# Modern day awful cars **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 20, 2016, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-day-awful-cars/752691 "2016-04-20T00:47:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-day-awful-cars/752691/21 "2016-04-20T15:29:52Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > I heard bad things about the quality of the [Dodge Neon,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Neon) and Wikipedia indicates it scored very poorly on crash tests. My Neon was a reliable car that only conked out when the water pump let go at 120,000 miles and the wife decided that in stop and go traffic she would drive the 1/4 mile to the next offramp. It didn’t make it. My big criticism was that after having the Shadow, the Neon was a huge stepdown despite being the replacement. Damn I miss my Shadow. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-day-awful-cars/752691/22 "2016-04-20T15:40:26Z")
As datapoints: Wife’s car is 10 years old, mine is 11 and the broke-ass third car (connecting rod finally broke, replacing the engine this summer) is 17 years old. Oh and my new Tesla 3 is -2 years old. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-day-awful-cars/752691/23 "2016-04-20T15:47:07Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > even if we take that at face value, if everyone around you always has a new car, the cars they’re replacing have to go somewhere. True. But a lot of them could be going to the scrapyard. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-day-awful-cars/752691/24 "2016-04-20T15:57:01Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I’d be willing to bet that it’s a little bit confusing these days; unless you know what a particular model year of a particular car looks like, you may not know that the cars are as old as they are, **especially considering that paint/clearcoat has become better than ever before**. > > So if a car’s not beat all to hell, and isn’t filthy-dirty, the chances of it having shiny paint are pretty high, and unless you know _that_ particular model is of 2005 vintage, you may never realize how old a particular car is. My bold. I’m not an auto engineer, but paint does seem to be about 1000 times better than it was a couple decades ago. I imagine that the increased use of composite materials in the body panels also help. When was the last time you saw a car on the road that was really _rusted_? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-day-awful-cars/752691/25 "2016-04-20T15:57:37Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > I regularly see Saturns and Pontiacs and Olds Aleros out on the road that still seem to be in pretty good shape, and how long has it been since they quit making those? I have a 2001 Saturn SC2, with 55K miles on it. Saturn ended the SC2 model with the 2002 model year. Saturn itself ended all production in 2009, and was officially dissolved as a company at the end of 2010. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-day-awful-cars/752691/26 "2016-04-20T15:59:26Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > My bold. I’m not an auto engineer, but paint does seem to be about 1000 times better than it was a couple decades ago. I imagine that the increased use of composite materials in the body panels also help. When was the last time you saw a car on the road that was really _rusted_? Very few mass-market cars are built with any substantial amount of composites. They’re still usually going to be steel bodies, or aluminum in mid- to high-end vehicles. They’re protected from corrosion by galvanization and other processes. ---
**Author:** ![Whiskey\_Dickens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9fc348/32.png) [@Whiskey\_Dickens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whiskey_Dickens)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-day-awful-cars/752691/27 "2016-04-20T16:02:35Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > 11.5 years?!?!? That can’t be right. I doubt I see more than one or two cars that old on a day-to-day basis. I guess your anecdatum must be better than his actual data! 😕 Certain members of the straightdope need to kick their “they don’t make 'em like they used to” mindset. The belief that old cars were heavy, safe, reliable, beasts is bullshit. The belief that old cars are a monolithic group is also bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-day-awful-cars/752691/28 "2016-04-20T16:15:18Z")
> [@Whiskey\_Dickens](#): > > “they don’t make 'em like they used to” They don’t. Thank God. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-day-awful-cars/752691/29 "2016-04-20T16:20:30Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > My bold. I’m not an auto engineer, but paint does seem to be about 1000 times better than it was a couple decades ago. I imagine that the increased use of composite materials in the body panels also help. When was the last time you saw a car on the road that was really _rusted_? I had a 1983 motorcycle(bought in 87) Rode it for twelve years, 286K miles. Despite minimal care, the paint still looked good and the only rust was a trace on a few bolt heads. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-day-awful-cars/752691/30 "2016-04-20T16:21:37Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > True. But a lot of them could be going to the scrapyard. sure, but apart from cars which are wrecked (and totaled) I don’t think many of the cars being scrapped are that new. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-day-awful-cars/752691/31 "2016-04-20T16:40:52Z")
Currently, the Smart car is pretty much considered a major fail. It does nothing well (not even get good MPG for size) except be small. Going for post-1990 is too broad. The early 90’s and 80’s blend together. Major tech advances by and around 2000-2005 carry over and changed so many cars for the better. Any laughers now are actually planned to be basic/cheap, but we’ve lept so far forward, even a current laugher is actually good, and complaints become ‘first world problems.’ Many years ago, complaints were about death, safety, pollution, being robbed by GM, etc. Doesn’t quite have the same effect now when you have a laugher car. The whole bracket has been moved up. . ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-day-awful-cars/752691/32 "2016-04-20T16:42:49Z")
> [@Whiskey\_Dickens](#): > > The belief that old cars were heavy, safe, reliable, beasts is bullshit. Well, they _were_ heavy. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-day-awful-cars/752691/33 "2016-04-20T16:46:02Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Well, they _were_ heavy. 1977 Ford LTD Landau: 4332 lbs. 2016 Ford Taurus SHO: 4343 lbs 2016 Tesla S P90D: 4936 lbs. ---
**Author:** ![Nefario](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/59ef9b/32.png) [@Nefario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nefario)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-day-awful-cars/752691/34 "2016-04-20T17:05:18Z")
A few months ago I rented a Kia Soul just for an interesting ride on a business trip. It ran well but I soon got the impression that _everything_ about the controls was just lightweight and cheap. Then on a mountain road I discovered the steering was loose!! :eek: Under heavy side loading there was about 3" freeplay at the steering wheel rim! [A few weeks later I read this:](http://www.autoblog.com/2015/11/13/kia-soul-recall-steering/) Building a car where there was some question about whether the \*STEERING SHAFT \*could be assembled properly is just stupid and probably cheap. That technology was figured out in the 1950’s! ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-day-awful-cars/752691/35 "2016-04-20T17:06:51Z")
> [@Whiskey\_Dickens](#): > > The belief that old cars were heavy, safe, reliable, beasts is bullshit. [Crash test video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joMK1WZjP7g) of a 1959 Chevy vs a 2009 Chevy, it’s amazing how much worse the older car fares. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-day-awful-cars/752691/36 "2016-04-20T17:07:11Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > Any laughers now are actually planned to be basic/cheap, but we’ve lept so far forward, even a current laugher is actually good, and complaints become ‘first world problems.’ > > Many years ago, complaints were about death, safety, pollution, being robbed by GM, etc. > > Doesn’t quite have the same effect now when you have a laugher car. The whole bracket has been moved up. > . With this in mind, and staying in this decade, I nominate: - Most of the current Jeep line-up (except Grand Cherokee) - Dodge somehow manages to hit all the low points with few exceptions. - Chrysler has few cars to recommend them. - Lincoln can’t produce enough Matthew McConaughey commercials to make me want one. - Nissan’s models all look like they’re on prednisone. But are any of them truly “awful” compared to 70’s, 80’s, even 90’s model years? Probably not. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-day-awful-cars/752691/37 "2016-04-20T17:48:55Z")
> [@Nefario](#): > > [A few weeks later I read this:](http://www.autoblog.com/2015/11/13/kia-soul-recall-steering/) > > Building a car where there was some question about whether the \*STEERING SHAFT \*could be assembled properly is just stupid and probably cheap. That technology was figured out in the 1950’s! That’s astonishing. Apparently, they were _gluing_ the pinion gear to the shaft. Who the hell ever thought that was a good idea? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-day-awful-cars/752691/38 "2016-04-20T18:07:16Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > I had a 1983 motorcycle(bought in 87) Rode it for twelve years, 286K miles. Despite minimal care, the paint still looked good and the only rust was a trace on a few bolt heads. Yeah? Did you park it outdoors year-round and ride it in winter so it could get blasted with salt and anti-skid for weeks on end? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-day-awful-cars/752691/39 "2016-04-20T18:15:49Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Yeah? Did you park it outdoors year-round and ride it in winter so it could get blasted with salt and anti-skid for weeks on end? No salt here but it did get stored outside. Got ridden in winter as much as weather allowed. ETA: It was a salt air enviroment. ---
**Author:** ![Philliam](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/philliam/32/3011_2.png) [@Philliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philliam)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2016, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-day-awful-cars/752691/40 "2016-04-20T18:54:08Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > 11.5 years?!?!? That can’t be right. I doubt I see more than one or two cars that old on a day-to-day basis. Pretty sure you must not live in the Pacific Northwest - many 15-20 year-old cars here are daily drivers, helped, I’m sure by the lack of salted winter roads. Just sold my 30 year-old Volvo wagon and ‘Swedish Bricks’ of this vintage are very common hereabouts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-day-awful-cars/752691.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/modern-day-awful-cars/752691.md?page=3)