Car buying: Do you prioritize longetivity & repairability over features

10 to 15 years for an automobile is just ludicrous - when it should actually be about 50 to 60 years of life

BHPian ChristComesSoon recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

With many industries trending towards a use-and-throw culture, even in the automobile industry - it is refreshing to see companies like Edison Motors try and stem the tide.

In the Consumer Electronics world, Louis Rossmann has been spearheading efforts with lawfare & advocacy - even speaking in US senate hearings [See Ref1].

Edison Motors [See Ref2] is a Canadian Truck company (Diesel Electric powertrain) that was inspired by the efforts of Louis Rossmann and prioritizes:

• Repairability,
• Longevity,
• Right-of-the-owner in all aspects of the truck (including its parts),
• Sustainability

They are just 8 to 10 members and are making waves in the industry even beating Tesla Semis in some performance aspects.

The CEO of Edison Motors, Chase Barber, is very vocal against planned obsolescence (See Ref3).

10 to 15 years for an automobile is just ludicrous - when it should actually be about 50 to 60 years of life, minimum (until metal fatigue). Sustainable engineering, easy-to-repair designing, quality parts, interchangeability etc. are some of the ways in which this can easily be achieved.

• Would be nice to know which companies in India prioritize these rights/ethos
• Ideas on how such a culture can be built up in India and across the world
• How the consumer can know of products & services that promote such rights
• Ideas on how the consumer can promote such companies by their buying decisions & advocacy

References:

Ref1: Louis Rossmann Right to Repair testimony in Washington SB 5799 in 2020.

Ref2: https://www.edisonmotors.ca

Ref3: Right to Repair

Here's what GTO had to say on the matter:

I don't agree with the poll's premise of "features versus reliability". Lexus manages both just well. So do BMW, and a few other brands. My 530d was as modern as cars come at the time of its launch and guess what, 11-years up and she's still running like a dream. On the other hand, my relatively basic Mahindra Thar has had 5 niggles in 1 year & 5000 km of ownership. It's all down to the build, supply chains, OEM & vendor QC etc. The Indica was an extremely simple car mechanically but known for its poor reliability. On the other hand, I know of a few W221 & W222 S-Class owners who are happily using their cars in the 5th - 10th year of ownership, with an average of 1 issue / year (which really is acceptable for that kind of car).

DIY and all is awesome and I respect members who DIY, but I personally just don't have the time for the same. As long as a car works reliably for 10ish years and has enough after-market support, that's good enough for me.

Here's what BHPian batish had to say on the matter:

Probably I am old school but I have the same exact thought regarding vehicles longevity. 10-15 years is absolutely absurd.

I usually buy the top end variants as I keep the vehicles till the government and/or judiciary intervenes.

There is absolutely no sense as a consumer to get rid of perfectly fine vehicles. Always a wonderful, stress free feel to drive a vehicle kept in a mint condition.

I'm all in for DIY repairabililty. I wish the government mandates to manufacturers to release service manuals for their products. Only then competition in this industry would increase which I guess would open their eyes.

I can pretty much service my vehicle but due to warranty statutes I cannot. So after few months I have to waste my whole day in getting something done which takes half an hour.

I wish there is a movement like this in India.

Would make vehicle owning peaceful.

TBH, all the vehicles produced today can easily last 20 years.

Coming to your questions:

• Till date haven't seen any company which priortises these ethos. We have german companies here which charge pretty hefty sum for just unlocking Apple Carplay on infotainment.
• Seems pretty difficult considering no manufacturer would like to let go their share of profits.
• I guess first we need manufacturers to come up in this aspect. Just like consumers today are aware about safety. They would be aware about it too. Will take some time.

Here's what BHPian Chanda Das had to say on the matter:

I completely agree. One of the main reasons why I bought my 2017 Hyundai Creta 1.6 petrol automatic was because I got access to its service manuals before buying the car. Annual services cost us around INR 1500-1800 on average obviously through the DIY route. More details in this link.

But guess what, we cannot access those service manuals from India without using a powerful virtual private network (VPN) system. These service manuals are available in European servers in countries where the Creta isn't even sold just because their laws make it mandatory for car manufacturers to share these service manuals with interested customers, independent repair workshops, DIYers, etc.

I miss the old days when it was a common sight to see people working on their cars at home often on Sundays. People used to take pride in being able to service their cars themselves. Today it is usually frowned upon. Those days the user manuals would often be like a miniature service manual in itself usually with details like engine valve adjustment procedure guides, etc but alas no more. With the passage of time, more and more people chose the easier life and left their vehicles in the hands of authorized workshops for servicing them. Once the car manufacturers realized this, it all went downhill from there. Today, authorized workshops are nothing more than replacement centres instead of what they were supposed to be - repair centres. And it is not surprising that approximately 60-80 % of a car dealership's income is from its service centres and not from selling cars.

I am absolutely appalled by the judiciary which seemingly endorsed and legalized the harebrained idea of the government to scrap vehicles based on their age alone. What were they even thinking ?

In this regard, I have a huge amount of respect for people/organisations/teams/etc like Louis Rossman of the Rossman Repair Group, NorthridgeFix, Samcrac, Scotty Kilmer, etc to name a few who have been promoting DIY amongst the masses. Here in India, the Youtube channels of Abhijit from a2z car service (mainly for Hyundai cars), Technical Gyan, Al Ansari Automobile, Mukesh Chandra Gond, etc seem to be moving in the right direction.

But haters will point to the majority of JustRolledIn videos on YouTube to show why DIY is bad almost as if to imply that authorized workshops are flawless

Personally, I feel that although it is good to have authorized workshops and aftermarket workshops as a backup plan, DIY should be the first choice and a skill passed down the generations. I seem to recall hearing/reading somewhere that one could rent car tools by the hour/minute somewhere in Canada. That could be an option in India too for a beginner DIYer if the prices are reasonable. And just like we have classes/studios/workshops/etc for Yoga, martial arts, musical instruments, dance, etc, maybe similar classes are the need of the hour in the realm of DIY related to consumer electronics, vehicles, etc too. One can only dream ...

Here's what BHPian GForceEnjoyer had to say on the matter:

I value longevity the most. This is because of the length of time for which we like to keep our cars. Other than that, everyday practicality is also high on the list, because that's what keeps you happy even after decades of ownership! Any ideal car should strike a good balance here.

I also fully support right to repair. We managed to turn a 40k+ rupee AC repair estimate into a 12k one by taking our business to someone who could repair instead of blindly replace!

While I don't have an opinion on DIY service versus authorised dealerships (you do you!), the biggest issue in my eyes is not our personal preferences. It is absolutely ridiculous that in the eyes of the law, a perfectly compliant vehicle becomes a health hazard overnight after turning 15 years old.

It's only getting worse. Now, the law says that a diesel car manufactured as recently as March 2020 suddenly starts bellowing smoke into the air, only during the winter months and in only one city!

Buying and using one car for decades is far better than throwing away perfectly good cars that are being made artificially unusable. The less said about ethanol blending the better!

The reason I'm highlighting this is because apart from owners who fight tooth and nail to keep their cars for a long time, those unwilling or unable to make that effort of re registration are forced to buy a new car. The choice is unfortunately already made for them by default!

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.