Did we reach peak frugality 15 years ago?
- Thread starter macarose
- Start date
4WD
$50 site donor 2024
There have been millions of vehicles imported into the USA by multinational companies … suddenly folks care …
All the auto companies are multi-nationals now.
In the 80's the big 3 took their customers for maximum granted, they did not innovate, they made the same slop - opening the window t to foreign companies.
Both my Nissan's were made in TN with close to 80% US content. Yes the profits go back to Japan, but American workers assembled them.
I have learned to take care of myself, as no one else will, and buy what I think is the highest quality and easiest to maintain, irrelevant of who made it. I do prefer made in USA, but the corporate name on the trunk is irrelevant to me.
In the 80's the big 3 took their customers for maximum granted, they did not innovate, they made the same slop - opening the window t to foreign companies.
Both my Nissan's were made in TN with close to 80% US content. Yes the profits go back to Japan, but American workers assembled them.
I have learned to take care of myself, as no one else will, and buy what I think is the highest quality and easiest to maintain, irrelevant of who made it. I do prefer made in USA, but the corporate name on the trunk is irrelevant to me.
Last edited:
Based on your dataset , reality is hard to predict. The only people who seek out answering surveys have issues and not ones who have little or no issues (the other 95-98%).
Just ordered a new fridge, was supposed to be delivered today but delayed. The old one is a Whirlpool that recently started acting up, the temperature seems to rise very high before the compressor kicks in. Same failure mode as the fridge before it, though not as extreme yet. The Whirlpool lasted about 15 years.
Going to replace it with the biggest and cheapest that fits in the same place. It's a Beko brand, mother company seems to be Grundig. Might be a Turkish product, will see when it arrives. Still 399 delivered though, 3 year warranty. I have no faith in getting a better product if I pay more. I do have faith in more features ultimately requiring more repairs, or resulting in a higher cost per year of ownership.
Going to replace it with the biggest and cheapest that fits in the same place. It's a Beko brand, mother company seems to be Grundig. Might be a Turkish product, will see when it arrives. Still 399 delivered though, 3 year warranty. I have no faith in getting a better product if I pay more. I do have faith in more features ultimately requiring more repairs, or resulting in a higher cost per year of ownership.
If I look at your inspection data - it appears the Honda's that went CVT post 2016 are pretty much the same as Toyota - and the vehicles they are in are larger - CR-V and Accord vs Corolla, for example.
Even the much hated Nissan Altima - which is oft sited as the worst CVT in the history of man - is only 14% transmission issues @125K miles average, vs 5 and 6% for Toyota and Honda - so 1 in 7, which is monumentally worse than the Toyota/Honda - but still it means 6 and 7 make it to 125K miles without issue.
Am I interpreting this data incorrectly? I presume you have looked at more specific data than you grant access to for free?
Patman
Staff member
Not true. The CVT in the Honda Civic is extremely reliable. On the Civic groups that I follow the only time you really hear of people having CVT trouble are the guys with modified engines. If kept stock they'll go 300k+
I think that we enter a new norm since the start of the pandemic. Folks have became very irrational in what they want and purchase.
The thought is might as well get it know before something happens and if it does happen call the bank/ dealer to come and get it.
The thought is might as well get it know before something happens and if it does happen call the bank/ dealer to come and get it.
Some folks see CVT and lose all rational thought
I understand what the OP is getting at but maybe thread title of frugality is a bit off.
I would agree many products have cheaped out. Absolute garbage. But many things were garbage in the past as well.
As always buyer beware!
I understand what the OP is getting at but maybe thread title of frugality is a bit off.
I would agree many products have cheaped out. Absolute garbage. But many things were garbage in the past as well.
As always buyer beware!
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2022
- Messages
- 3,901
I think there’s something to what you say.
But sometimes I think old folks like us won’t admit that what people want has changed.
I’m happy with my 2002 refrigerator and 1984 gas dryer being simple.
My manual 2007 car (it is twin turbo with DI).
My 2006 with port fuel injection. On YouTube there are 600k cars and a prev gen 1,000,000 mile car.
But look at how times have changed. We played pond hockey. We carried our guitars everywhere we went and jammed with strangers. I don’t see people even wanting to do that now.
One phrase that I picked up from Bitog recently is this notion of consuming and destroying everything in sight. With that in mind, things become more clear
But sometimes I think old folks like us won’t admit that what people want has changed.
I’m happy with my 2002 refrigerator and 1984 gas dryer being simple.
My manual 2007 car (it is twin turbo with DI).
My 2006 with port fuel injection. On YouTube there are 600k cars and a prev gen 1,000,000 mile car.
But look at how times have changed. We played pond hockey. We carried our guitars everywhere we went and jammed with strangers. I don’t see people even wanting to do that now.
One phrase that I picked up from Bitog recently is this notion of consuming and destroying everything in sight. With that in mind, things become more clear
No one here with a K-jet?
I was really hoping that was some sort of new or bigger Keurig.....
"Dark roast, coming at you with 10,000Lbs of thrust!"
I agree with this. It all sounds good, but you can't re-use or fix much anymore. It is all single use junk that is disposable. I bet you would be surprised at how much recycled product ends up as garbage. They may have polluted more building the 1980-90 model washer and dryer, but they are still running today vs the new stuff that you need to replace every 5-10 year if you are lucky to get that life. I keep fixing my old stuff because I know a new $1000 washer will be lucky to make it 5-10 years and will probably require an expensive repair (computer or unnecessary display board) during that time.
Last edited:
Hey I'm one of those frugal people. I spent the weekend going over both exterior doors and all my windows, having a party with the weather striping. I cost me $6.25 a window to make sure all of them were air sealed the best I could get them. Already I can tell the difference in the house with temperature changes, and as a bonus it's a lot quieter than before.
Hermann
Site Donor 2023
Maybe, I spent less than $800 last month to exist. Saved $400 and blew the rest of my SS pittance, but did get a new $1800 sofa from NFM. Old bones love the heated massage.
I think it's all about price, sizzle and features.
Appliances, companies and research shows the consumer wants sizzle and price. The price of major appliances has gone down over the last 20 years. By all measures of inflation they should be double.
Yeah, sold our bought new 16 year old home last year, all appliances were 16 years old, still looked and worked like new. Whirlpool and Kenmore Elite, ref, washer, dryer, dishwater, range, microwave top. One repair in those 16 years I did myself, the ice maker defroster was replaced. Sold the home, everything still works.
New home, new appliances, this time LG (South Korea company) washer, dryer, refrigerator and GE (china) builder supplied high end range, cooktop and dishwasher, and exhaust hood. Absolute all gorgeous appliances, the look, features and feel as well as energy efficient are top notch.
Not only that, but they cost the same or slightly higher and some case slightly less than they did 10 years ago. Amazing that our gorgeous new LG refrigerator cost less than our Kenmore Elite did 16 years ago and by far, the LG bring much more satisfaction, even to just look at it. SO if I am in the same house in ten years, I suspect it will be replacement time but then again, the cost (taking into account inflation) hasnt changed so its not as expensive as it seems, plus you get new.
Why? This is what people buy now. Instant satisfaction and quality feel rule over the thoughts of how long it may last. Also in today's world, most people dont live in their same home forever anymore. I think up to 45% move by the ten year mark.
I dont think the reliability of automobiles has gone down. But yeah, they are much more expensive because everyone wants the latest bells and whistles. No one wants a new featureless cars anymore and the addition to credit in the USA has pushed the limits of what people will spend into the stratosphere, yet they indebt themselves for instant gratification that will wear off in 6 months and they will have 7 years of payments to make. Its jsut not possible to buy a standard stripped down car as we used to know in the USA anymore, no one wants them yet worldwide overseas where credit is not so easy, they are common.
Luxury cars offered in the USA are much more loaded up with options then what people think is luxury overseas.
The guy who repaired our dryer a couple of weeks ago said the same thing and and takes it a step further; his greeting on his voice mail says that he only works on older appliances and if you're calling about Samsung or LG, he doesn't deal with them no matter what the age.
Price of innovation. There's plenty of items for frugal shoppers but it should be of no surprise that a more complex product can have more points of failure than a simple one and that a complex product normally takes a higher ability to fix. I'm not going to buy a $3-4000 'smart' fridge with all the bells and whistles and expect everything on it to last as much a simple 2-door $1000 fridge.
Can we get the OE software back in our LG washer? Call me back ASAP
This isn't a survey based study. Mechanics who work at independent dealerships nationwide inspect and appraise the overall condition of powertrains with advanced diagnostic systems.
Those bias free results are what you see online.
** Long-Term Quality Index – Three Million Used Cars Inspected From 1993 To Today **
Automotive Reliability
www.dashboard-light.com
Similar threads
