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Old cars were more tinkerable and less reliable. Reliability is a curve; a function of how much maintenance is spent on it. No question at all that a modern c
by EliRivers 12y ago
Old cars were more tinkerable and less reliable.
Reliability is a curve; a function of how much maintenance is spent on it.
No question at all that a modern car with zero maintenance will be more reliable than an old car was with zero maintenance. But with a surprisingly small amount of maintenance, an old can can be more reliable than a modern car with the same amount of maintenance. Sure, it'll take a while before one of them fails, but I can (and do) keep a thirty year old car running with maintenance that probably averages to about ten minutes a week. I suspect very strongly that if I spent ten minutes a week maintaining a modern car (which, from what I can tell, would be me looking at the lights on the dashboard to see if the car is asking for more water or oil), it would fail before the old car did.
- pjc50 12y agoFor certain cars, yes; there are plenty around that have been round their odometers a few times. But we've forgotten the higher proportion of cars that were lemons straight from the factory or suffered early rust or electrical failures (this may be a more British thing).
- dagw 12y agoI think you are looking at a strong case of survivorship bias. The sample of 30 year old cars that still work represent some of the best made and most reliable cars made 30 years ago. Most of the unreliable and badly made cars from 30 years ago have died and been turned to scrap.
- EliRivers 12y agoWhat proportion of modern cars will still be running in 30 years? I suspect it will be less than the proportion of 30 year-old cars that are running now. Some modern cars, I swear, almost feel like disposable items.
- dagw 12y agoThere where some truly terrible cars in the 70's and 80's. The Chevy Vega and Ford Pinto are just two classic American examples. Britain had a bunch of disastrous Morris and Austins. Alfa Romeo and Lancia also had some legendarily unreliable cars in that time period. And let's not even begin to talk about the brands from east of the Iron Curtain. At the end of the day I'll happily take the worst cars of today over the worst cars of the 70's and 80's.
- jsight 12y agoI suspect that the proportions will be similar. There are plenty of amazingly reliable vehicles being built today.