The cars and bikes thread!

[Strela167]

Or,

could swap after 5 years

https://www.kia.com/uk/innovation/7-year-warranty/

[happyscrappyheropup]

If you go back a few pages, you'll see the saga I had with my S4--an $8,000 sensor failure--which reminded me that if the car were a manual and not a DSG (it was my brother's before it was mine, which is why it was automatic and not manual) it would be parked outside of my house rather than on a dealer lot in Pittsburgh. Other than that, I've loved the family Audis.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy another B8 S4--just no ****ing way would I ever buy one with a DSG. I'm currently thinking mostly about a Golf R if I buy new, but once manuals are gone and cars are ever more being treated as disposable leasemobiles, I'll retreat to old 911s and figure the rest out.

I think the trend has been heading in the opposite direction. I'm not sure if this data accounts for used car sales or just new, the article (or the cited link) is not clear on it.


https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/28/car-owners-are-holding-their-vehicles-for-longer-which-is-both-good-and-bad.html

That’s because the average age of vehicles in the U.S. is a record 11.6 years, according to one recent study.

That’s not entirely a bad news story. The IHS Markit study showed that vehicles are being made with better quality nowadays, leading consumers to own them longer. According to IHS, the average length of ownership was a record 79.3 months, or nearly seven years.

And from the cited link in the CNBC article...

IHS began tracking the average age of vehicles in 2002. In that first year, the average age was 9.6 years.

Not only are vehicles getting older, consumers are keeping their vehicles for longer, too, IHS said. As of the end of 2015, the average length of ownership was 79.3 months -- a record -- up 1.5 months from the previous year.

[Raza]

I think the trend has been heading in the opposite direction. I'm not sure if this data accounts for used car sales or just new, the article (or the cited link) is not clear on it.


https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/28/car-owners-are-holding-their-vehicles-for-longer-which-is-both-good-and-bad.html




And from the cited link in the CNBC article...

Sorry, I should have been more clear. Treated as disposable leasemobiles by the manufacturers. That people are, on average, keeping their cars longer is indicative of other, more largely economic issues that may stray into politics here. Personally, I have a 14 year old car because new cars don't interest me as much. But that's an odd case--for most people, they're keeping their cars longer because they can't afford to buy a new one.

I also think there's a divide socioeconomically as well. I think middle class and lower are keeping their cars longer and the upper middle class and higher are changing more often. I was thinking more about the technology in luxury cars when I talked about them as disposable.

This is just a theory, though.


EDIT: I found some data:

"Lower-income households were most likely to hold on to older cars. On average, those reporting annual incomes of less than $25,000 drove 13-year-old cars, while those with incomes above $100,000 had nine-year-old cars."

"Edmunds.com reported an all-time high of 39.2 million used-vehicle sales in 2017 and average used-vehicle prices that climbed 1.4 percent in 2017, compared with an average hike of 3.6 percent between 2012 and 2016."

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a2...d-vehicle-age/

But higher incomes are also increasing:
"The data was also broken down based on household income, and unsurprisingly, households with lower incomes held on to their cars longer, but the average age of higher-income household vehicles increased more than those used by lower-income households over the same period."

https://jalopnik.com/people-are-hold...ger-1828661926

[happyscrappyheropup]

Sorry, I should have been more clear. Treated as disposable leasemobiles by the manufacturers. That people are, on average, keeping their cars longer is indicative of other, more largely economic issues that may stray into politics here. Personally, I have a 14 year old car because new cars don't interest me as much. But that's an odd case--for most people, they're keeping their cars longer because they can't afford to buy a new one.

I also think there's a divide socioeconomically as well. I think middle class and lower are keeping their cars longer and the upper middle class and higher are changing more often. I was thinking more about the technology in luxury cars when I talked about them as disposable.

This is just a theory, though.

From the article:

The*IHS Markit study showed that vehicles*are being made with better quality nowadays, leading consumers to own them longer.

-- Wayne

[Raza]

From the article:

The*IHS Markit study showed that vehicles*are being made with better quality nowadays, leading consumers to own them longer.

-- Wayne

I did read that, but I also don't buy it. Mechanically, that may be the case, but when it comes to technology, cars are more prone to electric and electronic problems now more than ever before.

This, for example, is exactly what happened to my mother's car. Mechanically, it was in perfect condition. Something like 40,000 miles in 7 years and it felt brand new. But the COMAND system was acting up, the backup camera stopped working, the navigation stopped working, and mere diagnosis of the issue would have cost thousands. But it was mechanically sound.

My Audi is another example. Mechanically, the car had no issues. However, a sensor failure that would cost over 2/3rds the market value to replace was the vehicle's doom. I ****ing miss that car so much, I want to buy another one. Maybe the last year of the model run and with a manual instead.

[tribe125]

My Audi is another example. Mechanically, the car had no issues. However, a sensor failure that would cost over 2/3rds the market value to replace was the vehicle's doom. I ****ing miss that car so much, I want to buy another one. Maybe the last year of the model run and with a manual instead.

‘Sensor’ may cover components of different complexity, but some are quite cheap. The one replaced on my Merc (related to several things, including cruise control and ABS) would have cost me around £200 (incl. fitting) according to the service manager. In my case it was covered by the extended warranty.

[Raza]

‘Sensor’ may cover components of different complexity, but some are quite cheap. The one replaced on my Merc (related to several things, including cruise control and ABS) would have cost me around £200 (incl. fitting) according to the service manager. In my case it was covered by the extended warranty.

The sensor itself was around $900. But the labor, due to sensor location, took the bill up to about $8,000. Fun little design defect there. This was a sensor that detected the position of the gear stick. A disposable piece of electronics that essentially totaled the car. Wild.

(It is true that this is also a design defect; a sensor should never have been in the position that it was, truly a horrible design oversight)

[geoffbot]

I was looking at a nearly new 3 series today actually and they have voice control, gesture control, track pad, I drive and touch screen to change things. And android auto - you can open the car with your phone, and also share your key digitally with a friend. Hmm useful! Soo much to go wrong. Then I drove home and my clutch slipped again, and my fans stopped blowing, which was weird. My car has nothing - not even satnav - and things go wrong.

New car only on lease for me in future I think.

[Raza]

I was looking at a nearly new 3 series today actually and they have voice control, gesture control, track pad, I drive and touch screen to change things. And android auto - you can open the car with your phone, and also share your key digitally with a friend. Hmm useful! Soo much to go wrong. Then I drove home and my clutch slipped again, and my fans stopped blowing, which was weird. My car has nothing - not even satnav - and things go wrong.

New car only on lease for me in future I think.

For modern cars, I don't really want to keep them after warranty. For enjoyment, I will have to commit to spending the money to keep it on the road. I want to replace my Z4 with a 964 Cabriolet, I am under no illusions that it'll be like a modern car with all the modern conveniences, nor do I think it'll run cheaply. Porsches are generally very reliable, but they still cost to maintain.

However, once manuals disappear from any cars I want to drive, I will probably either stick to older cars or go full on SUV and just give up on driving enjoyment in a daily driver altogether.

[mlcor]

I was looking at a nearly new 3 series today actually and they have voice control, gesture control, track pad, I drive and touch screen to change things. And android auto - you can open the car with your phone, and also share your key digitally with a friend. Hmm useful! Soo much to go wrong. Then I drove home and my clutch slipped again, and my fans stopped blowing, which was weird. My car has nothing - not even satnav - and things go wrong.

New car only on lease for me in future I think.

Even admitting I don’t know much about hacking, I still don’t like the idea of opening my car with a phone. Even though I know I can with mine.


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