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Re:Apple tells lawmakers people will hurt themselves if they... by whatshisface on Tuesday April 30, 2019 @05:40PM (#19792253)
The motor in your car rarely goes bad compared to the oil and brake pads. Those things are purposely made easy to change, and Apple could design their phone so that the failure-prone parts were swappable just as well.
Re:Apple tells lawmakers people will hurt themselves if they... by macNchz on Tuesday April 30, 2019 @05:57PM (#19792421)
Both of those typically require jacking up the car (and getting under it for the oil change), which strikes me as much more dangerous for a novice than the risk associated with puncturing a phone battery. Never mind the added risk of an amateur doing either of those car jobs incorrectly.
Re:Apple tells lawmakers people will hurt themselves if they... by sokoloff on Tuesday April 30, 2019 @07:41PM (#19793126)
Many cars are designed nowadays for "topside oil changes" (as a factory recommended procedure).

You stick a vacuum line down the dipstick hole, suck out all the oil, replace the filter, fill the oil, put the dipstick back in. I didn't trust it the first time, so I sucked the oil out and then removed the drain plug to see how much oil I was missing; it was less than a shot glass worth.

Brake jobs don't require putting your body under the rotor/hub, making the risk of serious injury low. You could use jackstands, but I generally don't as I don't have my head or limbs in a crush area.

Re:Apple tells lawmakers people will hurt themselves if they... by asdff on Tuesday April 30, 2019 @10:13PM (#19793939)
I would love to find a car that I could replace the filter from the top. Easily the most annoying part of the oil change is getting under the car into a position to find the oil filter conveniently located in a dark crevasse against the firewall with just enough space to make it an absolute bitch to get the tool over the filter. Maybe my car just sucks though.
Re:Apple tells lawmakers people will hurt themselves if they... by sokoloff on Wednesday May 01, 2019 @01:35AM (#19794801)
I think most Mercedes and modern Porsche are topside oil filters, probably others now. My wife's CR-V has a backside filter but that can reached from the right side without jacking the car by turning the wheels full left lock.

One tip: To aid removal next time, use Dow DC-4 silicone grease on the filter gasket (rather than motor oil or nothing) and the oil filter gasket just needs a little crush; lots of people over-tighten filters, making them needlessly hard to remove. Contact plus a half turn will put about 1/32" of crush on the gasket which is enough to seal.

Re:Apple tells lawmakers people will hurt themselves if they... by macNchz on Wednesday May 01, 2019 @12:05PM (#19798438)
I think top-mounted oil filters have been a common feature on German cars for a long time. Even though mine has a top mounted filter, I find changing the oil to be one of the least interesting common DIY car maintenance items. It has big mess potential, requires a stop at a shop anyway to drop off the used oil, and doesn't really save much money.