Planned Obsolescence by Auto Manufacturers

[MT1]

This has been going on for decades. It's not just Auto Manufacturers, it's all Manufacturers. Products are no longer designed to last, they are designed to last just long enough that the complaints are minimal at replacement time.

Yup, it was a thing when my grand-dad worked for Ford, when Nixon was in office. Digital made it easier to make everything disposable. Like some people's +$1k smart phones that are dead in a couple of years due to the battery failing. At least through the 90s we could still repair circuit boards, fix soldered connections, so on.

Maybe off-topic, but some built their own vacuum tubes, {edit} link is clean, Hand Made Vacuum Tubes by Claude Paillard,

Sponsored

 

[ecidiego]

Haven't uploaded a video to YouTube in awhile, but is it now a prerequisite to put a dumb face with every video thumbnail that goes on YouTube?

Mr Beast and his gaping mouth open in every thumbnail I want to punch him in the face so bad

 

[Janster]

Sorry…I couldn’t watch anymore than about 30 seconds of that…..

I don’t believe they’re engineering them to fail (on purpose), but they are using lesser quality cheap parts - to save $$.

Ok….this is how my brain works:

If they used quality parts that could last longer….they’d be more expensive.
#1) Additional cost

Engineering / designing these good parts to fail on purpose…..
#2) Additional cost

Why would a company spend more $ on parts that should last, then design them to fail?

Cheap parts it is……

 

[LowOnCash]

Just another Youtube Moron getting his 5 minutes of glory as your forced to look at their friggen ugly faces. This is YouTube at its best.

 

[smlobx]

I’m sure everyone knows, particularly those who are in some form of manufacturing, but in addition to engineers the bean counters also play a big role in determining how components are built.
Then you have marketing and their damn focus groups who help determine what price point to market your product for.
That is the conundrum of modern manufacturing.

Could the Jeep engineers build the absolute best and most reliable off road vehicle in the world? Probably but you couldn’t afford it.
Take for example Ford. Now they are getting back into the truly high performance game and let their engineers design a monster Mustang called the GTD. It costs several hundred thousand dollars but it is up there with some of Porsche’s best (which also costs several hundred dollars). They just wanted to make a statement before they start their involvement with the Red Bull F1 Program.

 

[KX L]

I'm not going to argue with the OP. That said I disagree with his reason for not buying the Gladiator. As was said above, it's a life changer---at least for me. If you like it and can afford it then buy or lease it.

Planned obsolescence started at the turn of the 20th century with the manufacturers selling light bulbs---Phillips, General Electric, and Osram. They formed the Phobeus Cartel in 1925 to deliberately shorten how many hours the bulb would last---at the time they had bulbs lasting 2,500 hours. They all shortened it to 1,000 hrs so they could sell more.

More and more manufacturers went the same route to include U.S. manufactured cars of the 70's and 80's. But after such bad publicity most decided they would improve the quality and ran whole media campaigns about it. No I definitely don't fall for any campaign put out by a manufacturer but the proof was the cars did have better quality.

In the U.S. manufacturers get around the issue simply by changing the design of the car every couple of years and we're all, from a very young age, taught to want the newest stuff. Just look at the stupid NEW kid toys that come out every year as a must have---and parents literally fighting is stores to get the last one.

The same is true with vehicles. Each year one "must have" gadget or color is available on the new Gladiator. I bought my 2022 Mojave knowing I would keep it until I kicked the bucket---but then I also spent $ 2K on getting the best Mopar warranty for 8 years and 85K miles.

Bottomline is I don't buy the planned obsolescence of the vehicle itself.

 

[cuteangel1007]

I know that I’m no expert by any means, yet I also know that this trend has been happening for years. Just like Chasm and Mr_Bill said, this is not a new thing. My son read a report to me that he found about Tupperware going out of business, it’s because their products last too long, on average 3 generations. I am not sure where my son found that report, but he knows not to believe everything you see online and doesn’t have social media accounts and such. My son is 34, my oldest kid.
My point, this is not new, this is not shocking to me, this is the manufactures way to stay in business. Another example of twisted corporate thinking, my friend’s husband was killed in a rollover accident in their Ford suv, she sued Ford, during the lawsuit proceedings it came out that Ford knew that their roofs would collapse in a rollover, but decided not to do a recall because fixing the issue would be more expensive than settling with lawsuits, if any are filed. Disgusting.

 

[Chasm]

Sorry…I couldn’t watch anymore than about 30 seconds of that…..

I don’t believe they’re engineering them to fail (on purpose), but they are using lesser quality cheap parts - to save $$.

Ok….this is how my brain works:

If they used quality parts that could last longer….they’d be more expensive.
#1) Additional cost

Engineering / designing these good parts to fail on purpose…..
#2) Additional cost

Why would a company spend more $ on parts that should last, then design them to fail?

Cheap parts it is……

This is the primary truth. There may be a few companies that spent the engineering hours necessary to schedule failure, but the truth is that the more complex the system, the harder that is, and most engineering teams are not smart enough to plan a scheduled failure well enough to have the desired effect. There would be a lot of bankruptcy due to accidentally failing within warranty.
In engineering, you set your marker with < or >. If you plan to last "more than X miles", you don't accurately predict lifespan, but nearly all mistakes are out past the warranty. You don't guarantee sales, but you're not likely to lose money on existing sales. If you plan for "will fail by X miles" you more accurately plan for lifespan, but nearly all of your mistakes will fall within the warranty.

Not to mention, as someone already noted: Selling something that fails early doesn't exactly equate to increased sales. If my truck failed shortly after warranty and it seemed planned, I and many others would never buy that brand again.

Cost cutting (or more accurately ROI) is the real culprit in most cases.

Of course there's another factor. Those appliances I mentioned, a lot of people don't do the maintenance I do, so to them they would have failed long ago.

Some people are like "the heated seat stopped working, I need a new truck" and other people are like "the seat only falls through the floor on big bumps, so it's good for a few more years".

 

[Cansberry]

Not quite the reaction I was expecting from this group, but FYI this is a highlight of an hour documentary which has documented proof from company emails and case history, as well as lawsuits. Not just some random keyboard warrior.

That channel is definitely a random keyboard warrior. Some 27 year old "self employed" dude projecting his opinions on top of easily Googled facts.

Planned obsolescence is a thing. Has been for a long while. It was introduced as a concept in the 1930s and became a manufacturer standard in this country and abroad between the 70s and 90s. Worrying about it on a 2026 vs 2008 vehicle from the same company is silly. They're largely built using the same techniques, suppliers, and from the same plant.

You might miss a few dipsticks on the newer one. But you should know to perform those fluid changes anyway. The intervals haven't changed all that much. Otherwise, minimal difference in quality of Jeep vehicles since. Still hit or miss on a good one or a lemon. Still average ease of maintenence. Still one of the only SFA consumer vehicles you can get.

 

[Cansberry]

Yup, it was a thing when my grand-dad worked for Ford, when Nixon was in office. Digital made it easier to make everything disposable. Like some people's +$1k smart phones that are dead in a couple of years due to the battery failing. At least through the 90s we could still repair circuit boards, fix soldered connections, so on.

Maybe off-topic, but some built their own vacuum tubes, {edit} link is clean, Hand Made Vacuum Tubes by Claude Paillard,

As a side note, you can replace the battery in a smartphone

 

[MT1]

As a side note, you can replace the battery in a smartphone

Can you without special tools, or can you pay someone to replace it for you?

I still have a Galaxy SIII. On it, like the smart phones before it, I can easily, with my fingers, pop off the cover and remove or replace the battery. Of course, that was the last smart phone where I could easily replace the operating system, and have a near top device.

 

[Mr Miami]

Man. Whatever happened to people knowing not to believe everything they see on the internet? Especially a site where any idiot with an iPhone and a tripod can toss their opinion out there

I thought everything on the internet was true ???

 

[Mr Miami]

Maybe someone here can post on how to flash the computer to tell it not to self-destruct after the 36/60 month warranty period expires. Perhaps the computer can be told that the vehicle was purchased today and it will restart the 36/60 warranty.

That would be great for those of us who keep out vehicles a long time. We could tell our local Jeep service people what we have done and likely convince them that the warranty has been reset.

 

[Deleted member 57233]

It's just bad business to make something that lasts forever, you eventually run out of customers. Capitalism requires growth, shareholders demand returns. The best players in this game know how to walk the fine line of having their products wear out just long enough after purchase to ensure a repeat customer.

 

[RCB]

Government regulations and especially EPA has played a major role in shortening the life span of our vehicles. Weight and MPG mandates are a big problem.

Sponsored