Stop buying new stuff, says government advisor

grizzly1911

zagubov wrote: »

Not convinced. advance in efficency has been stymied by a self-defeating demand for chelsea tractor style SUVs and a ind of highway arms race where to drive an efficient car puts you at risk in any collision with any of the high-speed gas-guzzlers that are marketed at the public.

Are there any figures available for how many miles are covered each year by passengers in planes or in cars? Honestly like to know.

Not so much sure that all cars are just fashion progress. For many they have become a necessity of life, particularly in out of town environments. Poor public transport and centralisation of services into distant hubs let alone the work commute.

I saw yesterday that BMW are considering a 4X4 Rolls. Wonder if it will become the X20. No doubt make towing the horse box easier or making your passengers even sicker as you hustle 21/5 tons of Conolly indulgence through the home counties lanes.

MFW_ASAP

Our Wii broke last year and I took it to a local computer repair shop and he told me to throw it in the electronics recycle bin at the local council and buy a used one off ebay as it would be cheaper than trying to repair it. It went against my 'green' ethos but he was right, it was much cheaper.

With people ditching wii's to get a Wii-U or other new console, it pays to be behind the curve with new technology.

michaels

Tesco were selling brand new wiis for 40 quid recently.

I can't stand the thought of having a 4x4...except that the roads are so bad locally (and no we are not out in the sticks) that the car needs at least one new bit of suspension every few months so I am thinking the only option may be to choose a different car with a suspension designed for off road

Graham_Devon

michaels wrote: »

Everyone's favourite apple make their mega profits because they make their phones with built in batteries and no memory card slot so guaranteed built in obsolescence. Android manufacturers are now rushing to copy this design brilliance

The google Nexus is a bit of a let down. Absolutely brilliant tablet, but...

They have a support period of just 15 months. After this, it's obsolete in terms of support for device.

And were talking a £300+ device here in 10" form. Sealed device at that, like you say, you can't easily replace the battery in it.

grizzly1911

michaels wrote: »

Tesco were selling brand new wiis for 40 quid recently.

I can't stand the thought of having a 4x4...except that the roads are so bad locally (and no we are not out in the sticks) that the car needs at least one new bit of suspension every few months so I am thinking the only option may be to choose a different car with a suspension designed for off road

By us I think tracked vehicles will be needed on some popular stretches soon.

prowla

michaels wrote: »

Everyone's favourite apple make their mega profits because they make their phones with built in batteries and no memory card slot so guaranteed built in obsolescence. Android manufacturers are now rushing to copy this design brilliance

Actually the batteries in iPhones are replaceable; all you need to do is undo 2 screws to get the cover off, or you can take them to a mobiles repair shop.

As for memory slots, other makers do support SD cards but only up to a certain size, and a lot of storage these days is in the "Cloud" rather than local.

So the anti-Apple rant is not really justified.

prowla

I really believe in the repair rather than buy approach where possible:
- I run a 12 year old car and I'm hoping for another 5 years out of it.
- My tumble drier broke so I got a replacement element and fitted it.
- My mobile phone broke so I had it repaired.
- My computer was slow so I replaced its CPU.
- My toaster stopped doing one side of a slice so I replaced the element.

Of course, some things it is as well to buy new than repair; it's just a matter of gauging the options in each case.

bugslet

zagubov wrote: »

I once taught on a science and technology course where I encountered the concept of Total Energy Costing. This estimated that half the energy costs of buying a car and running it for 10 years was getting the metal out of the ground and into the form of the car.

.

Our contract with our biggest client states that we must not run vehicles that are over 5 years old. You'd expect a Scania V8 to last to a million k without any major problems, in 5 years ours do around 350k, far less than the average truck does.

It seems criminal to me, but that's blue chip customers for you.

molerat

bugslet wrote: »

Our contract with our biggest client states that we must not run vehicles that are over 5 years old. You'd expect a Scania V8 to last to a million k without any major problems, in 5 years ours do around 350k, far less than the average truck does.

It seems criminal to me, but that's blue chip customers for you.

But you are not throwing them away at 5 years as they will have a residual value, at that age replacing may be fairly cost neutral. Are you actually buying and not leasing ?

I have a fairly expensive microwave, around £150 3 years ago, replaced because it was cheaper than repairing the old one. If the major component fails the repair bill is £200, £150 parts and £50 labour for a 30 minute job. There is often no cost benefit to the individual to have items professionally repaired. I will keep things going myself, our washing machine is 1 year old now, only the third since moving here in 1990, 11 years each.

bugslet

Oh I know they will go on and work elsewhere - often Latvia, but that's another story. The point I was making is that there is this obsession with having a new vehicle from the customer, when the vehicle is perfectly roadworthy and still looks pretty much like new.