IS YOUR CAR BUILT TO LAST?

Just like us, cars have survival rates. Some last longer, perhaps not 1 billion seconds but longer than many marriages (average of 14.2 years in Canada). As you might expect, more expensive brands tend to last longer. They're probably built better and maintained better. There are noteworthy differences among brands.

Survey Says

"All our cars are designed to have a long and useful life on the road. In an age of mass production that sometimes favours planned obsolescence, our products look to provide long-term value. And the numbers back that up." — Mercedes Benz Magazine

DesRosiers Automotive Consultants looked at vehicles sold 21-24 years ago (1985-1989) that are still on the road in 2010. Here are the survival rates:

• Mercedes-Benz: 63.7%
• Second Best German Brand: 34.9%
• Best Japanese Brand: 11.7%
• Industry Average: 6.4%

The results for Mercedes look impressive but can you trust them when they’re published in their own magazine?

Accurate?

Statistics can deceive. I wanted to know the identity of the unnamed brands. The omission made me curious. I figured the Second Best German Brand was BMW but where do Porsche and Audi fit in? A better comparison would look at Mercedes' real competitors, not the overall industry. You wouldn't compare a BMW with a Sonata, but Hyundai did.

Here’s what a Dec 2010 report (PDF) from DesRosiers shows. Compared with Mercedes

• Porsche is higher in every period (85.1% for 21-25 years old vs. 59.8% for Mercedes)
• BMW and Lexus are higher for the first 15 years
• Audi’s survival rate for 21-24 years is only 6.5%
• “Few Ladas and older Hyundais have survived the trip from 1985 to present due to an almost comical array of quality issues”

Wrong Measure?

Longevity may be the wrong measure. Wouldn't you like to know the cost of repairs too? What if Mercedes vehicles last long but  require triple the maintenance?

If Mercedes are so well-built, why is the warranty on used vehicles substandard? The BMW Certified Series Protection Plan warrants used vehicles for the earlier of 6 years and 160,000 km. The Mercedes Extended Limited Warranty is also 6 years but only 120,000 km. That’s 40,000 km less. If the cars are that great, why isn't the coverage for more years and more kilometres? Perhaps the maintenance costs get crazy after 120,000 km?

A warranty is insurance. Isn’t more protection better?

Worthwhile?

A nice vehicle, may last for ages but there are problems. Your vehicle may start reaching a point where the repair bills start piling up. Paying does not guarantee that your vehicle will last. If you're able to maintain your vehicle on your own, that's different.

Newer vehicles are safer. That's worth something, depending on the type of driving you do. Your survival rate is also important.

Links

• 25 years of vehicle longevity (DesRosiers, Dec 2010) [PDF]
• Ontario man hits 1 million kilometre mark in Mercedes (wheels.ca, Mar 2011)
• Small cars: Is “safer than ever” safe enough for you?
• The most dangerous part of driving
• Your life expectancy exceeds one billion seconds
• Hyundai Sonata vs. BMW 5-series: The rationale for irrational behaviour
• How to save on your next Audi, BMW or Mercedes-Benz
• Mercedes-Benz Magazine [not iPad friendly]

Podcast 132 (5:34)

direct download | Internet Archive page | iTunes

PS Beware of the most dangerous part of driving

LEARNING FROM THE DEMISE OF HP’S TOUCHPAD

What a week for changes in major companies

• Google buys Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion (US)
• HP discontinues their weeks-old TouchPad tablet
• HP looks at exiting the PC market

We’ll focus on HP’s flip flopping.

HP's TouchPad Tablet

There are two major operating systems for tablets and smartphones: Apple iOS and Google Android. Rather than use Android for free, HP decided to spend $1.2 billion to buy Palm last year and get WebOS. The heavily hyped TouchPad launched last month and quickly flopped. HP is already shutting down that division, which also made smartphones.

Best Buy wants to return 240,000 unsold units to HP which might crush and bury them in the desert as Apple and Atari have in the past. This might cost HP $100 million (US). Right now, they’re trying fire sale prices as low as $99. How would you feel if you pay $500 or more weeks earlier?

HP is the world’s largest PC maker but they are looking at selling their low margin PC division. That’s a major change too. HP needs to sell about seven PCs to match the profits of one Mac. This is further proof that we don’t buy on price.

RIM Too

RIM decided to scrap their Blackberry operating system but the replacement (QNX) won’t ship until 2012. For now, RIM just launched several improved but lackluster new Blackberries.

The Playbook tablet has also flopped but RIM is still unwilling to admit this. They may have shipped 500,000 but it looks like about half are unsold. The Playbook isn’t even in the top 5 tablets. Imagine needing to connect your Playbook to your Blackberry phone just to get email. What were they thinking?

History Repeats

The sad part is that Palm was the leader in mobile devices until they married phones and gave birth to smartphones. RIM then ruled the high end as mobile email and security became essentials. For some reason, HP decided to become the #1 PC maker in the world. They did. Now they’re looking at leaving for the same reason as IBM in 2004: low profits.

At the time, there were glowing articles about the "foolproof" strategies that the likes of HP and RIM were pursuing. Also sad is that good people at those companies lose their "safe" jobs because of bad bets made by a few.

Bad Decisions

Even the biggest companies falter, especially when successful and making profits.

Do you remember when Dell wore the halo? They were considered the best until buyers saw computers as commodities and opted for elegant designs. That's Apple's strength. Do you have a Dell music player, smartphone or tablet? If you do, how satisfied are you? If price wasn't a consideration, would you have chosen to Think Different?

The iPad already brings in more revenue than all of Dell’s consumer PC business.

We’re fickle. In recent years, there was a shift towards netbooks but they’re now boring commodities. Next year tablet sales are expected to take the lead.

Lessons

Who would buy an HP tablet now (unless at a give-away price)? How would you feel if you bought one at full price and told everyone your TouchPad was better than an iPad?

HP is admitting major past and current mistakes. What about you? Is it time to acknowledge some failures and move on?

Podcast 131 (4:58)

direct download | Internet Archive page | iTunes

Links

• RIP, TouchPad. Can any non-iPad tablet survive — ever? (CNN Money, Aug 22, 2011) (new)
• HP’s TouchPad is officially a bomb: Best Buy wants HP to take them back (Business Insider, Aug 16, 2011)
• HP TouchPads to be dumped in landfill? (PC Advisor, Aug 19, 2011)
• HP eats $100 million charge to cover unsold stockpile of TouchPads (Apple Insider, Aug 18, 2011)
• Apple may make more profit from one Mac than HP does from 7 PCs (Apple Insider, June 24, 2011)
• HP begins TouchPad clearance with $99 fire sale (Apple Insider, Aug 19, 2011)
• HP to buy Palm, shake up the mobile world (PC World, Apr 2010)
• People only want iPads (Business Insider, Aug 19, 2011)
• RIM risks Playbook repeat with QNX (Forbes, Aug 13, 2011)
• As PCs wane, companies look to tablets (New York Times, Aug 19, 2011)
• What does HP’s PC purge mean for computer users? (The Guardian, Aug 19, 2011)
• HP explores quitting computers as profits slide (Wall Street Journal, Aug 19, 2011)
• uApple: the iPad shows how you can be like Apple
• Are you more like Apple, Google or Microsoft?
• Why you can’t and don’t buy on price

PS We got our second iPad last week.