Cars are themselves a symptom of a broken system designed to maximize waste. It’s wrong that the majority of people even need one to begin with.
Comment on Too many products are easier to throw away than fix—consumers deserve a 'right to repair'
Overzeetop@sopuli.xyz 8 months ago
You know what needs to be added to this? Cars. The amount of body damage needed to “total” most cars is almost trivial these days.
grue@lemmy.world 8 months ago
FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Even when it is replaceable, it’s ridiculous. I accidentally pulled off the front bumper of my Prius by scraping it on a parking barrier and it cost me $800 because they had to replace a huge amount of the front of the car. The dealer wouldn’t even touch it. They said it had to go to a body shop. It’s the fucking bumper!
SGG@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Part of it as already mentioned is a safety thing. Crumple zones and the like are there to purposefully deform so that the people inside the vehicle have a higher chance of surviving a crash.
Part of it is that being hit in the wrong way can also weaken the structural integrity of the frame making it unsafe to use. Makes more sense to strip it for parts at that point. Last thing a repair or insurance company wants is to be found liable for saying “yes the car is repairable/safe to drive”, then the front falls of on a highway.
Part of it also is that insurance companies won’t want to pay for repairs that amount to more than the cost of replacing the entire car if it’s older. Or they know they can make more money by paying out a policy then repairing and refurbishing the vehicle.
remotelove@lemmy.ca 8 months ago
Can’t you just tow it outside the environment to avoid liability if the front falls off?
thejml@lemm.ee 8 months ago
Only if you don’t use cardboard or cardboard derivatives.
smackmyballsoff@lemmynsfw.com 8 months ago
When I buy a vehicle, I touch it, if it’s solid metal hey awesome, if it’s plastic or fiber whatever I just nope out because I’ve seen what happens when they’re in the smallest of accident.
I can pull a ding out of metal, or even just stop by pull apart and pop a replacement door or whatever off something similar. Can’t do that when half the frame shatters in impact, might as well buy another car which is exactly what they want us to do
markussim@lemmy.world 8 months ago
To be fair, cars are designed to break in a car crash for safety. If it breaks it can absorb the impact a lot better and therefore make the crash more survivable.
ZeroCool@feddit.ch 8 months ago
Yeah, in this case it’s an acceptable tradeoff. I’d rather lose my car than my life.
Toadiwithaneye@lemm.ee 8 months ago
The body and the chassis are really the only parts that need to be built for the sake of breaking for safety. The other parts on the car do not need to be disposable, but for the most they are. The part placement and design are not engineered with repair in mind.
BeardedGingerWonder@feddit.uk 8 months ago
You’d prefer the chassis deformed/broke rather than the bumper?
Toadiwithaneye@lemm.ee 8 months ago
That’s not what I said, I said those were the parts of the car that really need to be crafted to break for safety. Your interior, electronics, your transmission, engine, etc. Can be designed with repair in mind like older cars. Most new cars are a pain to repair and not because they need to be.