[madcaptenor]

Cars last longer now, so this may not be as bad as it sounds. The real issue is whether people are ending up underwater on their vehicles - that is, are loan lengths increasing faster than depreciation curves are flattening.

[4MOAisgoodenuf]

Do they really? I've seen plenty of surveys that say American consumers are _keeping_ their passenger cars for longer and longer periods (12.8 years in 2025 https://www.spglobal.com/automotive-insights/en/blogs/2025/0...)

But is there any study that says the components or designs are needing less repairs or are getting cheaper to maintain over that 12.8 year period as opposed to, say, an econobox sedan from 2005?

Is a modern family car with GDI, CVT, plastic oil pan, infotainment system, and litany of safety sensors going to last as long without bankrupting its owner as an equivalent product from a comparable market segment 20 years ago?

[madcaptenor]

I was just speaking off the cuff, mostly based on anecdata and facts like the survey you linked to. I am not sure about the truth, and you make a good point that simple repairs have gotten more expensive.

[MrResearcher]

The powertrain warranty is usually 5 years or 60K miles. Bumper-to-bumper warranty is around 3 years, I think. I would be OK with the loan for as long as powertrain is covered, at the very least. The modern day turbo engines have exceptionally low reliability, it will blow while you still owe quite a bit for the car.

[sidewndr46]

I'll add a disclaimer here that I don't buy new cars or trucks, so this doesn't really apply to me anyways.

My family's limited experience with powertrain warranties is that they don't mean anything. The manufacturer put a junk engine in my Dad's truck at the factory. When they replaced it, they replaced it with a junk engine. When confronted with this, the dealer claimed it was not reasonable for a replacement engine to run without issues. Neither made it 30,000 miles.

[betaby]

> Cars last longer now

Honda from 2005 could last 10 years in Quebec and Honda from 2015 could last 10 years. I don't have huge stats, but it seems that cars are about as reliable today as they were 20 years ago. I didn't notice them to be more reliable.

[riku_iki]

particularly honda hybrids are simpler and more reliable than ice versions, so probably will last longer.

[jbaber]

How is it possible that a hybrid, which contains an ICE, is simpler than just an ICE?

[riku_iki]

honda hybrids don't have transmission, ICE generates power which feeds electrical motor, which is much simpler and reliable tech, and because battery buffers power, ICE works in much more low stress mode too, it doesn't need to produce power peaks to accelerate.

[jbaber]

Makes sense to me. I remembered hybrids degrading to a regular transmission when the battery was low. Sounds like if the battery were drained the ICE goes straight into electricity generation?