Engineered Obsolescence

thomasross20

Cost comes before all. Money talks. Sucks

mike_l

ICBM said:

mike_l said:

When I was working at Renault, one of the guys I worked with was going to his RTE (Renault Technical Expert - Master tech) course and one of the other guys had a brand new Scenic with all electric everything. However the Scenic lived up to Renaults electrical reputation, and, in the outside lane of either the M6 or M1 (I can't remember which) lost all the electrics, so no engine, brakes, steering, nothing........

Ouch.

Although would that not still leave you with non-power-assisted steering and brakes? So if you got it out of gear quickly while you still had some momentum you could - theoretically, assuming no heavy traffic coming up (by what is now faster than you) in the inside lane - get it onto the hard shoulder?

Speaking hypothetically of course. Not that I drive a Scenic or anything...

Lost everything. In early morning rush-hour.

chillidoggy

TTony said:

chillidoggy said:

TTony said:

jellyroll said:

Are you guys seriously arguing that cars today are inferior in reliability & longevity to the piles of sh*t we had in the seventies and eighties? It might be true for Mercs, but it's not true of any middle of the road (excuse the pun) brand.

Not the 70s & 80s, but I think we'll come to see cars made c1995-2010 as being the "best" built in terms of their durability.

There are exceptions that originate from Norfolk, TTony..................

True ... but normal people don't buy them

True.

Rocker

@Gassage, door handles cost about €15 a pair. And you need a pair for every door. Out of the box they look rubbish, poor castings and dreadful design. But they are all that the store had. For €20 a pair or a few Euro more (it hardly matters over time), these design flaws and bad castings could be got right. And it is the same with kitchen taps. And most other items we need and use every day. Most things are built down to a price and not priced appropriately for the design input. I don't want Rolex quality door handles but I do expect decent quality fittings that will last a number of years.

ICBM

mike_l said:

Lost everything. In early morning rush-hour.

Not good. Probably better than at night though… when you'd be left stationary in the outside lane with no lights.

Still a bit puzzled as to why you'd lose the steering and brakes when they're not electrically controlled, but presumably something else happened, like it put the steering lock on when the power went down? Don't know, I'm not familiar with the design of them.

I did once have to drive my old Citröen BX with almost total hydraulic failure though - at the end I was down to just the front brakes. No suspension, no power steering, no rear brakes - like driving a barge! Luckily only at very low speed through town just to get it as far as outside the garage and abandon it until the following morning.

Gassage

Rocker said:

@Gassage, door handles cost about €15 a pair. And you need a pair for every door. Out of the box they look rubbish, poor castings and dreadful design. But they are all that the store had. For €20 a pair or a few Euro more (it hardly matters over time), these design flaws and bad castings could be got right. And it is the same with kitchen taps. And most other items we need and use every day. Most things are built down to a price and not priced appropriately for the design input. I don't want Rolex quality door handles but I do expect decent quality fittings that will last a number of years.

have a look at this company- owned by a mate of mine:

http://www.itfitz.co.uk/

mike_l

ICBM said:

mike_l said:

Lost everything. In early morning rush-hour.

Not good. Probably better than at night though… when you'd be left stationary in the outside lane with no lights.

Still a bit puzzled as to why you'd lose the steering and brakes when they're not electrically controlled, but presumably something else happened, like it put the steering lock on when the power went down? Don't know, I'm not familiar with the design of them.

I did once have to drive my old Citröen BX with almost total hydraulic failure though - at the end I was down to just the front brakes. No suspension, no power steering, no rear brakes - like driving a barge! Luckily only at very low speed through town just to get it as far as outside the garage and abandon it until the following morning.

This one had electrically controlled brakes, and steering.

In the last 2 weeks, I've killed 4 cars because they needed new electric steering racks, which cost roughly what that cars were worth in a working state.

I understand the thinking was that electrics are more instantaneous than hydraulics for the braking system. I think I prefer the tried-and-tested system over the new less-well tested one.

 

ICBM

mike_l said:

This one had electrically controlled brakes, and steering.

In the last 2 weeks, I've killed 4 cars because they needed new electric steering racks, which cost roughly what that cars were worth in a working state.

I understand the thinking was that electrics are more instantaneous than hydraulics for the braking system. I think I prefer the tried-and-tested system over the new less-well tested one.

Hmmmm…. that's slightly worrying!

I always assumed that any electrical failure on a car would leave you with basic functions working, even if no longer power-assisted.

Rocker

Thanks @Gassage, I will make contact when I have my computer back. Your friend could add a search function on his website....

thomasross20

It's why the oil & gas industry still use ancient technology. It works, is tested and "reliable."