Hyundai i20 - Faulty ABS - Dealer Gripe

Shaka_Zulu

buglawton wrote: »

Are there any brands left where franchised dealer repair costs don't make a 7+ year old car a financial write-off?

Modern cars have a design life of 7 years to help drive the continuous conveyor belt for new cars.

If you want to know which cars last and/or can be repaired cheaply you need to go to the poorer parts of the world this knowledge is almost instinctive.

Geoff1963

Modern cars have a design life of 7 years

. . . because most customers don't keep them very long, and the higher cost of making them more reliable, would put people off buying them. It naturally takes a long time to build a reputation for long-term reliability, but it is easily lost.

As with computers, the specification and feature list of cars keeps increasing ; so older ones, even in showroom condition, would be very undesirable. The running costs ( fuel, tax, insurance ) are often very high compared to the value.

EdGasketTheSecond

Shaka_Zulu wrote: »

Modern cars have a design life of 7 years to help drive the continuous conveyor belt for new cars.
/QUOTE]

I disagree; nearly all my cars have lasted for at least 15 years. My current two cars are 17 and 18 years old. Rust is not nearly so much a problem now as it used to be. However expensive parts and stupidly complex electronic this, that, and the other can write a car off if they go wrong.

buglawton

Shaka_Zulu wrote: »

Modern cars have a design life of 7 years to help drive the continuous conveyor belt for new cars.

If you want to know which cars last and/or can be repaired cheaply you need to go to the poorer parts of the world this knowledge is almost instinctive.

No need to exaggerate, I've owned cars up to 12/13 years old not a problem. I think that some brands/models will be more practical to keep going the longest. Question is which.

Cuba and Egypt are 2 examples of countries where ingenuity and craftsmanship still exist to keep really old cars - 15+ years - going for everyday transport. Due to very high import cost of new vehicles vs low local labour cost.

But that's not relevant to us busy - but still money saving - MSE followers.