When comparing aircraft engines to automobile engines the "economy of scale" becomes a major cost-cutting factor. When Lycoming and Continental make maybe 200-500 engines a year, and GM makes that many engines in an hour, don't you think the overhead in producing engines by the millions each year has a lower cost per unit than making them by the hundreds?

In addition to this is the liability insurance on each aircraft engine. Would you believe that you could be paying more in insurance alone on that new certified engine that what you could pay for an entire automobile alternative?

So if you think your hard-earned money is going into quality assurance when you overpay for an antiquated aircraft engine or part, you're fooling yourself. It's going into insurance premiums (that your family will likely never benefit from since it's going into an experimental) and an inefficient production and marketing process.