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Bumped into an old friend of mine today whom I had not met for several years. Years ago he ran a garage and was one of the best 'body men' I knew. Bad health and family problems led him to give up the business and last I heard he was driving a lorry doing recovery work. Today I discovered he has three full time recovery trucks on the road and hires another if too busy. Business he says is booming and the unreliablity of modern cars has allowed him to extend his business and semi retire at the same time. Interestingly he tells me that the two garages that he gets most business from locally sell Renault and wait for it ....BMW. Toyotas not what they were and Nissans no better. Honda still pretty good and Mazda consistent. Merecedes he tells me isn't bad at all but A class is not up to scratch. I asked what he was now driving - an Audi S3 that has been excellent. Interesting chat though.
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More toys you have - the more to go wrong.
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He's not the only one. A friend left the RAC about ten years ago and bought a recovery business that had two trucks and a van. He now has six trucks, three vans and his wife has more horses than I have fingers and thumbs.
His take is that most breakdowns could be fixed at the roadside until increasing amounts of electrickery and car's "management systems" meant that most breakdowns need to be taken to a techy with a computer to read the fault codes.
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Doesn't really surprise me.
In my book, the key to a reliable car boils down to the following ingredients:
1) A design proven over a couple of generations with minimal alterations.
2) As few toys and gadgets as possible.
3) As little stressing of components (to satisfy economy/performance/refinement requirements) as can be got away with.
3) An attention to actual quality as opposed to the bits the average buyer prods and presses.
4) Good build quality.
Modern cars are failing on at least the first three. CR diesels are mostly new-tech, and under high-stress. Electrical toys and gadgets everywhere (modern electronics are generally not designed to last more than a few years, and yet these same consumer-grade components are finding their way into cars). An emphasis on soft-touch plastics and sound deadening everywhere because that's what the punter wants, which puts extra stress on everything due to the additional weight, and in an effort to remain competitive costs are cut in the basic engineering.
Car reliability reached its zenith with the Japanese and higher-end German cars of the early to mid 1990s, just before the gadget obsession started. It is my absolute belief that the most reliable cars on the roads today (in terms of painlessness of ownership) are the Koreans, which are essentially mid-1990s Japanese cars. These cars are now matching the 5 rules above, although how much longer this will be true is anyone's guess.
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>(modern electronics are generally not designed to last more than a few years, and yet these
>same consumer-grade components are finding their way into cars).
Modern auto electronic systems use design techniques and components that are much higher in specification than 'consumer-grade'. In reality, many are higher than MIL-spec.
A typical auto module is subject to ranges and gradients of temperature, humidity, voltage and mechanical-shock far in excess of anything expected of consumer goods or even cruise missiles.
The reason for most car 'electronic' problems today is a sensor or actuator failure which, because of their location, is often a result of contamination or damage by mechanical defects. Unfortunately, the first symptom many drivers see is a 'Service Engine' light and they automatically associate this with an 'electronic' problem despite the fact that there's been an oil or coolant drip on the driveway for the past few months.
This is also why code-readers can be a waste of money for the average motoring diy-er. A code-reader might tell you that your crank or tp sensor is faulty but it won't tell you what caused it to fail.
Kevin...
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">techy with a computer to read the fault codes.<"
Which demonstrates what a rip-off most breakdown services are. Plug laptop into diagnostic port. Read fault codes.
Modern cars are easier to troubleshoot than cars from earlier eras, but the motor industry don't want you to know that. Compare and contrast K Jetronic with Ford EEC IV.
It's probably an age thing. I prefer to spend days fettling an array of DCOEs, my son wonders how to plug the laptop in.
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I prefer to spend days fettling an array of DCOEs>>
Would cost a fortune if one had to pay for it!
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Yes, although the amount of time involved is probably a measure of my (in)competence!
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Modern cars are also 'self preserving'. If anything goes wrong with the fuelling/timing system they go in to limp home mode and a call to the breakdown man is required to get you anywhere. My father once drove from Dover to Sheffield with only three cylinders functioning, try doing that in a modern motor. How many call outs are for wheel changes/pick upswhen no spare is provided? I know I would probably need one on my car due to alloys welding themselves to the hubs.
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There are more cars on the roads and the average mileage covered has increased. Therefore there will be an increase in the number of problems even if the percentage is constant.
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