Saw the new '07 Sebring Thursday

Try the Japanese government. That law's been in effect for years at the behest of Japan, Inc.

Gee, I guess the LA Times was wrong! Perhaps they CAN be driven longer than 50K, but inspections get purposely onerous? I know the Times had a big writeup about this back when Chrysler was down in the pits.

Nope, not a fact. In Japan it's the car age that gets you. Keeping a car on the road oner

Some facts here-

Right -- last I heard, there was no law forbidding driving a vehicle past 50K miles. It's just that the refurbishing required makes it completely impractical.

You have illustrated how out of date you are or perhaps you are an import dealer trolling around. Whatever an import for many cars is now? Some of the other responses here are also as emotional and biased. I've had import cars, starting with VW Beatles in '58, then GM's compact Chev II which just had to get larger. Back to Chrysler in '79 with the Horizon. My reason for going imports then to Chrysler was to get reasonable fuel consumption and a car that handled well. The huge sloppy handling NA cars of the 50s to 70s aren't my cup of tea.

As has been said almost all cars from well established companies are built to very good quality levels today. Exceptions may be newer manufacturers. Limited service for some imports can also be a problem, where dealer service is needed and it is only available in large cities.

However they all have their occasional problems, the surprising ones I've heard of are VW's poor quality of the last several years and troubles with some Mercedes models. These manufacturers have even admitted their problems and of course said "all is now OK". IMO the key to buying a new car is waiting a few years on significant new mechanical designs and one year for a new body design.

As for NA cars not lasting 10 years, here are my more recent NA car experiences. (Note that we travel in severe weather conditions going to our ski hills, with significant road salt and grit. Our cars are not babied and are used daily.)

-Had my Chrysler '86 Le'Baron for 10 years, still in very good condition. Body rust free, engine and auto trans first class. Only experienced one unexpected repair.

-Wife had her '87 Daytona for 14 yrs, still in very good condition. No unexpected repairs, body, engine and trans first class. Still had the original exhaust, the first year of stainless exhaust.

- My current '95 Concord. 11.5 yrs and counting. Body rust free, looks like new, engine and trans performing as new. Only one unexpected repair, the air conditioner, on which Chrysler extended the warranty to 7 yrs. Cost me nothing to repair. This Concord has lasted unbelievably well and since my needs have changed slightly I'd trade it if I could find something better for me. I've never kept a car so long, even a used one.

I stand corrected, and now that you clarify, I think this is what the LA Time was alluding to...forced retirement of cars before they were worn out, which started the "used engine/transmission" business for Japanese models in Southern Calfornia, which was a booming business started by the Watanabe Bros. in the mid-'70s. Low mileage cars would be scrapped in Japan, and the engines/transaxles sent over here to put in US high milers. I believe that's still a big biz here, but since California smog requirements are much tougher than those in Japan, most Japanese used power trains won't pass smog tests here anymore. Wasn't an issue in the '70s and '80s, though, as most of the smog gear was "bolt-on.".

Highland Park Machining attached to the main complex but it closed, or was due to close, by the late 60s...now I forgot!

Yes, but these inspections end up being so expensive that the Japanese trade in for new. The law was written as such to keep their auto industry going.

Low mileage cars are usually not scrapped in Japan. More often, they are shipped to other Asian countries with a demand for used cars.

I believe that the actual cost of the inspection works out to about $250 if an owner takes the car in for an inspection him or herself. The inspection process is very thorough, and every safety and emissions component is visually inspected and measured or tested. That cost will jump to about $2,000 if the owner pays a garage to take the car through the inspection process and the garage tells the owner to fix a long laundry list of things before taking it through the inspection.

The reason people change cars so often in Japan is consumer preference. The average Japanese salaryman spends as little money as possible on housing and furnishings and will spend money on cars, vacations, and designer clothing and accessories for his wife.

How many Japanese cars do YOU have 438,000 miles on and still use them every day?

Thought so.

Iacocca wrote his books over 20 years ago. Welcome to the new century, Desert Troll.

Well, in context:

"Assembly quality on late '70s Chrysler products was dismal at best, but once all the goofs were fixed, they were pretty darned good, "

...so spake DeserTBob

My old man has two Toyota Landcruisers, both over a half-million miles. Granted, one he keeps the '68 for fun, but the '78 he uses for hauling, snowplowing, etc.

If you use a 438,000 mile Chrysler as your daily driver, I'm not sure that's something worth bragging about.

Visit any Nissan Maxima forum - not only do those people keep their cars for hundreds of thousands of miles, the interior actually holds up too.

On 22 Oct 2006 20:55:29 -0600, Joe Pfeiffer graced this newsgroup with:

and your credentials are as questionable as your logic. I'm sorry that *my* opinion isn't acceptable to you. Not that I or anyone else for that matter care one bit who you think or claim to me.

You see, some of us are confident enough in ourselves that we don't need to prop ourselves up with titles.

On Mon, 23 Oct 2006 17:54:48 -0700, DeserTBoB graced this newsgroup with:

gee..a newspaper that's got their facts *wrong*? Whoda thunk? Having lived in Japan, that pure and utter BS. There's no limit in the miles you can have on your car. It just has to pass their safety inspection like any other car.

On 23 Oct 2006 21:52:19 -0600, Joe Pfeiffer graced this newsgroup with:

utter BS. Do you just make this up as you go along?

Right - but I can read between the lines on this one, and no matter the country Bureaucrats is Bureaucrats...

What the Government wants, the Government gets. QED.

The DIY car owner doesn't have to pay a mechanic and shop to do the pre-inspection work and take the car in for them - but s/he is still going to have to buy the parts and supplies needed to tear down the brakes, axles, trans, suspension, and other items that the inspection calls for ahead of time, to make sure he passes on the first try.

Or the owner can do the obvious items and take the car through cold, and get Failed several times as they pick up on other "worn items" that he has to repair or tear down for a closer inspection and bring the car back later - only to fail the test again for something else...

Or you "scrap" the car (to be shipped overseas either as parts or whole and sold as used) and buy a new one from a domestic Japanese manufacturer, which supports the Home Country economy.

Again, QED. You can easily adjust the inspection rules and criteria to get the desired results. You want to up the percentage failed, you tighten the regs a bit.

Go ask Marv Specter where he gets a lot of his used FJ and truck parts. Same thing for the engines at K. Watanabe Co., Et Al.

They come in from Japanese breakers by the container load, most of them surprisingly grease free with lots of yellow paint dots on every bolt head, nut and thread from the inspection process - and when the owner decides to stop paying for the inspections, it's scrap to them.

Can't argue with that one as I don't know the culture in such minutiae. But as an external observer it makes sense.

Show me any Chrysler that has made it to 480,000 miles. 1-2, that maybe you've heard of? I know of 30 or 40 Toyotas in my small little neighbourhood on Vancouver Island alone. My '89 Camry LE, 5sp. with the 3.0L has 347,000Kms on it and the air still blows cold. Hasn't needed a quart of oil between changes ever. Drives like a new car! How many Lebarons are out there with that kind of mileage?