Have you noticed how stuff is getting a lot more complicated?

fuzzybuddy

fuzzybuddy

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Location
The Sticks, Northeast PA.
In the 70s, a buddy needed to replace the rear axle of his car. We got this book, Chilton's, which gave you step by step instructions, like for dummies. We did it, and only had a few nuts left over. It worked. I look at my car, now. The engine looks like a Swiss watch- all kinds of unknown things all crammed in. You can't fix anything anymore, it's way too complicated. You have to get a new one. You can program your toaster. That's when it dawned on me, have you noticed how complicated stuff has gotten?
 

That's right....it seems that everything today has to have a computer controlling its operation. Simple On/Off switches are no longer good enough. New cars are becoming so complex that just changing the oil, or replacing the spark plugs can be a real chore...especially on the V6 engines. With most major household appliances, if the "controls" go bad, it is almost cheaper to buy a new appliance than to have the old one fixed. For half of our population...especially the younger people...having constant access to WiFi and cell phone service is more important than reliability. The way things are going, the future growth industries may be related to recycling and landfill management.
 
Things have gotten more complicated and we have been dumbed down to the point where we believe that you need to read a book, take a course or hire an expert to do anything.

I read the other day that 60% of drivers no longer know how or feel comfortable changing a tire on a car.

In my state the public schools no longer offer shop or industrial arts classes to young people so they can get a basic understanding of how things work. When I was a kid we had a print shop, wood shop, metalworking shop and a mechanic shop in our school that gave kids a chance to learn about tools, safety, solving real world problems, etc... The news isn't all bad, that same school has an agricultural program with a full sized greenhouse and a technology lab where students learn to use 3D printers, build robots, etc... We need to give young folks a safe supervised place, hopefully at home, to experiment and develop the confidence to at least try to do things for themselves.
 

I used to buy a Chiltons book for every car I owned and did a lot of my own repair work. As you noted, now it's pretty much impossible. That's probably one reason why car repairs are so expensive now. When I opened the hood of my wife's car when we first got it, I noticed the battery was back under the windshield. I couldn't figure out how you would change it. So, I found a YouTube video of the process. It involves removing the whole air cleaner assembly to give access to slide it out. There is no way I would want to mess with it. Also, if you don't attach something to keep the computer alive, a lot of things have to be re-programmed when you hook up the new battery.

Don
 
My husband referred to those books at times, since we were young he's done almost all of the maintenance work on all of our vehicles, big job or small. He hates the idea of the new cars too with their computerization and the way the manufacturers make it so hard to even get in there and do anything. Our Dodge diesel truck is a '92 and our Jeep is a '96, so he can still keep both of them well maintained. We have an '07 that's more computerized, but haven't had to do any work on that one.
 
My car was bought brand new two years ago. It is a Ford Mondeo and it has software at the centre of it made by Microsoft. Alarm bells should have gone off when I realised that. It has wing mirrors which retract when I turn the car off, a button instead of a handbrake, warnings if I drift across the road too much not to mention all sorts of other gizmos It also has Bluetooth and I can plug my phone into the control centre and play my music that way too.

The software crashes regularly and currently the wing mirrors stay 'open' when I turn off the car. I also have to go to the dealer now for any repairs because they 'plug it in' to their diagnostic system, which the little guy down the road I used to use with my old car doesn't have and probably can't afford to buy in.

When I had a Mini back in the day I used to give it a good kick when it broke down and that usually did the trick!
 
You guys can have the "good old days", I like the modern luxuries like good gas mileage, power windows, doors, locks, seats, mirrors, interval wipers, air conditioning, a myriad of safety features, remote keyed entry, etc. I remember having endless fights with balky carburetors, fuel pumps, burned valves, valve adjustments, flats, blowouts, etc. Save me from the bad old days when things were simpler and didn't work very well.
 
I used to be an automotive mechanic, took pride in doing everything myself.

Nowadays I don't even change the oil.

Bought a 2015 Corolla a couple years ago. Neither when I was looking on the car dealer's lot, nor since buying the Corolla have I once lifted the hood, and so much as even glanced at what's inside.

Why? I don't intend to ever DO anything there.
 
My spare is stashed underneath the car somewhere. No way I can change my tire! Once a very nice guy changed it for me and wow...he worked hard doing that! So...AAA it is!
 
jujube said:
When I bought my new Corolla in January, I wanted a car without a lot of bells and whistles. Couldn't get one. Now I have one with the standard Bs&Ws and I'm sure I'm going to pay through the nose for repairs when the warranty runs out.
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And eventually it will be tough to get one with a steering wheel.

Don
 
It actually frightens me when I hear about self-driving cars. While it sounds lovely to have my car drive itself through the big city between our home and our hometown, I'm fully aware of how often my computer gets a "bug" or crashes. Once a computer is doing the driving, how many of us are going to be in big trouble on the road when our car gets a bug!

And, yes, I agree things are getting more and more complicated! I bought some fabric a couple days ago and the woman who cut it spent at least 15 minutes trying to get her hand-held computer that prints out the price slip to work. She could have just written it on a piece of paper in 30 seconds, but NO...computerized is "better"! Sigh!
 
Cars ... with the elimination of driver's education in many public schools we've managed to produce a generation that cannot drive properly. I see these commercials for the latest and greatest vehicles with automatic lane correction and braking, rear-view TVs, and computer-controlled "multi-panels" that do everything from controlling your entertainment to finding your favorite music to ordering a large pepperoni pizza.

Meanwhile, the drivers are too busy playing with their touch-sensitive computer control system to pay attention to the road. Then when they crash and burn, they scream "WHY oh WHY did this happen to me?"

There's another commercial for Liberty Insurance. This woman comes out and says "You researched your new car for hours before you bought it. Then you crashed into a tree. Your insurance company wouldn't pay for it. Maybe you should have researched your insurance company instead ..."

I always yell at the TV, "NO, you should have researched how to DRIVE!"
 
SeaBreeze said:
My husband referred to those books at times, since we were young he's done almost all of the maintenance work on all of our vehicles, big job or small. He hates the idea of the new cars too with their computerization and the way the manufacturers make it so hard to even get in there and do anything. Our Dodge diesel truck is a '92 and our Jeep is a '96, so he can still keep both of them well maintained. We have an '07 that's more computerized, but haven't had to do any work on that one.
Click to expand...

No more books....We now have YouTube!!
 
I just bought a new car yesterday, my first new car in 18 years. It came with a box containing about a dozen manuals, including many detailed texts showing me how to do everything. (I mean everything to run the car, definitely not to repair it!) Just the audio system had its own book, with Sirius and "regular hi-def radio" instructions. There's a special manual for Bluetooth, which I don't even expect to use, as I don't like talking on the phone while driving.

Right now, I'm at kindergarten level, learning the basics of how to start a car without a key, how to recognize and respond to all the safety signals, etc.

The main manual is at least an inch thick. I love all the bells and whistles, but so much to learn!
 
Ken N Tx said:
No more books....We now have YouTube!!
Click to expand...

The good thing about YouTube is you don't have to pay for the information. My granddaughter's passenger door window keeps falling down, so my son said he's going to look on YouTube to figure out how to take the door panel off so we can repair it. Hope
he can find the info!
 
I had a washing machine that I bought in 1975-78. About 2 years ago, the door switch died. I went online & YouTube to watch a video on how to fix it. Hey, it worked. But the 40 year old thing gave up the will to live. I'm 71 & live alone with a cat. I got a cheap-ass one from Sears. It has 17 settings for my "delicates". My delicates are old enough to have kids in college.
 
Oh Ike!

I bought a new laundry trolley just this morning. I had to have a pair of scissors, a screwdriver, pair of pliers, a hammer and a whole lot of patience just to get it out of the wrapping and get it together!

I totally agree that the "child proof" cap is just about impossible for me to open these days.
 
I bought our car used a year and a half ago. The radio says Sirius on it's face. Out of curiosity I tried to operate it. Ever since Sirius has been haunting my mail box.
One piece of propaganda listed all the programs they offer. I saw nothing that I would pay money for. They will have to get along without me.
 
Aunt Bea said:
Things have gotten more complicated and we have been dumbed down to the point where we believe that you need to read a book, take a course or hire an expert to do anything.

I read the other day that 60% of drivers no longer know how or feel comfortable changing a tire on a car.

In my state the public schools no longer offer shop or industrial arts classes to young people so they can get a basic understanding of how things work. When I was a kid we had a print shop, wood shop, metalworking shop and a mechanic shop in our school that gave kids a chance to learn about tools, safety, solving real world problems, etc... The news isn't all bad, that same school has an agricultural program with a full sized greenhouse and a technology lab where students learn to use 3D printers, build robots, etc... We need to give young folks a safe supervised place, hopefully at home, to experiment and develop the confidence to at least try to do things for themselves.
Click to expand...


I know how to change a tire on a car, but they no longer let you carry one in the trunk like they did in the old days. They only provide a "donut" in the floor of the trunk which lasts long enough to get you to your auto mechanics. For this reason, I'm uncomfortable and always have to call AAA when I get a flat.
 
chic said:
I know how to change a tire on a car, but they no longer let you carry one in the trunk like they did in the old days. They only provide a "donut" in the floor of the trunk which lasts long enough to get you to your auto mechanics. For this reason, I'm uncomfortable and always have to call AAA when I get a flat.
Click to expand...

I read recently that even the donut tire will be disappearing from new cars in an attempt to reduce the overall weight of the vehicle.

It won't be long before the car contacts AAA when it realizes it's not feeling well, LOL!

This thread made me think of these old wrenches that came with horse drawn farm equipment, one wrench was all it took to fix or adjust the implement.

s-l300.jpg
 
NanaSarah said:
The good thing about YouTube is you don't have to pay for the information. My granddaughter's passenger door window keeps falling down, so my son said he's going to look on YouTube to figure out how to take the door panel off so we can repair it. Hope
he can find the info!
Click to expand...

The rear door on my extended cab pick-up would not open at the top!! Typed in the year and model numbers and there was the fix!! Completed the job in other two hours with a zip-tie!! They also provided a part number to do a fix, but the zip-tie worked for now..
 
My new car gives me Sirius free for 4 months, probably they figure it's long enough for me to get "hooked." So I'll have fun playing with it until then. At that time, I'll make up my mind about whether it's worth paying for.

I do willingly pay for Netflix and HBO on my TV, because the quality of what I get to watch is worth the few bucks a month to me. Maybe Sirius is worth that also, maybe not. I do have a big collection of CD's to listen to, and thank God the new cars still do include CD players (they haven't made CD's obsolete yet, probably that's next), so I may not really need Sirius. Plus, nearly all of my trip are 1/2 hour or less from my home. For that amount of time, I can listen to the radio.
 

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