Throwaway society

[eyeball kid]

I wouldn't put much faith in that claim. Firstly a 1mph difference wouldn't cause them to not pay out as many factors affect the reading on your speedo, tyre wear, wheel size, different gear ratios across various models all fitted with the same dials etc. It's why the police have the 10% allowance when they aim their speed guns at you (in some areas it's 10% + 2).
So there will be a difference between you GPS speed and the speed indicated by your speedo. Also I don't think all cars have these systems fitted at all.

The 1mph was an exaggeration for example. But all cars no mater how shite are fitted with them. No conspiracy theory they are part and parcel of the engine management system. Probably should buy a kit car.

 

[eyeball kid]

That's not surprising, that mental Nissan gtr 'knows' if it's on the road or a race track. It won't unlock full power of its not at a track. I know there's an increasing number of ins companies are giving discounts if you have an approved dash cam fitted. The approved units are around £120, but it's a small price against the saving on how much these crash for cash muppets could cost ya.

Damn right. He told me the biggest cause of car insurance inflation has been the organized crime from eastern Europe and India. They drive around the roundabouts waiting to.bump or side swipe. Then five guys come out the car holding their necks. Of course they have a gp that will testify to the terrible damage done to them and they collect the payout.

 

[bellyman]

Yep, its part of the engine management system.
Things are getting worse car-wise, my best bum chum works in the prototype dept at Ford research and some of the stuff he tells me...
The final straw for me, was my new car, that was depreciating faster than a lead balloon, couldnt have its headlight changed without a 2hr garage visit.
Ive gone back to old cars now, ones that I can actually fix, changed the bulb in my new (old) van in 30 seconds.

 

[eyeball kid]

You will find a great many car manufacturers have been installing trackers for a lot longer too. The big insurance companies don't have an annual summit with car producers for nothing.
Straight from a members mouth.

 

[tommywho5150]

I've been tuning cars, remapping ECU's and all manner of other stuff and there's only a tiny minority of vehicles I've come across with such systems, I also work for JLR and very few of ours have them. What I suggest is that this is disinformation.

 

[philTBA]

Yep, its part of the engine management system.
Things are getting worse car-wise, my best bum chum works in the prototype dept at Ford research and some of the stuff he tells me...
The final straw for me, was my new car, that was depreciating faster than a lead balloon, couldnt have its headlight changed without a 2hr garage visit.
Ive gone back to old cars now, ones that I can actually fix, changed the bulb in my new (old) van in 30 seconds.

Yup ! 2009 I got a brand shiney new X trail. When it snowed, I got a bank of warning lights, and lost 4wd lock, abs & stability program. Nissans response, "Ah, we've had a few like that this week. We think there's water getting in where it shouldn't."
No shit Sherlock ! Bit of a major flaw on a 26.5K 4x4.
My £350, 16yro Jeep Cherokee never missed a beat in 8" of snow, or up to the cills in floods. You could get the fault codes without a scanner.

 

[tommywho5150]

Yup ! 2009 I got a brand shiney new X trail. When it snowed, I got a bank of warning lights, and lost 4wd lock, abs & stability program. Nissans response, "Ah, we've had a few like that this week. We think there's water getting in where it shouldn't."
No shit Sherlock ! Bit of a major flaw on a 26.5K 4x4.
My £350, 16yro Jeep Cherokee never missed a beat in 8" of snow, or up to the cills in floods. You could get the fault codes without a scanner.

All I've driven for the past ten years are Alfa Romeo's. Wanna guess how many times I've had to take them to the garage to be repaired?

 

[schlinky]

Yeah, this bugs me too. Stand-out items are mobiles and electric toothbrushes. In the case of the latter it stopped holding a charge, the battery is built in and you have to break the toothbrush to take it apart. It would be easy enough to make the batteries replaceable but then they wouldn't sell as many new products.

The real cost, beyond the pounds spent is the planet we live on. People don't seem to understand we've only got one and when it's screwed it's screwed but at least the shareholders can be happy for a bit eh?

 

[cheersm8]

If folks were not so obsessed with "fixing" things before they were broken, stuff would last a lot longer!

 

[tommywho5150]

The biggest killers in the automotive industry are the apparent environmental systems that make your car run cleaner. Not only is that a MASSIVE lie they're also designed to ensure premature engine failure. The worst offender is the EGR valve which, after a few thousand miles, begins to clog your inlet manifold with oil vapour and exhaust soot. This causes restricted airflow through the engine, causing rich running and poor emissions and also gums up the swirl flaps until they're forced off their mounts and drop into a cylinder causing catastrophic engine failure. Also because of the introduction of the stupid thing it gave rise to the DPF which causes exhaust restrictions if it's not regenerated frequently and the cost of a new one is astronomical.