Saw the new '07 Sebring Thursday

I am not aware of any law in Japan that prohibits driving any car past 50 K miles. The website for the Japan's National Agency of Vehicle Inspection (English web site:

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outlines a pretty thorough inspection process but there is no mention anywhere of a limit on vehicle mileage.

Reply to
Ray O
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Highland Park Assembly??

Reply to
cavedweller

Well, HQ was there, but there was a "something Park" assembly plant somewhere near Detroit that was a chronic problem...now I forgot! Iacocca wrote about it in one of his books.

Reply to
DeserTBoB

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

Reply to
DeserTBoB

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.

Reply to
DeserTBoB

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

5 yrs gets expensive, too expensive over 10 yrs. Inspections can cost a lot.

Some facts here-

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Reply to
Just Facts

Still on the FWD hunt! Too bad you haven't owned a FWD car in significant winter weather.

The fact is police often ram into cars they are chasing and RWD is cheaper to repair. So for those who ram into other cars, RWD is obviously better.

Reply to
Just Facts

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.

Reply to
Joe Pfeiffer

You have illustrated how out of date you are or perhaps you are an import dealer trolling around.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.

Reply to
Some O

Reply to
DeserTBoB

I have and now will only drive RWD cars in the white stuff. Nothing eats RWD + weight in the trunk. FWD really begins to show its ugliness on hills in the snow. (when you start off, all the wight is shifting to the rear wheels.)

Reply to
Newsgroup User

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

Reply to
cavedweller

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.

Reply to
Dave

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

Reply to
Ray O

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.

Reply to
Ray O

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

Thought so.

Reply to
Steve

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

Reply to
Steve

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

Reply to
cavedweller

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.

Reply to
Rich

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.

Reply to
amstaffs

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