Before airbags were put in cars, a car could take a lot of damage but still be functional and affordable to repair. You could find someone to repair it or to pay a seriously good price for a mildly damaged car.
Today, however, airbags mean cars have far less steel, and much more plastic. At the same time, many new regulations have resulted in cars having more safety amenities and fuel efficiencies, resulting in restrictions in construction and higher costs. Young people are not only priced out of the new car market, but also the used car market as well.
To top this all off, lots of technological gadgets have been added to cars over the years, adding to the expense. In the past, a simple accident would mean a relatively affordable and easy repair done in a few days. Today, however, with all the gadgets, a mild collision often means your new car is totaled, and you will have very few options but to buy a new car. The end result is your car is disposable as tissue paper. Even when a car is repairable, the time to make such repairs can be very excessive.
A mirror is lost, and a lock crushed. It should be a simple and cheap fix, but the mirrors are powered mirrors, the windows are powered windows, and the lock is operated through a FOB key and the car only has one key hole. Damaged plastics, of which so many new cars have, are far more expensive to paint over with new paint. The repair costs end up going way beyond the cost of the original purchase of the car.
As to these new cars, I hate them. They are over-engineered for lazy people. Powered mirrors are pointless to me, and I do not need the car to be my nanny. Call them Smart Cars but I refer to them as Smart aleck cars or nanny cars. No, I do not want to check the back seats of my car! As to the idiotic screen in the car, if it does not have porn or showing me Star Wars, I am not interested in having it in the car! How do I remove it!?!?
Also, many like these rear view cameras on cars. But what do you do if a ten year old boy walks behind your car and decides to flash their “junk” at your car? Are you now guilty of making and possessing child porn? I guest I caused everyone to think again about just what that message in image below means in saying “check surroundings for your safety”.
Because of all these gadgets, when disaster strikes, the insurance companies are forced to declare the vehicle is totaled merely because all the creature comforts are so difficult and expensive to repair. In the end, we all lose. We need reliable vehicles which take a licking but keep on ticking. Unfortunately, we only get this from Timex watches. Oh well. Young people will suffer and end up using Uber.
I've yet to have a hand crank or hand lock door knob fail. And who ever came up with the idea of putting the dimmer on the steer column hated on coming traffic. The dimmer belongs on the left floor board.
I agree! I am sticking with my 1999 Blazer and a 2003 Marquis. I’m hoping between the two they will last until I’m gone!