On Mon, 22 Sep 2014 08:48:01 -0700, pyotr filipivich
wrote:

Ed Huntress on Mon, 22 Sep 2014 09:35:46
-0400 typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

Or, as they used to say at GM, "Any damned fool can design a
carburettor for a Rolls-Royce. It takes a genius to design one for a
Chevrolet."

Or the tongue-in-cheek motto applied to Mercedes-Benz: "Never use two
parts to do a job when you can get away with three." g

OTOH, when you have three parts, you can replace one of them. B-)

Nowadays, we have modules which are plug and play, do multiple
functions, and can't really be repaired. Not cost effectively,
compared to removing and replacing.

I don't know about the cost effectiveness. I've had this conversation
with Tier 1 automotive supply-chain engineers -- me being in line with
your thoughts, and the frustrations of not being able to fix many
things these days -- and they've pretty well convinced me that making
things repairable at a flesh-and-bones level is not at all cost
effective with today's engineering.

I don't know. Sometimes I miss my old VWs and MG, which I could fix
while on the road. OTOH, I now own two 10-year-old cars that have
never needed a repair.

My suspicion is that they're doing it right. Nostalgia for fixing and
adjusting my S.U. carburetors (carburettors, I guess) on my mother's
kitchen table isn't enough to overcome the fact that I had to do
*something* with my old cars almost every week.

--
Ed Huntress