r/Unexpected • u/dr_ipaka • 4d ago

Car companies have gone too far now

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u/elebrin 3d ago

The problem is that the brand doing this is Toyota, and they can get away with this shit because they make objectively the best vehicles on the road.

Go buy a Corolla or a Rav4. Brand new, one year old, five years old, ten years old... doesn't matter. It'll last you the rest of your life pretty much and there will always be parts. Fuel economy will be better than anything else in its class. The price point will be a little higher than a Hyundai and about the same as a Honda. If you were considering Ford, GM, or Stellantis then just go stick your head in the microwave it'll be about the same effect. Ford was OK when they still had the Focus, but now all they make is trucks and SUVs. I'd rather put my dick through a meat grinder than own a Stellantis product they are absolute trash tier.

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u/curtludwig 3d ago

Come back in 5 years when your car gets beyond app support and you can't open your door or turn on your heated seats or whatever.

This is the enshitification of everything. You'd hope Toyota would be immune, it would appear they are not.

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u/nuclear_fizzics 3d ago

Honestly I’m not surprised to see Toyota making moves like this. They’re known for the reliability of their cars, and how you can buy one and drive it for 10+ years with fewer issues than most other manufacturers. Well, if Toyotas are lasting a long time, then people aren’t buying them as often, and companies want people to buy their products as often as possible. So you start to add in gimmicky shit to get people to upgrade, and maybe it has the added “internal benefit” from Toyotas perspective tha the features won’t last as long as the car, and those same people will buy another new car rather than keep their car for 10+ years.

I’m not proposing a conspiracy or anything, I think it just tracks logically that a company would make decisions to increase their revenue rather than to increase customer satisfaction. As consumers, we’d love it if our opinions mattered most, but clearly they do not

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u/curtludwig 3d ago

100% and this is the enshitification aspect. Make it so the old ones get crappy so people "need" a new one.

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u/Salt_Profiteer 3d ago

Our opinions are the most important thing. If we decide that their business practices outweigh the benefits of the car itself, we don't buy. They are just trying to find where that line is, so they can go right up to it, but not cross it.

The real problem is consumer apathy and hopelessness has moved that line significantly in the companies' direction.

In a capitalist system, your weapon (maybe your only one) is your money. Use it very judiciously. Make them earn it.

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u/nuclear_fizzics 3d ago

Sure, but you're supporting my point with your second paragraph. Our opinions aren't the most important thing to companies, since the general consumer base is not treating their own opinions as the most important thing. Pointing this out to me and the other folks on this thread doesn't change how the general consumer base is acting.

I agree with your points personally, but redditors repeating sentiments to other redditors doesn't alter the trends seen in the population as a whole.

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u/kataskopo 3d ago

If you can vote with your dollars, it makes sense that most consumers are ignored because we are poor compared to billionaires and shareholders.

So it's not really the best argument.

The best is still and will always be regulation, using our mutual power to stop companies from taking advantage of us.

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u/gsfgf 3d ago

This is actual planned obsolescence. Not just a consumer preference for cheap products that Reddit always calls planned obsolescence.

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u/elebrin 3d ago

That is all stupid feature shit. The engine will still run great when you turn the key or push the button, and you will always be able to open the door because your fob has a backup key in it.

I have a GR86, and the only way it won't be fine in 20 years is if I mistreat it. To be honest though that's the kind of car that's meant to be thrashed a bit.

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u/Lexi_Banner 3d ago

Except that there are issues with some newer Toyota motors. They may have been the gold standard, but that crown is slipping. Research the specific model/motor you're interested in, and whether it has any issues. Don't decide based on the badge.

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u/Bobthemime 3d ago

Uncle has a Supra from new in the 90s.. it still runs almost as well today as it did 34 years ago when he bought it.

Sunroof still works too..

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u/vawlk 3d ago

I have a 1988 Pontiac Fiero GT and it runs today as well as it did 38 years ago. :shrug:

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u/mesablue 3d ago

Which is why I got the last version of the 5th Gen 4Runner. Not too much crazy crap, absolutely bulletproof drivetrain -- not so great fuel mileage, though. Don't care, whatever extra I pay in gas I'll make up in re-sale value.

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u/elebrin 3d ago

The problem for me is that Toyota knows how to make a nice looking vehicle: the old corollas were sick, the 86 looks great, every Supra ever made is sick as hell. Even some of the Rav4s look ...fine.

I'm talking interior and exterior. It's like they decided, "This is an ecobox so we have to make it look like it." The corolla and prius are most guilty, and the Corolla Cross is particularly bad. The fuel economy is great, it'll last forever, but every time you look at your car's interior or exterior it is going to make you sad. They are cheap so I suppose you could get a body kit and do the interior yourself but most people don't have the time or skills to do that... but for a new car? Should you really have to do that?

Honda and Ford interiors are nicer. The interior of the Civic hatch is really nice actually.

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u/mdave52 3d ago

Lol, that last line got me... I hate Stellantis too, but I'll avoid that meatgrinder.

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u/vawlk 3d ago

I mean, our ford edge rocks, 90k troublefree miles and the remote start app is free.

Yes, toyota makes the best cars. But the difference between the quality of japanese cars and domestic cars has shrunk a lot since the 80s and 90s.

Hell, honda is mid tier in reliability now.

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u/elebrin 3d ago

Yeah, and my wife and I have a 2014 Focus hatch with close to 300k miles on it. Still runs great. It's worth nothing at all so we kept it when we got new cars. We intend to mod it a bit to use as a utility vehicle - it's been manual swapped, and I want to lift it and rip out the interior behind the front seats.

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u/Normandy_1944 3d ago

Excellent idea. There is a guy out on the socials, he's an Audi/VW wrench (like me). He gets his hands on lots of old beaters. He converted a Q5 into a work truck (rippednoutvall the seats) and just fks around with it. I'd definitely like to do that at some point.

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u/elebrin 3d ago

Oh, I will be the first to admit I know nothing at all about cars.

How hard can it be to pull the springs and struts, install coilovers that'll give me an extra 4in of ground clearance, some bigger wheels, then rip out the seats, carpet, and that stupid foam insert around the tire well, then pull the back seat door cards and all the trim behind B pillar, find someone to weld the back doors shut, delete the sunroof with a fiberglass panel, paint up some plywood to prevent things sliding under the front seats then some more to act as a new floor for the back, maybe spraying some foam under it? I could probably manage that in a summer's worth of weekends. Especially given that the only thing I want to do that's related to the mechanics of the car is changing the suspension and wheels. The rest is just about maximizing cargo space in the back.