(07-07-2019, 03:55 PM)Bob Schroeck Wrote: So that's one reason. Another, at least in the US, is the auto manufacturers are deliberately working toward engine designs that deliberately thwart any desire the consumer has to do any service himself, and they are pairing that up with using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in conjunction with custom chips with the eventual goal of making it illegal to service your own car.
My previous car, the 2001 Saturn SL that was the "model" for my Fenspace character's Cerulean Edge, I did a few things myself or with my brother's help, like spark plug swaps and the radiator (there's a bulkhead in it that fails around 11-12 years old), but I never did oil changes, because the damned filter was apparently located dead center of the rear bottom of the engine - basically meaning having to crawl completely under the car to get at it, and I wasn't about to invest in the kit to do so safely, as I lived in an apartment at the time and would have had to find a home for said kit elsewhere (I could probably have gone in with my brother on it, since he also had a 2001-2002 Saturn SL at the time, but I bet he wouldn't have wanted to change that filter either even with the kit).
I am actively disliking the deliberate distension of the DMCA (it was literally only meant to protect IP, but was incredibly poorly written) to try to lock everyone out of the repair market who doesn't want to kiss up to working in a tight tight ecosystem with manufacturers.
"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor