Modern cars are out of $control!

[bronsin]

A headlight for my parents 1973 Chevrolet Bel Air was two dollars and It didn’t need to be buffed out every year. If it burned out, you could change it in five minutes with two screws.

Contrast that with the Yaris headlight. What does it cost $600? You’ll have to buff it out periodically. When it burns out you have to remove The entire unit to change the bulb and that will require removing part of the bumper cover.

You could get a new key for my parents Bel Air for two dollars. The hardware store quick cut you a new one.

A Yaris Key is hundreds of dollars and it might have to be synched to the computer by the Toyota dealer which will cost hundreds of dollars more. +3 local hardware store can’t do it.

Where is all this going.? Will the public pay any price for a new car?Where is all this going?

[Captain Yaris]

Originally Posted by bronsin

A headlight for my parents 1973 Chevrolet Bel Air was two dollars and It didn’t need to be buffed out every year. If it burned out, you could change it in five minutes with two screws.

Contrast that with the Yaris headlight. What does it cost $600? You’ll have to buff it out periodically. When it burns out you have to remove The entire unit to change the bulb and that will require removing part of the bumper cover.

You could get a new key for my parents Bel Air for two dollars. The hardware store quick cut you a new one.

A Yaris Key is hundreds of dollars and it might have to be synched to the computer by the Toyota dealer which will cost hundreds of dollars more. +3 local hardware store can’t do it.

Where is all this going.? Will the public pay any price for a new car?Where is all this going?

Exactly! People then moan about how inflation is out of control and everything costs more, which is and isn’t exactly true. People expect more gadgetry and tech out of their products. That comes with a price. Unfortunately, most people are so shortsighted that they don’t see what it does to the bottom line. I remember being a kid in the 80’s/90’s, and we didn’t have air conditioning in our car or house! The funny part is, people have no idea what they are asking for in driverless vehicles. I think they will be sorely disappointed at how prohibitive it will be to own one if they ever are mainstreamed. No thank you!

[IllusionX]

Never had issues with changing the bulbs on my Yaris. Never had to remove the bumper to do so, never had to remove the light assembly either.

TYC brand headlights were 130$ or so.

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[WeeYari]

Originally Posted by IllusionX

Never had issues with changing the bulbs on my Yaris. Never had to remove the bumper to do so, never had to remove the light assembly either.

You have the joy of owning a sedan. The Gen2 hatch is an entirely different nightmare. Without some disassembly, it can only be done with very tiny hands, or severely skinned knuckles.

[dogsridewith]

3 levels of 2007 Yaris headlight bodies listed on Rockauto. None near 600.

[hotracer_05]

Big thing is more and more people lease vs own (US anyway). So they don't care what the final price is as long as they can afford the monthly payment.

But yeah, i guess this is how old people feel about cell phones lol

[bronsin]

Originally Posted by Captain Yaris

Exactly! People then moan about how inflation is out of control and everything costs more, which is and isn’t exactly true. People expect more gadgetry and tech out of their products. That comes with a price. Unfortunately, most people are so shortsighted that they don’t see what it does to the bottom line. I remember being a kid in the 80’s/90’s, and we didn’t have air conditioning in our car or house! The funny part is, people have no idea what they are asking for in driverless vehicles. I think they will be sorely disappointed at how prohibitive it will be to own one if they ever are mainstreamed. No thank you!

We had no AC in the house or car either in upstate NY in the 60s and 70s but youre in Florida? I guess you could do it.

Im not sure the public is asking for self driving cars. Theyre being pushed into it to keep up with the public. Sick!

[bronsin]

Originally Posted by IllusionX

Never had issues with changing the bulbs on my Yaris. Never had to remove the bumper to do so, never had to remove the light assembly either.

TYC brand headlights were 130$ or so.

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OK so its $2 vs $130 But Im thinking OEM is more...

[IllusionX]

Originally Posted by bronsin

OK so its $2 vs $130 But Im thinking OEM is more...

Can't really compare though. A Belair doesn't really have a headlight assembly like cars nowdays do. Back then, the whole bulb is the headlight...

You are going to cry if you ever need to pay for an OEM HID bulb replacement. LOL

Light output is very different too, since the 70's.

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[bronsin]

I’ll take The light from a two dollar headlight any day!

[Captain Yaris]

Originally Posted by bronsin

We had no AC in the house or car either in upstate NY in the 60s and 70s but youre in Florida? I guess you could do it.

Im not sure the public is asking for self driving cars. Theyre being pushed into it to keep up with the public. Sick!

Oh Lord no! I grew up in Northeastern Ohio. I ciuldn’t be without my a/c in Florida. It’s funny, I just saw an ad for an advanced cruise control from Cadillac. I wonder if it will mostly be leases going forward and that will be how people will afford it. If you can’t own the technology, rent it.

[Kalispel]

Honestly, with all the tech-bloat they are cramming into cars & convincing you that you 'need' today, you are probably better off leasing a new car every 3 years than buying one & dealing with all the headache down the road when you finish paying off the loan, and all that tech-bloat implodes into repair/maintain costs - because you know it is engineered to not really have a life past 5-6 years.

[IllusionX]

Originally Posted by Captain Yaris

Oh Lord no! I grew up in Northeastern Ohio. I ciuldn’t be without my a/c in Florida. It’s funny, I just saw an ad for an advanced cruise control from Cadillac. I wonder if it will mostly be leases going forward and that will be how people will afford it. If you can’t own the technology, rent it.

It is not only technology, but cars in general nowdays are not affordable. My dad's mini van in the 90's was 21k out the door. Today, there is not many car you can get at this price. Most mini SUV starts at 26k, mini vans cannot be had for less than 36k plus taxes. Prices in CAD.

People just can't afford a car any more. My Yaris is turning 12 years old. I sold my wife's 14years old civic almost 2 years ago for a Mazda 5 due to growing family. 12k$ for a 6 years old car. There was no way I could afford a new one at 33k.

Most brand has already gone 7 or 8 years financing, or 5-6 years lease. It's very long, and can't be good for the future.

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[kimona]

Originally Posted by Kalispel

Honestly, with all the tech-bloat they are cramming into cars & convincing you that you 'need' today, you are probably better off leasing a new car every 3 years than buying one & dealing with all the headache down the road when you finish paying off the loan, and all that tech-bloat implodes into repair/maintain costs - because you know it is engineered to not really have a life past 5-6 years.

^^^ This. I'm there.

[invader166]

Originally Posted by hotracer_05

Big thing is more and more people lease vs own (US anyway). So they don't care what the final price is as long as they can afford the monthly payment.

But yeah, i guess this is how old people feel about cell phones lol

Add to that most people don't even thnk about maintenance costs or insurance rates, and you've got yourself a financial disaster that's just waiting to happen...

...but hey, it's all good in the name of that fancy new truck...

[zoidberg444]

Originally Posted by bronsin

A Yaris Key is hundreds of dollars and it might have to be synched to the computer by the Toyota dealer which will cost hundreds of dollars more. +3 local hardware store can’t do it.

Its probably against the rules but i'm fairly sure you can buy a little something from China which might just have the means to take care of that (along with a few computer viruses).

I agree though. Its all going to end in tears. You think the Yaris is bad, yes on the one side you have to take the bumper half off to get the headlight out. Its annoying but not to bad once you know the crack. I'm fairly sure that for several years headlights on a lot of the German cars is a dealer job. Between dismantling the front grille, the HID bulbs and programming/re-learning the headlight control module it sounds like you best take a tin of Vaseline in for that one. In fact i saw a case study on YouTube of a BMW X5 (looked to be 7-8 years old) which had been repaired by a body shop after hitting a dear and it had set 50 DTC's just from the headlight control unit because the shop had used crappy after market headlights and the wiring loom was damaged.

When I had my recall done a salesman at the dealership in January I had the salesman put the hard sell on me to try and get me to buy a new vehicle. This is after i'd sat in the waiting room and listened to them bill a guy £177 to replace and program a damaged TPMS sensor on his Auris hybrid. I laughed at the sales guy and told him he can take my TPMS free car from my cold dead hands.

As annoying as a lot of the stuff in the Gen 2 is, i'm confident I can keep mine running. I have no confidence in any of the new stuff. Not only that but the government here has tightened up MOT rules so any lights which are illuminated on the dash will fail the car and in many cases result in it going for scrap because the repairs of these systems are probably several thousand pounds for diagnosis, parts, programming and labour. These are the same politicians who filled the cars with "Emissions control" in the name of being "green" and apparently its more "green" for a perfectly good car to go for scrap and manufacture a whole new one.

We're heading into a very dark time. People should be hoarding older cars and the parts for them where they can because I can't see how on earth we will be able to afford to drive at this rate.

[tmontague]

I agree with Zoidberg. What needs to be realised is the power in lobbying. Most of the new "emissions" or "safety" laws that are failing virtually perfectly fine cars are put in place for interests of car makers under the guise of passenger safety. It's a great way to force people to fix a used car or put that money on a down payment and be strapped to a car loan for the next 8+ years. Makes for an easier sell for the salesman.

Ontario recently changed their safety and now cars can fail for a small tear in a rear wiper blade. Hell it will fail if any single light doesn't work no matter if its redundant like a fog light. If its on the car from factory it has to work period.

Cars themselves aren't too expensive relative to a decade or two ago when you account for inflation. It's the repairs and/or options that everyone feels they need that is expensive.

Want to get a better deal? But a car with a smaller margin, economy cars have the smallest margins and if you buy used even by 1 year old you save a lot of money that someone else had to pay just because it was "new".