"Right to Repair"

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

Reading an article like this:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703555804576102272750344178.html

is all the more incentive to keep Festivas running, even to "stock up" on a lifetime supply of them.

[Safety Guy]

Yep. I don't want to get into that crap. I like being able to make all the decisions myself.

Most of the "Festiva software" is now in my own head.

Karl

[drddan]

$$$ more $$$ more $$$

I can see a $1000 brake job in the near future for a new car. Thats B.S.

[DrMaxwellEdison]

and this is why we here @ Fordfestiva.com keep our cars running on the road.....

[Gomez]

This is why I quit doing Remote Car Starters in '06. I was doing about 350 of them a year when all of the sudden crap like that starting showing up on a daily basis.

[sketchman]

I think it's interesting how this lights a fire, but the same situation exists wherever there is proprietary technology in the stuff we buy. Seems like the car companies could easily argue that Bill Gates should have to make all his stuff open source if they have to give out their "trade secrets" to make independent mechanics happy. Though in reality, the big guys all steal from each other regardless of the law, so it really is just the little guys with no resources that suffer.

Interesting.

[fastivaca]

Even siimple things like replacing a headlight bulb are getting to be major jobs. My brother has a GMC Acadia and the complete front fascia has to be removed to replace the bulb!

[JPT]

It's for this reason (and things like it) that I will not buy a new car. A wiper switch that needs to be "initialized"? It's a freaking switch! What's next? Replace a bulb and have to take your car to the dealer to have the computer rebooted? How about 10 years from now? Buy a used car, do some repairs and have to go to the dealer and spend half of what you paid for the car?

The automakers can kiss all 3 sides of my butt. Left side, right side and inside.

[lessersivad]

I ran into this type of problem after changing an instrument cluster in a Pontiac Grand Am. The speedoometer quit working but the odometer still registered. Found a used cluster, swapped it, then the car would only start for 1-2 seconds and die.

Called a friend at a GM dealership and got a general run down of what to do. Still no joy, until I tried something a bit different from the general instructions I received.

Got the car started and everything was great until it was totaled in a car/deer accident.

I had to turn the key on/off a few times then leave the key on to "reset" the security system. What a PITA.

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

It's rapidly approaching the point where every "device" (switch, light, etc.) on your car will have an IP address. Read all about it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAN_bus

By the way, from what I've heard, dealers make far more profit from servicing cars than from selling them.

[TominMO]

It's rapidly approaching the point where every "device" (switch, light, etc.) on your car will have an IP address. Read all about it here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAN_bus

By the way, from what I've heard, dealers make far more profit from servicing cars than from selling them.

Absolutely. They can take a hit on the sales profit because they know you will have to have it repaired sometime--and the way things are going, the odds are increasing that they will get to do the repair.

I am inclined to buy cars older than 1996 (the first year of OBD-II), to avoid emissions testing in MO. Plus they are all old enough to not have much, if any, of the modern complications.

[fastivaca]

Even siimple things like replacing a headlight bulb are getting to be major jobs. My brother has a GMC Acadia and the complete front fascia has to be removed to replace the bulb!

Saw an Acadia with a burned out headlight while out tonight (not my brother's)! I wonder how much that will cost him to replace?!

[200KGPGTP]

My 04 is a fairly good balance for what it offers, but there are indeed things on it that I can't do unfortunately like resetting the BCM after adding an option, for example.

My festiva is nearly idiot proof. I love it.

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

I just read that the new Fiat ("Fix It Again, Tony") 500 has seven airbags.

[Safety Guy]

I just had an evil thought:

I'll install about two dozen or so airbags in one of my Festivas. They'll be controlled by my inertia switch (when it's tripped, a sensor sends power to all the airbags) and mounted on the outside of my car with a layer of ball bearings duct taped over them. If my car gets hit, the results should destroy most everything within twenty feet of my car!

One sign will be on top:

WARNING: EQUIPPED WITH MULTIPLE OFFENSIVE AIR BAGS!



Karl