Do car engineers deliberately make things difficult ?

[EddieM]

Well, I think that particular point can be ruled out for most cars. I believe I read in the last few months that VW ( or maybe VW Group ? ) said it was not going to develop any new IC engines, so I maybe won't need to buy a chip-reset device as was necessary with my Epson printer.

Haha, I doubt it... with electric cars I wouldn't be at all surprised if one was forced to subscribe to a manufacturer in order to receive critical software updates. I think I'll stick to ICE engines until I stop driving.

 

[JohnD]

When you get to the latest generation of engines special tools will be the least of your worries. An oil filter change will require a visit to the main dealer to register the inbuilt chip within the filter to the ECU of the car. Failure to do so will leave the car in limp mode. The motor industry wants all of your money!

I bet that inside the EU, consumer legislation will prevent such anti-competitive abuse.

 

[Munroast]

I bet that inside the EU, consumer legislation will prevent such anti-competitive abuse.

it doesn't really do that now, independents are increasingly struggling to work on some elements of cars, special tooling and software help the manufacturers keep control. And the more complex they become the closer they will get to the charge-what-they-like monopoly they truly desire. Maintaining your own car and having work done cheap in back street garages will become a thing of the past.

 

[mointainwalker]

I bet that inside the EU, consumer legislation will prevent such anti-competitive abuse.

EU law can be very funny. Do you not remember when they said that it was illegal for Tesco to buy genuine Levi jeans on the grey market and then undercut Levi's rather high price in Britain ? I never understood that. There is then also the unclear situation they have created with pattern parts i.e. is the pure functional shape a design element and therefore protected ?

 

[EddieM]

I bet that inside the EU, consumer legislation will prevent such anti-competitive abuse.

I very much doubt that. The EU has previously considered laws to prevent now public making any modifications to cars, it also considered making it mandatory that all factory fitted options on the car must work in order for the vehicle to pass an MOT or equivalent.

The only law introduced was "Right to repair" which allowed independents access (for a cost) to main dealer servicing information.

 

[JohnD]

"Right to repair"

Like an Owner can do an oil change.

When I service my older car I reset the Service reminder. It's in the book.

 

[EddieM]

Like an Owner can do an oil change.

When I service my older car I reset the Service reminder. It's in the book.

Right to repair only applies to IO's (independent operators) I.e. Garages that aren't main dealers.

 

[nickso]

This will likely receive the disdain it should probably rightfully get, but I got bored of lying about on the floor doing oil changes and bought a dipstick tube oil pump from Lidl's a while back for 20 quid.
Fire the tube down the dipstick hole, connect to battery, turn on and around 15 mins later the oils out. While you're waiting for that bit do the filter.
Caker.

For the inevitable cries of all that ****e lying at the bottom of the sump etc etc, My BMW E36 (and whatever else I have at the time) has magnet on it to keep all the bits and I empty it properly every 2nd change which is every March/April (I like my car). The wifes doesn't and will get the pump every change as I don't care too much about her cars.

 

[mointainwalker]

bought a dipstick tube oil pump from Lidl's a while back for 20 quid.
Fire the tube down the dipstick hole, connect to battery, turn on and around 15 mins later the oils out. While you're waiting for that bit do the filter.
Caker.

I don't know exactly what is involved, but the one time I enquired about this, I was told my car (Vectra B ) wasn't suitable for this method. That would have been at a chain like Speedy, who - I'm sure - would have done it if it were on the "list".

 

[EddieM]

Sometimes you see deals where you can get an oil & filter change for little more or perhaps less than you can DIY it.

 

[Burnerman]

Maybe I’m being rather anal about this but I always go for the sump plug out, and on some vehicles (VAG common rail) you cant access the filter anyway from above.
Unfortunately getting the undertray off can take much longer than the actual job ( Citroen please note.)
However, when grovelling under there I can check for gearbox / driveshaft leaks and boot splits and have a look at the discs inboard side, together with the tyres inner wall.
I have the suction equipment and prefer to use this to evacuate the filter bowl and often the oil cooler below, if applicable.
John

 

[mointainwalker]

Can someone definitely tell me how independents deal with the recommendations/requirements of different makes to have very specific oils ? Ignore it and put in their standard oil with different SAE viscosity values, have at least different viscosities available but not different makes, tell the customer up front ?

 

[Burnerman]

I certainly can’t say for certain but on the rare occasion I visit an independent garage they have a big drum of the usual 5/30 fully synthetic, low saps etc but when a special oil is needed, on Beemer M series, some Volvo, Ford and many more they get a quick delivery from the local motor factor.
We have to trust them to supply the correct product, of course!
I can’t comment on the tyre outlets in any way and no way would I use them.
John

 

[johnny2007]

Maybe I’m being rather anal about this but I always go for the sump plug out, and on some vehicles (VAG common rail) you cant access the filter anyway from above.
Unfortunately getting the undertray off can take much longer than the actual job ( Citroen please note.)
However, when grovelling under there I can check for gearbox / driveshaft leaks and boot splits and have a look at the discs inboard side, together with the tyres inner wall.
I have the suction equipment and prefer to use this to evacuate the filter bowl and often the oil cooler below, if applicable.
John

Good man!
There's very few of us left.
Keep it up and pass it on if you can.

 

[mointainwalker]

I certainly can’t say for certain but on the rare occasion I visit an independent garage they have a big drum of the usual 5/30 fully synthetic, low saps etc but when a special oil is needed, on Beemer M series, some Volvo, Ford and many more they get a quick delivery from the local motor factor.
We have to trust them to supply the correct product, of course!
I can’t comment on the tyre outlets in any way and no way would I use them.
John

I'm unsure if I'm mis-remembering, but didn't you say in a thread about wheel-alignment the other day that your local Quik-Fit was really excellent ? Perhaps your comment was meant to be restricted to just that area of work.