Like many of you, I don't turn wrenches for a living, but I do all of my own mechanical work, and consider myself a halfway decent mechanic. Given enough time, I can usually figure most anything out and get it fixed. However, I'm beginning to get the feeling that my ability to do this is coming to an end. As modern vehicle technology continues to accelerate at a rapid pace, I am starting to think that the notion of buying a modern car and keeping it long term is just off the table.
It's a bit strange because in one sense, cars are better built than ever. Drivetrain parts regularly exceed 200k miles with minimal issues, and the engines/transmissions/etc themselves aren't significantly different than the stuff we are used to. However, what is different is the electronics. All of my mechanical experience is with vehicles from the 90s and early 2000s, so I'm not afraid of EFI or anything like that. What frightens me about owning a modern car 20+ years from now are failures in systems like crash mitigation, automatic braking, steer by wire, etc. or even a more benign concern like the infotainment dying and leaving me without the ability to defrost the windshield because all the climate control is in the touchscreen. If you've got a 20 year old car and the infotainment dies...it will cost as much as the car is worth to get a new screen for it...and most new cars have 2 or more screens that are required to see critical information like oil pressure. Hell, the new fords don't even have gauges...just a screen, and the manufactures won't commit to keeping these systems updated for even 5 years, let alone 20+.
So in my estimation, despite drivetrains being more reliable than ever, and rust-proofing being better than ever...car have been really begun to be turned into appliances because of the electronics. As a result, I think that I am most likely going to build and maintain a fleet of late 90s/early 2000s cars that I know how to service and repair and feel comfortable with.
What do you guys think? I'd be interested in your points of view.
It's a bit strange because in one sense, cars are better built than ever. Drivetrain parts regularly exceed 200k miles with minimal issues, and the engines/transmissions/etc themselves aren't significantly different than the stuff we are used to. However, what is different is the electronics. All of my mechanical experience is with vehicles from the 90s and early 2000s, so I'm not afraid of EFI or anything like that. What frightens me about owning a modern car 20+ years from now are failures in systems like crash mitigation, automatic braking, steer by wire, etc. or even a more benign concern like the infotainment dying and leaving me without the ability to defrost the windshield because all the climate control is in the touchscreen. If you've got a 20 year old car and the infotainment dies...it will cost as much as the car is worth to get a new screen for it...and most new cars have 2 or more screens that are required to see critical information like oil pressure. Hell, the new fords don't even have gauges...just a screen, and the manufactures won't commit to keeping these systems updated for even 5 years, let alone 20+.
So in my estimation, despite drivetrains being more reliable than ever, and rust-proofing being better than ever...car have been really begun to be turned into appliances because of the electronics. As a result, I think that I am most likely going to build and maintain a fleet of late 90s/early 2000s cars that I know how to service and repair and feel comfortable with.
What do you guys think? I'd be interested in your points of view.