Will today's cars last 20 years?

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I can still get most things for my ciera at rock auto. Of course the only time my car has any value, is after the tank is filled!
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Very few will last 20 yrs. The cost to replace and reprogram the various modules will be cost prohibitive if even available. Planned obsolence.


Plus who keeps their cars 20 years anyways? 1% of the poulation? Unless you barely drive it, i think you already have your moneys worth after 10 years...
 
Originally Posted By: Rolla07
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Very few will last 20 yrs. The cost to replace and reprogram the various modules will be cost prohibitive if even available. Planned obsolence.


Plus who keeps their cars 20 years anyways? 1% of the poulation? Unless you barely drive it, i think you already have your moneys worth after 10 years...


Yep. Most people get bored around 7 years and want a vehicle change.
 
Originally Posted By: AZjeff
So can you walk into a Chevy dealer today and order am OEM fender for a 1997 truck or not? The aftermarket will step up to fill a demand as said.

Bingo. LMC Truck will have all you need. For some vehicles, obviously, that won't be the case.
 
My Mercedes is pushing 19 years and it looks and drives like new. My Jeep Wrangler is 10 years old and runs/drives/looks like new. I am pretty confident it will be in my garage on its 20th birthday. I just ordered a new 2o18 Jeep JL Wrangler and it should be better than the old one in every way, so I'll expect 20 years out of it, too, and then some.

With as few miles as we put on it, I'd bet that Mercedes will hit 30. My kids will drive it, so we'll see how it holds up when they start piling miles on it. It should be a 300k mile car, though, so lots of life left.

Unfortunately, the old Ford pickup is going to go bye-bye. It is ok, but hasn't aged as well as the others because it has been outside. I think the sun does more damage than driving them. The Ford is getting some body rust through now, too.
 
Originally Posted By: Rolla07
Plus who keeps their cars 20 years anyways? 1% of the population? Unless you barely drive it, i think you already have your moneys worth after 10 years...



I buy very low mileage used cars that are 5-10 yrs old. I have to drive them another 8-10 years to get my money's worth.
 
Originally Posted By: ecotourist
Some years ago Peter Egan wrote a story about himself and a group of car buffs (accomplished repair guys) who were in the backwoods driving a modern vehicle when they were done in by an electronic distributor.

They could have repaired an old English or Italian distributor with the proverbial bent spoon and a dull knife but had to wait for parts to get that one going again.


Hmm. I've driven through water deep enough that my Jeep's headlights shined through the bow wave, a number of times. It got me home without issue, every time.
 
I have a 1994 Mitsubishi 1.5L bought new as a DD no problem.
Korean gasoline Hyundai's are catching up.
 
Originally Posted By: Rolla07

Plus who keeps their cars 20 years anyways? 1% of the poulation? Unless you barely drive it, i think you already have your moneys worth after 10 years...


Very few people keep a car for 20 years but there are a lot of people driving 15-20 year old cars around here because that's what they can afford. Today I saw a mid 90's 3 cyl Geo Metro in a parking lot still on the job.

We usually keep a car or truck for around 5 years no matter if we bought it new or used. Our goal is 10 years for the 2 we have right now.
 
I have a 17 year old e39 BMW that I could easily see going another 10 years with minimal work. My 2007 e90 335 would probably require about 24 more injectors and 5 more water pumps, but I could see it making it too. In stock form, the turbos are babied. Those water pumps keep going after you shut down to keep the turbos cool, you know.

Modern manufacturing has kept pace with development. It might be more complicated, but that doesn't mean it's worse. Most days, though, I admire the simple brilliance of my e39.
 
I've seen fairly new cars with more rust on them than my truck. Factor in my trucks worth, age and previous history, I would argue it was built with better materials. Safety is obviously another story.
 
It all depends on how much they're driven, how they're driven and if they're maintained properly. If it's garaged, driven reasonably and maintained, I don't see why you wouldn't get 20 years/250k out of any new vehicle.
 
Depends.If you live where they put salt on the roads. The cost of new vehicles is insane.So used cars are worth more.People at work make 12 bucks an hour and drive 56,000 dollar trucks. electric cars are good for cities.Out in the country? My current vehicles get driven very little.So barring an accident they could last me the rest of my life.
 
Surprisingly in my area there are a number of late 90s Toyota Camrys. They all look fairly good. My lady's car does run rather good.
 
Originally Posted By: Artem
Originally Posted By: skyactiv
Some people think todays vehicles are better than vehicles from 20 years ago. I highly doubt a 2018 Honda Civic 1.5T CVT will be as reliable as an old 1998 1.6
5 speed manual was.


Well comparing a 5 speed vs a CVT is silly. I'm sure the 6 speed version will last longer if driven properly. Can't say the same about the Turbo. That will need to be replaced in 10 years and I can see many of these hitting the junk yard as a result of the owner not willing too or being able to replace a $2,000 Turbo.


Do you have any actual EVIDENCE of this "fact"?
 
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Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Originally Posted By: PimTac
I’ll bet that this same discussion took place twenty years ago and twenty years before that.


I'll bet you're right.
The stuff that matters, like EFI, turbocharging and distributorless ignition have been around for a long time.
The stuff that doesn't matter, like the touch screens, have also been around for a long time.
Will a car bought today last as long as one bought twenty years ago?
Probably not.
It'll probably last longer.


Until the touch screen that runs the HVAC/stereo/etc. fails, and a replacement costs more than the car is worth.
 
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