Cars are really hard to work on anymore

[ultrarunner]

I will be quick to say yes things have changed and in a very big way. the car manufactures and the epa have just totally taken things to a new level. i started my auto repair business in 1984 and quit in dec 1999 went truck driving till this jan and decided to go back to machanic's helping a friend of mine who has been in the business for over 30 years it is a awfull how cheap made some of the cars and trucks are we do most ball joints and all front suppension parts and alingments. we do alot of brake work as well. one thing that has got my intrest is these diesel pickup trucks we put at least 2 front ends in a week ball joints and tie rods on 2009 and back the owner told me that the truck could not stand the weight of the diesel engine and the parts would last maby a year. he said they make parts that will last longer but the customer don't want to pay the price. but yeah there is alot of sloppy engeniering almost as bad as myspelling.

You've talked me into keeping my two trucks... 85 Chevrolet Van and 91 Silverado.

Both have all original suspension parts except front shocks and the van has a helper leaf rear spring... it is always over GVW with the tool racks.

I was never a GM person... although I have nothing to complain about.

I have learned 75,000 miles is when water pumps die and 130,000 miles for starters and 20 years for radiators...

 

[3v0]

There are articles about people who get 1 million miles out of cars. Many of these are old enough that they should have died at 100K.

The key things most point out is regular maintenance, and just as important. fixing every little thing that goes wrong. Most of people view cars as disposable, if we can get past that and do the upkeep they can run much longer.

A friend that lives 60 miles from work so he puts a lot of miles on his cars. He buys cars when others are done with them and puts another 150K on them. His method is different in that he does just what he has to to keep the car on the road. When he finishes with them they are worn out from bumper to bumper. While his cost per mile is lower then driving a fully maintained car he is also driving around in a half shot car much of the time.

I fall somewhere in between. Once a car hits 30 or so years old it is impractical to continue using it because parts may be hard to find and more importantly the technology is so outdated that it does not make a good daily driver.

 

[Bird]

The key things most point out is regular maintenance, and just as important. fixing every little thing that goes wrong.

That's me. A bit expensive at times, but sure beats making car payments.

 

[3930dave]

Bird talking about Ford dealers doing servicing. My brother bought a new 70 something 4WD 3/4 ton from a local dealership. After a few years the transfer case went bad because it was low on grease. He was informed that they never checked it, he never paid them to check it, and here's the bill. Must have been in the fine print somewhere.

Same era, somebody I knew back then had a similar experience with a Canuck GM dealer. I think it was a grease fitting that had never been touched - more of a big deal back then than now.

Timing wasn't good.... the guy in question had driven about 5 hours, only to have the drive train let go on the DVP (major and congested urban expressway), on his way to the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto.

Not a good place to break down, esp. with a big/loaded, stock trailer behind you...... :thumbdown:

I agree with Bird - the service level mostly comes down to dealer specifics, more so than brand.

Rgds, D.

 

[3930dave]

Although I think the manufactures think the auto transmissions are easier on the engines. And the new generation of autos are supposed to be essentially a clutchless manual transmission, so perhaps they are better.

Modern computer control easily allows a manufacturer to market a 400hp motor, then readily dial it back to whatever power level they want (between shifts, on an automatic trani), to get the warranty durability they need, w/o putting the heavy mechanical parts into the trani to compensate.

That said, I've seen some late model trani's, from a manufacturer who used to know how to build fairly good ones, that juussssttttt make it out of warranty before failing.

A cynic (who, moi ?) might say that is no accident..... the MBAs/Bean Counters winning over the engineers, again.

There is some neat engineering in some of these clutchless manuals out there. What I've seen of VW's DSG though..... you wouldn't want the (scheduled) service bill, or just to buy the fluid even if you are changing it yourself. (See the preceeding paragraph, again).

Rgds, D.

 

[ray66v]

Everyone likes to whine that new cars are too had to work on. I worked on cars for a living my whole life, I don't agree in most cases.

There is more complexity in modern vehicles, so it does require more basic knowledge, and more specialty tools. So yes, if you don't have a basic understanding of a modern engine, and the proper tools, or the budget to get them, you will have to change that, or keep paying the big bucks for repairs.

With computer diagnostics, it is possible to diagnose a problem, without even seeing the car.

You can Google most computer codes, and in a few minutes of reading, know with high probability what is wrong with it. For me, that more than offsets the complexity issues.

 

[arrow]

I'm not sure I'm following this line of thought Dave unless I'm reading it wrong. Manufacturers may be adjusting fuel/air distribution curves with computers for increased mileage purposes but they are not building engine curves so they can save transmission parts. Distribution curves are not being manipulated to that extent. HP curves are more readily manipulated with either increased or decreased air volume or increased or decreased revolutions in other words forced air induction, increased c.i., increased compression ratios or increased rpm's. Building an engine to withstand 400 hp only to throttle it back is counter productive expense wise.

 

[buickanddeere]

The throttling back is usually only while in 1st gear and while shifting . Much less driveline stress and no noticeable loss in performance.

 

[dodge man]

Just a couple of comments. First off, it helps to have the service manuals for cars. I also had trouble putting light bulbs in my sons 99 Olds Aurora. It took me several hours. There was a special way to to it, would still be a pain, but much easier than how I did it. A lot of this stuff is available on line, there are forums for everything.

Second thing, sometimes its easier and cheaper just to throw parts at it. Yeah, I know, you hate it when a dealer ship does it. For example, I had a car that was running rough, it threw the CEL. The code was EGR related. You look it the shop manual, and there is about 8 things that could be wrong with it, and a bunch of complicated tests to diagnose it. I thought I'll have to take it to the dealer to figure out what is wrong. I ended up putting and EGR valve on the car, it took less than an hour and cost about $50, which is less than a trip to the dealer would cost. If in doubt and you think you know what is wrong, sometimes its cheaper to put the part on then taking it to the dealer.

 

[3v0]

A little off topic but one transmission technology worth worth watching is the dDRIVE.

It is a continuously variable transmission that uses only fixed gears.