Well, yes, but haven't people always looked for a bargain? Decades ago bargains used to be called sales. One of the long standing rituals of car buying has always been negotiating painfully for a better deal.
BuyDrive a new Chinese car 3614John S. Pretty much anything electronic; computers, digital cameras, cell phones, etc. etc. etc. ad nauseum. If you have a 10 year old cell...
Whether a product becomes obsolete depends a lot on its design and style and on personal expectations for the product. I can't readily think of an expensive product that becomes obsolete as quickly as it's less expensive counterpart. An expensive conservative business suit will probably be in-style longer and wear longer than a high style Italian cheapo suit from Nordstroms Rack.
Left foot brakingTypically this is used in a car that has understeer normally, but has trailing throttle oversteer (i.e. tends to...
Well, take a longer view and maybe it will appear different. Some original purchasers may sell after 5 to 10 years, but there is a very active used car market, so it isn't as though the car is discarded after 5 years. It's utility gets used up by someone else, but it gets used. We've all known people who had some silly rule for trading cars: every 2 years; at 50,000 miles; when the warranty is out, etc. You and I know it makes no financial sense, but those people have no end of ways to justify their decision. Strip all the nonsense away and the real answer is that they like new cars...period!
There have been very few headline worthy single technical breakthroughs in my experience, and none that by itself would justify buying a new car, advertisements notwithstanding. There have been and continue to be many small breakthroughs, some of which are derided at the time but most are ultimately appreciated. Examples might be seat belts, emissions controls, ABS, disc brakes, safer interior design, electronic engine and trans management, etc. I think we have better cars than 30 years ago, but those cars got better in small steps.
I agree, but don't we always perform some kind of balancing act before deciding on a major purchase? Trading cost against design and ,mentally reaching some sort of imprecise compromise?
John, who almost always drives cars for 250,000 miles or more and has pbutted that genetic defect on to his children.
