A couple of examples for you Jan and no I do not write for these publications.
The stinkers list - 10 model series that were less reliable than the previous model
JD Power survey 2013 - Overall results - What Car?
The last article I read about this issue was in magazine which I cant find online but it did not encourage me to buy a new car.
The stinkers list - 10 model series that were less reliable than the previous model
JD Power survey 2013 - Overall results - What Car?
The last article I read about this issue was in magazine which I cant find online but it did not encourage me to buy a new car.
Ahh yes, there's always some cars that are less reliable than their predecessors, but you must look at the grand picture over decades, and then the progress is unmistakeable.
Although I find that last study confusing. Luxury cars that have a 35% chance of breakdown in a given year? Really? If that were the case, our highways should be littered with broken-down cars. How often do you see a car broken down on the highway while many thousands stream by with apparently no problems whatsoever.
Maybe these magazines are the car-analogies of Stereophile?
jan
Here's what confuses me.
The quote above, then the link for substantiation is
so aren't the poorer buyers of older cars getting the better end of the deal?
Plus it always seemed the biggest hit value-wise for an owner was when the new car buyer drove it off the sales lot.
I learned to drive in a Ford pickup, and one is still in the driveway.
These cars, which are less reliable than their predecessors, will very often end up being sold on to people who cant afford to buy a new car at all, let alone every few years. What this means is that most of the cost and inconvenience caused, time lost at work due to breakdowns etc is passed on to the people who can least afford it.
Our lad bought his missis a near mint condition low mileage 5 year old Vauxhall Astra to replace her decrepit 12 year old Rover banger, it has now spent more time broken down and in garages than it has on the road. It cost him 3 thousand pounds (quite a bit more when converted to dollars) but it has cost almost as much again in repair bills since AND she has also lost a job because of it. Apparently that model was MORE reliable than the newest version!
I agree, cars get more expensive AND less reliable. Why? Because of 'bean-counters'.
In 1995, I bought an Acura. This ticked my uncle off, because he had fought the Japanese in WW2, and he thought that I have betrayed my country. I just said, that it was made in Japan, had a good reputation, and I could live without constant repairs. So far, so good, and I expect it to be OK for the rest of my life.
In 1995, I bought an Acura. This ticked my uncle off, because he had fought the Japanese in WW2, and he thought that I have betrayed my country. I just said, that it was made in Japan, had a good reputation, and I could live without constant repairs. So far, so good, and I expect it to be OK for the rest of my life.
Pretty hard to compare cars between decades. Since the 1990's, control and passenger comfort systems have increased their performance by orders of magnitude - which 1995 model had a bluetooth enabled stereo/cellphone interface and GPS as standard? Traction control as standard? 5 or more airbags? 6,7 or 8 speed automatic gearboxes? Intellegent cruise with vehicle separation and lane control?
To compare this vehicle to a 1995 model is like comparing a chainsaw to an axe and then noting sniffily that the newfangled thing has to stop from time to time for fuel....
To compare this vehicle to a 1995 model is like comparing a chainsaw to an axe and then noting sniffily that the newfangled thing has to stop from time to time for fuel....
No i am saying it costs more due to poor reliablility, but it's often the second owner, who can least afford the cost who pays the price for it. Most of these cars will keep going just long enough to see out their warranty but even that is now in doubt with some models.
Post-modern definition of 'fact':fas42 said:
Anything which I believe to be true.
(Meaning sometimes extended to include anything which I believe ought to be true)
Apart from airbags potentially expanding from any internal surface, which is a nuisance because you are no longer allowed to touch any of them, none of my cars have had any of those gadgets; I hope none of them ever do. They seem to fall into two categories: entertainment, and dumbing down - both can lead to poor driving. People who don't like or can't do proper driving should take a train or bus instead, not expect the car to do the driving for them.
Its widely acknowledged in the motor vehicle crash investigation industry that drivers overestimate their own skill and underestimate the capability of others.
While many like having the illusion of control, I note that even F1 drivers use launch control, airline pilots rely on ABS systems, and the more famous road test crashes of supercars seem to occur when the driver switches the traction control off so they can be "engaged" and in masterful control.
Don't know about you, but I have enough to cope with just avoiding all the other idiots trying to kill me - I am more than happy for the electronics to take over the entire brake and driveline system to stabilise the car in the event that I feel the need to swerve wildly to avoid some damn fool who decided that a Stop sign was advisory, not mandatory.
Waaaaay o/t by now...
We're going backwards now - I know that I can walk has lost credibility, I only believe I can walk, which means that it's important to do a DBT every morning, before getting out of bed, to verify that I'm capable of such actions - we better keep you lot away from pilots, just in case you're tempted to question their ability to fly - it may turn out the poor chaps are deluded in their belief in their skills, and summarily drive the plane headfirst into the ground ...
There's a fairly lengthy video on YouTube - don't know which one - a compilation of rich, dumb twits mangling their expensive toys, supercars, doing quite dopey things ...
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