planned obsolescence

Or, you could say planned break downs.

You might hear the buzz word "planned obsolescence" mentioned by your mechanic.  What this basically means is that your vehicle is designed by the manufacture, to last only so long before it starts to show wear, and things start to break and need repair.

Since about 1995, the manufactures have become quite good at putting planned obsolescence in their product so that things start needing repair at about the 10 year anniversary of being new, or about the 200,000 mile mark.  Whether it be under the hood, or in the interior, this seems to be the case.

Most of the vehicles manufactured for the North American market will show wear around 10 years or 200,000 miles.  It doesn't matter if you have only 50,000 miles on the vehicle, if it is 10 years old things will start to happen.  And it doesn't matter if it is only 5 years old, if you have put over 200,000 miles on it, you are due for some repairs.  GM manufactured vehicles start to show planned obsolescence around 7 to 8 years old, Kia and Hyundai also start showing wear earlier, but for the most part, the other manufactures are pretty good at 10 years or 200,000 miles.

Can you help prevent planned obsolescence and lengthen the life of the vehicle beyond what the manufacture planned for it?  Yes.

In my next article I will give you some ideas to consider in combating planned obsolescence.