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Why do modern cars only last seven years when our grandson's 1986 Honda Accord is still going strong?

I was interested to read the answer to "AB, Ormskirk". You said that one couldn't question the quality of a nine-year old car that was originally designed to last about seven years. My grandson is just about to pull up to the house driving my 1986 Honda Accord that I gave him when I purchased a Honda Fit (or Jazz to you in Britain). Yes, 1986. Every time we take it in to be serviced the garage mechanic says that there is nothing wrong with that car. It has over 300,000 on the speedometer. No wonder we have driven Hondas for 26 years.

Asked on 21 January 2012 by AB, Victoria, B.C. Canada

Answered by Honest John
That's lucky. A bloke in the USA just got 1,000,000 miles out of a 1990 Honda Accord and Honda gave him a new one. A New Yorker, Irv Gordon, has had nearly 3,000,000 miles from a 1960s Volvo P1800. The problem is there is far more to go expensively wrong with a modern car and that (and the new, more comprehensive MoT test) is what is putting so many off the road after as little as seven years.
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