Modern Cars - Can they be too complex?

avoidtheupsidedownbottles

There's a video on Youtube of a big Audi being manufactured, and the amount of . . stuff that goes into it is incredible.  It must be nigh on impossible to replace some items, or require hours to remove layers of .. stuff.  I'd hate to be a car mechanic today.  In '90s cars there was still plenty of room to manoevre around items in the engine bay etc.  Today you would struggle to slide a cigarette paper in there.

MinuteNoodles

avoidtheupsidedownbottles said:

There's a video on Youtube of a big Audi being manufactured, and the amount of . . stuff that goes into it is incredible.  It must be nigh on impossible to replace some items, or require hours to remove layers of .. stuff.  I'd hate to be a car mechanic today.  In '90s cars there was still plenty of room to manoevre around items in the engine bay etc.  Today you would struggle to slide a cigarette paper in there.

Sorry but they were doing that in the 80s and 90s. I did a short stint at a Lada dealership. A common issue on them was the water valve for the heater matrix. Was a sod to get at because they must have literally hung the thing in the air and built the car around it. Cars have for many years had things which are a common fault and a sod to get to. My uncle used to have a Robin Reliant and I recall him cutting a hole in the transmission tunnel to make an access panel so he could change the clutch slave cylinder. Mid 1990s BMW 5 series ran their brake pipes over the fuel tank. If I think about it I could probably find something that was a sod to do but a common fault on most things I worked on back in the day.

[Deleted User]

Thanks to everyone for their views/feedback.

I have just agreed a price for a 2015 Honda Civic 1.6 DTEC in SE Plus trim.
Should do me for a few years

missile

Enjoy your Honda :-)

molerat

My car sent me a message on my phone to tell me I need to do more miles to keep the battery in good shape !

ElephantBoy57

I have been driving a new VW Crafter this week, the steering wheel goes tight when crossing lanes. Some sort of device that keeps vehicles in the lane if a driver falls asleep.

It feels odd, would it make any difference if that acyually happened? Could it go faulty?

EssexExile

Put the indicator on when changing lanes & that should stop. My Volvo has the same system, leave it alone & it will stay in lane. I wouldn't trust it any further than I can throw an XC60. I turn it off.

Dr_Crypto

My car has got that. It’s a bit sensitive and can think seals in the tarmac are lines and goes off! 

Usually though it’s because on an empty road I’m not indicating.