New Vehicles Suck

[Supercharged111]

There's also a huge "right to repair" movement going on, mainly in response to manufacturers trying to lock up their goods so you can't actually fix or modify anything. From farm equipment, cars, computers, cell phones, kitchen appliances, you name it.

I want to say there was a fairly high-profile case not that long ago but I'll be #$^@ if I can remember the details. Must be getting old or something. I know that a lot of new farm machinery you have no choice but to get the local JD or MF tech to come out and interface with your computer to fix things... on farm equipment that's just stupid.

Another problem is that "fixing something" used to be pretty simple, you could do it in your backyard under a tree with a basic set of hand tools. Now you actually *need* to know a thing or two about electronics, computers, programming, etc. AND you often need specific tools... scopes, soldering equipment, code readers, etc. to fix stuff. The barrier to entry is considerably higher and requires specialized knowledge.

Politics/Agenda doesn't have much to do with it. If you can provide references saying otherwise I'll listen. "They're gonna come for your repair info" is a pretty big stretch.

But yeah, I hate "sealed" transmissions, planned obsolescence, and proprietary info as much as the next guy. At the same time its pretty !#$@#^$ cool to hook up a bluetooth OBD2 scanner to your car and monitor an entire screen full of sensors while you're driving down the road to figure out which O2 sensor is causing a problem, monitor F/A ratios, or to find out what temperature your car actually runs at. I mean while someone else is driving, of course, not that I've ever done that or anything. 😗

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If you can't fix it, you can't own it. . . oh wait, they're wanting to eliminate property ownership by 2030 too. Seem these 2 go hand in hand, and if you take a look around you'd realize that this has been very slowly coming our way for some time now. The end game looks pretty clear to me, a company that milks you monthly for years makes more than a company who sells you a product once and stops collecting revenue for that product at that moment. Especially if it doesn't break.

 

[Wageslave]

The 4.7 is the only V8 that I heard of that liked to kill itself. It's notorious for dropping seats, but it's a Mercedes engine I do believe.

Pretty much any FCA engine that ends in a 7 has issues with reliability.

2.7 - Sludging
3.7 - Lower end failures after about 150,000 miles
4.7 - Valve seat failures, head gasket failures, overheating issues (usually caused by the external cooling system, not the engine itself, but still makes for a dead engine.)
5.7 - Lifter failures, wiped cams, burnt pistons

If you know what you are getting into, then the issues can usually be handled without much hassle. If you let one get away from you, you might as well set your wallet on fire.

I have had personal experience with all except the 3.7, and a little bit of routine maintenance would have kept all but the 5.7 out of trouble.

People love to hate on FCA, but at least they aren't making vehicles that feel like appliances.

 

[Wageslave]

My view as to why new vehicles suck is because in 20 years there will be nothing worth steeling off them for hotrod purposes.

You could always rob a 455 Pontiac out of a Catalina and toss it in a I6 68 firebird, throw a 5.0 exploder driveline into a 4cyl mustang, or a 5.3 LS into, well, anything, but who is going to swap a 1.4L turbo equinox engine into, well, anything.

Blah. Boring.

That 1.4t would be a great replacement engine for the 1.0l in my International 184. If only it would run on an updraft zenith Carburetor...

 

[motorheadmike]

Yup.

 

[jiho]

As a matter of fact I do. Did. And bought one.

Well almost. It DOES slide sideways for a bit, but ... the headlights are NOT blinking. So in this case newer is a little better!

 

[08Malibu]

I buy used honda/toyota products with around 100k run em until they are past 200k sell and repeat. This has worked well for the last 20 years

My wife has an 11 Acura RDX. It has 130k on it and she’s starting to b*tch that she needs a new car because it has a lot of miles. It’s a Honda product, so it’s got a lot more life left in it. She’s the one that pushed for the Acura.

 

[DRIVEN]

My regrets with our 10-15 year old daily drivers is that I can’t buy a brand-new one just like each one.

I'm already on the hunt for my replacement work car and I want to find an identical twin. It's creeping up on 275k and I'm probably going to run it to 300k. With regular maintenance It's been 100% reliable in the 2.5 years I've been driving it. I'll probably still be able to sell it for more than I bought it for too. There's nothing sexy or exciting about it, it's just a tool serving a purpose.
I get the whole new car smell thing though. A lot of guys I work with cycle new cars every year or two and a couple lease. I'd just rather put more money in my own pocket.

The cell phone on wheels analogy is pretty accurate. Some of it is .gov mandated and some is a result of focus groups. The longer I do this job, the more apparent it is that the general population is just lazy and stupid. They demand more and more features to keep them "connected" and then blame the manufacturer when they have problems due to their inattention. You want to know why a new car costs $50k instead of $20k? Go ask the legal department.

 

[olds307 and 403]

Pretty much any FCA engine that ends in a 7 has issues with reliability.

2.7 - Sludging
3.7 - Lower end failures after about 150,000 miles
4.7 - Valve seat failures, head gasket failures, overheating issues (usually caused by the external cooling system, not the engine itself, but still makes for a dead engine.)
5.7 - Lifter failures, wiped cams, burnt pistons

If you know what you are getting into, then the issues can usually be handled without much hassle. If you let one get away from you, you might as well set your wallet on fire.

I have had personal experience with all except the 3.7, and a little bit of routine maintenance would have kept all but the 5.7 out of trouble.

People love to hate on FCA, but at least they aren't making vehicles that feel like appliances.

Yeah, every Dakota I looked at had a dead 4.7, not a good motor. The 3.9 V6 was a pathetic motor. I put a 5.9 in it, found out about the cracking Magnum head issue and saw the valley pan gasket starting to move, so a thick Hughes aluminum plate in place of the thin steel plate. As far as the 5.7, the DOD is a cam killer, GM had issues as well. We will see how Ford does with it on their OHC motors, starting this year. The whole 2.7 through 4L V6 were junk motors. My 3.5 in my 2010 Challenger is the reason I dumped it. I stretched one oil change by accident to just under 8000 km. It used oil, more and more. I actually threw 5W50 in it to try and quiet the tick. The new Pentastar 3.6 is massively better. There was early head cracking. Other than oil cooler and filter housing leaks, almost no issues with this reliable and powerful motor. It helps being in the nicest and most practical performance touring car under 50K.

 

[pagrunt]

The cell phone on wheels analogy is pretty accurate. Some of it is .gov mandated and some is a result of focus groups. The longer I do this job, the more apparent it is that the general population is just lazy and stupid. They demand more and more features to keep them "connected" and then blame the manufacturer when they have problems due to their inattention. You want to know why a new car costs $50k instead of $20k? Go ask the legal department.

This makes me think of the one new Hyundi ad show a car/suv/4 wheeled cellphone full of girls taking a group selfie while the driver has no idea of what's going on on the road to show how the one traffic alert system dings to let the driver know that she was baout to hit on coming traffic. Why advertise that the car will protect you from your own lack of paying attention to encourge that such behavior is acceptable. Maybe more standard shift cars would cure that issue. Oh, that's right most drivers are too lazy to be interactive with something mechanical in their ride. A reason to make the Jr. Mechanic to have a standard shift ride in seven years so he's too busy operating the car instead of anything else.

 

[NJ Longroof]

My wife has an 11 Acura RDX. It has 130k on it and she’s starting to b*tch that she needs a new car because it has a lot of miles. It’s a Honda product, so it’s got a lot more life left in it. She’s the one that pushed for the Acura.

$hit that car got another ten years of driving