Re: Customer service?
I went to check the spark plug on my wife’s car and couldn’t. My standard plug spanner no longer works. They are deeply recessed and require a completely different tool to get them out.
It used to be possible to tune an engine by yourself. Now you need to plug a laptop running the company’s bespoke software only availalbe to registered mechanics to even approach that.
Oh and doing a wheel swap? with no spare in most modern cars (it’s an optional extra) expect the wheels to be put on with a special ‘tamper proof’ fixing ‘for safety’ so you can forget making your tyres last longer by rotating them.
And I’m just waiting until all the tyre inflation fittings I have are made reduntant by a redesign.
I was taught to maintain a car as a teenager by my engineer father. With my 9month pregnant wife in our car breaking down in the boondocks I was able to determine we needed a new starter motor. A farmer helpfully took me to a tractor dealer who had the right part and we were off again.
Now starter motors are integrated into the engine with other tech and swapping them is a major operation requiring new gaskets etc.
Cars have become less and less accessible over time. I can understand people who take old bangers and restore them. They are the only cars they can work on now without a mechanic’s qualifications, experience, proprietary training and a fully equipped shop with all the tech.