Car Bullshit

I’m currently banned from driving for a collection of speeding offences.

Nobody was hurt, nobody was at risk, all on empty roads that were well within my driving capabilities…but also unfortunately on roads that the boys in blue know they’re going to have a field day catching people .

Ok, ok, ok …yes….I was speeding …yes I know speed kills …though I think you’ll find it’s mainly idiots that kill people by driving beyond their capabilities.

Yes ok …we can agree to disagree.

Anyway.

This has given me opportunity to mull over my driving experiences.

I’ve had a lot of cars. Some good, some bad and some ridiculous ones. What has occurred to me of late is that each venture into a new car has been brought about by reading the car magazines, watching Top Gear …and listening to all the bullshit that’s written about this particular form of transport.

How do the car manufacturers get away with what they get away with?

How come nobody ever successfully litigates against them for the rubbish that they spout?

Aston Martin for example.

Many years ago I bought one of the first DB9’s. It was great….but…. It was also rubbish.

I took my wife on a trip to Scotland in the car, getting appreciative nods from other road users. We arrived at the hotel in Glasgow unloaded our luggage and the tried to lock the car. I pressed ‘lock’ and all the windows opened. Close the windows and you couldn’t lock the car.

This was the first in a continual barge of electrical faults and engine management issues.

The handling of the car was also suspect feeling very ‘wallowy’ in corners and a bit lacking in ‘feel’ when driven quickly.

Later models fixed all these issues.

I got rid of the DB9 and swore to myself never to be pulled in again by the lure of Aston Martin.

Fast forward to the release of the DB11 and the press were all over this stunning car from AM.

However …having learned from previous mistakes…I thought ‘No…don’t get the first car they release, wait until they’ve sorted all the problems. So I waited… and low and behold they built the DB11 AMR – which I then bought.

Again, a stunning looking car, but it came with the usual litany of minor issues. Lights not working, air conditioning intermittently not working …and to be quite honest the handling was always a bit suspect.

So again I sold the car – final straw after the light switch unit fell off into my hand one morning.

But now dear reader we are to behold the DB12 – which the car press are proclaiming to be the best Aston ever.

Every article slags off the older DB11 and state how much the new car has now ‘been sorted’.

How do you think this must make the DB11 owners feel? If the older cars were that bad – how did they manage to sell them …and what must the press comments do to the value of the older cars.

This covers most car makes and car brands as they move forward with continuous new models each going slightly faster than the last one.

How about a manufacturer just build a car and says – ‘This is the best we can do’ .

Full stop, game over, you cannot get a better car than this.

Mike C

NB; I do actually know why this doesn’t happen – but just saying – every day something newer and better. Can we just have a break for a bit and let drivers know they’ve got the best car they can get?