On Fri, 8 May 2009 11:57:46 -0700 (PDT), Molly Brown
wrote:

Joe wrote:

€œThank you, Captain Obvious.€�

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

Pat wrote:

€œSo 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.

€œCars 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 dont think cars as a whole are more reliable. I would like to see
some statistics on this to believe it.

Absolutel, most definitely yes.
Todays WORST cars are more reliable than the best cars 35 years ago..

When did you last hear of a car going in for a ring and valve job?
Used to be very common before 65000 miles.
Now the vast majority will run 200,000 miles without being opened up
Carb overhauls every couple of years were commonplace. Today's fuel
injection is almost totally maintenance free.
You needed to change plugs, points and condenser every year. Today's
electronic ignition is basically a lifetime system. Spark plugs last
100,00 miles or more.
A muffler and tail pipe was doing good to last 18 months - today many
cars go their whole life - 200,000 miles or more on the original
pipes.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
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.

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


My 26 year old daughter changes her own snowtires and has done other
work on her old car.
Like many of her generation, she spent big money to buy a brand new
car - and all service is included for the first six years. Most people
don't drive cars long enough after they are off warranty to make owner
mainenance ascompelling as it was in years past.
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. €œ

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


For basic mainenance they actually take LESS tools.
You don't need a tach/dwell meter or timing light to tune them up. You
don't need fealer guages to adjust points or valves - and plugs are
not regapped any more.
Disk brakes do not require adjustment so the adjuster tools are not
needed either.
You can do the basic maintenenace on today's cars with a basic set of
hand tools and possibly the tool to release the clips on the fuel
line to change the fuel filter.
An OBD2 scanner to check codes is very reasonably priced.

And you can buy decent quality tools for a lot fewer hours of work
today (or at least last year) than 30 years ago.
€œChange in retail so that more places are open evenings and weekends.€�

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

€œAir 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.