Now that I’m old and not “working” so much, I seem to do more thinking. For the past 10-15 years it is/was not unusual to see cars and light trucks going 200-250k mi. My 03 Silverado and 04 Wrangler still run great! Are mfr’s proud of how long their vehicles last? Or are they cringing because these people are postponing purchases?
I wonder what current vehicles will be like in 20y? Will they be unmaintainable? Will dealers hold a monopoly on diagnostics and repairs? If so, it will kill the value of used cars and the people most affected will be the ones who can’t afford it. Will the objective be to motivate people to buy more new cars to avoid the service trap? Is this new planned obsolescence?
We might be looking at a future where you need to have a car under a service plan (a form of insurance) in order to avoid a catastrophic repair cost. Mfr's have been trying very hard to loop people into a subscription service like software co's, OnStar flopped, maybe this might work?
The more control dealers and mfr’s have, the less freedom we have, and the more it will cost us. And I can’t believe this is not planned.
Regulation of emissions and fuel milage are lemons that the mfr’s are turning into lemonade through maintenance, service and repairs.