Comment on There was a time when everyone had common sense
horse_battery_staple@lemmy.world 2 weeks agoWell, they don’t last far longer as a whole, but the advances in machining tolerances and material science, the mechanical internals can go far longer without anything more than fluid changes.
As far as longevity, soy based wiring harnesses, poorly shielded ECUs, and borked software updates are what are killing cars these days.
HelixDab2@lemm.ee 1 week ago
As a whole, they def. do last longer. I can look on FB Marketplace right now and find cars that are in fairly good, operational condition with 250,000 miles. The issues you’re talking about aren’t the kind of major mechanical things that become improbably expensive to repair, e.g., a broken timing chain with high interference valves & cylinders. Although yeah, replacing a main wiring harness on a car is a PITA and very expensive unless you can find a functional used one on eBay.
Also, there’s not great empirical evidence that the soy-based insulation is significantly worse than its petroleum based counterpart. There’s a ton of anecdotal claims about it attracting rodents, but no direct evidence AFAIK. The class-action lawsuits over rodent damage have been dismissed. And, TBF, I’ve had older cars that had wiring chewed by mice. Part of the difference with newer cars seems to be that there’s just more wiring packed into smaller areas, areas that look like great nests for rodents; you didn’t see that kind of wiring density 20 years ago.