If The Deck Isn't Stacked Against Us, I’d Hate To See A Situation Where It Is

New diesel and gasoline-powered cars have become too expensive for the average family. They are also virtually impossible to repair economically. Why is that happening?

The government and international corporations are working together to completely strip the working class of their wealth and power. I say that because everything has been stacked against the average family. For instance, the federal government and auto manufacturers are trying to force us into buying electric vehicles by making gasoline and diesel powered vehicles unaffordable. Even though Ford claims that they are losing $130,000 dollars on every electric vehicle they sell.

However, auto manufacturers couldn't stay in business if they actually lost money. So how are they recouping all the money they claim to be losing? They simply increased the price of all their gasoline and diesel powered cars and trucks to make up for it. For instance, a gasoline truck that sold for $20,000 dollars in 2020 costs over $60,000 dollars today. And some gasoline powered SUVs and trucks cost over $100,000 dollars today, and it's not due to inflation.

In short, auto manufacturers are making ownership of gasoline and diesel powered vehicles unaffordable for the average family. And while older cars and trucks are still affordable, most are high mileage and in need of expensive repairs. On top of that, it's hard to get replacement parts for some modern cars and trucks because manufacturers have already stopped making parts for them in addition to making them user/owner unfriendly.

For example, the first time I saw a car without a transmission fluid dipstick it was a German luxury car. I thought, these German cars are owner unfriendly! German auto manufacturers were the first to remove the transmission dipstick, and that was back in the 1990s. The intent was to force owners to take their vehicles to a dealer, and pay $100 dollars or more, just to have the transmission fluid checked.

Moreover, the only way the vehicle owner could know his transmission is low on fluid is when the transmission starts slipping. By that time, the transmission is already damaged, and the owner is faced with a $5,000 to $10,000 dollar repair bill. They are making the cost of vehicle maintenance and repair (ownership) too expensive for the average family.

For instance, several years ago, a friend asked me to help him change the starter on his Japanese luxury car. He had already taken it to the local dealer, and the dealer told him that the starter needs to be replaced. My friend decided to change the starter himself because the dealer quoted a price of $2,790.00 to replace the starter. At first, I thought the dealer must have made a mistake, but that was before I found out that the starter is mounted inside the engine, and the entire top of the engine has to be disassembled, and gaskets and other parts have to be replaced, just to change the starter!

At the time, I thought it was about the dumbest thing I had ever seen until I saw an engine without a visible water pump. Where's the water pump? Like the starter mentioned above, it's inside the engine! My first thought was: When the water pump starts leaking, and it eventually will, where does all the leaking coolant go? If you guessed inside the engine oil, you guessed right.

As a neighbor recently found out, by the time the engine loses enough coolant to run hot, it's already destroyed. It will cost as much as, or more than, the car or truck is worth to replace the engine. My neighbor was quoted $12,000 dollars to replace the engine in his family hauler. The sad news is his car isn't worth what he owes on it.

To add insult to injury, car manufacturers started installing steel belt driven Continuously Variable Transmissions (CVTs) in their cars. For the record, CVTs were originally rubber belt driven transmissions designed for industrial mixers used in food processing facilities. The first time I saw an automotive CVT transmission, I was left stunned and thinking: How stupid do you have to be to design a transmission that uses a steel belt, that moves up and down between variable steel pulleys, to drive a car?

The stupidity doesn't end with CVT's. Manufacturers started producing 6, 8, 10 and 12 speed automatic transmissions for trucks and SUVs that will never carry or pull enough weight to require that many forward gears to get started and up to speed. In fact, cars and trucks don't require 6 to 12 forward speeds, and a complicated computer that's prone to failure, to operate efficiently.

Moreover, U.S. auto engineers determined, back in the 1930s, that a three speed transmission with overdrive is the most efficient and economical way to propel a car from a standing stop to highway speeds. It doesn't require 6 to 12 forward gears unless the engine is under-powered, or simply too small for the weight of the vehicle.

According to "Principles of Automotive Transmission Design", 1936, "An automobile transmission transfers power from the engine to the rear wheels (or front wheels in modern throw-away cars)... The number of gears necessary to propel a vehicle to speed is determined by vehicle weight and power output".

It goes on to state: "Three forward gears are sufficient to propel automobiles under 5,500 pounds to speed. Maximum efficiency can be achieved by adding an overdrive to reduce engine RPMs at road speed (highway speeds)".

It states that heavy trucks and automobiles will need more forward gears. So do modern cars weighing over 5,500 lbs., or are they all under-powered? The answer is: They are under-powered. They are making up for under-powered engines by adding more gears to the transmission. The problem with adding gears to make up for a weak engine is the engine will be less durable, and the transmission over complicated and prone to failure.

Finally, I won't mention the soaring cost of auto insurance, maintenance, parts and repairs, annual state and local property taxes, state auto inspections, and tag fees. Our income (earnings) is taxed, and on top of that, we have to pay sales taxes on everything we buy, including cars and trucks. But that's not enough. In addition to all of that, we have to pay personal property taxes on our cars and trucks for as long as we own and use them.

If the deck isn't stacked against us, I would hate to see a situation where it is.

[Note: This article appeared on the Canada Free Press, written by Charles Wills, a retired engineer. I made some edits to the original post. To read it on the Canada Free Press site, click here. ]