Automakers didn't update the cassette decks in their cars when CDs came out. You could expect cassettes to be around in cars for a good solid ~20 years, but that was about it. At some point technology moves on.
> Number one vehicle sold in the US for a LONG time, and yet no incentive to keep it working apparently
Yeah, there's no incentive to fix problems when people buy the product anyway.
> Automakers didn't update the cassette decks in their cars when CDs came out.
And reasonably enough: few people even in the early 90s had CD changers in cars, and people didn't want to scratch their discs, and in any case everyone pretty much still had a tape deck at home - it wasn't too hard to copy your CD to tape, which was cheap, small, rerecordable, and more durable, and sound quality in cars wasn't great anyway.
> Number one vehicle sold in the US for a LONG time, and yet no incentive to keep it working apparently
Yeah, there's no incentive to fix problems when people buy the product anyway.