On the other hand, in India any car is probably unusable after 10-15 years, and here in Germany people buy a car for life.
In which Germany are you living? People change car pretty regularly, especially because of the maintenance cost for passing the TÜV. All small cars sold have distribution belt soaked in oil, so you have to change before 10 years, and by that time the cost of changing the belt is more than the car value.
First owner is usually a lease customer (company car), second owner will keep it for much longer, third or fourth owner will run the car into the ground, and it'll almost always be crushed in Eastern Europe. Guessing grandparent is seeing a lot of second and third owner cars.
I’ve seen tear downs on YouTube and the Duramax people are livid about a belt.
I hear in USA the Toyotas hold much longer... I'm not sure why, if it is true, and what are the conditions.
Every car I've owned has gone well over 150,000 km without anything but regular maintenance. It's really hard to kill a modern engine.
Yes, things wear out and need to be replaced.
No salt on my roads and little to no rust on either.
When? The 1940s?
We know this isn't true, based on the existence of older cars, today.
I'd put money on a barebones car of today outlasting nearly anything of the past.
When he has stopped using the car, that has been more because the driver was worn off, not the car.
Obviously, during all those years the car has been repaired many times, but in almost all cases by himself and only a few times at a car workshop.
Similar lifetimes have been typical for many other things bought during the seventies, like washing machines, TV sets and other such household appliances.
The products designed for short lifetimes have become widespread mostly after 1990 and especially after 2000.
(Data from Summary of Travel Trends: 1995 Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey, and 2024 IHS Markit Co., Average Age of Light Cars and Trucks in U.S)
That was easier to do with 70s cars than with modern cars of course.
I agree that consumer products in most categories have become throwaway crap in recent decades. But quite a few cars, at least in my experience, are still built to last.
>>in Germany I cannot get a decent second hand car for less than 20K.
You cannot compare Indian Citroen with German Mercedes.
Then you're doing something very wrong. There are literally thousands of cars for sale that are reliable and well maintained for half that.
Hell, these days even a sub 1K eur can get you by in a pinch, if you choose carefully enough.
Here's[1] an example for a car costing a million INR, taxes are more than 300K. That's not the final landing price. Final price adds up extra road tax component that is anywhere from 13 to 17%(or even more) which is calculated on top of the 1 Million.
In case you missed it, that's tax on tax i.e. double taxation! Some courts have ruled it illegal but majority of state governments act ignorant and just continue the practice.
1. https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/235811-query...
Most of the extra price goes into emissions reduction.
Moreover, we are really really mileage conscious so our cars are very fuel efficient, leading to lower emissions.
If pollution is caused by "crop burning", why is it that the worst pollution is in cities?
> The phenomenon is made possible by a dramatic improvement in air quality in recent weeks, after industries shut down, cars came off the road and airlines canceled flights in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
> Delhi saw up to a 44% reduction in PM10 air pollution levels on the first day of its restrictions, India’s Central Pollution Control Board found. The PM10 standard measures airborne particulates 10 micrometers or smaller in diameter.
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/himalayas-visible-loc...
The worst pollution is not in any cities. It's a problem specific to North Indian cities and regions in Pakistan.
No city in South India is even remotely as polluted as the NCR.
From https://www.topgear.com/long-term-car-reviews/dacia/jogger/r...
> The Jogger returned the equivalent of a four-star rating for adult occupant crash protection, and three stars for child occupants. Plenty respectable scores. The Jogger lost marks, however, for its lack of active safety equipment: it doesn’t offer lane-keep assist, pedestrian detection, or seatbelt warnings for the rearmost row. [0]
> The overall NCAP rating is dictated by the lowest score in any individual category, hence that headline one-star result for the Jogger.
Many people actively disable gimmicks like "lane-keep assist", so YMMV on such damning "1 star Euro NCAP rating".
Not in every Country.
The average age of a car in Germany is 10 years so I guess this was sarcasm?
In Germany, people may upgrade from their own will, but even from my window I can see a dozens cars parked which are more than 10 years old. Not to mention a new Merc or VW can probably be stil working well in 20 years (for example see autoscout24 for Mercs from 2014 still selling for 15K).
The 15 year car rule is only applicable for New Delhi NCR Region. You still need to obtain fitness certificate for vehicles every 5 years after the 15th year, but they need not be dumped as long as it passes the evaluation.
What are you talking about?
I bought my used Opel Corsa with 50k km for 2200€. Driven it for 60k km since, without problem. So it was definitely “decent”.