Late model automobiles made to be UNREPAIRABLE by the shade tree mechanic on purpose!!.....

  • American Jedi
    • 2 years 1 month ago
    • Posts: 215
    		 A couple of nights ago, my girlfriend came home and told me she had a headlight out on her 2000 Pontiac Grand Am; so today I decided to go out and attempt to replace the burned out bulb w/ a new one.

    I have NEVER seen a more Mickey Mouse, ASS-BACKWARDS, PAIN IN THE ASS set-up than the bullshit one must go through to change a headlight bulb on a late model car.

    For starters, I had to pull the battery completely out of the car (only to find the wind-shield wiper fluid reservoir tube DIRECTLY IN THE WAY of the area that the headlight wiring-harness goes into.

    So that was not going to be an option for me.

    Next, I thought I'd try to pull the pins out of the plastic cowling that goes across the top of the radiator & remove it to see if I could get at the headlight that way; only to find out that I would have to COMPLETELY UNBOLT THE ENTIRE METAL FRAME UNDERNEATH THE COWLING THAT RUNS THE COMPLETE LENGTH OF THE FRONT CLIP FROM FENDER TO FENDER TO LOOSEN THE HEADLIGHTS.

    So basically, without special tools (and probably about 3 hours).....I'M COMPLETELY FUCKED.

    A couple of weeks ago, the alternator on my dad's 99' Chevy Cavalier went tits up and having changed several alternators on my own vehicles in the past...I thought that too would be a piece of cake.

    BOY WAS I IN FOR A SURPRISE!!!

    What should be a simple half-hour job became A 3-HOUR CLUSTER-FUCK BECAUSE THE ALTERNATOR BOLTS ARE PURPOSELY LOCATED WHERE IT IS DAMN NEAR IMPOSSIBLE TO GET A WRENCH ON THEM. (and the alternator is sitting on the top & front of the engine!!)

    Eventually, I finally got the bad one off & the new one on....BUT ONLY AFTER AN APOLLO-STYLE EFFORT.

    It's circumstances like these that lead me to believe that the automakers are building cars that are EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to work on.....ON PURPOSE.

    So, that way when shit breaks down; you have NO CHOICE but to pay labor for a mechanic to fix it.....BLOOD-SUCKING COCKSUCKERS!!!

    I'M ABOUT READY TO SAY FUCK AUTOMOBILES ALL TOGETHER & BUY A HORSE AND SEVERAL BICYCLES....AUTOMAKERS THESE DAYS CAN LICK MY SWEATY NUT-SACK!!!

    Sorry, I had to vent.....I feel somewhat better now. :x
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  • mysticwryter
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    • 2 years 1 month ago
    • Posts: 2850
    		 Same thing here. Trying to replace roaders(sp?) on my car and they were factory (I have a '98 Sunfire). It took my friend 20 mins to even pull it off of the axel. They got it on there and replaced with a brand new roader (breaks were so bad that it made a groove in the old roader. I had to have a light repaired, that took forever. So I know what you mean, but if you do the right maintenence on those cars, they will last you forever.
    "I've lead you down the road to Nostalgia, now it's your turn"


    "Pandamonium (PANDA!)"
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  • American Jedi
    • 2 years 1 month ago
    • Posts: 215
    		 Yep, that's exactly how these automakers want it today; they know that if they can design them as complicated as possible you'll have no choice but to pay out the ass when shit breaks.

    First they sell you the car, then if you're not an ASE certified mechanic w/ a fully equipped professional shop....they've got a slave (I mean customer) for as long as you own the car.

    So, unless you're at least middle-class; when something breaks and you can't afford to get it fixed....you're just fucked and out of transportation.
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  • mysticwryter
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    • 2 years 1 month ago
    • Posts: 2850
    		 True.
    "I've lead you down the road to Nostalgia, now it's your turn"


    "Pandamonium (PANDA!)"
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  • Shazbot
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    • 2 years 1 month ago
    • Posts: 4622
    • User Admin
    		 Motorcycles are getting to be the same. It's not entirely to prevent the backyard mechanic from working on them though, they just have a lot of stuff to somehow cram into a very small area.
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  • CleverHans
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    • 2 years 1 month ago
    • Posts: 1283
    		 More technology=more shit crammed under the hood. Has nothing to do with bringing money at the garage.
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  • American Jedi
    • 2 years 1 month ago
    • Posts: 215
    CleverHans wrote:
    More technology=more shit crammed under the hood. Has nothing to do with bringing money at the garage.


    mmhmm.....I'm sure :roll:

    That's why on the newer cars you should consider yourself lucky if you can still change the fucking oil.
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  • Shazbot
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    • 2 years 1 month ago
    • Posts: 4622
    • User Admin
    		 Some of the things they do really are necessary. A guy i know was bitching about changing the spark plugs on his car, he needed a super-long extension for his ratchet just to get to the plugs. There is a good reason for this though, with tight restrictions on fuel economy and emissions manufacturers have had to add things like direct injection and change the shape of combustion chambers to meet these requirements, hence the deeper spark plugs. Just an example.
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  • American Jedi
    • 2 years 1 month ago
    • Posts: 215
    Shazbot wrote:
    Some of the things they do really are necessary. A guy i know was bitching about changing the spark plugs on his car, he needed a super-long extension for his ratchet just to get to the plugs. There is a good reason for this though, with tight restrictions on fuel economy and emissions manufacturers have had to add things like direct injection and change the shape of combustion chambers to meet these requirements, hence the deeper spark plugs. Just an example.


    If GM had just told big-oil to fuck off about 13 years ago and kept up production on the Saturn EV-1, none of this bullshit (or very little) would be necessary anymore.
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  • Shazbot
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    • 2 years 1 month ago
    • Posts: 4622
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    		 I know, a full-electric car would require very little in the way of maintenance.
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  • American Jedi
    • 2 years 1 month ago
    • Posts: 215
    Shazbot wrote:
    I know, a full-electric car would require very little in the way of maintenance.


    Yeah, Tesla Motors makes a damn fine electric super-car...if you've got about $200.000.00 :roll:
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  • DirtyD1979
    • 6 months 4 days ago
    • Posts: 1476
    		 You wanna have some real fun try working on any European car like a Volvo, an Audi, or a BMW. I've worked in body shops and I can tell you those things are an absolute pain in the ass. You'll find bolts in some of the craziest locations you can think of along with windshield washer fluid bottles inside the fender. Personally the best and easiest cars to work on are late model Honda Civics.
    Nemo Malus Felix
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