https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/ca...sable-44514856
Quote:
Planned obsolescence is, according to the former GM engineer, has since become the rule for most industries. Automakers are just chasing trends they assume will be the most lucrative.
This was attributed to companies noticing that a meaningful portion of the market was willing to simply lease a new car every three-to-five years. Meanwhile, the number of adults who were willing to service an older vehicle themselves was presumed to be declining. Chello said the automakers simply leaned into that by gradually making cars harder to service and incentivizing leases wherever possible.
By 2010, he said the industry was ready to take things a step further by implementing technologies that actively prevented user maintenance and vehicle designs that effectively made major components (e.g. transmissions and engines) disposable items. Cars would become less reliable. However, manufacturers would presumably be able to sell more of them while service centers and dealerships benefited from an uptick in business.
Older automobiles that could easily be serviced and repaired, exceeding 250,000 miles in the process, would be supplanted by new models that were impossible to maintain and lasted an estimated 100,000 miles before the lofty repair bills became too much to endure.
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I think I'm gonna bite the bullet and buy a 2006 Buick Lacrosse I saw on CL, 106k, very good condition 3800, no turbos, no DI, no OHC, no VVT, no AFM. At least while there are still some good ones available out there for reasonable prices..