Subjectivist wrote:yportne wrote:The last car I had I could work on like that was made around 1985, now the engines have computer spagetti wiring all over and making adjustments means having a computer that can plug into the car computer and adjusting the programming.
Yes, but for 99% of us, isn't that better, given how much better fuel injection (and the computers involved) are so much more efficient AND reliable than carburetors?
Between fuel injection and platinum plugs, cars run incredibly reliably if you don't put much mileage on them.
A good friend of mine was recently remarking how the 1992 Paseo (like a smallish Corolla) I gave him about 12 years ago had never failed to start, and always gotten him to his destination. Recently it was running badly, and a spark plug had broken. The plugs and wires had NEVER been changed or fiddled with for the 25+ years the car had been driven its 80 thousand-ish miles.
That would have been basically a complete impossibility before platinum plugs and modern car technology like fuel injection.
And on my first new car, an '82 Toyota Celica, I changed the plugs yearly for about 10 years (if I got lazy and waited two years, the car ran roughly and got worse mileage toward the end), and fiddled with he carburetor a lot. And when winter weather was really cold (like zero and below), it sometimes wouldn't start. Modern fuel injected cars not only start, they start the first time and easily down to say 20 below (which is as cold as it ever gets in central KY), as long as your battery and coolant, etc. are in good shape, you have the right weight oil, etc.
Unless I'm having battery issues, I rarely even open the hood anymore. Jiffy Lube or a chain-store mechanic shop I trust does the lions' share of the maintenance. Most issues (for my Toyotas) when my cars get a decade or more old are things like a bad sensor, which are generally easily diagnosed and quickly and reasonably cheaply replaced.
So for me, I no more want to go back to having to work on our cars a lot than I want to go to horse and buggy as the main transportation mode. There are some things which objectively, technology is not making "worse".
If gearheads WANT to buy classic cars and fiddle with them -- good for them, and may they greatly enjoy themselves!
Given the track record of the perma-doomer blogs, I wouldn't bet a fast crash doomer's money on their predictions.