Indeed, it's a miracle Voyager was as in the shape she was in by the end, after all the battles she engaged in and the various phenomena of the week that tried to tear her apart, etc. She proved to be quite sturdy but eventually she's got to stall at the side of the proverbial highway. What might Voyager done in such an event? Also, this result does make the figure of 70 years look dubious - an idealization which has been blown to bits by this evidence. The matter of her becoming a generation ship is more than settled, and more than likely a cobbled together ship bearing little resemblance to the original Voyager by the end if she did slog it home. Indeed, given how long it would have realistically taken Voyager to reach home, the fact that the original crew would be dead by then (and Tuvok loony from his mental disorder if still alive), and the next-generation crew would have never known the Federation - would this not cement the idea that the crew should have laid down roots in the DQ?
Of course, we knew from the start that there would have to be some kind of funny business needed to get Voyager home within the run of the series. This demonstration of the realistic decay of the ship just reinforces the point.
EDIT: fixed title before Teaos got to it
