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Low quality of manufactured goods is a consequence of the race to the bottom. As the customer shops for a perpetually cheaper product, the manufacturer scouts around on their end to see how they can reduce the cost of manufacturing the product. Some go too far.
With all the recalls going on we can see that the quality of goods being sold to us is going downhill.
All to save a dime.
But this one that I read this morning really takes the cake.
Kia is recalling vehicles because the gas pedal can break or bend.
What the hell material are they using..plastic ?
And all these plants have "quality" inspectors.
All these plants supposedly do testing.
My own vehicle has been recalled 6 times for various parts (Dodge Ram) and it's only 4 years old.
And the sad thing about this is that there is really nothing we can do.
Oh sure, don't buy from them but the issue is that they are all doing it.
We now have cheap crap from all over the world.
And I had to lol at the story..."hard to accelerate if the gas pedal breaks"
Kia to recall some Soul SUVs; gas pedals can bend or break
Kia is recalling nearly 209,000 Soul small SUVs because the gas pedals can bend or break.
..
If the gas pedal bends or breaks, it can be hard to accelerate the SUVs, increasing the risk of a crash.
I was shopping for a Li-lon battery charger for my electric cigarettes the other day, and I researched to find the best and safest chargers. I then went to Amazon.com to read reviews before buying one. The so-called best/safest charger had a review of exploding and almost burning down someones house. The charger also had a high number of reviews where the charger stopped working after 1-3 months.
I was left wondering what the hell is going on?
It makes me think perhaps there is not enough research, development, and testing of new products.
Like my parents recently buying a "white top" no-burner stove. After using this stove it takes an 'unthinkable' amount of time/energy to clean the stove. And after cleaning it a few times I felt like suing the manufacturer (but today "white" topped stoves in that brand are not sold, I guess they had too many customer complaints.)
Or NutriBullet blenders having blades that break off into peoples drinks. Or Nutra Ninja blenders instructions speaking of a max fill line on its container (and the container NOT having a max fill line.)
It seems to me proper product testing would fix the above problems before the product went to market. But I would assume most products are designed on computers and then made. And if companies tested the products it would take time, redesigning of the product, rebuilding of factory equipment, and other time and cost consuming things.
So to avoid the above expenses companies just put products on the market without testing. Instead they wait for consumer complaints and then make a version 2 of the product (problem is the version 2 is not tested either.) Like the battery charger I was looking at, the 1st version had safety problems so they made a version 2, and then the version 2 has too slow of charge time and explosion risks if you put batteries in the wrong slots.
It makes me miss the days when people made quality products and items that would last for years. But today it seems most businesses are only concerned about profits (and not concerned about making long lasting quality products.)
Its simple, it costs less to have the purchaser conduct the quality control than to maintain quality control at the time of manufacture.
Take even the Apple iPhone for example. They have issues that you would think should not exist considering what they cost yet, year after year people continue to buy them, even accept excuses that they, the user are holding it wrong or otherwise doing something wrong with the company only accepting responsibility and doing something about problems when the noise gets too loud.
It is a sign of the times, not because of where the products are made but because the business decisions to wring as much profit from products sold has gotten to the point where anyone can sell anything and simply discontinue the product or sell the redesigned product as an upgrade, at the consumers expense of course.
Companies have figured out that far fewer people will complain if the number of people experiencing the problem is greater rather than smaller. They realized some time ago that misery loves company but rarely does misery induce people to become active and do something about it.
Where did they learn this? Why politics of course. Politicians perfected the art of lying and refusing to answer simple questions that allow for informed voting decisions. As a result, people vote for an upgrade instead of an improvement, they are not the same. An upgrade is only a newer version of something while an improvement is a better product. Basically, it is up yours so to speak.
Companies saw this phenomenon and realized they could employ the same tactics. Why produce a product that accurately fulfills marketing and sale advertising when they can just promise anything and then get you to upgrade at your expense? Just another up yours.
Now why would politicians want to do anything that requires companies to do better when they recognize their own tactics and doing something about one might cause people to demand they hold themselves to the same standard? Please, they are so much smarter than that.
If you want to know why influence in politics can be bought by companies, the link is right there.
With all the recalls going on we can see that the quality of goods being sold to us is going downhill.
All to save a dime.
But this one that I read this morning really takes the cake.
Kia is recalling vehicles because the gas pedal can break or bend.
What the hell material are they using..plastic ?
And all these plants have "quality" inspectors.
All these plants supposedly do testing.
My own vehicle has been recalled 6 times for various parts (Dodge Ram) and it's only 4 years old.
And the sad thing about this is that there is really nothing we can do.
Oh sure, don't buy from them but the issue is that they are all doing it.
We now have cheap crap from all over the world.
And I had to lol at the story..."hard to accelerate if the gas pedal breaks"
Kia to recall some Soul SUVs; gas pedals can bend or break
Kia is recalling nearly 209,000 Soul small SUVs because the gas pedals can bend or break.
..
If the gas pedal bends or breaks, it can be hard to accelerate the SUVs, increasing the risk of a crash.
I have not bought a new car for over 40 years. That was a '74 SAAB 99 and it lasted 14 years and over 250k miles. I inherited a '79 Chevy C-10 pickup truck with well over 500k and I put another 100k or so on it. I finally sold it to a farmer and as far as I know it is still running. It was a simple and fixable truck.
My most recent purchases were both Japanese Subaru's made in the Prefecture of Indiana by UAW workers. Rust got the first one after 18 years and I expect to keep this one for another 10 years or so because I am having it properly treated to extend its useful life. I am currently storing a new Subie for my in-laws. That thing has an annoying interlock between its brakes and the seat belts. If the belts are not being worn the car will not move. When I am moving cars around a parking lot I do not need seatbelts and having the car decide for me I do not want. it is an example of just because you can do something does not mean you should. If I owned the car I would figure out how to disable this interlock.
Most modern car companies pride themselves on following the GM principal of making the least expensive parts possible and putting them together in as cheap a car as possible. This was the cause of the Ignition Switch recall. Making the detent pin shorter and the spring weaker reduced the cost of the switch and its failure eventually cost a lot of lives and money. I have read that GM is trying to change that corporate mindset and I wish them the best.
The consumer's need to buy the cheapest is a direct result of unfair overseas price competition driving down US wages and diverting investment from this country to Bangladesh or other overseas cheap labor. China has an import tax on our goods but we do not have a tariff on theirs. that is insane for the country but great for a few investors. Instead of these damaging agreements like NAFTA we should have countervailing tariffs that remove the profit associated with lower wages, lax environmental controls, government subsidy and all the other things that harm our economy. Yes prices would increase for US consumers but so would job opportunities due to massive increases in domestic manufacturing. Maybe we would manufacture good at a high enough quality to resume our exports. Our working and middle class would make more money at the expense of our investor class so I doubt if this will ever happen.
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