Joe wrote:

“Thank you, Captain Obvious.”

What is not obvious is that people have started to make their homes
just as complicated.

Pat wrote:

“So if fewer people are changing their own oil, then there's a reason
other than engine
complexity because engine complexity doesn't factor in to an oil
change.

Yes it does. I remember when ever I needed to change my oil filer I
could just reach under the car and remove it. Now in most cars there
is no way to get to it unless you lift up the front and even then the
filter is placed in such an awkward location that your whole arm gets
drenched in oil along with all the other components under it by the
time you take it off.

“Cars are more reliable and need fewer repairs, so the total number
of
repairs per car is going down. In fact, engine complexity might be
responsible for this as points and carburetors have been eliminated.”

I don’t think cars as a whole are more reliable. I would like to see
some statistics on this to believe it.
I am sure each component in a car is more reliable than it was but
there are many more components than before which significantly raises
the possibility that one or the other is going to break.

“Lifestyle changes including more single women who do not have "a man
to fix the car.

Employment changes including the shift from mechanical/blue collar
jobs to office/white collar jobs so that many people do not have
basic
skills and tools. “

That’s a very good point that I had not considered. Thank you for
pointing that out but I have to disagree with you about tools. Today’s
vehicles require many exotic and expensive tools that the old cars
never did.

“Change in retail so that more places are open evenings and weekends.”

I’m not sure if I understand what you are trying to say there.

“Air conditioning. People are not comfortable going out in the sun/
heat and working.
TV and other entertainment. The generation that worked on their cars
did not spend the weekend watching TV or playing video games.”

Those are other very good reasons that I also had not considered.
Thank you again for that knowledge.