The quality of cars has declined steadily over the past 2 decades. There are very few cars that are reliable over 100,000 miles, which means the average lifespan of a $50,000 car is about 8 years. So you pay about $550 a month and in 8 years your car is valued quite low. If you are unlucky and drive a BMW, you probably put at least $10,000 in repairs over the 8 years or so.
Cars are a money pit, dealers are incentivized to find repairs, The old days of reliability and cost effectiveness in cars is over.
“If you are unlucky and drive a BMW, you probably put at least $10,000 in repairs over the 8 years or so.”
I’m unlucky..............
“If you are unlucky and drive a BMW, you probably put at least $10,000 in repairs over the 8 years or so.”
True words. My 16 year old BMW 128i convertible recently cost me almost $3K to replace rear shocks and wheel-speed sensors for the ABS system. Fortunately it has been fairly reliable in the long term... Except now stuff is starting to wear out.
I also find that fewer people are able to fix them.
Having been taking my cars to a friend's shop for 20 years. I see him turning away business more often because his young techs aren't as good as the old ones, there's A LOT more for them to learn, and the old guys are retiring.
Maybe I am lucky, but my experience has been the opposite. For example, I recall that in the '50s and early'60s a car that reached 100K was a phenomenon. Today, a car will easily hit 200K with simple routine maintenance. In fact, I have a 2002 and a 2004 CRV which both have in excess of 200K, and which require little attention, and run like tops. I put this down to (1) Electronic Fuel Control (ECF) which is far more durable than the old carburetors and points, and better alloys, made better still with more precisely controlled temperatures in machining.
Didn’t tell my 2020 F150 about that. It crossed 100,000 miles a couple weeks ago.
Oh wait, at 99,000 it developed.a bad engine miss. I guess I should have scrapped it. Instead I changed a spark plug.
Per Ms. Kommando:
The average car on U.S. roads is 12.6 years old.
What was the age of the average car on the road in 1995?
Does the average driver drive more miles or fewer miles per year, in 2025 compared to 1995?
I do know that Aluminum block engines are prone to warpage over time, and with warpage, head gasket leakage usually becomes a problem. However, Aluminum block engines were common well before 1995.
It seems to me the sheer complexity of modern vehicles is the primary reason they fail...