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Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
- Diesel particulate filters
- Catalytic converters
- EGR valves
- Dual mass flywheels
- Electric handbrakes
- Headlight bulbs that require the front of the car to be dismantled to change
I just had a thousand pound bill for a new flywheel and clutch on our SAAB. A freind of mine was charged £1200 for a diesel particulate filter. All that said modern cars are ace with their excellent performance and frugal economy."Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
For me old cars (or bikes) are for pleasure on a sunny Sunday , new cars are for when I have to get places on time.
The only problem these days is the fact that a relatively minor shunt results in your car being written off. It's not the body panels but all the sensors, airbags and other electronic gubbins.
Remember, it's easier to criticise than create!
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
My car is fairly complicated as it is a Audi Quattro and I paid £500 for the 5 year warranty.
Of course this only really applies to buying new. I understand that some of the extended warranty co's are sharks (like the mobile insurance co's).
I must admit I tend to avoid french cars. Over the years I bought a number of Nissan Micra's . They were brilliant ...until renault took over . The Micra I had made by them was not welded together correctly and creaked going around corners . So a car that was only days old had to go back to be re welded ! I now drive a "German make" (engine made in Hungary , assembled in Belgium !).
Going back to old cars, I used to rebuild them. I have re welded body parts , rebuilt engines /gearboxes/ transmissions . In fact I used to race motorbikes , and one of the bikes I owned was the previous years works machine. No manuals , parts hard to find, and some parts non existant , so if broken had to be rebuilt manually. So I have done my share of broken nails and greasy hands , but have no desire to go back to that.
As an aside , I had a big crash at Brands , I came off going around Clearways and hit the straw bales (they are not soft!) When I woke up my bike was a mess. The Magnesium alloy water pump was a write off and the expansion chamber destroyed. There was no way to buy spares , and none of these items in the spares kit that came with the bike. I was lucky ,one of the other riders was a R and D engineer for Fords. My bike was taken into Ford's R and D as an engineering project for the apprentices who had two weeks before my next race. I am sure they enjoyed working on a full race Honda , and it just cost me a few beers ..... Ahh memories
After a Saturday afternoon's crawling around looking for loose connector blocks under the dashboard my back is now killing me. I had tried to take the drivers seat out, but as you might expect 3 out of the 4 bolts were removed with considerable difficulty, and the 4th flatly refused to budge. It may be argued that such problems would exist on any vehicle regardless of the age of the design, but if they had used ordinary bolts with a hexagonal top on them and given them sufficient clearance, I could have used a proper wrench instead of the poxy little star shaped Torx thing and got a lot more purchase on the bolt. I put the other 3 back, with some heavy oil dribbled down the threads so they will come out easier next time.
Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
BTW if you want to run diagnostics (find and reset faults) on your modern car (OBDII) get yourself something like this
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ELM-327-1-3-1-4-1-5-usb-new-version-for-2013-laptop-car-diagnostic-cable-OBD-CAN-/321231997688
If you can operate a PC you can use this.
I used to 'enjoy' fixing my own cars, much like others here, I had a mix of old Fords, Vauxhalls, a SAAB (nice car to work on), but it is quite obvious that; proper design, organised manufacturing techniques, better tolerances, and materials have given rise to cars that just don't break down as much. In recent times I have had a few company cars and where they have had problems they often seem to cause the dealers trouble too, such are the complexities in pinning down the cause of the problem, perhaps they are too easily distracted by the diagnostic codes theses systems spit out? I currently own an old Fiat based motorhome, that has relatively simple mechanics and is an interesting balance between electronic control with simple design, its just like working on an old Ford, but better!
My current irritation with cars concern the engine 'streamlining' techniques, where they remove the 'extra' drive belt to save money weight and energy, but when it breaks it takes out the timing belt and causes all manner of chaos. I know chain drives aren't perfect and use more energy, but from memory I had fewer problems with those, Water pumps which run off the alternator belt rather than the timing belt. I read of loads of cases where the water pump seizes and takes out the timing belt. Presumably all in pursuit of better mpg, lower CO2 and lower cost?
Perhaps manufactures will start to consider the risks of these systems rather than rely on rigorous service intervals and owners and garages doing what they are told to. Sustainable design should allow for some leeway and stop a simple component failure causing disproportionate damage in another, practically unrelated system.
Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself
Seriously: If you value it, take/fetch it yourself