Is it bad that nobody can fix their own car these days?

If you can't fix it yourself then you have to decide if you will replace it or pay someone else to fix it for you. We live in a society that is inclined to use things up and replace them instead of repairing them. Knowing how to fix modern electronics, appliances, and automobiles requires more knowledge and special tools than it used to. We all know more about our own individual jobs and have an ever increasing skill set as it relates to what we do for a living; we know less and less about what it takes to maintain our own infrastructure and are more and more dependent on other specialists to maintain the infrastructure. At the same time we want to believe that the infrastructure fails less often but when it does fail very few people have the knowledge and skills to repair it.

Does that make us dumber or just mean that each of us has a more specialized skill set? Driving a team of mules or knowing when to plant specific crops might seem like common knowledge but when you get it wrong you might end up with injuries and failed crops. The average hillbilly probably can't fix your transporter link but no one related to him is going hungry.

my car is 1989 Mercedes 560 SL and my husband's is 1987 Mercedes 300 (with turbo he designed and installed - definitely needed at this altitude for power). We do all the maintenance on them. Just swapped out the transmission and alternator on mine this summer. My husband took out all the vacuum stuff on the climate control system and his dash now looks like a cockpit with toggle switches and a potentiometer for the fan speed. It works great! We are all about simplicity. He is restoring (with all carbon fiber body) a 1972 Porsche - again simplifying things.

Well I can think of 11 vehicles right now off the top of my head that Joe does NOT own. As someone in the automotive industry, (and have been for nearly 18 years), I'm not here to discourage anyone's choice of future purchase or state they've bought the wrong vehicle but I will say that people like Joe... make people like me a LOT of money. I love the Google warriors and self diagnostic type guys because when I take 'their' advice and follow all the diagnostic protocols they've run into I end up having to call a tech line, and charging an hour diagnostic on top of it..... ($140).... instead of the usual "I don't know what's wrong, this is what its doing/not doing",.... (usually $50 on average)

I will admit that every now and then, the customer's research points in the right direction and diagnostic fees are minimal, but that is NOT the norm. Love it when "Joe's" walk through the door and they can tell you every little thing that's going on except give you a CLEAR reason why THEY do NOT want to work on their OWN vehicle. You know why Joe? Because every now and then a BCM, PCM, ECM, is sending a 'ghost signal' and/or referring to something that is closely related but not quite what the programming was designed for but fortunately binary met with complex at some point and gave a 'technician' a place to start looking, and thus perform further diagnostic to confirm/deny a situational report.

Getting back to the topic at hand, yes vehicles these days are very technologically advanced, if we're talking EMP burst, its a massive disadvantage, if we're talking diagnostic pinpoint, massive advantage. Every year the technology enfolds so much that an independent shop would have to shell out a minimum of $5k a year to keep up with every manufacture. (That's $5k per manufacture... and NO that is NOT an exageration.) That's why you find indy shops that specialize in certain things, like diesel performance, European, Asian import, etc.

Fortunately the average consumer does not purchase a new vehicle year after year, so our certifications, diagnostic scan tools, etc., don't need to be upgraded so much and we can afford both time and money to stay in business for that consumer. But every now and then we find the one exception to the rule where a vehicle is out of its dealer warranty but still so new or foreign that we don't have the tools or knowledge to assist that customer. It MUST go to a dealer, or specialty shop in those cases. People can bitch at me all they want, but unless that customer wants to shell out the dollars to buy my diagnostic tools and pay for my schooling, there's no other option. Technology moves faster than industry, FACT.



Badger

you know I have never really given it much thought about what repair shops need, but your post really points that out. It is a great disadvantage for small business. I guess the manufacturers are trying to steer everyone back to the dealer. Is that right? if so, that is so wrong.

Wily Fox aka Angela wrote: I guess the manufacturers are trying to steer everyone back to the dealer. Is that right? if so, that is so wrong.

There is a certain "yes" to that. From a business standpoint, dealerships lose thousands of dollars a year to aftermarket companies manufacturing parts and indy shops willing to do the work. After a vehicles's warranty has expired, it opens the door to MANY possibilities for a consumer. Everything from upgrade performance to routine maintenance becomes a viable option for a consumer to venture to an indy shop who might perform the work at a fraction of the cost to dealership and largely because of the options. (I'd like to let it be known that at NO time is a consumer TIED to a dealership, there are laws.)

Basically I'm opening a whole bag of worms here that would take forever for me to explain, but in short, a dealership is limited in many ways to the brand and quality of products they can use on a consumer's purchase.... where and indy shop does not. Now from a personal standpoint, we happen to have an indy shop with a conscience and we set our own restrictions on quality of parts. In essence, if I wouldn't put it in MY car, I'm NOT going to put it in your's. I can't speak for every indy shop in those regards.

At the same time, the dealership MUST maintain certain standards that you the consumer WILL get that you will not always find in the average indy shop. There are various pros/cons to working with a dealership. From a business standpoint I fully understand their wanting to create new and unique software to limit a consumer's options to returning to them, and I cannot say all those reasons are bad..... a dealership's techs need to feed their families too. A good friend of mine is a dealer tech and I hear his hardships while I share mine with him. The bottom line in any automotive field for a consumer is research.... feel out a company. Most companies have no problems answering your most genuine of questions even if they seem "stupid, silly or ignorant" to you. If a company does have an issue with it, probably not one you want to deal with. I answer those type of questions on a daily basis, and its never a laughing matter in my eyes. I encourage customers to come into the shop and look at their vehicles first hand to see what I'm seeing... to see why its a problem and understand the potential future costs if its not addressed. Any good shop, and even a dealership is willing to do this.


Badger

BadgerKustoms wrote: Well I can think of 11 vehicles right now off the top of my head that Joe does NOT own. ....... but I will say that people like Joe... make people like me a LOT of money. I love the Google warriors and self diagnostic type guys...
Badger

Sorry you have such a low opinion of us "back yard mechanics" Badger. Actually I have more experience than that, having worked in an independent garage, 2 GM dealers and a Honda motorcycle shop when I was younger. Plus later experience in electronics design and testing.

Even without formal experience, I believe backyard mechanics can still change basic parts and do a lot of routine maintenance. 30 years of taking care of my own vehicles tells me I can do it pretty well. (Although I despise all front wheel drive cars LOL)

Your points about diagnostics and testing equipment are correct. Fortunately I have many friends in the business that I get help from. Cheers!

Science Chic wrote: Thank you for the comments guys. But I was kinda hoping to get into a bigger picture discussion of what this kind of change means for us:

Does this make our society better or worse that we don't have to do these kinds of things anymore, or have we just moved on to other ways of spending (or wasting, in some eyes) our time? This begs a larger question: What kinds of activities better ourselves individually and societally?

WOW thats "Deep" SC

I don't know, I think being a "do it your selfer" is self satisfying, rewarding and helps develop other skills. It depends on how busy your lifestyle is too. People that work long hours are more likely to pay for these services so they can enjoy their weekends.

I'm fixing up a 1996 car, and I couldn't figure it out. I took it to a local mechanic. He charged me $500 just to hand it back with a few new parts (that I had already replaced once) with the statement "You must just have a lemon."

I kept at it, and I fixed it thanks to google searches. Someone, somewhere had the same problem and tripped over the solution - a non-documented change to the distributor.

Yeah, local mechanics have their place if they do specialize, but for general diagnostics I'll stick with my OBD2 enabled laptop, Google, and amatuer mechanical skills.

In general, I think that technology is a great thing, but when we rely on it without knowing the basics behind it, we're worse off than we were without the technology,

Joe, I don't think Badger thinks poorly of back yard mechanics, just pointing out the facts when folks attempt to do more than they have skills/knowledge/tools to do. Is that correct, Badger?

I think people today don't take the time to learn general skills. Unfortunately- this will cost them a great deal of money over many years. When our lawnmower quit working as a kid- my father showed us kids how to fix things. We learned to take apart things and figure out what was wrong.

Being a specialist in a skillset today is a requirement in most occupations- but being a generalist and knowing a little about mechanics, electrical, and plumbing and construction goes a long way even in today's modern world. The thousands of dollars I have saved myself by knowing a fair amount about these things was well worth the time it took to learn.

If my faucet leaks- I can fix it. If an electrical circuit fails- I can fix it. If my car needs brakes, or a new alternator, or a new radiator, or new roters or even new axles - I can fix it. These skills are mandatory even if you use them to keep yourself from getting ripped off by mechanics, plumbers or electricians. Even if I don't have the time to do it myself- my knowledge saves me money by knowing that there is no such thing as a "muffler bearing".

Last year I replaced just about everything that moves in the front on my Subaru- axles, roters, wheel bearings, brakes etc. The parts cost me $600. I did it all in about 3.5 hours.

How much would a shop have charged me?

People today don't take the time to learn simple skills- skills you can use through an entire lifetime. People even take their car into a shop to have the oil changed, or to change an air filter- or to change brakes- it's a shame and it's their loss- pay up suckers.

Changing the front brakes on a Subaru takes about 10 minutes per side- 15 per side if you are slow.

Thanks to my father for making me a generalist in life, with specialist skills where I make my living- it really pays off to be both!