429 horsepower for the CLS, E-Class Coupe and Cabriolet.
(AutoBlog.com)
Thursday, January 25, 2018
This Would Be A Fun Family Hauler
Mercedes-AMG 53 | Inline-six turbo hybrid and a bounty of tech
429 horsepower for the CLS, E-Class Coupe and Cabriolet.
(AutoBlog.com)
429 horsepower for the CLS, E-Class Coupe and Cabriolet.
(AutoBlog.com)
I Still Can't Believe How Good Lookin' Toyota's Sedans Are Now
2019 Toyota Avalon revealed | Bigger, sleeker and loads more tech
First Toyota to come with Apple CarPlay and adaptive suspension
(AutoBlog.com)
First Toyota to come with Apple CarPlay and adaptive suspension
(AutoBlog.com)
Heed This Advice About Your Dream Car
Modern Cars Are A Nightmare That Will Soon Haunt Used Car Buyers Everywhere
As cars get stuffed with more and more technology, today's new cars are in danger of becoming all-but worthless as soon as a complex component fails, making the used car market a minefield
With surprise costs like these waiting to bend you over and insert a large cactus into your darkest recesses, how long is it going to be before any car outside its warranty period becomes a risk not worth taking? If 12 months into ownership you’re smacked with a four-figure bill, you might as well have bought new. Aftermarket warranties aren’t worth the paper they’re written on (having had two myself and witnessing first-hand the various infuriating get-out clauses), and with cheap PCP and lease deals aplenty, used car ownership suddenly doesn’t look quite as rosy as it used to.
(CarThrottle.com)
As cars get stuffed with more and more technology, today's new cars are in danger of becoming all-but worthless as soon as a complex component fails, making the used car market a minefield
To cut a long story short, the bill was more than half
the trade-in value of the car. Parts for high-pressure injection systems
are expensive. If the bill had been for crash damage, my
insurer would have written the car off. These repairs aren’t driveway
tasks, either. Installing the injectors is no big deal (although the
rocker cover had to come off), but they need special coding and setup
that only a main dealer or specialist will have the equipment for. Even
if you ask your friendly local independent to do it, they’ll most likely
just send the injectors off to the same specialist you could have
visited yourself.
If the idea of four-figure bills that you can’t reduce by doing the spannering yourself doesn’t frighten you just a bit, it should. Remember, my car is a decade old. Most cars that have been made since then also have a high-pressure fuel injection system, with petrols having joined the fun many years ago for the sake of efficiency. That’s also far from the only palm-moisteningly costly part that could fail as modernish cars age.
If the idea of four-figure bills that you can’t reduce by doing the spannering yourself doesn’t frighten you just a bit, it should. Remember, my car is a decade old. Most cars that have been made since then also have a high-pressure fuel injection system, with petrols having joined the fun many years ago for the sake of efficiency. That’s also far from the only palm-moisteningly costly part that could fail as modernish cars age.
With surprise costs like these waiting to bend you over and insert a large cactus into your darkest recesses, how long is it going to be before any car outside its warranty period becomes a risk not worth taking? If 12 months into ownership you’re smacked with a four-figure bill, you might as well have bought new. Aftermarket warranties aren’t worth the paper they’re written on (having had two myself and witnessing first-hand the various infuriating get-out clauses), and with cheap PCP and lease deals aplenty, used car ownership suddenly doesn’t look quite as rosy as it used to.
Expand this to today’s cars. Is there something you’ve
got your eye on? Something you’d like to poach from the classifieds when
it gets old and cheap enough? Forget it, unless you’ve got big cash
reserves. Things like the complex electrics in modern swivelling
headlights or keyless entry systems, emissions-reduction systems, active
driver aids and more will be ridiculously expensive to fix. Why bother
at all? When the cars are a decade old, all this tech is just putting
your wallet at ever greater risk of being violated.
One answer, of course, is to buy even older cars; simpler cars with simpler engines. Stuff from the early 2000s and pre-Millennium. Simpler usually means cheaper to fix. How does the saying go? The simplest solutions are often the best. When it comes to car makers, this nugget of old-fashioned wisdom has long since been forgotten. And used car buyers like us are the ones who’ll end up paying for it.
One answer, of course, is to buy even older cars; simpler cars with simpler engines. Stuff from the early 2000s and pre-Millennium. Simpler usually means cheaper to fix. How does the saying go? The simplest solutions are often the best. When it comes to car makers, this nugget of old-fashioned wisdom has long since been forgotten. And used car buyers like us are the ones who’ll end up paying for it.
(CarThrottle.com)
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