Live data from Hacker News

Car Quality Is Slipping

kbb.com

91–97 of 97 posts

Re: Car Quality Is Slipping

#91

My 2014 WRX has had a myriad of reliability issues. Bone stock, always maintained, and just constantly going into the dealer for issues. Thankfully I have an extended warranty. Issue #1: 19k miles - OEM turbo blows. Subaru FSE determines a bearing seized prematurely. Turbo replaced. Issue #2: 23k miles - Replacement turbo starts making more sounds mimicking the same noises the OEM turbo made before it blew. Subaru re…

> it wasn't the exhaust shields as suspected Ah, the Subaru exhaust rattle. We had it in our Outback and I hear it in every Subaru over a couple of years old here in Western Massachusetts. It is as distinctive as the exhaust note on MGs used to be.

My favorite was my 2000-ish Impreza "Outback Sport" which lost all four hubcaps in pretty short order. Looking around, I could see that the problem was common for that model and year. Still, the only serious issues I had in almost 10 years and ~60K miles were one CV joint and one muffler, both relatively cheap to replace. My wife's much later Forester, on the other hand, succumbed to frame rot much sooner than it should have considering its usage and maintenance. I think they do pretty well on TCO for the budget segment, but anything more upscale not so much.

Re: Car Quality Is Slipping

#92
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The caveat pointed out in the next paragraph might help explain the numbers: "Those numbers are complicated by the fact that Tesla vehicles weren’t counted in the study. Fully 75% of the EVs sold in the U.S. last quarter were Tesla products." The anecdotal experience I've observed among friends is that Tesla owners are happy with the Supercharger network and better software, while other electric makers still are figu…

Tesla owners tend to be happier with the supercharger network and the software, but less happy about the build quality and the car physically falling apart at 8,000 miles. They're also less happy about paying five figures for a software product it's looking like most won't get to use before they sell their car. And the software doesn't transfer.

I am happy with the supercharger network and software. My car didn't fall apart at 8,000 miles and the build quality is good. I did have one minor issue with a window that stopped going up and down smoothly and a Tesla tech came to my house and fixed it with an easy to book appointment. I didn't buy FSD, but I would be unhappy if I did because I don't understand the appeal of pre-paying for something that isn't here yet.

Re: Car Quality Is Slipping

#94

These type of articles that do not breakdown the type of complaints are worthless. The trend of increased complaints has been present for a few years now, but when broken down the increase comes vastly from infotainment and SW related issues. And it is expected, SW complexity in the infotainment part has skyrocketed and automotive companies are in their core HW companies, not SW companies and are slow to adapt. I wou…

Agree but if climate control is integrated with infotainment system, I'd call it drop in reliability

Re: Car Quality Is Slipping

#95
post #92
post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tesla owners tend to be happier with the supercharger network and the software, but less happy about the build quality and the car physically falling apart at 8,000 miles. They're also less happy about paying five figures for a software product it's looking like most won't get to use before they sell their car. And the software doesn't transfer.

I am happy with the supercharger network and software. My car didn't fall apart at 8,000 miles and the build quality is good. I did have one minor issue with a window that stopped going up and down smoothly and a Tesla tech came to my house and fixed it with an easy to book appointment. I didn't buy FSD, but I would be unhappy if I did because I don't understand the appeal of pre-paying for something that isn't here…

You seem to have gotten a good Tesla. Maybe they got better or worse over the years. But the ones I've seen seem to have what I would term serious cosmetic and fit/finish wear for such young cars.

For me, the 17" touchscreen is a dealbreaker. So I know I'm not their target market. I have no desire to make my car a computer.

Re: Car Quality Is Slipping

#96

Mo' tech mo' problems. Just give me a car that goes forward, backwards, left and right with a roof, windows, seats with few luxuries: air conditioning, power locks/windows, remote start (winter savior). For safety I will take ABS, maybe ESP. Leave me an industry standard DIN or double DIN opening for a radio and speaker locations; factory options always suck. Transmission can be manual or automatic. The rest is fluff…

This why the late 90's to early 2000s was objectively the greatest era for reliable good cars. You had everything that makes a modern car great; standard ABS, disc brakes, cruise control, power locks/windows, reliable traditional automatic transmissions, ECU/fuel injection, airbags, etc. without all of the unnecessary nonsense that has made cars insanely expensive over the last 20 years

I'd like to have camera, ESP and AEB.

Re: Car Quality Is Slipping

#97

Toyota post tsunami has gone into the trash, can confirm. Keep your < 2012's.

You know, just because Toyota is a Japanese company does not mean that all Toyota cars are made in Japan. https://www.novatotoyota.com/blog/what-toyota-vehicles-are-m... How exactly did the tsunami affect Toyotas manufactured in the US pray tell?

You think they have all US parts? Interesting.
Post reply on HN