One of the biggest Oxymorons of this decade is “New Dream Car”. I could write a book on everything I’ve seen and read about the problems that these new cars have had. It is not just GM of the Big 2, but Ford also has broken the previous record for recalls (2025), with still 6 month to go in the year. Stellantis is also having a lot of problems across the board, and other brands with significant recall numbers include Tesla, Toyota!, Honda, Kia, and Volkswagen. [Editor’s Note: What about Nissan? Ans. The worst]
There is just too much technology that is trying to be crammed into these vehicles. I am content with and comfortable with my 2006 Toyota 4Runner 4.7 V-8, one of the best vehicles and power trains ever made. In the Kelly Blue Book, 98% recommend this vehicle.
Yes, this is the Goat’s vehicle
The new engines are blowing up, right and left after just a few thousand miles. Some have failed when driven right off the dealer’s lot by a unfortunate buyer.
Not only are the new cars junk, the prices are astronomical, with car notes stretching out to 84 months, and upside-down negative equity of tens of thousands of dollars guaranteed.
Oh, and here is the engine pulled from a brand new Ford Explorer, with a whopping 2,000 miles on it. It doesn’t even have any dirt or grime on it, but it does have a big hole blown in the block.
Here are just a few of the problems with new cars other than the engines:
1. Technology-Related Issues:
- Infotainment systems:Glitches, slow response times, and user-unfriendly interfaces are common complaints.
- Driver-assistance features:Alerts from systems like lane departure warnings and automatic emergency braking can be overly sensitive or unreliable.
- Electrical malfunctions:Issues with sensors, computers, and other electronic components can lead to unexpected shutdowns, system errors, and even make the car undriveable.
- Wireless charging and other features:Features like wireless charging pads and electronic door handles are also frequently reported as problematic.
From Ed Mills:
Turbocharging and variable valve timing… How you get 180 horsepower out of your Corolla’s 2-liter DOHC four banger. Back in “the day,” muscle car enthusiasts were extracting bonus torque with extreme valve timing, (It’s got a 3/4 race cam!”) which you could always spot by the erratic idle – “kerchumph… chumph… blap… kerchumph…”. With VVT, engines are smooth at idle and flex their muscles at takeoff. 4 cylinders can blow the doors off anything with the same displacement made 30 years ago, and a V-6 can be endowed with the 0-60 pull of a Nixon-era smallblock V8.
At 40k they get tired and the turbo takes a dump – if not the engine itself – from being continuously overstressed, living on the razor edge from showroom to junkyard. Recalls on ridiculously complicated fly-by-wire transmissions have become a cultural norm. Never mind the problems with ever more convoluted electronics powered by CPUs running 64-bit operating systems, that dwarf what was in a standard PC 20 years ago, because people can’t live without a huge touch-screen video display that does everything but wipe your ass. I expect the vibrating dildo proximity detector will be standard equipment in all cars by next year.
Never mind the horrifying expenditure of design talent to come up with an even more asinine body style every two years because of “Keeping Up With The Neighbors” vanity. The auto industry has always been a disgusting reflection of consumer gullibility and shallowness, and the 21st century gives no indication that it’ll ever be outgrown.
On the positive side, I neglected to sing the deserved praises of the locking torque converter. The occasional blessing of innovation.
Update: Ford recalls 312K vehicles for possible brake failure (08/02/2025)
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