What’s a realistic lifespan for modern vehicles these days? Considering all those recalls and planned obsolescence
What’s a realistic lifespan for modern vehicles these days?
That depends on which vehicle you bought, and what you would define as a car being "modern". Do you mean "modern car" as in whether or not there's an OBII port? OBII diagnostics came out in 1996 and the general process for diagnosing cars with scanners has been the same for nearly 30 years.
A few Ford models, particularly those with RWD, are still alive and kicking after nearly 30 years. I had a '99 Ranger, and the only thing "wrong" with it was the rear frame cracked due to poor quality. My grandma has an '08 Mercury Grand Marque and she's had it since it was brand new. Equivalent Honda and Toyota offerings from that era you basically could not kill, unless you were lazy and never changed things like transmission fluid.
If you define "modern car" as anything 2020ish and newer, there's a lot more computerization in them, like touch screen radios, in-car Wi-Fi and all that crazy stuff. If you mean that, just based on the amount of computers that are required to run the car, long-term reliability is most likely going to go way down. Ford is the undisputed recall king right now, almost every model year car has had recalls on them. It's been a good 10-12 years of consistent recalls. Toyota and Honda are generally the most "quality" kind of vehicle you can buy. It's too broad of a question, really.
Modern cars, lets say 2015 and newer. Repairing and diagnosing some of the newer technologies and advanced transmission and engine designs can exceed the value of these modern vehicles. Transmissions and engines are often just replaced instead of repaired because of the complexity and design meaning you may have to spend over 10K for an engine problem which can turn a car into a lawn ornament. Also, how about the amount of computers on modern cars and how they have to communicate with one another. Some areas in the US require you to make sure there are no Check engine lights or accident avoidance errors on your cars before you can register them to be driven on public roads. Those repairs can be in the thousands if you have to replace computers and get them programmed. I could go on.
@done37 My wife has a 2017 2.3L EcoBoost Mustang, Ford didn't manufacture the head gasket properly and they fail without the car ever overheating. My wife asked Ford what a new engine costs, and Ford said she's looking at a $10,000 expense. She bought a Subaru WRX instead and the Mustang is a gigantic lawn ornament now.