A strange question: are cars made in this time of shortage (pandemic related) of the same quality as before?

[lizpat]

The basic idea is this: if there are shortages, there may be corners cut. If you can't source a particular part, or a part of equal quality, you may relax your standards a bit. We know for a fact that some features normally offered were no longer offered (temporarily.) This seems to be the way to go, if you can't make them (properly) you don't offer it at all because quality matters.

I don't have an answer to this, just the curiosity..

 

[atikovi]

Cars are largely assembled by robots on automated assembly lines so quality shouldn't be any different. As for parts shortages, I doubt they will ship out a car if it's missing a seat or fender.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Time will tell with regards to part quality. Short cuts are plausible with regards to quality of raw materials and down time for retooling/maintenance.

 

[AZjeff]

We just returned from a 6700 mile month long road trip pulling a 6000# travel trailer with our 2021 GMC Sierra HD that was built in April 2021 and it was flawless. Only 1 minor issue in the 2 years we've owned it since new and most of the miles on it are towing. This truck was built right in the middle of the Covid shortages. The truck wasn't missing any features probably because it's an SLE trim. I'm picky and have no complaints at all so they all aren't junk.

Not sure what you're implying, if a maker can't get a chip to make a feature function what exactly are they to do? My SIL bought a new small Chevy SUV a year ago and recently took it back to the dealer to have a missing chip installed.

 

[Escape08]

As far as I know there are still shortages of semiconductor chips (processors) in the automobile industry until 2024 according to Intel CEO.

 

[joekingcorvette]

I think it's more about the availability than the quality so no, the cars made today should be just as good as pre-pandemic automobiles.

 

[PontiacHO]

My son-in-law works for a major car dealership consortium. He has stated that the upper end cars are having electrical problems etc since the pandemic. Especially Lincoln. On a different note: He also said that new vehicle inventory is at or above pre-pandemic levels. There are concerns that the manufacturers aren’t doing enough with incentives and lower interest rates to allow dealers to sell and move out the current inventories. If anyone is in the market for a new vehicle, this fall could be a decent time to buy. They may be back to selling much lower than sticker price..

 

[Cujet]

I would be much more concerned about the use of substandard imported internal engine and transmission parts than I would be about pandemic labor related quality issues. It is well known that various random failures are due to poor metallurgy and associated heat treatment, hardening and machining processes.

 

[CharBaby]

I believe that the build quality is as good or better than ever however, I think that parts quality and materials being used are of lesser quality than in the past.

 

[DriveHard]

Cars are largely assembled by robots on automated assembly lines so quality shouldn't be any different. As for parts shortages, I doubt they will ship out a car if it's missing a seat or fender.

A couple things to think about...

During the pandemic, folks were almost encouraged to stay home, and received compensation from the government to do so. This led to unskilled workers on assembly lines, overworked folks (tired from too many hours), and untrained labor assembling components. Now, we can "poka yoke" (idiotproof) our assembly lines as much as possible, but skilled labor that can feel when something is not right, and takes pride in their work, will still turn out a higher quality product.

Second are replacement parts. The secondary suppliers that were rejected for one reason or another were brought on board to fill gaps. Perhaps those gaps were due to perceived quality or process issues. Either way, those parts were now approved, and used to keep the lines running...leading to finished product with less than first choice suppliers able to supply the components.

Nope, the cars were not missing parts...but the assembly process using human hands, and those components being subbed to keep things moving may be compromised.

 

[Nick1994]

Build quality, I doubt it.

But some are really oddly optioned. I think there was some $70k Tahoes without heated seats and power liftgates. Some cars they didn't put a touchscreen in, you have to use the switch on the center console.

 

[Deleted member 89374]

The basic idea is this: if there are shortages, there may be corners cut. If you can't source a particular part, or a part of equal quality, you may relax your standards a bit. We know for a fact that some features normally offered were no longer offered (temporarily.) This seems to be the way to go, if you can't make them (properly) you don't offer it at all because quality matters.

When you make a statement like this, and pose such questions, along with unfounded assumptions, you must be exceedingly specific about the shortages you are referring to.

If you have evidence of quality assurance being lowered, then I encourage you to post it.

Thank you.

 

[PandaBear]

Possibly more due to QA rejects being accepted than before. If it is under warranty claim and recall it would not be too big of a deal IMO.

 

[Kestas]

In my experience with the automotive industry I found that when sales are down, quality gets emphasized in the plants. To boost sales the industry enhances warranty on their existing product, which moves cost down the road to the boom times when they can afford warranty repairs. Once business is booming, the emphasis on quality decreases.

I can't really understand what the industry is doing now. Sales seem to have slowed because of the chip shortage, yet I see no massive layoffs as in decades' past. This makes absolutely no sense to me.

 

[Deleted member 89374]

I can't really understand what the industry is doing now. Sales seem to have slowed because of the chip shortage, yet I see no massive layoffs as in decades' past. This makes absolutely no sense to me.

Which silicon chips exactly are in short supply?

Please elaborate, and feel free to list as many as you know of by make and model.

Thank you.

 

[Kestas]

What happened with the chip shortage is that during the pandemic, people started buying more computers to work from home. The chip manufacturers - nearly all in Asia - shifted their output to the computer industry. The auto manufacturers previously beat down the pricing because of their volume. The chip manufacturers switched customers from automotive to computer. It is more profitable for them.

The average automobile has between 500 and 1000 chips. Many of these chips are used in the convenience devices now designed into cars. There are stories of cars being built without all electronics in them, and even using a single shared computer to plug into each car on the assembly line to drive it off the lot. The car buying public is a victim of all the convenience features (and some features necessary to meet federal mandates) they crave for and pushed by the manufacturers.

There was a big splash on the news this past year about a chip manufacturing plant opening up in the Saginaw, MI, area, with Gov. Whitmer relishing in this. Unfortunately, this plant was to be built by the Koreans.

I believe this chip shortage affects all auto manufacturers.

 

[Brice]

I have (2) 2021 model vehicles. Both have between 20-30k miles. 1 minor warranty issue on each that was easily fixed. No lemons or headaches so far.

 

[Ws6]

I dont think so.

 

[eljefino]

My 2021 Prius Prime was built in the latter half of 2020 and has no issues. Its sister, a 2019 Prius, shares a lot, but not everything.

Both cars have cheaper plastic in stuff like fender liners and under-car aero dressing compared to a 2005 model. More brittle. Not sure why they changed the formula, maybe there's more soy in it or something.

This thread came up before but I'm too lazy to search for it.

An example of missing chips was some ford pickup and its windshield wiper computer. Put a toggle switch in, jeez! They used wooden bumpers after WWII that came with a chit to pick up chrome ones at some point in the future. Chrome, obviously, was in short supply.

 

[JeffKeryk]

What happened with the chip shortage is that during the pandemic, people started buying more computers to work from home. The chip manufacturers - nearly all in Asia - shifted their output to the computer industry. The auto manufacturers previously beat down the pricing because of their volume. The chip manufacturers switched customers from automotive to computer. It is more profitable for them.

The average automobile has between 500 and 1000 chips. Many of these chips are used in the convenience devices now designed into cars. There are stories of cars being built without all electronics in them, and even using a single shared computer to plug into each car on the assembly line to drive it off the lot. The car buying public is a victim of all the convenience features (and some features necessary to meet federal mandates) they crave for and pushed by the manufacturers.

There was a big splash on the news this past year about a chip manufacturing plant opening up in the Saginaw, MI, area, with Gov. Whitmer relishing in this. Unfortunately, this plant was to be built by the Koreans.

I believe this chip shortage affects all auto manufacturers.

The auto companies cut their production schedule in anticipation of a COVID driven slowdown in demand. Semiconductor fab production line changover is a very expensive task. When the expected auto market slowdown proved to be short lived, the automakers were caught with their pants down. Remember, the problem is not just about chip availability, rather it is in firmware programming. Only Tesla programs their chips in house. This allowed them to repurpose existing chips. In a smart move, Ford decided to open an office in Palo Alto to begin their own chip software development.