Who makes the most reliable new cars?

Re:Who makes the most reliable new cars? by underlipton on Wednesday November 29, 2023 @07:28PM (#38467524)

Electronic stuff is still reparable. Probably even more cheaply, in some regards (certainly material cost). We've just been made to become accustomed to viewing electronic devices as disposable/primarily replaceable. And while most people have turned a wrench before, knowing how to use a soldering iron/heat gun/magnifier effectively is not a common skill. Could be, though.

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Re:Who makes the most reliable new cars? by BenjiWiebe on Wednesday November 29, 2023 @08:04PM (#38467825)

Electronic stuff can be incredibly hard to repair, when the manufacturer doesn't share any information or even actively encrypts/locks it down.

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Re:Who makes the most reliable new cars? by Tool_of_Society on Wednesday November 29, 2023 @08:16PM (#38467899)

Really it just depends. Depends on who made it what it it is where it is etc.

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Re:Who makes the most reliable new cars? by imp0cat on Thursday November 30, 2023 @02:35AM (#38470771)

Yes, but some fixes can also be incredibly simple (ie. a bad capacitor, loose wire, etc..).

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Re:Who makes the most reliable new cars? by mlhpdx on Wednesday November 29, 2023 @10:16PM (#38469072)

My built-in refrigerator was slowly dying. Weak beeping, occasionally power cycling - and getting worse as the days went on. No longer under warranty, and no replacement parts being made. Replacing the fridge would escalate to replacing cabinetry, and possibly a full remodel since that would “enhance” the worn look of everything else. You may know how this goes…

I knew enough to google the symptoms and found someone that would “rebuild” the main circuit board for a flat fee of $250 with about a week to turn around. That’s a fair bit cheaper than the remodel option.

But that got me thinking “if it’s a flat rate, and occasionally something is hard to fix that means most repairs must be trivial or the person wouldn’t be making enough money”. What’s an obvious, easy and cheap circuit board problem? Capacitors.

I had to buy a tester for $150 but I get to keep it. And the bad capacitor it found cost $.08.

Knowing just a little and being willing to learn a little more saved me a considerable amount of time, trouble and money.

I hope the same is true for cars because I have three relatively new ones in the family and we tend to keep them 10-20 years.

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Re:Who makes the most reliable new cars? by raxxorraxor on Thursday November 30, 2023 @10:46AM (#38474906)

We also know that any electronic stuff is very often designed to not be reparable at all. While there are standard interfaces for standard diagnostic data, you rarely can skip dealing with a very closed stack of software, intellectual property around a thick shield of armor.

This is why you get things like heatable seat DLC.

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Re:Who makes the most reliable new cars? by underlipton on Friday December 01, 2023 @08:52AM (#38486634)

I would like people to get into the habit of spinning up homebrew firmware/software to deal with this. Rockbox for your Ford. It's a heated seat, Michael, how much could it cost? Ten hundred lines of code?

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Re:Who makes the most reliable new cars? by jocaal on Thursday November 30, 2023 @12:47PM (#38476503)

Repairing electronics is not fun. Ask any undergraduate that spent hours looking for broken op-amps and bad solder joints. I don't think its the same class of repairability as old cars.

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