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Tuesday, October 3, 2006

Give me your take on auto electronics

Oct 3 2006 8:04AM | Permalink |Comments (4) |



In our November issue, we have a feature running on Flexray, the advanced network protocol for cars. The Germans, namely Benz and BMW, will adopt it first in high end models. Interesting that the Flexray folks won't talk about the technology in any depth, nor will the car companies. In my November column, I interviewed my Mercedes mechanic (Before you say "Dodge is rich guy," mine is a 1999 E320 with 160k miles on it) and he related to me tales of how the car companies and sanctioned dealers make his life increasingly difficult when it comes to dissimenating information. He gets some "bits and pieces" about Flexray, but being an independent repair shop, he's at the end of the information food chain.   

What's your take on automobile electronics? Do they make cars more reliable, longer lasting, safer and cleaner? Or do they make cars so complex, your independent mechanic won't be able to work on them? It's probably some of both. I used to work on them, but that became impossible about 25 years ago. When was the last you repaired your car? Or changed your oil, even?

 


Related entries in: Automotive | Business and Marketing | Computers, boards, buses | Consumer Electronics | Embedded Systems | 

Reader Comments



at 10/3/2006 3:04:38 PM, flacksterRWC said:
You can't change your own oil because you still have to take it to a service station to dump the old stuff and most of the charge for it.




at 10/3/2006 8:47:11 PM, Piense El Tanque said:
I drive a 1992 Lexus ES300 with 165,000 miles on it. I could change the oil, but it stops there! Even a old car like that is too complex to mess with! My independent mechanic does wonders on it though! Thank goodness since the closest Lexus dealer is like 400 miles away!



at 10/4/2006 1:12:16 PM, Larry said:
Still do it all except alignments. Put a new head gasket on the 1992 Mitsubishi two years ago. Changed a timing belt in the IBM parking lot last summer. Repaired an ECM (computer) with $4 of electrolytic caps, saving $500.

In North Carolina the auto parts stores that sell you oil are obliged to accept your drained oil for free. Just have to remember to save a few gallon plastic jugs to use to return it in.

An inexpensive code scanner will tell you everything you need to know to fix stuff--easier than it used to be.



at 10/5/2006 5:13:24 AM, Bob G said:
I still do most of repair and maintenance on our vehicles, however it is much easier and cheaper on the 1983 Toyota truck than on the 2000 BMW. I believe that there will be a much lower percentage of the vehicles built in the last 5 years or so on the road after 15-20 years, since the cost of the parts and labor will make it cheaper to replace rather than repair.

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