>How would they know this unless they were already making them barely good enough to last beyond the warranty period in northern climates? Life time estimation

>How would they know this unless they were already making them barely good enough to last beyond the warranty period in northern climates? Life time estimation for parts has existed for over 100 years. It is not a novel science. Also a fun little exercise, what do car companies sell, besides new cars? That is right, they all sell used cars. For most car companies used cars are a huge part of their businesses model, their ideal customer buys new cars often AND sells their old car to the manufacturer, so they can sell it again. >Or maybe one day the only vintage cars will be same ones there are now, only the ones made without chips at all might be capable of operating beyond 30 to 50 years ever again. All cars are made to die, there is no alternative. If the owner wants to avoid that, they will have to do constant maintenance. Vintage cars do not exist because rust didn't exist in the 1990s, but because they were extremely well cared for and had significant replacements.