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

[cuoffroad]

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

There are additional reasons, but this is absolutely part of the "equataion" as to how the OEMs do things. You wouldn't believe the amout of time/effort/$$$ that goes into "supporting the dealer network".

 

[rsallen]

Yeah, the r&d departments work overtime just to make sure you can't work on your own car. LOL

Yeah manufacturer really works hard to support the dealership net work.....by demanding stand alone showrooms, a minimum amount of inventory of both cars and more importantly parts you may not ever have a call for, tool rooms of tools that aren't ever used, insist on hard cold cash for training the techs to work on their cars, and then paying the dealer cut rate prices for any warranty work needed.
Yeah, it's just one big conspiracy against you offroad.

 

[Ridgewalker]

The good old days...

My '67 Oldsmobile 442 engine bay

 

[dusty3030]

There is a movement -

CARE - The Coalition for Auto Repair Equality

RightToRepair.org - Right To Repair Coalition

Object moved

 

[JRobyn]

I detest vehicle (or tractor) designs where post-sale maintenance is not considered. I once owned an older (78) Mercedes sedan; one of my favorite things about it was how almost EVERYTHING involving routine, and even more extensive, maintenance and repair was clearly DESIGNED to be accessible for servicing. Most routine maintenance could be done with a single 13mm wrench.

On plugs, we dutifully changed the OEMs (platinum) in our 2004 Sierra 5.3L at 75,000mi. They looked almost new. I vowed to not change the replacements until one failed. The engine management systems today will tell you if one or more go bad. Up to 240,000mi so far!

- Jay

 

[SirReal63]

With the ever increasing amount of junk they are required to fit into smaller and smaller engine bays and the need in multiple computer systems to monitor and control engine systems and emissions, it is no wonder it is getting harder to work on anything yourself. I have turned my own wrenches for almost 40 years, worked my summers with a mechanic when I was 10, I will work on my car but I don't want a new car. My2003 Chevy 2500HD is about to hit 300k miles, I have no problem working on it for the things I can do. Toni's 2009 Infinity G37s I won't touch, not even to change the oil on.

My 2001 BMW 740i was one of the most technologically advanced cars ever made, it was so far out there it even monitored incoming air to the cabin for noxious fumes and would recirculate cabin air and shut down outside air if fumes were present. Yet it was the easiest car to work on I have ever owned. A few months after back surgery I replaced the water pump, radiator and the rest of the cooling system by myself. It was that easy. By looking at the engine bay you would think it would be a nightmare. Everything on thatcar was super easy to do, you just had to know how to do it.

The difference in the BMW and the Infinity is intelligent engineering, the BMW had service and repair in mind when it was made, the Infinity did not.

 

[roadhunter]

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.

The labor rates at dealerships are trpically higher than private shops. the other stuff is unrelated to the topic.

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.

Not sure what your mileage from you last trip has to do with "newer" vehicles being hard to work on either. But it sounds like you are enjoying your truck. Like I said sometime pull into a small shop and ask them how much training and experience they have in ecoboost engines

 

[vulcancowboy]

With the ever increasing amount of junk they are required to fit into smaller and smaller engine bays and the need in multiple computer systems to monitor and control engine systems and emissions, it is no wonder it is getting harder to work on anything yourself. I have turned my own wrenches for almost 40 years, worked my summers with a mechanic when I was 10, I will work on my car but I don't want a new car. My2003 Chevy 2500HD is about to hit 300k miles, I have no problem working on it for the things I can do. Toni's 2009 Infinity G37s I won't touch, not even to change the oil on.

My 2001 BMW 740i was one of the most technologically advanced cars ever made, it was so far out there it even monitored incoming air to the cabin for noxious fumes and would recirculate cabin air and shut down outside air if fumes were present. Yet it was the easiest car to work on I have ever owned. A few months after back surgery I replaced the water pump, radiator and the rest of the cooling system by myself. It was that easy. By looking at the engine bay you would think it would be a nightmare. Everything on thatcar was super easy to do, you just had to know how to do it.


The difference in the BMW and the Infinity is intelligent engineering, the BMW had service and repair in mind when it was made, the Infinity did not.

Jack, is your '03 Chevy a gas or diesel? I have an '03 with the Duramax. Love that truck, do most of the work on it myself, in fact, just ordered an intermediate steering shaft to hopefully, get rid of that annoying clunking.

 

[MacLawn]

Ridge, I love ye '67 Olds! I almost stopped working on my vehicles around '85. Give me the inline sixes. I changed the oil and filter one time on my '79 Mercury Zephyr in a dress shirt and tie! All from above! That thing went about 200,000 hard miles. I reckon we have to budget a heap more for our transportation nowadays.

 

[Fluid]

I detest vehicle (or tractor) designs where post-sale maintenance is not considered. I once owned an older (78) Mercedes sedan; one of my favorite things about it was how almost EVERYTHING involving routine, and even more extensive, maintenance and repair was clearly DESIGNED to be accessible for servicing. Most routine maintenance could be done with a single 13mm wrench.

On plugs, we dutifully changed the OEMs (platinum) in our 2004 Sierra 5.3L at 75,000mi. They looked almost new. I vowed to not change the replacements until one failed. The engine management systems today will tell you if one or more go bad. Up to 240,000mi so far!

- Jay

If you read the manual it states that the plugs don't have to be changed for 100,000 miles.