Old is Gold
Do you ever long for the "good old days"? Those days of old, when you could actually work on your automobile? Days when you could change spark plugs, put in points and condensers, install new instruments, cables and wiring or just change the oil and filters. The days of old where you could do the work yourself and have it come out right. I do! I long for the days when it didn’t take thousands of dollars in analytic equipment to tell you an entire module had to be replaced. Typically, the module broke just after the warranty ran out. Your module would have to be shipped from the factory in China; your car would be tied up for weeks and cost thousands of dollars to repair. Everything is modularized so that the car can be assembled for less cost because union wages are out of site.

I recently had to have an air conditioning repair on my truck. The entire dash had to come out at a cost of $4,500.00 to replace an $18.00 circuit board that was part of the dash module. I’m sure glad I also have a couple of "senior citizen" autos that are totally reliable and repairable at a reasonable cost.

On top of repairs at great expense, we are faced with massive quality problems. The Associated Press reports that 20 million vehicles were recalled in 2010. 20 Million! Of course, the manufacturer pays for the repair. What they don’t pay for is the inconvenience and the time lost or the accident that may have been caused by the problem. A large number of the recalls deal with electrical problems and, you guessed it, are modular in nature. The majority of the recalls were with Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, Toyota, Honda and Nissan.

New cars are pretty, and in some cases innovative, but we the consumer must insist that they be easily and economically repairable. We can and will live with less "stuff" in the vehicle if safety and cost (reparability) are considered major design goals. I recommend that you contact the national highway traffic safety administration (NHTSA) http://www.nhtsa.gov/ and suggest that they insist on economical and accessible repairs as a requirement in new car and truck design.

Meanwhile, I’ll keep on "truckin" and driving my senior vehicles by keeping them in shape with regular visits to the Pomona Swap Meet and Classic Car Show, where I can purchase replacement old or new parts and install them on or in my car – without a mechanic standing by.

-Citizen Wayne