Built in obsolescence?

[200955]

Some of you may be aware that when incandescent light bulbs came out it was shortly after that manufacturers where found to have predetermined their life span by using elements of a certain size so the surge from turning on the light would destroy it in about 100 flicks of the switch.

I recently read what some would call a "conspiracy theory" pertaining to modern cars with so many circuit boards and onboard computers. Apparently cars today could in fact be programmed to give the owner a "false positive" to turn on dash imoji's in hopes of sending the owners to the dealers out of fear. It also went on to say that timers built within the code could delay or stop certain functions at a predetermined mileage or time.

As far fetched as this may sound, it is a known fact that most refrigerators today have only a five year lifespan as do other major appliances. What company in their right mind would build something to last extensively and where would their future sales come from if this were the case. Why do cars with such modern technology still rust, or unexpected occurrences still happen that even dealers can't diagnose on the very vehicles they sell? Why are there no more grease points like cars of the past? Is Big Brother constantly in touch with our modern rides and actually determining it's failures? Interesting to say the least! What do you think? Should we be putting tin foil over our cars external antennas or disconnecting them completely? Or is it that we are really in the age of disposable vehicles that no one would ever want to restore as time goes by like the ones of the 50's, 60's and some from the 70's.

Have cars become merely an object of vanity and what some would call "a 3 dressed up as a 9" - looks great from the outside, mostly crap otherwise. Yeah, interesting theory!

 

[Sig cx-5]

Yeah, just like big pharma has suppressed a cure for cancer. Conspiracists are everywhere!

 

[youri]

I have yet to see with my own eyes a car actually perform a programmed timed failure. The last car I got rid of was this year and it was a 2010 mazda 3 which was still running fine after 14 years. The new owner will likely still have many more years of good service with it.

The thing to understand is that every manufacturer find ways to optimize their products. Manufacturing process back in the days were not as precise so everything was overbuilt. It was a waste but things tended to last a long time. But they still needed to be repaired.

Old cars could last a long time, but you forget how unreliable they were. Take a moment to remember that a fuel stop also often required an oil top up. When is the last time that you heard someone say they had to stop on the side of the road to add water because their engine ran too hot ? The cars are way more reliable today than they used to be. Repair costs are higher because the cars are more complex.

People used to say, don’t buy a car with electric windows because it is more expensive to repair. In todays world, it is almost impossible to find a car with manual windows. But they have also become more reliable. With modern car when is the last time that you heard someone needing to repair their car window regulator? How old was the car?

 

[Lazy2.5]

Interesting, so when would the time failure be programmed on a Skyactiv vehicle that has made it to 600,000KM with nothing but routine maintenance?

As far as Skyactiv's go, the rust issue is due to a vehicle designed primarily for the Japanese market (Which does not use salt) Being exported and then driven in markets that do use salt.

How well built could each vehicle be, when millions upon millions need to be built, just to try and meet the demands of our massive population? Of course there will be quality issues that are unintentional.

And intentional as well. Manufacturers want the car to be well built and long lasting enough to build brand loyalty, but not so well built and long lasting that their now loyal customer won't be interested in purchasing their latest model.

The timed failure thing sounds a bit nutty, if I am honest, but i'm sure has been done by certain manufacturers. It's likely in the part which failed itself, not just the electronics.

Looking over my car, which has been in my family since it was first driven off the lot, I am failing to see where this vehicle has been intentionally built to fail. Everything is well built and long lasting. I do see components which were not designed specifically for the market this vehicle was destined for , (Canada,) Such as certain suspension components, but that's another story.

 

[200955]

Hey guys, don't shoot the messenger! I'm only telling you of a person's theory so please don't point your negativity to me as though I composed it. I found it rather interesting like Micheal Myers might come up with. I personally believe autos today actually do require more in the way of preventative maintenance and as costs for everything associated increases many are not able to stick to a service schedule. And no, electric windows aren't more reliable - we just had a poster with this issue recently. Judging by the number of issues stated on this forum alone (and others I belong to) I can't help but wonder what's going on. Perhaps what the author was really alluding to is that cars are getting just too complicated for DIY'ers to fix. Weather that's intentional or not, who can say. Special tools, special diagnostic apparatus, and little thought to the placement of items that have a short lifespan leave some people thinking " what the heck were the engineers thinking when they did this?" That is my opinion and what I feel lead the writer to his conclusions.

 

[Sig cx-5]

Bottom line, if you believe vehicles are being engineered to fail, you're a conspiracist.

 

[200955]

Bottom line, if you believe vehicles are being engineered to fail, you're a conspiracist.

That being the case, the entire crew at On Star, GM's flagship monitoring system were conspiracists as well. Having developed a communication system with their higher end vehicles they could literally disable a vehicle should it be stolen or at the behest of law enforcement. Furthermore they could pinpoint the exact position of the car at anytime using GPS. But you already knew that, right!
Imagine your car calling a help center should you be disabled or in an accident, pretty neat I'd say. I think where ever communication exists the possibility of manipulation does as well. I'm not alone here, some on this forum are calling Mazda to have their TCU deactivated and I can fully understand this. The strangest story that I've read in the news involves robotic carpet sweepers chasing peoples pets and issuing obscenities to owners via their cell phones. The manufacturer claims to have a software patch out by the end of November. On a personal note, after one year of ownership, my CX 5 would display the service icon wrench in the cluster for no reason at all - confirmed by my dealer. He gave me a solution: push the odometer post in, foot off the brake, push the start button until the icon starts flashing, let the post out and release the start button. Believe me it works but now I use my scanner to do the same. It's like an episode of "The Unexplained" and it would occur exactly every 3 months. Little wonder I'm a little sceptical when it comes to manipulation. Perhaps others should be too.

 

[Sig cx-5]

That being the case, the entire crew at On Star, GM's flagship monitoring system were conspiracists as well. Having developed a communication system with their higher end vehicles they could literally disable a vehicle should it be stolen or at the behest of law enforcement. Furthermore they could pinpoint the exact position of the car at anytime using GPS. But you already knew that, right!
Imagine your car calling a help center should you be disabled or in an accident, pretty neat I'd say. I think where ever communication exists the possibility of manipulation does as well. I'm not alone here, some on this forum are calling Mazda to have their TCU deactivated and I can fully understand this. The strangest story that I've read in the news involves robotic carpet sweepers chasing peoples pets and issuing obscenities to owners via their cell phones. ...

Ok, thanks for confirming my suspicions.

Take care!

 

[youri]

The service icon is just a bug that happens because your car has two service remainder that sometimes get out of sync. There is one in the center console software and one in the dashboard. If it happens it just need to be reset with the procedure you mentioned. Happened to me once a week after getting my oil changed. Called the dealer and they told me how to reset. Hasn’t pop up since.

Sure there is possibility of thinkering, but then there always has been. You don’t need to be able to communicate with the car to make it fail after a certain mileage. It is fine to be a little skeptical and second guess things, but it goes both ways and we should also be skeptical of the conspiracies.

Can manufacturers be dishonest and introduced planned failure? Yes, they have always been. Is it a widespread phenomena in the car industry? I don’t think so. Are car more difficult to maintain yourself by DIY? A little bit, car are more complex now and rely more on digital technology which makes items harder to repair, but on another side it is also way easier to diagnose problem nowadays with the easy access to ODB scanner and the internet.

Based on my personal experience on the car i have owned (20 years), the only thing i have had to replace are:
-brakes
-ball joint
—link kit
-hoses
-exhaust
-ac evaporator
-1x transmission
-1x alternator
-1x starter.
-1x infotainment system motherboard (under manufacturer extended warranty)
-1x infotainment cracked screen
-evap actuator
- fuel pump
-rear window shattered
- front windshield

I typically keep my car until they are about 10 years old. And they were Mazdas, Ford and plymouth. None of these were planned obsolescence and the only electronics where the infotainment systems which are not that critical. So like i said if there is planned obsolescence, i have not myself experienced it. There are manufacturers that don’t put the effort in to make things reliable. For example, i only had to replace the exhaust on my 2010 mazda 3 until it was about 12 year old because it was stainless steel, but my ford Edge 2011 exhaust was regular steel so that one had to be replaced after about 7 years.