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Technology Makes New Cars Too Expensive to Fix
securitas writes "The CSM's Eric Evarts reports on how technology makes new cars too expensive to repair, which may lead to disposable cars. The increased use of expensive electronics, air bags and advanced, lightweight body materials are causing costs to rise. Add to it the cost of specialized training and equipment (for an aluminum-body repair shop: $200,000) or even the cost of new parts alone (xenon high-intensity-discharge headlights: $3,000 each), not to mention the knowledge base required (over 1 million pages, available only electronically vs. 100 pages 20 years ago) and a labor shortage. From the article: 'Specialist technicians need advanced reading, problem-solving, and basic electronics skills.... The best people to find are those who have worked in the IT [information technology] industry.'"
How the hell did this get modded "Score: 5, Insightful"? Let's see what we've got here:
I'd rather have an older, less advanced car that I actually have a chance of fixing.
Ok, I gather from this that older, less advanced cars were easier and cheaper to fix. Based on the title of this story, this obersation earns you: (Score: -1, Redundant).
Who needs all this new car technology anyways?
(Score: -1, Luddite Troll)
Mod me down as troll but why is it that there has to be a joke about outsourcing everytime some topic is posted on /.? How many cars are actually *made* and not assembled in america? I believe most of the things are made or imported from elsewhere in the world. Hell the only thing that I have seen Made in America are my leather belts.
Things do change so deal with it. What is funny is that the *Americans* still live in reservaitions.
Disclaimer: I am an Indian who can't take a joke.
One solution, btw, is not to abandon the better quality parts, but to create an open parts standard. The more cars that use a specific part, the more generic offerings there are and the cheaper those offerings become.
How dare you suggest that our corporate overlords compete with each other, sedition to undermine corporate profits is a capital offense
Snowden and Manning are heroes.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
They're intolerant, racist, anti-semitic bastards.
Who?? Al-Qaida or the KKK? Americans are more dangerous to Americans than the Palestinians are. Does worldwide terrorism kill more people than drunk drivers in America? Hell, I don't know. The middle east is only an issue because of the money involved. Once we get the oil monkey off our back, we will forget about the middle east or we'll just give Israel mo' money and tell them to go ahead and take the whole region. We don't need it anymore.
The culture of the middle east is simply an intolerant one.
Heh...come with me to east Texas...or even some parts of the middle west
C'mon folks. Let's build those elevated mag lev tubes, and quit worrying about how expensive cars are getting. (Heh..still remembering my dad's '64 Lincoln at a whopping $4,000usd brand new)
What?