That's right. Because soon, it looks like only the dealer who sold you the car will have the knowledge necessary to fix it. Apparently auto makers are trying to restrict access to diagnostic software and chips necessary to maintaining newer cars. So small garages can forget about working on newer cars.
Boys, my '88 Camry is looking better all the time. Metaphorically, of course.
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Hi Amy,
We have a 1966 Volvo P1800 currently off the road, and is being restored. But a few years ago, when I used to drive it, the car consistently got 30 - 35 mpg!
We have a 2007 Honda Fit and it gets roughly 35 mpg real world driving.
You're thinking what's wrong with this picture?! 2007 - 1966 = 41 years ago!
The 1800 is a smallish car, but does have a rear seat and can carry four, and has a decent sized trunk. Its a 4 cylinder, and standard shift.
Pollution controls on today's cars are designed to 're-burn' unburnt gas as it is introduced into the engine, and then recycled back through. This of course looks good on paper, but fails the litmus test in real life.
The only problem with this, is the 'old' unburnt gas requires fresh virgin fuel to be added to it to do the job of igniting and burning the old gas - so in a way you're always playing catch up.
Then there's the complication of introducing mini-computers into the mix to control cycling times for the mixing of the gas, and firing the cylinders; and receiving info from sensors, etc. to do the job. These computers are of course prone to the harsh conditions under the hood, and sometimes fail, or at least send wrong messages.
The beauty of a simple car like the 1800, and other cars of that era is that its not complicated, and any half decent mechanic can work on it. A little bit of platinum in the catalytic converter of the exhaust system transforms harmful exhaust gas into a less harmful, and more inert form, but is still not perfect.
Unfortunately, there's a huge industry built up to support internal combustion engines, and all of those moving parts just waiting to wear out. Also all of the electronics that go into controlling said parts.
But, lets hope Tesla Motors or someone like that can keep their heads above politics, brave the good fight, and save the day soon.
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