theres nothing new under the sun

[moggiethouable]

Bought among other bits an oil filter for the accord today and guess what? When designing the engine.............
They have abandoned the spin on variety, for a replacement paper element, Morris style.

[mike.perry]

I bet it costs more than a Minor filter

[moggiethouable]

I bet it costs more than a Minor filter

Quite a bit more Mike,the Honda compensates in some ways though, 45-50 mpg for one, but servicing is expensive, hence the diy interest, it remains of course quite a dull and soulless machine,reliable to the point of tedium,which is whats needed for work of course.

[irmscher]

Look at the depreciation of the Honda

[bmcecosse]

Jap car ......how quickly people forget........

[moggiethouable]

I visited Tokyo once on business in the late eighties and asked the financial director of a large Japanese based manufacturer how they proposed to stave off the competition from China andTaiwan, when he had finally gotten over the impudence of this western upstart he stiffened and replied "mondi Ni" Japanese for "no problem"
I would like to meet him now, almost all of their extensive range is made in ......yep, China and Taiwan.
And now numerically we make more cars than we ever have before, including almost half a million German engines to boot and about to grow with BMWs new i8 sports engine about to be built here too.
I still wince when people talk of fitting Toyota engines to moggies though.

[JOWETTJAVELIN]

It took the Japanese to show the world how to make cars, and don't forget the Japs began by making Austin designs under licence. They just made them more reliable though...

In the 1970's the vast majority of new British and European family cars didn't have wing mirrors, a heated rear screen and certainly no radio, except as extras. Along come Datsun and hello, what's all this equipment as standard, plus reliability?

They were laughed at at first, but not for long, as we can see today, when British Leyland (where are you now?) started using Honda engines.

[irmscher]

But where is all the Jap crap now you cant even recycle rust

[moggiethouable]

But where is all the Jap crap now you cant even recycle rust

I think all the point raised here are valid,built in obselescence however is now not an option to a manufacturer that wants to survive longer than the average.
Instead, now we are bombarded with adverts attempting to convince us we cant live without the latest model,which unsurprisingly we do of course survive very well without.
The biggest issue for the major motor manufacturers as I see it is longevity, though not because of failures, the accord we got new in 2004 now has 200,000 miles on it and has just had the first repairs effected at a cost of £500.00.
So in 8 years apart from the serviceable parts, brake pads tyres oil etc it has cost me £5.21 a month in repairs.
I am a big exponent/supporter of British Manufacturing however and the next one I buy will be built here,maybe a japanglish Honda, lets hope I dont regret it

[lambrettalad]

i had british cars all though the late 60's ,70's and 80's and spent a fortune on repairs,always in unipart every week.all except a 2.3 rover 120k miles and no problems,then I bought a JAP

500 MILES A WEEK for four years ,cost 2 sets of tyres, 2 exhausts and petrol
now 5 BMW'S a citroen,etc LATER i've gone to A 5 year WARRANTY Hyundai plus a KIA soul (PLUS I STILL love my moggie )

I don't drive a badge I now drive a whatever suits my circumstances

[lowride stepside]

I bought my truck 12 years ago paid £800 as a none running no braking unclutching thing, spent £ 100 on it, got it on the road used it for work picking up m/c's till my boss crashed it but i ended up getting a cash in lew settlement of £1700 repaired it with the addition of new halogen lamps an disc brakes then started working for a maintanance company fencing and paving and other bitz,the look on some peoplesface when i turned up in that, once the poor thing had about a 1/4 tonne of decking on it,when i turned into the rd where the job was, down hill ,the sump started rubbing so we had to unload n walk some down .So now when i spend money on him I' just feel like i'm paying him back

[lambrettalad]

and it's a ...........

[lowride stepside]

morris cut down from a van into a truck,a bit gpo a bit royal mail wth a few bits of improvised ply ,a marina engine clutch n box,but now it stops with the help of discs and a servo and trundles along at motorway speeds with an overdrive gearbox out of a spitfire and a few other mods , but it will never be finished
I love it

[irmscher]

Stepside any pictures