I’m sure the car manufacturers would much prefer if you updated your car as often as you do your phone.
replyOn the other hand, dealerships would rather you keep bringing your car back for repairs and maintenance for 10+ years.
replyThis was a fruitful conflict for the consumer until dealerships started steering buyers away from EVs.
They want everyone to, but they also know that the cost of cars, it's not realistic for that to happen. The only way even people on the upper middle class can afford to be buying or leasing cars every three years is because at the end of those three years the car still has a lot of value left to sell on to someone who is more middle class. And that middle class person will likely sell it again to someone who is a little bit lower down and at about 10 to 12 years it finally reaches someone who is poor.
replyThe only way someone could buy a car more often is if they became a lot cheaper. That would mean doing away with a lot of the luxury parts of the car that are where the profit is.
deleted
replyThey’re working on it. I follow a mechanic on YouTube who has shared dozens of examples of manufacturers seemingly intentionally shipping deeply flawed components for seemingly no reason other than to push the average lifespan of a vehicle back downwards from the high levels we’d reached by about 2012. Cars are being junked with less than 100k miles because the original parts fail, replacement parts are hard to get, and now manufacturers are making it so you need an expensive piece of software which they completely control to program a new part to the car, without which, it’s a brick. So essentially they can drop support for a car from that software, and make it near-impossible to replace those parts even if someone reverse-engineers aftermarket parts.
replyThis isn't new. Automakers have always wanted to build to price and to survive the warranty period. Only competition works against it. Japanese makers competed on affordability and reliability from the 1970s through the 2010s or so, but now they've adopted the same compromises and are skating on their reputations. Honda for example is no longer affordable, nor as reliable or well made as they used to be, though everyone still thinks they are. Even Mercedes, once the king of overbuilt cars, are now just overpriced tin and plastic like any other car.
replyHopefully some makers will start competing on affordability and maintainability again. Slate might be one.
Care to name the mechanic on YouTube?
replyThis isn’t to whom parent is referring, but you can watch this video about wet timing belts for an idea https://youtu.be/0SASSFjIt5I
replyIn short, it’s an awful idea because even if the belt doesn’t fail early, debris from the belt will clog oil pickups, galleries, and passages.
Mat Armstrong is one, car companies refuse to sell him parts or manuals, and he find parts that are needlessly cryptographically signed to a car.
replyI’m sure they would, but they also know their new car prices would be unsustainable if you couldn’t sell your old car… and that means everyone in the second hand car market is running stale infotainment stacks
replyCurrent State of Chinese EV Manufacturers
replySource? They’re cheaper, but I’ve seen zero proof they are less long-lasting than our cars. If anything, those who have tried them say they’re better cars, including the Ford CEO, who imported one and can’t say enough good things about it.
replySome of which are also phone manufacturers.
replyMake them cheaper and I’m game.
replyI added a new head unit to my 13 year old Santa Fe, it is like a new car now, wireless Android Auto. Connects quick, bigger nicer screen. Should allow me to keep the car for another 10 years assuming I don't blow up another engine, only the first one is free.
replyUpdating the infotainment head unit on most newer vehicles is effectively impossible due to the way they're tightly integrated into the rest of the vehicle's systems and controls.
replyWell, not every car brand suck at that. My 6 y.o tesla still delivers me updates, and new features.
replyTo be honest, Tesla is a computer with a car as an add on. That’s why it works.
replyTraditional companies do it the other way around.
I’m not sure it “works”. I would still drastically prefer if Tesla had CarPlay.
reply