@izzythepush,
izzythepush wrote:
One intersting thing about communism is the Trabant car produced in East Germany. It has its detractors, it was smokey and really not at all green. However, there are some people who are really fanatical about it. The main reason they like it so much is that they say it was built to last, and it's easy to fit replacement parts. Manufacturers over here expect cars to be replaced every few years or so, so they're not designed to last twenty years or so.
If we only needed to replace cars after about twenty years, we'd all have more money in our pockets, and there would be a reduction in greenhouse gasses. I'm not saying that's what should be done, but it's something to think about.
I have long had a gripe with Germany and their cars... Take for instance their Volkswagen Vanagon.
Volkswagen means "people's car" in German
If Volkswagen is a people's car then I am the pope and i am certainly not the pope. (not even close)
I grew up in a junk yard owned by my mechanic brother. He loved Volkswagen... and I in general don't have much against them other than they are money pits. If you have money to throw away then go for it.
Unlike Chevy where nearly every part is rebuildable and interchangeable between models, Volkswagen engineers smoke pot and then design a new car every year from the ground up. So nearly nothing is interchangeable.
Also they seal parts so they cannot be rebuilt unlike their Chevy and GM counterparts. So a simple oil pump costs 500 dollars to replace rather than 35 dollars... A simple fuel pump, alternator, carburetor etc are sealed and not interchangeable either from year to year and cost 500 dollars each rather than 35 dollars. They apparently just smoke weed and go design crazy... I don't know many average "people" who have money to throw away on repair parts and service of their automobiles, err other than Volkswagen drivers. All I can say is it is about time Germany...
