Toyota cuts vehicle production over global chip shortage Toyota is to slash global production of motor vehicles due to the semiconductor shortage. The news comes as Samsung pledges to invest about $360 billion over the next five years to bolster chip production, along with other strategic sectors. In a statement, Toyota said it has had to lower the production schedule by tens of …
My car was hit from the side and declared a "total loss". The insurance is paying out 9% more than I paid for it 2 years ago.
Not a good time to need a replacement though, as second hand are hard to find and expensive, whilst new have a 9+ month lead time.
I slid on some wet leaves avoiding a deer and went in the ditch. No mechanical damage to my car, but it tore off most of the (plastic) front bumper cover and air dam so it looks a bit unsightly. My car is old enough it isn't worth repairing cosmetic damage. I figured might as well drive it like this over the winter, and I'll get a new car in the spring - well new for me, I always buy one 2-3 years old to miss the worst of the depreciation.
Then covid hit and I couldn't visit showrooms so I figured "later this year" but wasn't driving all that much and showrooms were still mostly appointment only so it became "next spring". When spring 2021 rolled around suddenly used car prices were through the roof. Experts were saying that would only last 6-12 months, and I wasn't going to buy a car that would lose $10K+ in value in a year so I figured "OK spring 2022" but we still have crazy high car prices so now I'm starting to think it'll be 2023. At this rate when I finally buy it'll be a flying car! If I do I hope flying deer haven't evolved by then.
A car that's declared a "total loss" that isn't still drivable will be sold for scrap. They already pay you for stuff like the recyclable metals in the catalytic converters, if they can economically remove/resell chips the scrap price for cars will increase a bit.
Lead times of 9 months I think is optimistic.
Certainly for VW if you want an Up! or Polo it looks moderately okay but anything coming from Germany is horrendous.
We had our Golf Estate hit last October and written off (hit and run on the M25 to make it even worse) and the replacement has slipped from April, then July to January 23 and now, no delivery schedule.
The only plus is that the price is fixed regardless (unless of course they stop producing them). Not quite sure what happens at that point. I have resisted a cash settlement from the insurers for that very reason. The second hand cars are currently more than we paid for the new one last year.
I note that some vehicles do last longer than they used to decades ago. Modern lubricants and engine management systems can take much of the credit IMHO. However I note an increase in "classic car" restoration lately. Aside from 3rd party parts makers, simpler engines can have new parts machined up for many components. Location makes a difference. Being away from coast doubles body life in Oz. Does Europe and USA still throw salt on roads in cold weather?
So we are supposed to believe a VP of a company (Gartner), who's sole business model is "Pay us a bunch of money and we'll say good things about your business so that other people who paid us money to say good things about THEIR business will spend money on YOUR business " vs a company who is shelling out $360 Billion over 5 years. Yeah, I'll count on it.
how about decreasing how many chips are needed for a car? Does it really need a built-in cellphone modem? Do the seatwarmers' switches have to be wired to chips, or can they be connected via those newfangled "relay" thingies?
For that matter, we can dramatically reduce chip usage elsewhere - refrigerators, air conditioning, coffeemakers, clothes washers and dryers, etc. Not everything needs a screen and 'net connection!
how about decreasing how many chips are needed for a car?...Do the seatwarmers' switches have to be wired to chips, or can they be connected via those newfangled "relay" thingies?
While I agree that cars include many computerish features of dubious value, it's not trivial to replace the chips. That buttwarmer switch has a thin data wire and a thin power wire. The relays are (probably under) each seat. To move the relay to the switch, you'd need to route the buttwarmer power circuit through the switch.
All those controls in the steering wheel/column are just inputs to computer chips which then transmit commands over the data bus which are received by the target devices. Anything you replace with a relay would require you to route the respective power circuit through the switch itself. Imagine rewiring every power window and lock through the driver door handle!
This is why older cars had hefty electric cables in the steering column.
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