Comment by somenameforme

Comment by somenameforme 7 hours ago

The manuals for the Lada were epic. In a quick search for an original one I came upon this [1] which is an English version one, which is even better than what I was looking for! It describes the entire car's operation and mechanism in extensive detail along with descriptions of how to replace parts, what might go wrong, and more.

I'm not sure that 'just send it to the repair shop' was an overall improvement in society in so many ways. In modern times those shops are infamous for exploiting people's ignorance and ripping them off to an absurd degree, and it primarily affects the lower socioeconomic groups within society, since the upper groups tend to cycle through relatively newer cars more regularly, in part to avoid having to deal with long term maintenance issues.

[1] - https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-6025672/mode/2up

phatfish 4 hours ago

My dad would always buy a "Hanyes" manual for our second hand cars in the UK, as inevitably there would be something to fix. These were comprehensive 3rd party manuals.

I have also gotten them for newer early 2000s cars. Never had to use one for my 06 Vauxhall though. Apart from some standard things that really need a repair shop (replacing the exhaust for example) I've never had an issue or breakdown.

The cars I see on the side of the motorway are always new, feels like there was a period before electronics really took over that most cars were pretty bulletproof.

Reply View 0 replies

ACCount37 6 hours ago

Repair shops are a necessity.

Not everyone can learn even the basics of car maintenance. There are a lot of drivers on the roads today who wouldn't be able to do even something as simple as top up the oil or change the tires. And actual repairs, even on older simpler cars, even with an exhaustive technical manual and modern learning aids like video tutorials or AR overlays? Fat fucking chance.

There are ways around that. You can keep the cars simple to repair and also expensive and unavailable, so that only the people with tech know-how and/or willingness to learn it get them. Make cars as tools for professionals and tech enthusiasts, like PCs were in the 80s or construction equipment is now. Or you can make the cars cheap and disposable enough that if one fails, you can just send it to a scrapyard and get a new one.

I don't like either of those workarounds, so repair shops are the least bad option.

Reply View 8 replies

tgv 2 hours ago

I visited Rumania around the year 2000. I remember being surprised by the sight of a whole bunch of similar Dacias at the end of a (muddy) street, in various state of disrepair. The person we visited explained that people were repairing their cars by taking parts from other cars, as there were no spares, or they were very expensive (the average Rumanian was pretty poor at that time). And since nearly everyone drove a Dacia 1300 (tried to guess the model; they looked like a Renault 12), there were plenty of donor cars around, and people learned how to fix their cars from their neighbours.
That can't last forever, of course, but it shows there are other ways.

Reply View | 0 replies
somenameforme 6 hours ago

> Not everyone can learn even the basics of car maintenance.
Why do you think? Outside of extremely rare disabilities, I do not understand why you would believe this.

Reply View | 6 replies
- ACCount37 6 hours ago
  
  A lot of users have an extreme level of resistance to learning tech. Which applies even to the most simple of instruction-following operations.
  They aren't clinically retarded. They could learn those things if someone forced them to. But you, as a product developer, can't force them. It's utterly impractical to overcome that resistance for a mass market product.
  It's easier to make a car that doesn't require oil changes than it is to make every car owner learn to perform oil changes.
  
  Reply View | 5 replies
  
  potato3732842 4 hours ago
  
  >It's easier to make a car that doesn't require oil changes than it is to make every car owner learn to perform oil changes.
  No, it's not. There's fairly low level physics and chemistry reasons you can't make a car that doesn't need oil changes. Oil changes could be about as difficult as swapping out toner cartridges if they cared to make it that way though.
  Please keep your Prius out of the left lane.
  
  Reply View | 3 replies
  
  jojobas 4 hours ago
  
  Some 45% of current Americans around 25 years old hold an Associate degree or above.
  Looks like you're telling us that US college is on par with changing car oil.
  
  Reply View | 0 replies

xattt 4 hours ago

You’re looking at a repair manual, which would be expected to describe operation and function in detail. These are available for all cars if you know who to ask.

I recall looking through owner’s manual for a domestic VAZ 2101. It was standard stuff, but certainly didn’t go into detail about knolling your car.

Reply View 0 replies

eloisant 5 hours ago

Why can't we have both?

Ability to self-service your car but repair shop if you don't have the skills, tools or don't want to do it yourself.

Reply View 0 replies