Reply to: Ripe for the scrapheap?

[expat]

Wasn't the Morris Minor one of the few cars that was designed to be repaired? Still see a few about today.

Quite a few products could benefit from a modular design but it goes against the principle of consumerism, everything in modern life is pitched in such a way that the average person needs to keep working in order to keep the economy going, we can’t have people stepping out of line and retiring early can we.

I'd guess that you see Minors around still because so many of them were made. But it's a good point. The Citroen 2CV was also made to be repaired, by a ham-fisted French farmer with a limited set of tools. The trouble is, it is higher-tech that has given us today's cars with longer life and lower fuel consumption.

But cars should not need to be replaced often, just for image. The Model T Ford didn't come with built-in obsolescence: a 1909 Model T was pretty much the same as a 1910 Model T, and a 1911 Model T wasn't much changed either (except that it had front doors). It was General Motors that invented the "model year" to persuade people to keep replacing their cars.

bye GM


As for consumerism, supporting the economy, and (especially) early retirement/withdrawal from the workforce, I agree too. Right now a big recession and bench time must be impacting on a lot of our plans.....

[DimPrawn]

Quite a few products could benefit from a modular design but it goes against the principle of consumerism, everything in modern life is pitched in such a way that the average person needs to keep working in order to keep the economy going, we can’t have people stepping out of line and retiring early can we.

Life's about film stars and less about mothers
It's all about fast cars and cussing each other
But it doesn't matter cause I'm packing plastic
And that's what makes my life so ******* fantastic

And I am a weapon of massive consumption
And it's not my fault it's how I'm programmed to function
I'll look at The Sun and I'll look in The Mirror
I'm on the right track yeah we're onto a winner

[gingerjedi]

We could do with more reusable cars. Engines for example should be based on an extensible engine pattern that inherits from a simple abstract base engine. That way we could keep an old car and just change the engine. Ditto for the other car parts and functions. We could design cars better and faster which would be more reliable and maintainable. In theory.

Wasn't the Morris Minor one of the few cars that was designed to be repaired? Still see a few about today.

Quite a few products could benefit from a modular design but it goes against the principle of consumerism, everything in modern life is pitched in such a way that the average person needs to keep working in order to keep the economy going, we can’t have people stepping out of line and retiring early can we.

[NickNick]

The majority of the trade-ins has keen at the really low end of the market.

This is just a way of sending uK taxpayers money to prop-up Korean car manufacturers such as Kia, Hyundai, Perodua, SsangYong and the like.

Not sure how you got to that. Apart from the fact that Ssang Yong is Chinese and Perodua is Malay, aren't people more likely to trade in these older cheaper cars? The in laws have just traded in a Daewoo for a new Citroen

[TimberWolf]

We could do with more reusable cars. Engines for example should be based on an extensible engine pattern that inherits from a simple abstract base engine. That way we could keep an old car and just change the engine. Ditto for the other car parts and functions. We could design cars better and faster which would be more reliable and maintainable. In theory.

[Brussels Slumdog]

I am on the scrap heap

The family car is ok Its me thats on the scrap heap due to out sourcing.

[Moscow Mule]

The catch is that you have to have owned the car for at least 12 months, ie your name on the log book, before you trade it in. It also has to have a currrent MoT.

I realise that, but if I owned a 10 year old Daewoo and fancied a new one, I'd be a mug to not use the scheme.

[sasguru]

The way to get car workers back to the production lines is really quite simple; car manufacturers need to tool up to make stuff people want to buy. FIAT are still doing OK in Europe with the 500 and the Alfa Mito; they’re small and efficient and appeal to women (especially Mrs Tester). GM died because they made too many cars in the US that nobody wanted and in Europe they made too many bland cars that couldn’t bring in a good margin. Again we come back to the most basic principle of business; find out and keep monitoring what people want to buy, and sell it to them.

Bollux. There's huge overcapacity in the car industry. The large firms were struggling even in the good times (e.g. Ford which makes good cars).
So some car companies MUST go bust for a healthy industry.

[DaveB]

I don't think getting 2-4k off a new car for this 10 year old car I found on Autotrader is that stupid...

1998 DAEWOO LANOS 1.6 SX 5dr Hatchback
Price: £220 ono
Features:
100,000 milesManualSilverPetrolHatchback1598 cc
Full Description:
Glossary of Terms
5 Door Hatchback, Silver, Petrol, Manual. £220 ono.

The catch is that you have to have owned the car for at least 12 months, ie your name on the log book, before you trade it in. It also has to have a currrent MoT.

[MrMark]

The way to get car workers back to the production lines is really quite simple; car manufacturers need to tool up to make stuff people want to buy. FIAT are still doing OK in Europe with the 500 and the Alfa Mito; they’re small and efficient and appeal to women (especially Mrs Tester). GM died because they made too many cars in the US that nobody wanted and in Europe they made too many bland cars that couldn’t bring in a good margin. Again we come back to the most basic principle of business; find out and keep monitoring what people want to buy, and sell it to them.

I think you'll find that both Honda and BMW (with the mini) were selling stuff people wanted to buy prior to the crash.

[Mich the Tester]

I think the point of this scheme has been to get car workers back working on the production line (and it's worked locally - both BMW in Cowley and Honda in Swindon have restarted their production lines). Forget any crap about the environment

The way to get car workers back to the production lines is really quite simple; car manufacturers need to tool up to make stuff people want to buy. FIAT are still doing OK in Europe with the 500 and the Alfa Mito; they’re small and efficient and appeal to women (especially Mrs Tester). GM died because they made too many cars in the US that nobody wanted and in Europe they made too many bland cars that couldn’t bring in a good margin. Again we come back to the most basic principle of business; find out and keep monitoring what people want to buy, and sell it to them.

[DimPrawn]

I think the point of this scheme has been to get car workers back working on the production line (and it's worked locally - both BMW in Cowley and Honda in Swindon have restarted their production lines). Forget any crap about the environment

The majority of the trade-ins has keen at the really low end of the market.

This is just a way of sending uK taxpayers money to prop-up Korean car manufacturers such as Kia, Hyundai, Perodua, SsangYong and the like.

[Cyberman]

My car is 10 years old but worth far more than 2K so the deal does nothing for me.

[MrMark]

I think the point of this scheme has been to get car workers back working on the production line (and it's worked locally - both BMW in Cowley and Honda in Swindon have restarted their production lines). Forget any crap about the environment

[The Lone Gunman]

It's another backhanded handout to the lower classes.
People who would always be a couple of grand short of a new car can now trade in the car they can afford and buy a brand new shiney one.

It will provide a spike in new car sales but will kill the second hand market for years to come.