72 Super Beetle. It's a very fun car, very simple to work on but unfortunately despite the simple design things do break on it constantly. Simply because when this design was made newer tech wasn't available and old tech is just not very reliable. This isn't on purpose like today but it's there. Just think about it - my car originally had ignition points. Those things just wear out quickly, they need to be gapped fairly often and it's just not a great design. The carburetor needs to be adjust occasionally too. Mechanical fuel pumpd and rebuilt generators don't last that long either. It leaks oil (which is normal for an aircooled engine). And don't even get me started about rust. Of course I love my old Beetle and I service it because I'm an enthusiast and it's a fun car but it clearly shows that old tech isn't all that reliable either. Even stuff that's fairly beefy wasn't designed to last for decades. Back in the day manufacturers knew that so they didn't have to put all these triggers to make to retire the car. In the 90s an equilibrium point was reached as the video mentions and then it was all downhill from there.
But Tesla solved this once and for all. They make a total trash of a product that hooks people on and then they totally control the parts market along with making it hard for individual buyers to buy parts. Meaning that as soon as something big goes on your out of warranty Tesla you're basically screwed. A friend of mine has a $100K Model X and it needs a steering rack. But it's out of warranty and he's been fighting Tesla for months now to buy it. I just hope other manufacturers don't do that.
Jako informativno i odlicna moralna poruka. Svida mi se kako si stavio stvari u perspektivu koristeci dosta rijedak resurs...zdrav razum.
I just answered several time to this bath.tard bloger under his answer to my first comment but he hides my answer every time! so read here again! :
When the companies make the car in such a way that after the end of the short warranty period it is practically destroyed and it cannot be repaired except by spending high costs and it does not last even after the repair, they practically force people to buy a new car. ! A person who wants to diversify can buy a new car and sell his previous car (which is healthy and can be maintained and used for tens of years without much cost) to someone else to use, while the new car generations after around five years become a moving waste and its maintenance costs are very high, it practically goes out of the cycle, and people are forced to pay the high cost and take loans and do overtime to fill the pockets of your dirty masters in the automotive industry and banking industry sooner and more!
When microsoft company offer a new windows and don't update the previous windows that I got used to, and do things that can no longer be used over time, they practically force me to buy the new operating system! There are many more examples, but fraudsters like you in answer especially want to show himself as an idiot who dont understand !
At least car manufacturers could sell replacement parts for reasonable price. Despite the low production costs plastic parts are priced high enough that you would just dispose your car. Governments could take care of this too, if the intention is the sustainability.
As a tech and auto enthusiast I love using old tech and forcing new software to work on it as well as replacing broken parts. It's also fun and satisfying keeping old vehicles driving, and I wish regular people did so as well, because I think a new car is less of a status symbol than an old one in new condition
Yes, although to keep an old car looking and feeling "new" truly is a huge endeavor. Keeping one decent and presentable I think is more realistic for most. In some ways no amount of money will be enough -- you have to spend the time yourself.
Right. In many cases, any repair is less expensive than buying a new car. But there are some cars that are not worth repairing because of their low build quality. And I believe newer, modern cars fall into that category. People will never buy and keep cars for as long as a manufacturer is capable of making them last. So, there's no incentive to make them last.
So true, especially to enthusiasts! I daily drive a mint 1992 W140 and it gets stares, questions and comments absolutely everywhere, particularly if I keep it clean. I paid less than $10k for it from the original owners, and it draws more attention than most $100k cars. I've driven it 5-7 days a week for the past 4 years without an issue and it owes me nothing, other than an extra $50 or so a week in fuel compared to a Corolla. I recently rebuilt the entire cooling and ignition system as preventative maintenance and replaced the engine mounts as everything on the car was over 30 years old (testament to the OEM parts back then!). It's so satisfying to me to drive a 31 year old car that looks, drives, sounds and feels damn near like new. This is a skill and a labour of love in itself, as anyone with a job can go sign a lease for a fancy car in an attempt to impress.
@@19jacobob93 Same thing here with my 1982 Yamaha XZ550. Barely knew anything about it last year, was 14 and got it for $450 for a 550cc Yamaha that I thought was some random old bike that's cheap. Turned out to be a 1/1000 and fully rebuilt by a shop and this guy didn't know anything about it. Also, it has a lot more tech than even brand new bikes that cost over $5,000! Now I'm 15 and I'm gonna be doing my first head gasket replacement, last year was my first carb restoration, not a full rebuild though as it was still in good shape 40 years later due to low km, and I didn't want to spend money and time waiting for a rebuild kit that might be for the 1981 or 1983 model or even a different region, as these bikes were weirdly specific with changes between years and markets. Anyway, hope you keep that old Mercedes alive, as they're definitely some of the best looking Mercedes of all time
I totally agree with you.Modern cars are made to last.A case in point is Benz and similar cars.We shouldn't waste money on buying new cars
I have a (very) old paperback from the early fifties that talks about planned obsolescence, and it's role in generating repeat sales. It was very straightforward that the target lifespan for an American automobile, was 100,000 miles. In the sixties & seventies people were so fed up with cars that were intended to be junk from their manufacturing. That's when foreign auto manufacturers started shipping to the U. S., people dumped the "Big Three" and bought foreign. The big three had to start building better cars to compete, or sooner or later they would go out of business.
Competition is a beautiful thing.
Chinas auto industry will do/is doing the same thing as japan did with its introduction to the west in the 70s
That's interesting: I have many publications and consumer guides from the fifties, all of which mention planned obsolescence, this of course being solely regarding technological features, specifications and aesthetics. Planned obsolescence of mechanical durability is of course, a complete myth. Unplanned appeared in the fifties of course due to the atrocious quality of US built cars from the mid fifties onwards, where the manufacturers just threw the cars together to get them out the door.
Ironic: warranty in the mid fifties was 30 days, now its 7 years...
Cars could last much longer than that. It was rust and lack of maintenance that killed them.
@@mt-me5ug lol. i think they will have to match the reliability of european, japanese, american and korean cars before they can better them.
@@chir0pter so they only need to match Korean and Japanese, because German and American haven’t been reliable for 30 years.
I remember a video about a Mercedes 240D that held the world record for having the most miles on a car, but it was on like its 6th engine and many other major components had been changed multiple times. Car repair used to be MUCH cheaper, so the tipping point of when a car is no longer worth fixing has changed dramatically. When you see a very old vehicle on the road, it's likely a ship of Theseus situation.
My experience with cars since 1973 is that old Volvo (pre ‘94), old Mercedes (Pre ‘86), BMW (Pre 07) and all air cooled Porsche and VW are reliable and can last 50 years with simple routine maintenance .
I love it, most people crazy about sustainability replace their phone and car every couple of years and I don't see myself as a sustainability freak but I am very frugal and keep things and make them last
Talk is cheap. Those people know that. I can almost guarantee you that they virtue signal in many other ways too.
Me on my 7 year old iphone 😎
Youre a conservative, not a conservationist. Ironically the people that tout the latter are niether.
My 7-year-old top of the line phone also, that Samsung sabotages by filling the memory and refusing to allow apps to go on the SD card
MSNBC did a long video on why car repairs are so expensive, and they very intentionally failed to give the number one reason- after the warranty is over, the car repair centers just sabotage your car computer so things fail. One mechanic says they don't even fix anything they just run their computer scanner and charge many hundreds of dollars
I wonder how much survivorship bias also plays a role. I imagine most old cars that broke down all the time had their over the hill moment a long while ago and got scrapped 'cause it cost too much to drive. And cheep bad cars that broke down all the time where less likely to become cherished classics that got kept even when it wasn't economical anymore.
Surely it does. That's a large part of the reason older notoriously unreliable cars from Mercedes Benz, BMW, Cadillac, etc are still reasonably common compared to older cars from Chevy, Dodge, Ford, Hyundai, etc. Not because they are more reliable, but because their owners tend to care about them more since they cost more and are seen as more valuable, so they tend to be preserved instead of scrapped and replaced. Where I live I see way more late 90's-mid 2000's BMWs and Cadillacs than Hondas or Toyotas from that era. Do you think that's because BMW and Cadillac sold more cars or because they are inherently more reliable? No way.
@@averyalexander2303 funny story... In Canada, there are almost zero pre-1985 Japanese cars, because while American cars can handle the cold very well, the Japanese cars have rusted to death. So surprisingly, American cars last longer in this country
People talk a lot about survivorship bias when people say things from the cold war era lasted longer but a lot of people forget that many things back then were supposed to be more easily repaired rather than thrown away so it's not even necessarily that the original product with all it's original parts lasting but just the fact that every time it broke it was easier to replace a part rather than the entire unit.
@@user-xg8yy7yl1d I agree. For this reason, old cars are often much cheaper to fix as well. One of many examples of how newer cars are designed to be disposible is filters. Back in the 90's, nearly every car sold had easily replaceable fuel filters. Nowadays, the fuel filter is part of the fuel pump assembly in the gas tank and often can't even be purchased from the dealer seperately and is a pain to change. These days, transmission fluid isn't even designed to be easily checked let alone changed. And don't even get me started on those POS plastic headlights. As far as we've come, it can't be denied that in a lot of ways, modern cars aren't built to last or be repairable like older cars were.
@@kimjongoof5000 Supposedly early Japanese cars had problems with shipping across the salty ocean with incomplete paint coverage. They fare better now that they're mostly assembled in the US and have better paint. In any case, in Wisconsin in the 90s and early 00s, the only old cars I saw with body panels not rusting were Saturns that used plastic.
Straight to the point man. Majority of us don't give a shit about sustainability or environment.
Different angle to look at the current world.
You have a narrow mind then. Your life will become shit if the earth becomes shit.