they need to make it so that service centers for cars are not connected to the dealerships and the manufacturer has to allow 3rd party parts to be available
Many cars are just a PITA to work on, and maintenance cycles are absurd and costly. They are not made to be easily worked on by the home/DIY mechanic.
Shoot, I changed headlight bulbs on a Hyundai a while back that was a PITA, official procedure called for removing the bumper cover and light housings. Really?!
I'd really love to see a company make a no frills easy to work on car. I don't want all this modern garbage that is just more things to go wrong in the long run.
Any who, I could go on and on, but anyone in the know knows.
I can’t even change bulbs on my truck. The LEDs are all solid state. When they go out, I have to buy completely new housings. I’ve had them for LONG time and they’re still fine. Still absolutely sucks to think that this was designed to be a revenue stream for a dealership if they fault out. I will be doing the work myself out of complete spite.
This is veering slightly off topic, but I'd like to share my conspiracy theory involving auto manufacturers. I can't think of a better discussion board for that than this one. No, I'm not talking about the collusion between state DMV regulations and car dealerships and repair shops. That is to say, of getting your annual emissions sticker and state inspection sticker. That one is obvious.
My conspiracy theory is that the manufacturers are secretly in favor of auto theft and the supporting network of chop shops. If they really wanted to put an end to cars and trucks being siphoned off to Africa they could easily do so. But they do not. They rely upon and relish the vacuum-pull created for new car demand that reliable country-wide theft generates.
Also, the locks on car doors could be so much more difficult to break. But they're designed not to be so that the police can jimmy them open.
That is certainly possible and, to add to it, what's going on now is a push for "no used part allowed". More and more parts have become "control modules" meaning they communicate as a stand-alone unit for operation and communication.
What the manufacturers are doing now is making it difficult, or not possible, to even install used FACTORY PARTS into a different car without resorting to grey market services to "virginize" it. They're doing this by tokenizing the installation process to where a new module requires activation from the manufacturer server. That process is only available once per control module rendering any module that has already been installed once no longer viable. So not only will there not be aftermarket parts, there won't be used ones either.
And, for the best part, they are using "cyber security" to lock out nearly all users from even being able to electronically "install" these new parts or make the process much more difficult.
On new Chevy trucks for example, in order to add a new control module you MUST have all other control modules the vehicle was equipped with from the factory installed AND functional. If any of them are missing, you cannot even initialize a brand new GM part.
A perfect example, a 2023 Tahoe needed a new steering rack because of collision damage. Once installed there is NO power assist, literally none, until it's initialized with the GM factory software. Needless to say moving a Tahoe or Suburban with no power steering around a shop or parking lot is not an easy task.
Welcome to new cars everyone. Just so everyone is aware, this started phasing in after 2018 so if you have cars made before that, hold onto them until this gets sorted out. Buying a car from 2020 until recently is completely hit or miss and the old rules of who "makes good cars" are out the window. Research each vehicle individually before buying, brand-wide reliability is out the window.
Thank you for those good details. Or I should say, horrifying details. Eee gads. Supply chain lock-in. Squeezing margins up where ever they can. Low cost after market alternatives ruthlessly hunted down. Is there any counter force from insurance companies? When paying for repairs they push the auto body shops to source the lowest cost parts from approved markets, often not the manufacturer's OEM parts. Nah, they'll work our some arrangement that scratches each others backs. Looks like "right to repair" will vanish unless protected by federal law.
In a parallel, manufactures of desktop printers pulled the same stunt a decade ago. As if the lucrative razor and blade model were not enough, Sharp and Cannon and HP etc. insisted on their blades only, enforced through firmware. I guess it fits that around that same time auto manufacturers shifted to viewing their product as being less like vehicles for personal conveyance and more like computers on wheels.
Many years ago FORD meant "fix or repair daily", if you had to hire one of their mechanics to do that then, no one would have bought any of their autos.
People should demand the auto manufacturers start making durable reliable vehicles again and this cheap plastic shit that is designed to fail. And start engineering there products to be user friendly, easily repairable, with reliable replacement parts and Not this junk they have been pumping out for 25 years
Dealers shouldn't be privately owned so cars can be sold from the manufacturer at MSRP without 300+% markups that dealership owners benefit fully on. New cars should be sold exclusively by the manufacturer. True competition between brands would also be a benefit of this.
I've got an 08 1/4 ton pick up, 6 speed manual and 4x4. Its a rare gem. Then I have a 2019 silverado 1500, collapsed lifters, and cant start the engine because of warnings on the dash...
They learned from John Deere. Recently, a manufacturer from Alberta started producing tractors that are completely mechanical that anyone with reasonable skills could work on and fix. We need an auto manufacturer to step up and build something similar. Until that happens I will keep the 2 trucks that I have and keep fixing them.
Cylinder head design has done way more for fuel mileage than anything else. Optimising the combustion process, burning as much fuel as possible during that cycle is the key. Computers can help with that but, they are just one piece of a system. Imo, the complexity of modern vehicles isn't necessary. The fact is that complexity makes modern vehicles less reliable and more likely to need repair. The manufacturers have created this situation and now want to capitalize as much as they can. It's reminiscent of other aspects of our world today. Create the problem, provide the solution and make money.
None of the suggestions here jive with the schwabject matter.
You'll own nothing and like it.
Its designed to ve cheaper to replace than repair. They want that sucker traded in for a new payment the minute the warranty runs out until you can't afford it anymore.
P.s. you want nothing newer than 2014.
Also, just don't be a dingus with it. I don't even change my oil and my avalon daily is @562k.
20 year ASE master tech with ford/audi/nissan/Infiniti and VW certifications.
they need to make it so that service centers for cars are not connected to the dealerships and the manufacturer has to allow 3rd party parts to be available
Many cars are just a PITA to work on, and maintenance cycles are absurd and costly. They are not made to be easily worked on by the home/DIY mechanic.
Shoot, I changed headlight bulbs on a Hyundai a while back that was a PITA, official procedure called for removing the bumper cover and light housings. Really?!
I'd really love to see a company make a no frills easy to work on car. I don't want all this modern garbage that is just more things to go wrong in the long run.
Any who, I could go on and on, but anyone in the know knows.
I can’t even change bulbs on my truck. The LEDs are all solid state. When they go out, I have to buy completely new housings. I’ve had them for LONG time and they’re still fine. Still absolutely sucks to think that this was designed to be a revenue stream for a dealership if they fault out. I will be doing the work myself out of complete spite.
Amen, fren!
Hey Ford and GM, how about making cars so OWNERS can work on them!!!! Having to pay for computer time to fix your own car id.....UnAmerican!
Oh what I wouldn't do for a totally mechanical automobile or truck. Maybe allow some computer controlled fuel injection, but that's it.
And AC, shoot I'd even be fine with good ole fashioned roll up windows!
AC doesn't have to be computer controlled. Back in the day it would freeze your tits off.
They are available. You just have to look around or hier a car buyer.
Yeah I know, but I waited too long. There aren't many fix-er uppers left. The ones that run are like restored and nice and spendy.
This is veering slightly off topic, but I'd like to share my conspiracy theory involving auto manufacturers. I can't think of a better discussion board for that than this one. No, I'm not talking about the collusion between state DMV regulations and car dealerships and repair shops. That is to say, of getting your annual emissions sticker and state inspection sticker. That one is obvious.
My conspiracy theory is that the manufacturers are secretly in favor of auto theft and the supporting network of chop shops. If they really wanted to put an end to cars and trucks being siphoned off to Africa they could easily do so. But they do not. They rely upon and relish the vacuum-pull created for new car demand that reliable country-wide theft generates.
Also, the locks on car doors could be so much more difficult to break. But they're designed not to be so that the police can jimmy them open.
That is certainly possible and, to add to it, what's going on now is a push for "no used part allowed". More and more parts have become "control modules" meaning they communicate as a stand-alone unit for operation and communication.
What the manufacturers are doing now is making it difficult, or not possible, to even install used FACTORY PARTS into a different car without resorting to grey market services to "virginize" it. They're doing this by tokenizing the installation process to where a new module requires activation from the manufacturer server. That process is only available once per control module rendering any module that has already been installed once no longer viable. So not only will there not be aftermarket parts, there won't be used ones either.
And, for the best part, they are using "cyber security" to lock out nearly all users from even being able to electronically "install" these new parts or make the process much more difficult.
On new Chevy trucks for example, in order to add a new control module you MUST have all other control modules the vehicle was equipped with from the factory installed AND functional. If any of them are missing, you cannot even initialize a brand new GM part.
A perfect example, a 2023 Tahoe needed a new steering rack because of collision damage. Once installed there is NO power assist, literally none, until it's initialized with the GM factory software. Needless to say moving a Tahoe or Suburban with no power steering around a shop or parking lot is not an easy task.
Welcome to new cars everyone. Just so everyone is aware, this started phasing in after 2018 so if you have cars made before that, hold onto them until this gets sorted out. Buying a car from 2020 until recently is completely hit or miss and the old rules of who "makes good cars" are out the window. Research each vehicle individually before buying, brand-wide reliability is out the window.
Thank you for those good details. Or I should say, horrifying details. Eee gads. Supply chain lock-in. Squeezing margins up where ever they can. Low cost after market alternatives ruthlessly hunted down. Is there any counter force from insurance companies? When paying for repairs they push the auto body shops to source the lowest cost parts from approved markets, often not the manufacturer's OEM parts. Nah, they'll work our some arrangement that scratches each others backs. Looks like "right to repair" will vanish unless protected by federal law.
In a parallel, manufactures of desktop printers pulled the same stunt a decade ago. As if the lucrative razor and blade model were not enough, Sharp and Cannon and HP etc. insisted on their blades only, enforced through firmware. I guess it fits that around that same time auto manufacturers shifted to viewing their product as being less like vehicles for personal conveyance and more like computers on wheels.
P.S. Out of curiosity do you have any inside knowledge as to what the Cash for Clunkers program was really about?
I'll bear this idea in mind.
Thanks.
Many years ago FORD meant "fix or repair daily", if you had to hire one of their mechanics to do that then, no one would have bought any of their autos.
*It still does mean that.
I always thought it meant "F-cker Only Runs Downhill"
People should demand the auto manufacturers start making durable reliable vehicles again and this cheap plastic shit that is designed to fail. And start engineering there products to be user friendly, easily repairable, with reliable replacement parts and Not this junk they have been pumping out for 25 years
Dealers shouldn't be privately owned so cars can be sold from the manufacturer at MSRP without 300+% markups that dealership owners benefit fully on. New cars should be sold exclusively by the manufacturer. True competition between brands would also be a benefit of this.
https://fordauthority.com/2026/06/ford-exec-meets-with-trump-to-discuss-right-to-repair-restrictions/
https://www.carscoops.com/2026/06/trump-gm-ford-right-to-repair/
I've got an 08 1/4 ton pick up, 6 speed manual and 4x4. Its a rare gem. Then I have a 2019 silverado 1500, collapsed lifters, and cant start the engine because of warnings on the dash...
They learned from John Deere. Recently, a manufacturer from Alberta started producing tractors that are completely mechanical that anyone with reasonable skills could work on and fix. We need an auto manufacturer to step up and build something similar. Until that happens I will keep the 2 trucks that I have and keep fixing them.
https://ursa-ag.com/
Yes, but our laws mandate those new cars would have to get a zillion miles per gallon. The computers squeeze every MPG out of every gallon of gas.
Cylinder head design has done way more for fuel mileage than anything else. Optimising the combustion process, burning as much fuel as possible during that cycle is the key. Computers can help with that but, they are just one piece of a system. Imo, the complexity of modern vehicles isn't necessary. The fact is that complexity makes modern vehicles less reliable and more likely to need repair. The manufacturers have created this situation and now want to capitalize as much as they can. It's reminiscent of other aspects of our world today. Create the problem, provide the solution and make money.
None of the suggestions here jive with the schwabject matter.
You'll own nothing and like it.
Its designed to ve cheaper to replace than repair. They want that sucker traded in for a new payment the minute the warranty runs out until you can't afford it anymore.
P.s. you want nothing newer than 2014.
Also, just don't be a dingus with it. I don't even change my oil and my avalon daily is @562k.
20 year ASE master tech with ford/audi/nissan/Infiniti and VW certifications.
Been to a few mechanic shops and they were saying this would absolutely put them out of business.
The title isn't strong enough. What these people wanted to do was to make it illegal for people to work on their own cars.
Think about that
Make 1998 Jeep Cherokee Sport XJs. I’ll buy a few…