Thursday 13th Jan

[JonC]

5 hours ago, Geoff said:

IMHO modern cars are just too clever. Whilst most modern cars are now generally very reliable, modern electronics basically now rule out roadside repair by the driver. Even the AA and RAC type of services are only able to diagnose with the use of a computer. I remember when if you had fuel and a spark, nothing other than a serious mechanical failure would stop you finishing your journey. We now have the situation that a friends Jaguar goes into limp mode and the fault has been identified as a throttle body sensor, an item that probably costs less than a couple of pounds. Sadly that sensor cannot be replaced and the car will have to have a new throttle body, which will take less than an hour or so to fit, but the new throttle costs a couple of thousand pounds, and a perfectly good throttle body with a faulty sensor just goes into the bin. I had a top of the range Renault Espace - a great car, but about 12 years old. The central locking system failed and the Renault garage stated that to locate the actual fault could prove to be very expensive and it may be better to scrap the vehicle. I ended up selling the car on the bay stating that the central locking did not work. Modern car electronics! Geoff. GRRR.

This is the reason that we no longer buy cars, we lease them so when a warning lamp comes on it’s someone else’s problem. In the past we have had a few costly repairs to just out of warranty cars. 

[suzook12]

For petrol cars, none of this is really an issue. Just buy an aftermarket ECU with the right map, and away ya go. Cam position and crank sensor only requirements, every thing else just improves economy, but whereas a OE ECU will go into limp mode, an aftermarket will just go to base map....

 

Unfortunately, not a lot of options currently for the common rail diesels