An example of a bad opening post

[Trevorjc]

If your looking for sub £500 cars go for as basic a model as possible, less things to go wrong. For example electric windows, if the regulator goes wrong its expensive compared to the price of the car and its always the drivers door one as thats the one that gets used the most.

[Clinton]

I agree Trevorjc. BTW, you can usually swap front near side and offside window motors.

JJMcClure, if you want reliable, that old truth still holds: The more features a car has the more you've got that can go wrong.

On our Chrysler the parts I've had go wrong include the electric motors that opens the sliding side doors, the second DVD screen for third row passengers, the seat heater in the middle row of seats, the mechanism that folds the seats into the floor, the electronic system that displays tyre pressure on the dashboard, the reversing camera ... you get the picture.

[Magnus]

On our Chrysler the parts I've had go wrong include the electric motors that opens the sliding side doors, the second DVD screen for third row passengers, the seat heater in the middle row of seats, the mechanism that folds the seats into the floor, the electronic system that displays tyre pressure on the dashboard, the reversing camera ... you get the picture.

Funny, a member of our family had a Chrysler a few years ago. They bought it brand new. Only kept it a year as it had electrical problems right from the start. The main one being that it would randomly unlock itself - luckily they atayed in a rural area.

Also, on subject of wiring in cars, I remember years ago one of my uni lecturers talking about how the latest cars ( top of the range Mercs, BMWs, etc) were starting to use ethernet instead of standard cabling as there was just becoming too much of it - big factor was the sheer weight of it all running through the car. He said the a top car now had about 50 wires going into the door! I didn't really believe it, then I started totalling it up:

1. Window up
2. Window up auto (when you give it an extra push and it keeps going itself)
3. window down
4. window down auto (")
5. passenger window up
6. passenger window down
7. rear left window up
8. rear left window down
9. rear right window up
10. rear right window down
11. wing mirror up
12. wing mirror down
13. wing mirror left
14. wing mirror right
15. wing mirror heater
16. wing mirror indicator
17. passenger wing mirror
18. door light
19. central locking for key
20. central locking inside control open
21. central locking inside control lock
22. seat forward
23. seat back
24. seat depth up
25. seat depth down
26. seat back up
27. seat back down
28. seat bottom heater
29. seat back heater
30. ...

There is more I would imagine; and this is not even to mention the earth-cables.

Amazing stuff.

[Trevorjc]

Yeah manufacturers are using can bus wiring a lot now saves on weight and cost which is a big issue for car manufacturers (i work for one). It also means that if a boy racer wants to add some extras into the system and just connects into main wire, it can affect the resistance on the circuit so driver could for example switch on wipers and instead of the wipers working the window could open or the horn could blow!!

[JJMcClure]

JJMcClure, if you want reliable, that old truth still holds: The more features a car has the more you've got that can go wrong.

'features' aren't what leave you sat by the side of the motorway waiting for the AA. New cars are more mechanically reliable per se. We're driving to the Dordogne in July, I'm confident that our 7 month old car will get there and back without breaking down and that gives me peace of mind.

I rarely go for what you might describe as features, the basic model with a CD player and Air con will do me just fine, everything else I can manage without.