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Old October 4th 17, 06:16 AM posted to sci.astro.amateur
StarDust
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Posts: 732
Default Is Elon Musk ready for the straitjacket ?

On Tuesday, October 3, 2017 at 9:39:06 PM UTC-7, Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy wrote:

On Tuesday, October 3, 2017 at 9:25:05 PM UTC-7, StarDust wrote:
On Tuesday, October 3, 2017 at 7:04:05 PM UTC-7, Gutless
Umbrella Carrying Sissy wrote:
:

On Tuesday, October 3, 2017 at 2:51:58 PM UTC-7, Gutless
Umbrella Carrying Sissy wrote:


On Tuesday, October 3, 2017 at 10:43:11 AM UTC-7,
Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy wrote:


On Tuesday, October 3, 2017 at 8:27:48 AM UTC-7,
Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy wrote:

On Monday, October 2, 2017 at 3:11:17 PM UTC-7,
Chris L Peterson wrote:
On Mon, 2 Oct 2017 13:01:24 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

On Monday, October 2, 2017 at 6:26:55 AM UTC-7,
Chris L Peterson wrote:
On Mon, 2 Oct 2017 03:54:55 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

With electric cars, if it breaks down, I
don't think there's a mechanic at every
corner, who can fix it.

Electric cars are mechanically simpler and
therefore easier to repair (although like all
electronics, these days that essentially means
board swaps). When there are enough electric
cars, there will be more mechanics who can
deal with them than mechanics who know what to
do with a gasoline vehicle. In 20 years most
of the cars on the road will be electric.

Mechanically simpler, but lot of electronics and
software involved to make the them thing
running. I talk to mechanics, even garage
owners, said- diagnostic equipment is very
expensive to buy than train employees too! One
guy said - he spend $30K for software to locate
parts nation wide! EV cars still
have some way to go!

Well, most cars these days needing anything more
than trivial repairs require the dealer or a
specialist. Your corner mechanic who can deal
with everything is pretty much a thing of the
past.

Most corner mechanics are specialized also. German
cars, Japanese cars etc... Changing tires, fixing
breaks, anyone can do it! Even me! I have an old
BMW,

They key word there being *old*.

--
Terry Austin

Vacation photos from Iceland:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/QaXQkB

"Terry Austin: like the polio vaccine, only with
more asshole."
-- David Bilek

Jesus forgives sinners, not criminals.

Yes, old! 91' BMW , 26 years old, 160K miles, runs
like a Swiss watch! What's wrong with that?

Cars have changed quite a lot in the last two and a
half decades. In 1991, mechanics did tend to
specialize, but any competent mechanic could easily
work on any car, if they had the right manuals (and the
manuals were mostly printed on paper at that point).
Specialized tools were helpful, but not generally
necessary. Now, you can't even duplicate keys
for all cars with the same equipment[1], nor can you
even diagnose what's wrong without tens (or more) of
thousands of dollars worth of specialized hardware and
software - and it's different hardware and software for
different manufacturers. It's not longer *possible* for
a mechanic to generalize, unless they have the backing
of a dealership, and dealerships don't support multiple
brands. (And most carmakers these days won't sell that
equipment to anyone but a dealer anyway, if they can
get away with it.)


[1]Some car makers use completely different technology.
Japanese and US carmakers use "chip keys" for
everything now, keys that have a small RFID-ish chip in
the head, which forms a necessary componenet to the
ignition system. The engine *can't* run without it.
Mercedes, on the other hand, doesn't use a radio based
system, their keys (at least, in 2000, when mine was
built) had a laser in the dashboard, that interacted
with a chip in the key, to do the same thing. The
advantage was that the ignition key would work
regardless of the battery status in the remote. The
disadvantage is that the replacement keys cost over
$300 each, and nobody could reverse engineer them to
compete (Go to a dealership for a US or Japanese car,
and the chip key will cost you well over $100, but if
you go to your local Ace Hardware, it'll probably be
more like $30). And that doesn't even touch on the
sidewinder keys, which require a specialized mill to
duplicate. On top of the chip programming.

--
Terry Austin

Vacation photos from Iceland:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/QaXQkB

"Terry Austin: like the polio vaccine, only with more
asshole."
-- David Bilek

Jesus forgives sinners, not criminals.

(o: When the engine computer ECU went out on my BMW,
fuel injectors wasn't firing right, bought another one
on Ebay for $80. Plug it in, it was a 15 min job, car
ran good after. Some one told me, can't do that with
newer BMW's, because dealer has to flash the new
computer ECU and key security code has to be installed
too. They work together. New computer cost $1500 +
flashing and key install another $600! LOLOLOLOLOL! Some
times it's worth to keep a good old car! (o:

I have a friend who drives a 30 year old diesel Mercedes,
and is unlikely to ever drive anything else until it is no
longer possible to repair it. It is 100%
electro-mechanical in all critical functions. (It doesn't
even require electricity to *run* the engine, once it's
started.) I see his point.

(On the other hand, I am driving a brand new Toyota now,
because it was far more cost effective than repairing my
17 year old Mercedes, and because I'm not inclined to deal
with a car that needs regular reapirs, as any old car
does. My seven year warranty includes rental coverage if
it's in overight, for enough to pay for a better car than
I own. Said warranty will outlast the payments. And I get
over 40 mpg on the highway. Convenience is worth the extra
expense.)

--
Terry Austin

Vacation photos from Iceland:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/QaXQkB

"Terry Austin: like the polio vaccine, only with more
asshole."
-- David Bilek

Jesus forgives sinners, not criminals.

You right, if I would drive a lot, commute etc... would buy
a new car or a slightly used one, but I'm not. I get
insurance break, because I drive less than 5K millage!

I don't drive that much more myself. But in southern
California, it's nearly impossible to survive without a car
for whatever driving you do.

Same here in the Bay Area! Traffic is crazy!


So to me, a good
old car, no payments, fits the bill! I think, BMW's are
better cars than Mercedes!

BMV vs Mercedes is like Monty Python vs Benny Hill. Some like
one, others like the other, but you're not allowed to like
both.

Like apples and oranges! Mercedes is luxury and BMW's are
performance cars. All though, the last 10-15 years both
manufacturers make either style cars. I still miss my 1985 BMW
535i, that box looking car, with lot of trunk and interior
space.
http://img.bmwcase.com/full/f1fb4017...28-535i-royal-
blue-metallic-535is.jpg


....and of course 5 speed manual, more fun!

Superchargers are fun, too, even (especially) on four cylinder
engines.


Not sure what you mean - supercharger-?
This ugly thing?
http://performancedrive.com.au/wp-co...percharger.jpg

But my favorite button was the one that dropped the
headrests in the back seat down, if a passenger forgot to do so.
There was a quarter second pause. Comedy is all in the timing. (The
dashboard indicator that came on when it would hold *exactly* a
gallon of windshield washer fluid was nice, too.)

--
Terry Austin

Vacation photos from Iceland:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/collection/QaXQkB

"Terry Austin: like the polio vaccine, only with more asshole."
-- David Bilek

Jesus forgives sinners, not criminals.