Coronavirus Shutdown: The End of Globalization and Planned Obsolescence
 

"Planned obsolescence and consumerism (marketing) are the twin evils that have worked towards the simultaneous time-wasting enslavement of ‘living to work’, and have built globalization based on global assembly and global mono-culture."

Click here to read this thought provoking article.

Then, consider this...

Vehicle ownership may be the second largest expense in anyone's life, requiring hundreds of hours of mind-numbing work, each year.

I've often wondered why people buy "new" cars.

Is their current model so "worn-out" that it can't be repaired.

Or, do people just get tired of what they are driving?

Interesting article. I couldn't help but think of it as an analysis of threads in a tapestry. Probably because I watched Trevor Louden's "The Enemies Within" last night.

I must say all my life not 100% of it
I have been a used car guy ...Motto why by new when used will do
When we were first married when we needed a family car would purchase GM program cars they were like new warranty low miles 1/2 the cost never had an issue
Last 3 auto Puchases 2002 Vw Jetta TDI paid 18 K drove 16 years 230 K sold for 3.5 K
2005 E320 bought in 2013 paid 12k an estate sale car had 50K now has 100 still own
2010 Sivlerado bought 2015 paid 18 K still own

Back when we had 0% financing in the mid 80s did buy new Pickup

I've only bought one "new" car. The others were all used. The new one ended up with the transmission on the pavement when I was coming up an entrance ramp to the highway. One class action suit and warranty later, I was driving a different car - and this time it was used again.

I prefer used cars. If I could afford it I'd have a pair of Jags Fully restored 1988 XJ6 vanden plas. I could drive either one while the other was in the shop (such is the way of that model). Or I'd get a fully restored VW Bus, a model from somewhere in the 1970's.

I prefer buying new. I don’t want to buy someone else’s headache.

Everything made today is throw away, more electronic’s the less likely cost worthy to repair. Vehicles are no different. With VVT, DFI, and maze of wiring switches and computers will be more so. The global economy depends on throw away products, no longer are refrigerate, washer, vehicles, computers are made to last. IMO this needs to be Global wake up. GET OUT OF china.

The global economy depends on affordability. The reason so many vehicles are made out of the country is because those other countries use cheap labor to make them, and the less affluent Americans who need transportation can afford to buy them.

The USA makes money on import fees and taxes paid by both the exporter and the end-user.

If the USA rejected vehicles made overseas and demanded that USA car manufacturers re-opened their plants in the country - well - you'd have Ford. And I think Lincoln is still around? Olds went out of business. GM is still hanging in there. I think that's it.

The other companies are all foreign-based.

Volkswagen was one of the first TRULY affordable vehicles available for sale to the average and low-income American, when they first came out with the VW Beetle. They are German-based. The Kia Soul is another one, but it's not an American vehicle.

So unless you want to spring to pay the bill for the majority of Americans who need cars but can't afford American-made because minimum wage currently has the buying power of what HALF minimum wage had when it was implemented... we need those overseas manufacturers and imports.

My cars are always Chevrolet. Hell would freeze before I bought a Toyota especially now.

Heh - well I guess you're not all that concerned about "American made" then. Honda has more vehicles made in the USA than Chevy, with manufacturing and building out of Alabama.

Only the Jeep Cherokee tops Honda in the percentage of parts manufactured in the USA.

Of all cars with American builds, the ones that make the most for sale IN the USA, are

Jeep Cherokee
Honda Odessy
Honda Ridgeline
Honda Passport
Chevy Corvette
Acura MDX (a subdivision of Honda)
Honda Pilot
Chevy Colorado
GMC Canyon
Acura RDX
Chevy Camaro
Toyota Avalon
Ford F-150
Honda Accord
Toyota Tundra

All other Chevrolet vehicles have fewer manufacturing and/or parts made within the country's borders, and more outside in foreign countries.

And NONE of them are made with 100% American parts, exclusively. So even the Chevy you buy has parts and/or materials that came from somewhere other than the USA.

There is no such thing as a 100% American-made car anymore.

I realize that but as long as I’m supporting an American company, no foreign made car will ever be in my garage.

I support the American economy by buying my used cars from dealerships in the USA. I support the LOCAL economy by buying my cars from local dealerships (wherever I happen to be living at the time I make the purchase). Those dealerships employ people who reside in the USA, who spend money at local supermarkets, pay to local landlords or mortgages at American banks, buy clothing from stores in a reasonable distance from their homes or places of employment, get take-out for lunch at their local fast-food joint, etc. etc.

Even better, I am supporting the people who needed - for whatever reason - to unload their old cars. Because thanks to me, there's an actual market for used cars, which means those people get to unload theirs.

And my dealerships aren’t in the United States and employing the same people living in the United States and going to the same supermarkets in the United States and buying take out in the United States, etcetera? Did you think I went overseas to buy my latest vehicle?

We all have our preferences. I prefer new cars. You can buy whatever you wish.

I didn't take my business away from GM, GM decided they didn't want my business, inferior product, didn't know their market, greedy union leaders. Now they are down to 164k employees worldwide. They are no longer producing cars, will focus on SUV's, crossovers, electric, autonomous driving vehicles. Most buyers, IMO, want value for their money and GM has been unable to deliver. I love to buy American but not for the sake of buying American, that's throwing money away and providing no incentive to do better.

I get that. We weren't talking about your preference for new vs. used. You changed it over to "only buy American cars." and then your assumption that by buying American, you are somehow doing what someone buying a foreign car is not doing - which is supporting American economy.

It was a flawed presumption on your part. People who buy cars, or anything else, from companies that sell IN the USA - are supporting American economy. Even if the product is made somewhere else.

Exactly. I pick the category of "thing" I want to buy, weed out the "not going to suit my needs," and then pick from the most affordable of the bunch. If it's not made in the USA, oh well - the USA will need to do better for less, if they want my money. However, the products I buy - regardless of where they're made, I purchase in stores here in Florida, or from sellers in the USA online.