Plan B Forum

I see an announcement that Honda, Nissan, Mitsubishi are merging. One report from Japan says that the probability this will not go through is not zero. I don't know if this includes the heavy truck division of Mitsubishi. Overall, I think it degrades the good qualities I see in Honda. Nissan had IMNHO, a better than average (for the time) all electric car with the Leaf. Mergers or 'partnerships' with French, German, or current Italians for the American Chrysler customer. have not been a great thing.

I just want a reliable car that lasts 20 years. But that does bring good numbers to the bottom line of most car builders. Porsche has solved that problem by making routine maintenance a horrible expense.

snailgate.

You’re about 10 years off on your automotive reliability. Cats are built for a 10 year lifespan beyond that things are not guaranteed and maintenance costs skyrocket. They it’s like compressed gas inflators (side and knee airbags) may not work properly due to the fact that no pressurized tank is leakproof.

Oh heck no, I'm getting 20 years out of my Corolla - unless I win the lottery and decide to upgrade. I still see a bunch of 1st generation RAVs like Reva on the road around these parts, so they are ~25 years old. The last 8 years that I kept careful track I averaged around $600/year for maintenance - obviously some years it was more, and some years much less. That's not a bad investment anyway in a vehicle that I didn't have payments on for the last 14 years of ownership. I hope I will have the same model of ownership with Corollaline - knock wood!

That said, it is SO nice to have something newer with night tight seals that warms up real toasty and doesn't have wind whistling around the door seals as I drive down the highway. I can certainly see why folks with the disposable income would enjoy a new vehicle every 10 years or even sooner.

10 years / 100k miles is the industry standard for vehicle life. The problem is modern cars rely on so many electronics (as well as other limited life components that will eventually go bad just due to age. And that stuff tends to be expensive to replace. Such things usually will last longer but there is no guarantee that it will do so.

Always Bad?

For the customers, no, not always. Some have worked, more not, but the mergers are not always bad.

For the workers, usually yes, especially if they are union workers.

For the shareholders, 50/50--some are wildly profitable, others lead to bankruptcy. And some just steal the acquired company's crown jewels and spin off/dispose of the rest.

I have been on both sides of mergers/acquisitions and have coordinated many. They can work if people go in with thier eyes open and knpow what to expect, but this is far from common.