Why don't automakers use plastic body panels like the Saturn's any longer?

[Project84]

I never said it didn't exist, I just said that's the only thing I had ever heard of.

sheesh

[GasSavers_JoeBob]

The plastic used for the bumper inserts on your Buick, and on my '83 Cadillac (which are falling apart also) are a very different kind of plastic than that used on front fenders of Camaros, Saturn bodies, Olds Silhouette vans, etc. It seems to me to be related polyethylene type plastic...the type like they make some kids toys which fade and crumble after a year two out of (e.g. "Big Wheel" trikes). The body parts are ABS plastic, which seems to hold up a lot better.


Note: I am neither an expert on plastics, nor do I play one on TV. If anybody out there is, please feel free to chime in!

Originally Posted by theholycow

Their designed obsolescence is a lot more effective on plastic than it is on steel. That's an observation, not a theory. We can talk theory all we want here, but the fact is...the steel they use lasts a lot longer than the plastic they use, or at least it did back in 1980. I suspect that it is different on newer vehicles and also more well-protected by paint.

[ShadowWorks]

A Honda repair foreman once told me that the 2001 Honda Accord was a horrible car to repair because it would deform all over the place compared to the older Honda's that had thicker chassis legs which didn't fold up like straws.

Japanese cars were terrible for rusting in the 70's and 80's, I think they improved in the 90,s and now in this decade there going backwards again, they peaked already and its probably down hill from here?