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My previous article that Ford had stupid designers because only an idiot would use plastic intake manifolds in cars, may have been in error as I now believe that Ford and others such as GM deliberately design parts of their cars to require very expensive repairs, in order to rip off the car owners.

My recent repair consisting of $500 in labor and $500 for an intake manifold ($1,000 plus tax total) to replace a plastic piece of junk that cracked under the high engine heat was necessary because the plastic cannot be welded to withstand heat.

In older cars using metal intake manifolds, welding of cracks was cheap. This deplorable situation is wide-spread. In the old days, after-market suppliers never carried intake manifolds, but now most carry a supply of metal ones to replace the plastic junk that American car manufacturers use in their recent cars. It's no surprise that the car manufacturers are in financial trouble as nobody will buy plastic junk cars.

Also, potential buyers like me who planned on getting a new car soon must put off my purchase for two more years because of this expensive repair, plus three days expensive motel rooms as this happened early Saturday and nobody works in small towns in South Carolina on weekends. It doesn't matter that these car manufacturers go under before I get my new car eventually as I will buy a German car using all metal engine parts.

Colin McClellan
Lake Placid