SW17LS

Thats really not the case, believe it or not. Cars on the whole today despite being more complex are much more reliable. Cars just did not take miles and age the way that they do today. Sure you have some examples that people have stayed really on top of, but you have to ask yourself where are all the cars from that era? They are in junkyards.

Young cars with low miles had issues back then that you just don't have with modern cars

mmarshall

The real difference is that, although with some exceptions like the current-generation Ford Explorer/Lincoln Aviator, vehicles generally come from the factories in much better condition than decades ago. Chrysler in particular, some GM products, and Mitsubishi products from the infamous Diamond-Star plant were known for being only half-assembled at the factory before they were hurriedly shipped to dealerships and dumped on unsuspecting customers. That is why i used to spend a lot more time inspecting and test-driving new vehicles with the people I shop with than I do today.....today's vehicles usually don't need as much eagle-eye inspection....particularly with annoying things like shimmies, tire-balance/runout, wheel-alignment, paint-defects, loose buttons/controls/trim, etc....

The only consistent problem I see today is a very simple one to address...vehicles are shipped from the factory, on the transporters, with the tires pumped up substantially over factory-recommended. The dealership PDI guys are supposed to bleed the tires down to recommended PSI when the vehicles arrive.....often, they don't.

SW17LS

Cars are just better made with tighter tolerances in general

Striker223

Agreed, if you aren't a stupid owner they don't really randomly die with only few exceptions. Major glaring examples are BMW V8s and Hyundai products

Stroock639

that was a difficult read, just reminds me of how good toyota once was