[quote=svelte]I’m torn on the statement that cars won’t age well because of the increasing electronics in modern cars.
On the one hand, that will certainly be problematic. I have a friend who, about two years ago, told me something went out in his 2009 Charger SRT8 and he couldn’t get that part from Dodge…it was an electronic part (seems like it was part of the dash cluster? can’t recall) and all that was available was a rebuilt replacement. The car was out of warranty but not that old by any means.
So that points to flu being right.
On the other hand, the average age of a car is now approaching 12 years old, an all-time high. If electronics are hurting their aging, then how can this be? Perhaps the average age will head south here in a few years as the technology laden cars age?
It will be interesting to watch.[/quote]
My 2000 Audi had a LED display screen that started to pixelate and fail around the 10 year mark. I found an electronics guy that desoldered the screen and replaced it with a compatible screen that is still functional. The Mercedes had a similar issue that I didn’t bother having repaired. These original led screens where used for informational purposes only, so while they were an eyesore, were not critical to driving the car. Fast forward today. Mercedes all use an LCD screen for everything, there are no mechanical gauges anymore. BMW and Audi lately have done the same thing. When that LCD goes bad, it’s not a simple instrument cluster “swap”. Even my latest car, with the center touch screen, some people have reported it delaminating 3 years later.
The airbag control module for my 19 year old Audi just recently started to throw a fault code. over time , it’s a known issue these airbag modules go bad when I’m a colder weather. Cost to replace them are $800, or roughly 40% the value of the car. I just use. $25 eBay air bag reset tool every so often. even if they are available electronics parts are incredibly expensive. They will run more than the car is worth.
