One thing about cars made in the last 15 or so years that really bugs me: plastic valve covers.
As many times as an engine heat cycles, there’s no way you’re gonna keep one intact as soon as it has any kind of real age on it. Does it truly cost that much money to make an iron or aluminum valve cover?
How about fucking belt in oil systems?
Oh yes, lets ‘save’ some money by using some kind of rubbery plastic instead of a metal chain, but keep lubing up the belt… because it still needs lube, … but the heat in the equation makes everything degrade much faster.
Yep. My '97 uses a dry belt and the change interval is something like 7 years or 100k. I’ve heard of Ford engines dying at 40k because the wet belt lost teeth, and it bent valves or punched holes in pistons or both.
If they’re gonna use a wet belt, they could at least put it in a non-interference engine so it just runs like crap or shuts off when it skips time.
But how else would they sell you a new car every 4 years?
Half the fucking engine bay is made out of plastic parts that get brittle after just a few years and crumple at the first touch. And not just there, try disassembling a door card or interior trim without having broken bits fly all over the workshop. It’s gotten so bad in the last 15 years.
