Monday, May 16, 2011

Cr*ppy cars, STOP BUYING THEM

I do not understand the mindset that people would (blindly) prefer a new car over a used one.
There are specific reasons for a new car, commercial use, fleet use, high turnover, need for a constant warranty, but for a good portion of normal personal use (other than vanity) I just don't see the point. Now I'm not one of those super fiscally responsible people saying "you lose 40% of its value driving it off the lot" because again, blanket rules are (generally) stupid. But there is a point to it. Cars have gone from being part of a person's personality and lifestyle to disposable appliances, this is why they lose value so quickly. The fact that "its the next owners' problem" is the default attitude towards car maintenance has created a mindset that only furthers this problem. I'm not from the generation that each fill-up a team of people came out, checked your oil cleaned your windows then left, but I do think it would be nice.

100,000 miles (other than oil changes which can now safely be pushed if designed for it to ~10,000-15,000 miles) between tuneups has become the norm. Which is great if you have realistic expectations that if something DOES happen before that window, it probably won't be minor. Pushing engine components to their physical maximum amount of stress (need to have the best fuel economy possible) and longevity before any kind of interaction with a service technician will take a toll on overall life of the Engine and car itself.

Yes I'm biased but- one of the best statements about this topic I've ever read was "It is said over 70% of all Land Rovers ever built since 1949 are still going" How's that for eco friendly? Not all environmental impact is in the operation of a vehicle, manufacture and disposal/recycling count too...

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Source -> http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/05/13/putin_test_drives_europes_cheapest_car_takes_5_attempts_to_start.html
Now to the point of my post. India's Tata Nano is typically the only getting press for cheapest new cars but another piece of cr*p car is coming to market under the vanity of "A new car for only ____". Good news!, it only took 5 attempts for Putin to start the BRAND NEW CAR (down from ∞)! click the source link under the screenshot to watch the video.

This is not meant to be against foreign cars in any way, plenty of cr*ppy cars come from the US of A (I'm looking at you Chrysler Sebring, a name change to "200" and facelift isn't fooling anybody) also  also my beloved Land Rover is under the Tata corporate umbrella. My point is if you don't know anything about cars, don't just lean towards new because somehow that's better. Ask somebody!

For every new car, there are about 2000 perfectly good, much better made, used ones out there too. Lastly, I am in no way trying to stifle the already ailing auto industry. People SHOULD buy new cars for the right reasons. My problem is if people only require the bare minimum, that's all the companies will make.

Full disclosure, we bought my wife's car new, but plan on keeping it for the foreseeable future and have maintained the cr*p out of it**

**technical term

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