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Throwaway Cars And The Transportation Crisis
- Thread starter puchak
- Start date
That video put things into perspective. As the issue continue to develope this is the way it goes, especially for the third party consumers. The car business has no loyality, they don't care whatever the consumers may think about this. And the car enthusiasts intention about maintaining classic cars and bringing forward their heritage does not mean anything - it is all about the fucking money more than ever. And the Chinese garbage market is actually one of the main reasons pushing this forward by offering low cost garbage to the greedy aftermarket sellers.
And while I am on it - just look at the battery business for electric cars, it is still not developed one singel recycling process utilizing the minerals in the batteries - not ONE! It's already far on the way draining the mineral resources on the earth, just to satisfy the green heads and the greedy car manufacturer owners, that's really short minded IMHO.
It's nothing but sad and frustrating, and I think I'll better stop my rant here.
And while I am on it - just look at the battery business for electric cars, it is still not developed one singel recycling process utilizing the minerals in the batteries - not ONE! It's already far on the way draining the mineral resources on the earth, just to satisfy the green heads and the greedy car manufacturer owners, that's really short minded IMHO.
It's nothing but sad and frustrating, and I think I'll better stop my rant here.
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You had me with "it is all about the fucking money more than ever." That's when I knew you were on the right track.
I was just thinking the other day as I was driving my wife's '22 E-Class, that these companies don't make cars for drivers anymore. You can see what happened in the screens. Some little old bitties told some dealers they couldn't work through the function menu while driving (IDK how TF not, but anyway), so MB figured it would just throw all the information up on one screen. Cheaper execution + higher price = more profit. And you can talk to the car if that doesn't work. Same formula to more profit.
Drivers want none of this by the way. We want to see RPM, MPH, outside temperature, engine temp, and road. That's it. We'll work through the function menu if and when we need the rest of that, but keep it out of our faces. Cars are not airplanes.
The funny side effect of all this is... (drum roll) ... I can't find the information I'm looking for on that screen while driving because there's too much information on the screen. Who saw that one coming?
maw
I was just thinking the other day as I was driving my wife's '22 E-Class, that these companies don't make cars for drivers anymore. You can see what happened in the screens. Some little old bitties told some dealers they couldn't work through the function menu while driving (IDK how TF not, but anyway), so MB figured it would just throw all the information up on one screen. Cheaper execution + higher price = more profit. And you can talk to the car if that doesn't work. Same formula to more profit.
Drivers want none of this by the way. We want to see RPM, MPH, outside temperature, engine temp, and road. That's it. We'll work through the function menu if and when we need the rest of that, but keep it out of our faces. Cars are not airplanes.
The funny side effect of all this is... (drum roll) ... I can't find the information I'm looking for on that screen while driving because there's too much information on the screen. Who saw that one coming?
maw
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Hey, I'm fourth tier! 
Also - dude could have reduced his 20-minute rant to under 5 minutes if he had prepared at all, vs thinking out loud.
Design for repairability is no longer a thing, which is downright criminal. Manufacturers are losing interest in this because they are focused on the 1st tier, and simply don't care what happens when the car is out of factory warranty. They provide just enough parts at a barely tolerable price point to avoid excessive bad press, but that's about it.
Yet, somehow, Mercedes managed to remain profitable back in the 70's/80's when they still produced million-mile vehicles, AND provided spectacular parts availability (although, the affordability might vary). Makes you wonder how they did this, and why it's unpossible today. Or perhaps it IS possible today, but less profitable, so we're back to all about the bleeping monies.
Also - dude could have reduced his 20-minute rant to under 5 minutes if he had prepared at all, vs thinking out loud.
Design for repairability is no longer a thing, which is downright criminal. Manufacturers are losing interest in this because they are focused on the 1st tier, and simply don't care what happens when the car is out of factory warranty. They provide just enough parts at a barely tolerable price point to avoid excessive bad press, but that's about it.
Yet, somehow, Mercedes managed to remain profitable back in the 70's/80's when they still produced million-mile vehicles, AND provided spectacular parts availability (although, the affordability might vary). Makes you wonder how they did this, and why it's unpossible today. Or perhaps it IS possible today, but less profitable, so we're back to all about the bleeping monies.
Let's not lose sight of the fact that some of this is expressly to help the dealers make money and take pressure off the distribution chain. It's not coincidental that the computerization of cars means you have to go back to the dealer for everything. These days dealers won't touch cars more than 20 years old, unless it's to empty the old inventory bin and send you a criminal invoice.
maw
maw
The moderator edit has me laughing, it is definitely longer than it needs to be. I had it playing while I was working. 
The craziest thing about all of this is how seemingly the cost of all these repairs have gone up. Not sure if he was exaggerating the cost of that Toyota hybrid transmission, but $20k plus is insanity. I had my transmission rebuilt for like $3,500 with my guy like last year, labor and parts included.
Personally, I think this whole electric/hybrid fiasco in the car market is going to lead to a lot of cars in the junkyard and a lot of empty pockets for customers. We'll probably have another Cash for Clunkers in like 20 years for everything made post 2015ish.
The craziest thing about all of this is how seemingly the cost of all these repairs have gone up. Not sure if he was exaggerating the cost of that Toyota hybrid transmission, but $20k plus is insanity. I had my transmission rebuilt for like $3,500 with my guy like last year, labor and parts included.
Personally, I think this whole electric/hybrid fiasco in the car market is going to lead to a lot of cars in the junkyard and a lot of empty pockets for customers. We'll probably have another Cash for Clunkers in like 20 years for everything made post 2015ish.
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I'm curious if many (any?) EV's will end up in junkyards due to hazmat concerns and fire danger. Seems more likely they'd end up at recycling centers. Or perhaps only end up at the junkyard after all batteries are removed?
Time to start hoarding 124's.
Time to start hoarding 124's.
I think they'll remove the batteries, then junk the cars at junkyards. Or, the junkyards will create the processes for removing the batteries.
Y'all have to remember though, true auto enthusiasts and/or those who love the smell of gasoline are a very very small percentage of the population. 90% of the general public sees a car as a tool -- something to get them from point A to point B. And like a washing machine or refrigerator, once it breaks or seemingly gets too long in the tooth, it's thrown out and a newer model with more gizmos and features (i.e. "progress" in their eyes) is purchased, probably for less money than the last one was.
My neighbor across the street, a retired three-star US Navy admiral, just purchased a CPO 2023 C300 with 3,000 miles on it to replace his 2015 C300 with 60K miles on it. Not because the 2015 was unreliable or failing, but because it was too old and he wanted new gizmos. They did get an insane amount of money off of the $45-50K MSRP of the 2023 car from when it was new.
Y'all have to remember though, true auto enthusiasts and/or those who love the smell of gasoline are a very very small percentage of the population. 90% of the general public sees a car as a tool -- something to get them from point A to point B. And like a washing machine or refrigerator, once it breaks or seemingly gets too long in the tooth, it's thrown out and a newer model with more gizmos and features (i.e. "progress" in their eyes) is purchased, probably for less money than the last one was.
My neighbor across the street, a retired three-star US Navy admiral, just purchased a CPO 2023 C300 with 3,000 miles on it to replace his 2015 C300 with 60K miles on it. Not because the 2015 was unreliable or failing, but because it was too old and he wanted new gizmos. They did get an insane amount of money off of the $45-50K MSRP of the 2023 car from when it was new.
LOL, then you have a huge head start. NLA parts says don't go back that far, or else you'd need a @gsxr sized estate to hoard all the parts you'll need. Ask @sheward or @jhodg5ck
I have a few driver focused vehicles from just before you had to go back to the dealers for everything + parts are aplenty and everyone knows how to fix them (well, for all except one model and silly me I have 2 of those in the family).
I've said more than once on this forum that the "Horsepower War" cars between '02 and '05 (Audi S and RS, MB AMG, BMW M) are some of the best driver focused cars ever produced. If you're going to hoard something, hoard those.
maw
14:45 in the video:"....stewardesses, before they called them flight attendants ..... when they were all, you know... girls ... like they're supposed to be...."
Exactly why I recently purchased the 2007 E63 AMG (W211).
Be nice to Uncle Tony. He's helped me many times with carburetor issues on American cars. I recently heard a podcast that interviewed another youtuber (Casey Putsch), who built a car for under $20,000 that could do 100+mpg and 0-60 in under 5 seconds.Hey, I'm fourth tier!
Also - dude could have reduced his 20-minute rant to under 5 minutes if he had prepared at all, vs thinking out loud.
He was echoing the same sentiments in that cars have not really advanced much since the 90's but have just gotten more complex to where they can't be repaired. He echoed many things that I have always thought to be correct. Like why we're going to war against diesel when commercially available cars like the 2015 BMW 320D that my brother owns already being able to do 80mpg and our ability to make diesel from just about anything?
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Having owned a 350SDL for about half a year really brought me to appreciate how diesel cars really are slept on..
Me too! I've always owned used cars and with rare exceptions, I paid cash for them. Newest car we own currently is a 1997, newest truck/SUV is a 2010.
Where I live, registration is cheaper on vehicles older than 10 years... so that's further incentive to only own old stuff I can fix myself.
I finally got one of my British car running last Monday. It was down for a about a year due to a running issue. When I backed it outside to wash it, I discovered that it had had cats! Sorry I know it's off topic but I'm still recovering
The newest car I had ever owned was a 2007 which I recently sold because only did 500 miles in the 8 years I owned it. I actually put almost as many miles on it after I sold it, prepping it for the new owner. My three daily drivers are all diesel, over 20 years old and all have salvage titles. I'm pretty happy with the arrangement.
The newest car I had ever owned was a 2007 which I recently sold because only did 500 miles in the 8 years I owned it. I actually put almost as many miles on it after I sold it, prepping it for the new owner. My three daily drivers are all diesel, over 20 years old and all have salvage titles. I'm pretty happy with the arrangement.
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