The Infamous Auto Defects Lists of Bygone Days

We purchased a new car today and it was a pleasant experience. However, it brought back memories of when the purchase of a new car was much more tedious than it was for us today. I'm thinking of the days, months, and years after World War II when the hope of being able to purchase a new car was strong and the expectation of its being a pleasing event was poor.

In 1945, new cars were hard to come by and there were usually long waits for buyers' names to come to the top of dealers' lists. But if a person were patient enough, this would eventually happen and an individual would become the owner of a new car. This is when a second list became important. It was the Auto Defects List. It was an accepted fact that cars were poorly made. As soon as one had taken possession of a new car, he or she would open a small notebook and begin writing the defects that were discovered on the new car over the next few days and weeks. The list might begin this way:

rattle under passenger's seat
missing knob on radio
gas gauge doesn't work
slow leak in left rear tire
right rear door doesn't close tight
engine skips while accelerating
heater doesn't work
poor gas mileage

The list might have twenty or more items on it. The purchaser of the auto would need to go back to the dealer within a month for a 500-mile oil change, at which time the list would be presented. When the car was picked up later in the day, the list was supposed to have been taken care of. But, usually, it wasn't. Perhaps a few of the easy items had been done but the dealer would want to have the car brought back at a later time for additional work. And this work might take place over a period of several months. From time to time, a few more items would be added to the list when they came to light.

It didn't seem to matter a great deal whether the car being worked on was low priced or a luxury car. The length of the list seemed the same for both classes.

Buyers did not complain a great deal. Having the list attended to seemed to be part of the normal car-buying experience. Friends would ask each other how their lists was coming along in much the same way that people discuss the weather these days.

As time went by, the necessity of keeping a list faded. The manufacture of cars became better so that the number of items to be included on the list dwindled. By the time the sixties arrived, the list had become a thing of the past. Today there are very few folk who even remember its existence. I think this is because people today demand better made cars; also because so much of the building of modern cars is automated.

This evening, we turned the key on our new car and it purred into action. We shifted into Drive, turned on the air conditioner and the radio, and began a cheerful trip home from the dealer's. People don't buy a new car every day; on the days that they do, the trip home should be joyous.