A lot has changed in the car industry over the past seventy years. That was a time when a new car came with a warranty of " twelve months or twelve thousand miles " and it needed a " grease and oil change " every thousand miles driven.
A few years ago, Korean car maker Kia shocked the motoring world when it extended its five year new car warranty - to seven years. Now stablemate Hyundai is matching that seven year warranty and joining Mitsubishi, Honda and MG in what looks like a trend that the other brands will be forced to follow.
That servicing regimen has also changed. It differs from brand to brand but servicing intervals of fifteen thousand kilometres are now common. Todays car engine is a marvellously crafted piece of technology encased in a body engineered to provide safety to the occupants in the event of a crash. Every new make and model is tested to determine crash proficiency and this is gauged by a star system. Any vehicle with less than five stars now meets buyer resistance.
Never have the Australian driving public had the advantage of the car fleet on our roads consisting of state of the art vehicles with five star safety ratings. The number of cars older than ten years in the traffic stream continues to dwindle and this is confirmed in the much smaller number of used car dealers practising their trade. The trend is now to buy a new car rather than take the risk of driving something no longer on the cutting edge of safety.
Change is also taking place in the area of those newly licensed to drive. In the distant past many young people began their driving career behind the steering wheel of a " bomb ". It was reasoned that they needed time to eradicate the faults in their driving technique and it was better to put those dents in an older car of little value. Such vehicles were notorious for both oil leaks and unreliability.
The lower end of the new car market today provides a range of cars at or under the twenty thousand dollar price range - and these cars now have that seven year manufacturers warranty. Parents are becoming more conscious of the safety aspect and happier to see a son or daughter driving a car with a proven safety record. They do not miss the oil stains in their driveway left by these old " clunkers " from yesteryear.
The build precision and safety aspects of the modern motor car have a bearing on the crash statistics. Considering the sheer volume and high speeds of cars on Australian roads we compare very favourably with some other parts of the world. All deaths and serious injuries are a tragedy but as a percentage of car numbers on the road the statistics are falling. It seems that the Australian car fleet has never been in better shape !
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