why do car makers assume their customers are clueless
Perhaps because they are?
Indeed - most people barely do any research (other than what the cars look like or perhaps the performance).
One piece of advice I have used throughout my car-owning life that I got from here (either from a fellow Backroomer or via HJ himself one way or the other) is to never, ever buy a new car that has just changed design to a decent extent - wait a couple of years or so until the vast majority of design / production flaws have emerged and have been (hopefully) resolved.
I think that piece if sound advice is increasingly relevant today, given how many cars are R&Ded in a far shorter period than in the past and often incorporate a lot of new, highly complex technology - often relating to safety and emissions, and especially as regards electronics and software.
My dear old dad just parted with a significant amount of cash (especially compared to what he paid for the previous one and where he'll likely give up driving in 5 years or less, meaning he'll take a BIG depreciation hit, especially when accounting for the30%+ price bump in second hand values at the moment) for a car he did no research on (or any alternatives), a short test drive and now doesn't like (a LOT) and has found it very difficult to get used to.
His dealership just invited him to a 'sales event' where they presumably persuaded him to part with his old car rather than spend a small fraction (likely 10%) to fix the minor issues it had.
As regards issues like modern diesels in DPF, fuel dilution and turbo problems, I'd bet that most drivers have little to no knowledge or understanding of them, and the only reason they are currently dropping buying diesels in big numbers is because they are being told they likely will be legislated out or subsject to significant financial penalties for use such as in (present or future) ULEZs.
Of course, that means that huge amounts of likely otherwise decent cars will either be scrapped or disporportionally end up in areas not served by such measures, plus people getting rid of them for new(er) petrol / hybrid / EV cars will be seriously out of pocket and reasonably often (like my dad) not liking the ownership experience of the replacement, precisely because they've done little to no research before changing.
[blocked word added in - Mod]
Edited by Xileno on 20/08/2023 at 22:13
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