Why are "newer" vehicles so hard to work on?

[JCByrd24]

The manufacturers do this on purpose to force you to take your car to the dealership to be worked on.

As much as this seems the case sometimes I don't think it's true. I'm sure someone on here will know more but here is why I say that:

1) It is my understanding that the car companies don't make money on dealership service, the dealership does.
2) There is no guarantee that you will go to the dealership.
3) Warranty work is paid to the dealer by the company so it would make sense to keep repair costs low. Additionally cost of ownership ratings now exist to express reliability as well as cost to repair so you wouldn't intentionally make a routine service more expensive than necessary.
4) Given all of the above I can't imagine it make sense to pay engineers and designers more time to design in road blocks. My guess is in fact it is the lack of time spent in design that leads to these maintenance issues.

In the end I think it comes down to your point though roadhunter, technology is becoming very advanced and there are just certain things that only the dealership will touch. I tend to think that a hard spark plug to change was a byproduct of this though and not an intended result.

 

[rsallen]

Now you're talking about propriety property roadhunter. Even those of us in the industry have to pay for it.
Do I think it's right? no. I think that info should go with the sell of the auto to the owner but I don't make the rules.
However it all goes along with 25+ mpg and 200+ horse power and 30,000 mile tune-ups.
What do you want?

 

[Bird]

No idea what your ranger example is supposed to prove. It's a 15 year old car that most all shops can work on and it's a simple task that most shadetree mechanics could complete in an afternoon.

Just that (1) it's expensive, (2) 100k miles without a spark plug change when I used to have to change them on earlier vehicles every 10k to 12k miles, and (3) yes, the other shops can do the job, but are not cheaper.

Roll into a private shop with a new ecoboost and see if they can work on it. You will get a different answer.

I'll take your word for it. Last week, in 6 days (Monday through Saturday), I put 2,941 miles on the ecoboost 2014 Escape SE we recently bought, but it'll be going to the dealer from whom I bought it for any needed service. So far we sure like it, even though it didn't come very close to the 30 mpg highway rating. In fact, I averaged 25.33 mpg on that trip, but I was not trying to drive for gas mileage. Much of the trip was with 75 mph speed limits while the rest was 65 and 70 mph and I kept it up there, too.

 

[nc redneck]

There is a reason good I used to pay good technicians 80 to 100 K per year. They could quit working for me and have 4 other shops wanting to hire them by the end of the day. Cars today are hard to work on and require a very skilled person to do a lot of these jobs. Shop must provide a lot of expensive training. Only the top 10% of employees are worth having.

 

[kf4uda]

My wife called me Tuesday to say that the local Ford dealer had finished inspecting her '06 Lincoln Zephyr. While it didn't need anything to pass inspection, the mechanic said since the car has 105K miles on it, we should change the serpentine belt, replace the spark plugs, valve cover gaskets and install a new air filter. Approximate cost? $1,000! I told her NO WAY! I can do it myself.

So, I did a little research and found that in order to replace the plugs, you have to remove the intake manifold! I did replace the belt, which was not too easy either. I had to jack up the car, remove the right front tire & fender liner to get to the belt.

Seems kinda ridiculous to me that I have to remove a manifold just to change plugs, needless to say, I'm holding off on that job for a little while, at least until I recover from the belt changing exercise.

Found this with a Google search. Maybe it will help you when you decide to change your plugs:

Zephyr spark plug replacement

Good Luck!

 

[Jstpssng]

There is a reason good I used to pay good technicians 80 to 100 K per year. They could quit working for me and have 4 other shops wanting to hire them by the end of the day. Cars today are hard to work on and require a very skilled person to do a lot of these jobs. Shop must provide a lot of expensive training. Only the top 10% of employees are worth having.

Not many qualified people want to get their hands dirty. I've always believed that anybody who could keep the older cars running properly can also learn how to work on the new cars.

My company Silverado turned 98K today... much of those miles are pounding up and down woods roads, not always at a slow speed.
Yet aside from oil changes every 5-8K miles the only thing it's ever needed was a set of tires and a rear leaf spring. It has never had an alignment; the current tires have 40K and many miles to go; it still has the original brakes. I remember all too well carrying jack stands and brake parts for my '84 F150 because the calipers would loosen up and the vibration would disintegrate the pads.

Spark plugs? My last truck was traded at 158K, except for oil changes the motor had never been touched.

I'm old enough to remember changing points every 10K miles, setting the gap and timing more often than that... solid lifters so you changed the tappet clearance every 25K, valve guides/seals at 50K, (if you're lucky).


100K miles was a rare vehicle. Now most manufacturers warrantee the drive train for that long!

 

[Fluid]

Vehicles are way more complex due to more gadgets and emissions stuff which means more stuff to fit in the box. Computer aided design allows the stuff to fit together very well but is also designed in sub-assemblies to be produced, assembled, and installed in a certain order. All the parts you mentioned were likley already assembled with engine/trans/ and maybe even front suspension and the car lowered over the hole thing. If you could lift the entire body off it would likely be easier. American cars seem to be the ones I here most about needing a major part removed to get to one of the plugs, but I'm sure this is common on others as well. I agree spark plugs and belts should surely be given more thought for maintenance. On the other hand how many miles did spark plugs go for back in the day. 100K is no problem now and most cars don't last 200K so it's a once in the life of the vehicle job.

Have you ever worked on a Mazda Millenia 95-03. Two hours of removing parts to even see the plugs. The japanese are the worst for having to remove major parts just to replace plugs and other repairs. GM was the first to have 100k spark plus.

 

[Fluid]

There are words that come to mind, that I can't type in this forum....

Common problem today... cramming things into the (ever shrinking) engine compartment is usually way more of a priority than serviceability factors.

Audi A4 - most of the front end (bumper, grille) needs to come apart, to do a timing belt.

Ford Escape V6 - same issue - you pull the intake manifold, to change rear plugs or coils.

And on and on..... Some of the old stuff had it's "challenges" too (ex. V8 Monza), but the days of opening a hood and immediately seeing what you need to change, and how to do it, are largely gone....

Rgds, D.

Your "(ex. V8 Monza)" it was one spark plug on the drivers side closest to the fire wall. If you cut a 2" hole in the inner fender you could get at the plug easy. They made a rubber plug to cover the hole after replacement of plug. And that was in the mid 70s. The myth of having to lift the engine, remove the steering shaft,etc. was started by people who don't know how to work on car/trucks.

 

[Fluid]

The manufacturers do this on purpose to force you to take your car to the dealership to be worked on.

Now do you really think the manufacturers want to make you made at them? The government makes rules the car company's have to follow and the lawyers are always looking for somebody to sue. People want good safe/clean cars/trucks but then cry when they have to fix them.

 

[vulcancowboy]

Found this with a Google search. Maybe it will help you when you decide to change your plugs:

Zephyr spark plug replacement

Good Luck!

Thanks! I also found the info I needed to change the serpentine belt on that site. Not sure if I am going to change the plugs or not, right now my wife is looking at new(er) vehicles, the car is going to need tires before winter, so we may just trade it.