Why Cars Have Become Difficult -- And Expensive to Repair

(written by a Do-It-Your-Selfer, and originally posted at
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120671829721371953.html?mod=hpp_us_inside_today
but right on the mark!

Last weekend, I had to replace a burned out headlight on my daughter's Chevrolet HHR. I figured this was a do-it-yourself job. So I went to my local auto-parts store, scored a new halogen bulb, went home, and popped the hood.

Roughly 45 minutes and a few choice words later, I got the job done. In the course of replacing one burned-out bulb, I used a socket wrench and pliers to partially remove a plastic liner inside the left front wheel well. I took out about a half dozen fasteners, of two different kinds. Then I had to work my hand through a tangle of wires to get at the offending bulb, disconnect it, twist it out, and then replace it. I did all this by feel, because I couldn't see my hand, wedged inside the fender between the half removed plastic liner and the wires and metal around the light.

When I was done, I had to toss everything I had been wearing into the wash, since I'd wound up on my back under the car during the process of detaching and reattaching the fender liner.

Yes, I read the directions in the owners' manual and did what they instructed. Let's just say the manual understated the degree of difficulty by half.

It turns out amateurs like me aren't the only ones wondering why some of today's vehicles are such bears to repair. The difficulty of replacing broken parts or restoring vehicles damaged in collisions is a growing concern to the auto service and collision trades and the insurance industry.

"Vehicles are becoming more and more difficult to repair," says Denise Caspersen, manager of the collision division for the Automotive Service Association.

In their quest to make cars safer, lighter and more fuel efficient, car makers are using more exotic materials in the bodies of vehicles, such as high-strength steels, aluminum, steel-plastic sandwiches. That presents a challenge to body repair shops, because technicians now can't just assume that the metal they are cutting or welding is old-fashioned steel.

Modern vehicles also have more airbags, and more sophisticated electronics under the hood and throughout the body. The complexity of repairing a badly crashed vehicle has led to a rise in the number of vehicles that are declared total losses by insurance companies, rather than repaired, Ms. Caspersen says.

Tom Calloway, manager of fixed operations for AutoNation Inc., the largest U.S. auto retailer, says in an email that routine repairs can get "pretty serious" given the proliferation of new technology such as continuously variable transmissions, electric steering or onboard computer networks managing various functions.

Throw in a hybrid drive system, and things get even more interesting. Auto service technicians are going back to school to learn how to work safely on hybrid systems.

The concern about repair complexity is spurring efforts by the insurance and repair industries to persuade car makers to make ease of repair a higher priority.

One group called the Research Council for Automobile Repairs (www.rcar.org) is planning to launch a Web site that will offer vehicle designers data aimed at encouraging them to make vehicles more repair friendly, says Joe Nolan, senior vice president for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Vehicle Research Center.

The IIHS isn't directly involved in repairability issues, he says. But the Institute has highlighted the problem of high repair costs in its tests of vehicle bumpers.

Auto makers, as is often the case, must juggle competing demands. When it's time to change a light bulb or an oil filter, I wish I had an old-fashioned car where you could open up the hood, and see the driveway through the big spaces between the body and the engine. But when I go to the fuel pump, or try to find a parking space, I want a car that's light and efficient -- which means all the bits and pieces need to be very close together under the hood.

The drive to reduce weight by making cars more compact will only get more intense as auto makers strive to achieve the new 35 miles per gallon fleet average fuel-economy standard.

Still, car makers are responding to the service and insurance industry's pleas.

Toyota Motor Corp. spokesman Bill Kwong says in an email that Toyota is also designing vehicles with "front crush boxes," that are designed so they can be unbolted after a collision and replaced. Toyota is also designing headlamps to be more easily replaced.

General Motors Corp., about five years ago, intensified efforts to consider ease of repair during the vehicle-design process, assigning engineers from the service operation to work alongside vehicle designers and engineers, says Joseph Fitzsimmons Jr., chief engineer for the GM Service and Parts Operations.

GM engineers now can use a virtual hand, wielding a virtual wrench, to test whether a design that exists only in digital form on a screen will result in a hard time for a mechanic, he says.

The result, Mr. Fitzsimmons says, is that GM is now designing instrument panels so that there are access panels a mechanic, or do-it-yourselfer, could remove easily to get access to fuses or other components, rather than disassembling the dashboard.

For collision-repair specialists, GM designed its new large pickups so that the frames can be cut in sections so that only damaged pieces need to be replaced. The same trucks are designed so that a new front end can be installed without replacing the entire frame of the truck, he says.

"It does get more challenging when you've got a smaller physical space" in a small vehicle, Mr. Fitzsimmons says. "But it's not impossible."

How to make your 850 breakdown-proof

Volvo was one of the first auto manufacturer’s to learn now to build an engine that would last over 100,000 miles. They did a great job with the 240 model and an even better job with the 850 that debuted in 1993 and stayed in production through 1997. Still, even if an owner performs every service right on time, one day the car will break down. Why is this? Because the weak point of every modern car is its sophisticated on-board electronics. The simplest example if this is the electric fuel pump. It has no mandatory replacement interval and can’t be inspected because its mounted inside the fuel tank. So after somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 miles of driving the engine won’t start, or stalls for no obvious reason. Obviously this can be very frustrating and distressing for both the owner and the technician.

Our advice is Preventive Maintenance. If your 850 has over 100K miles, and you have no record of prior fuel pump replacement, put in a new pump before it becomes a headache. You might consider having this done along with one of the minor services in order to spread out the economic impact. You might consider doing so prior to a particularly long vacation trip.

And while I’m on the subject, some other electrical parts that are “mission critical” and frequently get overlooked include:
- engine speed sensor
- camshaft position sensor
- fuel system control relays

I don’t expect many owners will bring in their 850's and say “great, fine, replace the whole list”. But you might at least want to look through your records. You might ask us to make up a checklist showing which item still need to be done, to keep on the fridge magnet. The point of the list is to have better informed, more knowledgeable, and hopefully happy customers.

You broke my Volvo!

Hello, and thanks for joining me here in cyberspace.

I recently bought a clean 1990 Volvo 740 sedan with the idea of fixing it up for our loaner car fleet ( at Popular Mechanix http://pmvolvo.com ) Yesterday the ignition switch failed, in the shop, no one’s fault, just wear-and-tear, actually fortunate timing that no customer was driving it. I assigned my young and promising apprentice Samson to install the new part, and I drove the car home the same day.

The next morning I drove the car to work and right away noticed a new problem. When I took the key out of the ignition, the key reminder chime kept sounding. My first thought was “Samson must have failed to secure some ground wire”. Because of the timing ( new switch yesterday, today annoying key chime) I just assumed it was his fault. A simple and obvious conclusion, right?

It then occurred to me to look at the slot the ignition key goes into, and sure enough the two halves of the spring loaded gateway had stuck open. A quick spray of WD-40 fixed this. The new ignition switch is invisible to the driver as it is attached to the back of the lock cylinder

There was nothing at all wrong with the new ignition switch or its installation. Another part, similar in location, also probably original to this 1990 car had failed.

And keep in mind this is the owner of the shop writing. If a repair shop owner can so easily jump to the wrong conclusion and blame the mechanic, what chance does the average customer have of keeping an open mind and seeing it as just the coincidence it was?