brianlux said:

bbiggs said:

When I think of planned obsolescence, I think of household mechanicals and automobiles.  Decades ago, furnaces used to last for 30 years in many cases.  Now, 15-20 is an average range.  I can think of three friends with VERY old refrigerators in their garage (beer fridge) that still run like a top.  I’ve had to replace two in 15 years.  Old trucks could easily get 200,000+ miles with regular maintenance.  Today, that’s a major rarity.  Stoves, water heaters...the list goes on.  Are we really worse at making stuff now than we were 50+ years ago? 

I worked with a guy in an auto parts store in San Francisco from 1972 to '73 who was a total car fanatic.  He told me convincingly that "with our modern technology" automobiles should be able to run 500K to 1 Million miles.  He thought 200K was no where near long enough!

A few years later- mid 70's-  I had an old Ford Econoline (I believe it was a 1968 model)  that turned over it's 100K odometer three times! I drove it cross country and it was struck by lighting which blew out the starter solenoid.  I just jumped it with a screw driver to get it started until I got tired of that and bought a new solenoid.   When I got rid of that van, it still ran fine!  I gave it to my brother who used for quite awhile after that.

My '65 Malibu blew an alternator outside of Kansas City once many years ago and I went to a wrecking yard and the guy didn't have any Chevrolets but he had a Cadillac from which he pulled the alternator and said, "This will work".  Worked just fine.  I was a lousy mechanic, but back then, almost anyone could work on a car and keep it running for a long time. 

oftenreading said:

I certainly won’t argue against the fact that many bells and whistles on modern appliances are unnecessary. Most people don’t want them, most people don’t even know how they work, and they just make the unit more expensive and more challenging to fix. On the other hand, you can’t really argue against the fact that modern cars are far, far safer than cars of decades ago, and have the potential to be much more fuel efficient. Modern appliances  are also generally more fuel efficient. 

brianlux said:

Meltdown99 said:

I dunno.  You have heard the saying “ they don’t make them like they used to...good thing they don’t.  

Cars are better today by a long shot.  If you can’t get 300 thousand plus kms on a car today...really?  

smart phones?  How many upgrade every 2 years?

tvs?  How many upgrade just for that latest and greatest in high def?

and on and on with so many different products.

i would say slick marketing by these companies are equally responsible...

The auto industry does a good job of recycling.  Autos that are no longer useful end up at auto recyclers???

I would agree that in some ways cars are better today- they generally get better gas mileage and have many more safety features.  But, personally, I think in general they are not as attractive or "cool" looking (if that matters- to me it does), and, especially considering how much more advanced our technology is, they do not last nearly as long as they should.   I know a fellow (a former club member here) who worked for a Toyota dealership who told me about how the second generation Prius (I have one, an '08) were made so well that the shop mechanics began to complain that they weren't getting enough of them in for repairs and it was costing them jobs.  The next generation Prius were nat made as well and none since.  Most second generation Prius will last at least 300,000 miles (almost 483,000 KM).  All cars could easily last that long, but the average new car today will only run on average 150,000 miles (241,000 KM).  That's inexcusable.