Quality used to be very common. A normally cared for Volvo or Mercedes interior looked like new after three tons. For a joke, check photos of the better 240 interiors on used car websites; no cracks, colourfast, no collapse. Take a look at my 850 seats in the photo below, after 28 years and 180,000 miles. Is not it great?
Why I thought about it? Through a series of dramatic experiences with clothing brands. Two expensive summer trousers were ready for the textile container after a few months. First they started to tear at the seams, then the first wear marks followed at knee height. A sweater washed according to the instructions was full of balls after two months. shirts; same story. I thought it was quite something, daring to hang the main prize on a product of which the textile super would be ashamed.
Out of curiosity, I am a purebred consumer, I bought two sleazy baggy shirts at the Hema. Let’s see how the difference in quality would turn out. They turned out to be of better quality than the A-brands that I had purchased five times over. But the Hema also ruined it with the leather budget belt that I bought after another bad experience with an expensive one. It snapped after three weeks and that was really not my figure after a successful elimination race.
In summary: the quality level in the clothing industry is dramatic. There is no relationship between price and quality, except for the real top. Of course you pay for that. My horse leather winter boots from Crockett & Jones sell for 900 euros now, but they last half a lifetime. That’s why I spend two to three times as much on them as I used to on a pair of ready-to-wear brogues. Saint James sweaters are the same story: expensive to buy, but so strong that you earn them back.
After 28 years and 180,000 kilometers.
A quality survey by the ADAC, the German ANWB, last year produced the same confusing picture for the car industry of overvalued humbug next to affordable quality, from careful Japanese to underperforming VWs. What I missed was the distinction between reliability and quality. The finish and refinement of my 28 year old Volvo 850 are not up to the level of a modern Volvo. The seams are less straight, the plastic does not look premium. Despite this, despite his age, he still plays in the premier league. Nor does it rust, while endurance testers find flash rust on the underside of modern Volvos after 100,000 kilometres. The fabrics of my youngtimer appear to be wear-resistant, the dashboard and door panels are colourfast and scratch-free.
Of course I was very proud of my i3’s leading position in the ADAC survey. But I also realized how disappointed the Germans would have been with their strict standards in my non-German youngtimers. The Copen plastic had given them a heart attack, while it is well put together and the Toyota engine is indestructible. I don’t want to take it to the South of France. Then after 1,200 kilometers of pedaling I’m ready for the First Aid and driving with a suitcase on such a rack doesn’t seem like you. But the Yaris block will run like it just came out of the factory on arrival. As the better sewing machine, so to speak.
The ADAC has just found out that EVs are extremely reliable. In that investigation, again a star role for my little BMW, but curiously enough also for the Volkswagen ID.3, whose initial battery and software problems are still etched in the memory of many Dutch dealers and buyers. Desperation at the dealers, no one knew the fine. Then I thought gratefully: cars used to be incredibly good.
That the i3 still is is because it was built with old-fashioned care. So stiff with that carbon cage, so beautifully finished, so intelligently constructed. True, it was an expensive joke that had to be passed on to the customer and that is also why it was not a success. Just like my A2, after eighteen years to get through a ring. Perhaps the crux of the sustainability problem is that no new buyer keeps their Audi long enough to discover its real qualities. Perhaps one of the causes of the decline is the throwaway mentality of the buyers. Then quality is throwing pearls before swine, superfluous luxury. Why should you, if the consumer is willing to pay for the shine of the new? We have those clothing farmers faked.
Coincidence does not exist. Today one of the trousers that my father gave me twenty years ago after he had naively underestimated his stature broke. They didn’t seem to break. Until today. When I threw it away I recognized the logo; the same label that now sells crap. Then I knew decay had a name. But this fossil slob knows that because he doesn’t care about fashion. The modern metro man has no idea. He refreshes half his wardrobe after three months. Or wears the piles of questionable stuff in his closet so sparingly that they don’t get to wear out. He doesn’t notice the abandonment. Who thinks: great stuff from Hugo Boss.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl