StarDust wrote in
:

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.