--- thomas malloy <temall...@usfamily.net> wrote:
> If I were appointed the car czar, I would require
> the vehicle's design
> to be reviewed by a panel of mechanics.
That's a bloody good idea, speaking from a mechanic's
point of view. The trash being sold for $20k+ these
days is absolutely pathetic compared to what could be.
Mercedes-Benz ML320 has for balljoints in the rear,
made of aluminum (the metal that should be forbidden)
and plastic. Each part costs $350+, with labor times
to replace being about an hour per ball joint, plus
time to disassemble the control arms to a point where
the joints can be pressed out. The control arms are
aluminum too, and sometimes crack. Also, aluminum does
not rust in the saltwater environment...it
DISINTEGRATES.
2006 ML320 required all four rear joints to be
replaced, no warranty coverage. 51k miles.
EGR systems on most modern cars fill with carbon after
a relatively short time. Asian/European cars do this
the worst. Terrible designs. The old, vacuum operated
EGR valves in Chevrolets almost never did this. But
that's the inexorable march of progress.
Evaporative emissions system (stupidest idea ever) is
the absolute king of failure these days. Most 1996+
cars fail low-enhanced emission test because of this
pointless system. It is designed to fail. All plastic
parts, overly complicated. Should be forbidden to be
placed on vehicles. Either do something useful with
the vapor, or forget about it. Besides, everyone is
looking at CO2 these days anyways, their eyes are
averted from things that are really dangerous (which
this isn't, anyhow).
> The
> objective being to assure
> that they are easily fixable. I'd require a
> stainless steel underpan so
> that road salt wouldn't rot them out. Such a vehicle
> would last
> 1,000,000 miles. The economics of such a vehicle are
> totally different
> from one designed to cost too much to fix at 100,000
> miles.
Easily fixable is a very good thing, in my opinion.
Making a car from stainless steel might jack up the
price a bit. It is hard to weld, and 'cold welds'
itself at times. But there might be a way around all
this. I doubt it would last 1M miles without repair,
but if you mean the actual vehicle structure would
last that long, it might. Rust is the killer up here.
It wouldn't be too economical to the manufacturer to
make something that lasted that long without needing
repairs. Of course, given that so many today think
making the USA ---> USSA is a good idea, many might
flock to the idea. That might not be the company you
want to keep, though. :)
A simple reduction in the amount of bullcrap(tm) in a
modern auto would DRASTICALLY reduce the price.
--Kyle
