10 Year Vehicle Life?

[PeteC]

As discussed on another thread, are we sure cars will last 10 years here? I'm specifically concerned about cars housed within lets say 3 miles of the sea. I'm about 2 miles and seeing some surface corrosion starting on 4 year old Mitsu, chrome pieces such as door handle guards, rear view mirror cover etc. We also get it on various patio and household items stored outside, including lawnmower motor housing cover.

When living in Hawaii even the best made Japanese car with undercoating and interior panel spray showed rust after 5-6 years. Basically falling apart when hitting 10. Perhaps there more extreme than here but.....the sea is the sea. Pete

[buksida]

Our 8 year old Mitsu is mechanically sound and starts first time every time but yes, after about 5-6 years the paintwork started to fade and blotch. We're 200 meters from the beach which doesn't help!

Aside from regular items such as battery, tyres, filters and oil I haven't had to spend a thing on it in 8 years. Its currently in for a re-spray, alloy re-furb, and full service at the moment though.

[Dannie Boy]

Judging by the number of relatively old looking cars in fairly good condition, I would have thought that 10 years is a reasonable expectation, assuming you follow the routine service recommendations and drive fairly responsibly?

[Gregjam]

My nephew has a Mitsu L200 old pickup that has definitely been round the block a few times. His is a working truck and shows it. Maintenance is minimal and I have just paid 4000 for it to have new ball joints and a fair bit of chassis welding on the front. The body is not too bad though and despite the minimal maintenance it runs well. It spends most of its time around Nongplab so does not get the salt exposure by being near the beach.
I think with good maintenance which is not expensive here a vehicle can last a long time and the build quality here is as good as anywhere. Just look at the Toyota pickups, not sure if the one Top Gear tried to destroy was built in Thailand but suspect it was, the one I used to have was a bit agricultural but certainly well built and reliable.

[Lung Per]

Cars, fridges, TVs, laundry machines, etc. etc. are not made to last ten years or more. Actually, the manufacturer of certain items such as printers have built in chips that will make them fail after a certain number of copies or after a certain date.
Industry must count on a constant turn-over to survive.
This being said and done you may extend the expected lifetime of your item by careful maintenance and sober use.