Busting The Myth - Are New Cars REALLY Longer Lasting And More Reliable Than Old Cars?
31,638
Published 2024-07-26
On the surface this is a true statement, but when you look at the bigger picture, their short lifespan had nothing to do with their mechanical soundness, but rather consumer sensibilities and a planned obsolescence that was actually built into their styling, and not their engineering.
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All Comments (21)
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A strong dollar that wasn't rapidly losing purchasing power due to inflation meant that buying a brand new car every few years wasn't nearly the financial strain that it is now. The proliferation of junkyard rescue videos of vintage autos show that there wasn't really anything wrong with the engineering. In fact, a 50 year old auto that can be revived in just a day or two after sitting abandoned for 30+ years is quite a testament to the engineering and quality of build.
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I survived the '70s due to built-in obsolescence. $100-$200-$300 hand-me down muscle cars were the order of the day through the 1980s.
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I daily drive a 66 Chevy. It is more REPAIRABLE than a new car. There’s a big difference between reliability and repairability. When a new car breaks you ain’t gonna fix it.
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I saw a mint green 69 ss chevelle in a garage and saw the owner and stopped and talked to him. He bought it new. I asked him how many miles were on it and he said, "oh about 500K." I couldn't believe it. Even asked if it was the original engine, and it was. He said he just changed the oil regularly and never beat on it.
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I just sold my newer truck and putting the money in my 79 bronco Can’t beat the style and character and lack of plastic
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I remember my parents getting heckled for driving to church in their '76 Dart when everyone else was showing off their brand new 1997 Pontiacs and Oldsmobiles. While they kept up with the Jones's, we kept driving '70s Mopars and still do. I daily an '81 D150 and my '80 Duster. Old cars just keep going
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Remember in It's a wonderful life, the son, Pete says to his Dad - The neighbors got a new car! George responds what's the matter with our car! My Dad only ever bought one new car, for my Mum.
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I've understood that they designed cars to be maintainable, from the beginning, but in the 1970's, the emissions controls became a nightmarish mess, and when they started getting it right was in the 1980's, and we had a good run for 25, 30 years. Now, they're not made to last as long as your bank loan.
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I have an 85 Bronco, 74 LTD 2 door & a 77 Coupe Deville. I feel I am set for life.
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Nobody is going to be able to pull a modern vehicle out of a junkyard after it's been sitting there 20 years and get it running again. Too many electronic doodads. Correction: I should have written garage or barn rather than junkyard.
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Old cars are just easier to fix up and work on... Imagine having an engine bay where you can actually access something... A 1993 truck has a wide open engine bay and a new 2020 you can barely change a battery without taking apart like 6 things.
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Been daily driving my 71 SS 454 Chevelle for 4 years now. I've racked up 23,000 miles over those years and it's been great. If I die with the highest mileage real SS 454 in existence, I'll be a happy camper.
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My dad bucked the trend of getting a new car every 3 years. He bought a '66 Oldsmobile F85 station wagon and we put over 200,000 miles on it until 1979 when he got in an accident.
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Tony, when I was 18, a 1964 eh holden was OLD, rusty, not worth more than $400 aussie dollars. Today my daily is my late wife's 15 year old car that still looks relatively modern. But the cars I love are my 1959 left hand drive thunderbird and 1968 ford f100. And when I take them out, modern day aussies drool and won't leave me alone without talking my ears off. I get exactly what you're saying brother.
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It's like saying I have more longevity than my dad. He's still around, and still kicking ass. Make the math say I have more longevity. 😂
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In the 50’s and 60’s, people drove fewer miles because they had decent railroads and they didn’t work 50 miles away from home. It wasn’t that common for vehicles to see 100k miles. Today, cars are just appliances like refrigerators. The technology has ruined the cars we want to work on.
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Better oil today, better coolant today. That is the difference.
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My moms 75 Nova was bought at police auction. Drove that car to almost 400,000 miles before I had to rebuild the motor for it. Drove it to our shop with blown head gasket.
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My dad has a 76 Chevy truck with a straight 6 . One day I asked why there was a screwdriver in the carburetor? Ha.
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After 25 years in the business New cars are not lasting longer, my 2006 sienna with 322k is the last of the Good stuff, I say pre 2012 or older the better! Its all junk now. Love the content! Our local scrapyard is full of junk 2010 and up cars with bad transmissions and engines that are not worth fixing.
