New Cars Vs. Old Cars: Why Aren’t They As Reliable? | Shadetree Automotive (2024)

Today’s blog is all about one of the most commonly asked questions in the automotive industry: why aren’t new cars as reliable as old cars?

After all, with how far technology has come, shouldn’t new cars leave old cars in the dust when it comes to reliability? Does it not stand to reason that the newer something is, the better it should be?

We hear you. That’s why we’re utilizing our 40+ years of experience in the auto repair industry to do a deep dive into the issue in order to let you in on the ins and outs of the new cars vs. old cars’ reliability. Let’s get into it.

New Cars Are More Complicated

One of the primary reasons why people feel like new cars aren’t as reliable as older cars is because newer cars are way more complicated and compact compared to older models. It’s gotten to the point where DIYers can’t really pop open their car’s hood and figure out what’s going on with their buddies and some cold bottles of beer. As such, more often than not, people are forced to bring their cars into the shop when they need work done.

Some European vehicles we’ve had come into our shop don’t even have a dipstick you can use to check the oil; you have to use a very expensive scanner tool to do that. We can justify such a tool because we’re an auto repair shop and we work on hundreds of cars – but the average Joe can’t really, unless you’ve got money to spare (we’re talking $10 grand for the BMW scan tool type money to spare).

So, the fact that newer cars are so much more complicated and people can’t really work on them themselves can lead to people thinking that they’re just not as good as cars used to be.

Even to us – experienced mechanics who love our job – the equipment needed in order to be able to work on cars nowadays is just insane. Take windshield replacement, for example – we don’t just replace the windshield anymore. Now, we have to recalibrate it so all the safety features work and everything.

Newer Vehicles Have Way More Parts

And the more parts something has, the more there is that can break or go wrong. New cars have multiple computers, wiring harnesses, cameras, and more. All of these parts make for better vehicles that are safer to drive – but they also mean there’s a lot more that can go wrong with a new car versus an old car.

Even if parts were still built as well as they used to be, there’s still the simple fact that more parts = more potential problems. This isn’t even touching on the unfortunate fact that parts aren’t built as well as they used to be: they’re mass-produced, made in other countries, and the quality simply isn’t what it used to be.

The Same Parts Aren’t Used On All Different Models

Something that we’ve found is that when parts are really reliable, a car maker will use that part across all sorts of different models. These are parts that have been tried and tested for years, so it’s known that the part works well. This is why you’ll see cars from the ’90s have so many of the same parts — the manufacturers knew that they were reliable.

With newer cars, manufacturers are constantly going in and redesigning parts in order to meet constantly changing customer demands. This becomes not the most reliable, because the parts haven’t really been tried and tested to the extent that they used to be.

So, if you’re feeling like old cars are more reliable than new cars, you’re not wrong.

Old Cars Are More Basic

A “well, duh” moment, we know, especially after our first point about new cars being more complicated. But when cars were much simpler with fewer parts, it made them more reliable because there was less that could go wrong, and if something happened, it was fairly straightforward to try to fix it. You could just pop the hood of your car open and figure out what was wrong with a family member, neighbor, or friend.

So, if you have a car with a manual transmission, no heated seats, no automatic climate control, or any of the other bells and whistles new cars have, yeah, it’s going to have far fewer things that can actually go wrong.

But remember this – once you’ve driven a newer car, trying to go back to driving an old car is very hard. New cars are safer, more comfortable, more sleek, better fuel economy, and so much more powerful – and they let you hear your own thoughts while you drive, as opposed to road noise.

So, basically, you could say that the reason why cars aren’t as reliable as they used to be is because consumers want all this fancy stuff now. And that fancy stuff is fantastic – but it does take a toll on reliability.

Car Manufacturers Must Meet CAFE Standards

The final reason why new cars aren’t as reliable as old cars that we’ll talk about in this blog post is the fact that car manufacturers are under immense pressure to meet fuel economy standards and emission standards.

CAFE stands for Corporate Average Fuel Economy. Car manufacturers need to lower the emissions coming out of their cars and increase the fuel economy while also meeting consumer demands for them to drive amazingly and have all these fancy features.

Keep Your Car In Good Condition

We’d argue that cars being made now may not be as reliable as old cars – but they’re better cars. You just need to be sure that you’re maintaining it as needed. Cars are safer and everything nowadays. The problem is just that cars are way more complicated, so if something goes wrong, you’ll more likely than not have to take it to an auto repair shop, like us, rather than being able to fix it yourself.

Shadetree Automotive is here to help you keep your car in good condition for as long as possible. Contact us today to learn more about our services or to learn how we can help you with your car.