5 ms·

Consumers increasingly prioritized features over quality now they’re surprised when cars last less and repairs cost more.

mikestew 4y ago
And just when, at your best approximation, did consumers have an opportunity to vote on the issue? Oh, sure, "vote with your wallet" when there's a distinct dividing line between "quality" brand over here, and "feature" brand over here. And I would be negligent not to point out that you haven't even made the case for autos being of lower quality than in the past. Evidence would indicate otherwise. IOW, laying the blame at the feet of consumers is unsupportable bollocks. They buy what's on offer, and what's on offer is what makes more money for manufacturers.
- MichaelZuo 4y ago
  To be fair to the parent, Toyota/Lexus is perceived world-wide as the archetypical 'quality' brand whereas Mercedes is the archetypical 'feature' brand, at least in the last decade.
  - mikestew 4y ago
    That's not "fair to the parent", that refutes the parent comment. Otherwise MB would be selling more cars than Toyota. And I don't even have to look it up to know that's not true.
    - MichaelZuo 4y ago
      No? Mercedes obviously isn't the only other car manufacturer. They're are many others and they nearly all have worse 'quality' reputations. Obviously the sum total of all their sales is way higher than Toyota's.
carrotcarrot 4y ago
Quality is revealed over the lifetime of the vehicle, not on the showroom floor like features are. And quality cars tend to last longer, they're not a great investment for manufacturers. Besides, how are features and quality zero-sum? Can't you have both? These fancy features still make cars difficult to repair.
anm89 4y ago
Do they? I tried to buy a new car last year and gave up. They try so hard to push all the BS feature packages on you that they won't actually just sell you the car you want. So the base car costs 26k. It only comes in Orange. But if you don't want it in orange and you want us to remove the interior fart smell package you are going to have to upgrade to the metaverse deluxe package that replaces all the windshields with a vr set. Unless you are a fucking moron and you can't afford the upgrade to 48k and you are too stupid to understand how great replacing every functional thing in the car with a touchscreen is. Then just order the orange one from the factory and we'll deliver it in 2026. Ok, whatever, I'll keep my 2011 Mazda that I want to get rid of but will still run for another 20 years if I change the oil once a decade
fckgw 4y ago
Cars last longer than ever. 50 years ago the average lifetime of a car was around 100k miles and now it's more than double that. We have more complexity in the creature comforts like A/C systems, but cars are, on the whole, way better built than they were in the past.

mikestew 4y ago

And just when, at your best approximation, did consumers have an opportunity to vote on the issue? Oh, sure, "vote with your wallet" when there's a distinct dividing line between "quality" brand over here, and "feature" brand over here. And I would be negligent not to point out that you haven't even made the case for autos being of lower quality than in the past. Evidence would indicate otherwise. IOW, laying the blame at the feet of consumers is unsupportable bollocks. They buy what's on offer, and what's on offer is what makes more money for manufacturers.

MichaelZuo 4y ago
To be fair to the parent, Toyota/Lexus is perceived world-wide as the archetypical 'quality' brand whereas Mercedes is the archetypical 'feature' brand, at least in the last decade.
- mikestew 4y ago
  That's not "fair to the parent", that refutes the parent comment. Otherwise MB would be selling more cars than Toyota. And I don't even have to look it up to know that's not true.
  - MichaelZuo 4y ago
    No? Mercedes obviously isn't the only other car manufacturer. They're are many others and they nearly all have worse 'quality' reputations. Obviously the sum total of all their sales is way higher than Toyota's.

carrotcarrot 4y ago

Quality is revealed over the lifetime of the vehicle, not on the showroom floor like features are. And quality cars tend to last longer, they're not a great investment for manufacturers. Besides, how are features and quality zero-sum? Can't you have both? These fancy features still make cars difficult to repair.

anm89 4y ago

Do they? I tried to buy a new car last year and gave up. They try so hard to push all the BS feature packages on you that they won't actually just sell you the car you want. So the base car costs 26k. It only comes in Orange. But if you don't want it in orange and you want us to remove the interior fart smell package you are going to have to upgrade to the metaverse deluxe package that replaces all the windshields with a vr set. Unless you are a fucking moron and you can't afford the upgrade to 48k and you are too stupid to understand how great replacing every functional thing in the car with a touchscreen is. Then just order the orange one from the factory and we'll deliver it in 2026. Ok, whatever, I'll keep my 2011 Mazda that I want to get rid of but will still run for another 20 years if I change the oil once a decade

fckgw 4y ago

Cars last longer than ever. 50 years ago the average lifetime of a car was around 100k miles and now it's more than double that. We have more complexity in the creature comforts like A/C systems, but cars are, on the whole, way better built than they were in the past.