You said it so well, cars have become too bloated with software that barely any local mechanic would want to touch it. Happened to me and this is the major reason why I am slowly shifting to older cars, they are way easier and cheaper to repair.
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Its not just software though, even the lights on your cars now are not easily user serviceable anymore. New cars with LED lights built in have core charges/deposits attached to them, they cost multiple hundreds of dollars and if you want to get your core deposit refund you must return the light. Compared to 15+ years ago, you go to your local store, buy a new light for $10-30, replace it and you're on your way.
Ford apparently ended the core charge program for lighting in 2020, but other manufactures continue, and that is just one thing that was common for users to service themselves in the past. It's not going to get better.
On one hand, it's okay. Cars are becoming a service, which they are anyway. Most people want to get transported, they don't want to drive, nor they want to maintain a car. Collective interests are pushing the whole industry toward this. (The goal of decreasing emissions through the whole lifecycle/value-chain, more safety for everyone involved, not just for those in cars; EV-ification itself pushes everything toward consolidation, as cars become simpler, but more one-time CapEx intensive, as the battery costs a lot, and then it just works for a million miles. AAaand then the whole need/goal of densification of cities, more public transportation, etc.)
On the other hand right to repair is very important. Walled gardens suck. Still hundreds of millions of people live in rural areas in the so called developed world, etc. And I don't want to subsidize the industry, I'm willing to pay more up-front, if it means I can just to replace the fucking light bulb.
Same here - I have owned an old petrol Vauxhall for years as my runaround car and it's so much easier to deal with. The big issue I have with newer cars is that the computers mask any developing issues until they get to a point when they just give up. A less sophicsticated car starts to just feel different a long time before it outright fails.
The MkIV diesel Jetta I had seemed to fall into limp mode at the slightest provocation, but never left me stranded.
Trust me, it is a difference you can feel.
IT people with mechanical sympathy aren’t exactly an endangered species but we are rare enough that it becomes a bonding exercise (leatherman knives or pocket flashlights are our shibboleths).
If you’re a kid and you also have IT skills you’re going to be interested in IT unless there are extenuating circumstances, like wanting to stay rural, or a family business, or friends and family with union influence. Easier on your body and pays at least as well. So a car mechanic with heavy IT or electrical skills is going to be in short supply. Which is a problem when all cars are electrified.
I drive older Toyotas. These cars will never go into the landfill if I can help it.
But cars from Japan & Korea have always felt reliable no matter the age.
At least from my experience.