I'm all for being environmentally friendly, but if something has a lifespan a fraction of what a properly made part has, it's not environmentally friendly. We know it's still possible to make good quality rubber though, tires still hold up well, new cars still have rubber bushings and whatnot that seem to hold up, I mean my other half's Toyota is 16 years old and has all the original rubber in the suspension. If brand new cars had strut mounts falling apart after 5,000 miles there would be a class action lawsuit.
IDK about tires.
I have tires from the 70s driven in a rainy climate / parked in the shade/indoors most of the time and stored indoors that are still rubbery and don't show cracking when you can see it really well (breaking the bead on the tire machine really stretching it out.)
I take a 5-10 year old tire off of the same description and the cracks are terrifying as you really stretch the sidewall breaking the bead.
I don't advocate driving around on 70s tires/tire technology
, but I'll echo cleanflametrap that I'm outta my depth on vulcanized rubber chemistry, but something seems to have happened in the last decade or two or "this century" as he puts it...
That, and you only need to fool someone once to sell parts and there's no market incentive to sell quality parts in low volume for the ~1% of cars remaining 20+ years out as opposed to a major manufacturer customer ordering 3 million a day/year or whatever subject to lemon laws, implied warranty laws, DOT safety laws etc etc and just market forces/expectations/ people expecting a brand new car to be basically no fuss/trouble free for 3-6 years 36-72K that the average american even keeps a car before buying a new one...vs...
...the owner of a $0-3000 15-20 year old fully depreciated throw-away car/bucket (which most of these were/have been for a decade or more which has left them all in rough or very rough shape with the few survivors standing out) that they more or less expect needs to last ~3-18 months or whatever or 3 car payments or whatever and doesn't require the owner have good credit or pay for expensive insurance etc until they can afford something nice or just don't care because they live in a city and the car is only for occasional use/low miles/who cares, no point in having a new and shiny one or keeping it tip top when everyones packed in/parks with their bumpers etc anyway.
Zero incentive to make quality parts for these cars, low volume, cars aren't really worth anything, cheap owners, 25+ years out for the newest 240 or ~.05% remaining from original # sold. Cars mostly go down to 10% of their original # every 10 years, and it's sorta linear, though 15-25 years is the UUUGE water-shed.
