Gripe of the day - What is yours?

[chris8886]

Originally Posted by ethariel

It's in the manufacturers interest to make it as hard and complicated as possible for a non main dealer to work on thier products, keeps the dealers happy being able to charge 100, 200, 500 quid an hour to work on your vehicle.

If they could the whole thing would be modular, no repairs just swap a module out and charge the earth for them.

Exactly!

[DJ123]

I doubt they make it as hard as possible, it doesn't suit their dealers either to expend all that money (workshop facilities, staff training etc) to take a lot of money to do simple jobs.

Most of it is down to the car is designed to fit in to a package, and how it comes apart/goes together is after the design stage. EG why changing a headlight on a Renault Megane (with the big a$$) involves removing a front wheel.

Most people these days 'buy' a car on PCP and get a service package, so they don't need to care about the car themselves. There's a finite number of people with mechanical knowledge, tools and know how who continue to work on their own vehicles.

[admin]

I think it's mainly to do with production costs. Make it easy to assemble on the production line therefore saving time and money. Servicing and repair is of secondary interest.

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[Adam Ef]

I know with bicycles that (most) hydraulic brakes are all treated as modular units that you just swap out when failing, as opposed to servicing seals etc. You can get a fully bled lever, hose and caliper with pads nowadays for £30. To open that unit (if it was possible) and replace seals (if they were available) would be very time consuming and probably cost at least twice what the whole brake cost with labour and parts.


I'm sure there are lots of car parts that are similar. I know when we had a Ford a few years ago they already only sold certain parts as the whole unit and no parts to repair things.



We did have a main dealer want to swap a whole turbo unit out on our Passat a while back as they said it was not fixable. Part alone would have cost over £1000. A local independant changed the blown diaphragm in our existing one for £200. The main dealer wouldn't open it up to fix. They'd just swap the whole unit.

[gadget]

Originally Posted by DJ123

I doubt they make it as hard as possible, it doesn't suit their dealers either to expend all that money (workshop facilities, staff training etc) to take a lot of money to do simple jobs.

Most of it is down to the car is designed to fit in to a package, and how it comes apart/goes together is after the design stage. EG why changing a headlight on a Renault Megane (with the big a$$) involves removing a front wheel.

Most people these days 'buy' a car on PCP and get a service package, so they don't need to care about the car themselves. There's a finite number of people with mechanical knowledge, tools and know how who continue to work on their own vehicles.

Part true ... there is so much more tech crammed under the bonnet of a modern vehicle so home maintenance can be a bit f a chore even if you do have all the necessary modern kit and tools to deal with any failures and if you haven't 'all the kit' ... you will be relieved of most of your 'hard earned' pretty swiftly, Having said that ...there are a few manufacturers that make it difficult to work on your own car by using production techniques that seriously limit your ability to carry out the job.
One of which is ... Peugeot, who in their infinite wisdom manufactured a (5 sided nut)! How many of you home mechanics have a 5 sided spanner or socket? I'm guessing none. So sometimes it's in the interest of the manufacturer to make it difficult for you to take your vehicle anywhere other than the factory dealership.
S

[Kenzie]

Wouldn't that go against right to repair or the service exemption thing? Can't think of the name where you have the right not to take it to the dealer?

[gadget]

Originally Posted by Kenzie

Wouldn't that go against right to repair or the service exemption thing? Can't think of the name where you have the right not to take it to the dealer?

Of course ... you can take the vehicle anywhere you choose but if it's under manufacturers warranty you best take it there in order to keep it validated and so be prepared to pay the price they charge.
If it's out of warranty you can still take it anywhere you like for servicing / repair but as with the likes of Peugeot... they have made it slightly more difficult to carry out repairs without the correct (special) tools and I doubt you will find any of these tools available at your local Halfords.
As far as I know there is no restriction on what methods a manufacturer puts their vehicles together with, as long as it complies with all the current/ relevant legislation.

[svenrico]

Originally Posted by DJ123

Most of it is down to the car is designed to fit in to a package, and how it comes apart/goes together is after the design stage.

Don't agree with that - everything about a car is considered at the design stage including how it goes together and comes apart. How much the manufacturer is actually bothered about how things come apart to make them 'easily accessible' for maintenance is another matter !

[DJ123]

Originally Posted by svenrico

Don't agree with that - everything about a car is considered at the design stage including how it goes together and comes apart. How much the manufacturer is actually bothered about how things come apart to make them 'easily accessible' for maintenance is another matter !

My comment was made with some tongue in cheek element . . . .

[ethariel]

It's kind of a moot point anyhow, as the world moves to EV, just how much servicing can be done at home any more.

Tyres, wheel bearings, bulbs (unless everything goes LED), wipers and glass?

Not really much left for the back street repair shop or the ramps you have in your garage.

The look at the number of vehicles 'Hired' on a PCP for 3/4 years, if it's worth less than the estimate then then just toss the keys back and walk out?