fromPep Boys and

From one beancounter to another: you would love “The Good Old Days, They Were Terrible”, by Otto Bettman. You can order a copy at Amazon.

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You’ve never had to repair the AIRBAGS, traction control, GPS or ANYTHING else of an electronic nature? You are one lucky person.

Here’s my toll in the last 20 years of modern electronic part fails and probably explains my negativity
o A failed engine control module (computer) on a 2003 Toyota 4Runner. It started shifting weirdly and vibrating while towing a small boat at 33,000 miles. It was the first year Toyota had an electronically controlled transmission. By the time Toyota properly diagnosed the computer as the problem the car was out of warranty and had destroyed two transmissions and the catalytic converter. Toyota was dragged kicking and screaming into correctly diagnosing and paying for it. Over six months, the SUV was in the shop almost two of them.
o Toyota electronics struck a second time when the transmission control module trashed the transmission in our new 2008 Toyota Solara Convertible. That time Toyota took only a week to fix it.
o Airbag nightmares: Takata recall on our Toyota Solara (2X), failed seat sensors on our 2010 Suzuki SX4 (again 2x), and then… even more seat sensor issues on our Nissan Xterra.
o Failed ignition system on our 2008 Chevy Cobalt. At first Chevy refused to cover the repair… then reimbursed us years later after class action lawsuit and another round of recalls. This one was famous.
o Numerous emissions control and sensor failures on the same Cobalt over past 12 years. It’s been an annual event where the engine light goes on. Fortunately the cost of repairs for this have been cheap.
o The latest: My brand new 2021 Dodge Ram pickup had a non-functioning reverse camera module (a recall) and still has a mysterious non functioning trailer reverse steering control module, which has been on backorder for weeks.

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Me neither. I keep my cars 10-15 years, plenty of time for something to break.

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Same here and I also keep my cars 10-20 years but with one exception, a 1980’s Maserati.

Italian engineering, British electrics … what could possibly go wrong? :slightly_smiling_face:

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Never owned and never will own one with all the electronics you mention the only experience I have had with those types was a couple of rentals that would not have been my problem to fix if something went wrong.

I forgot to mention the rear view camera & monitor which are integrated into the audio/Bluetooth/GPS system. Those electronic “do-dads” are still functioning flawlessly after 10+ years on my current car.

I don’t consider myself lucky, simply because nobody whom I know has ever had to repair any of those electronic systems, either. Maybe you’re just an unlucky person. :wink:

Meh, electronics fail too. GM “stepper” motors went bad on my car and my truck. Crash sensor went bad on the truck. ABS module failed on my elderly neighbor’s 83k mile Grand Marquis (2005 model, I think). I guess an ABS module would be considered “electronic” - depending on what actually failed. He just pulled the relay and let it ride. It pretty well stands to reason that the more electronic gizmos you put in a vehicle, the greater the likelihood of having issues with them. I do like the backup cameras, though, and of course power windows and locks. I’d prefer to pass on adaptive cruise, lane assist, autostop and some of those other things when/if I buy a newer vehicle. Maybe I’ll be elderly by then and just pull the relay :grin:

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Last week I replaced a window motor @ 13,000 miles.
An alternator @ 35,000 miles.
Two tire pressure sensors @ 50,000 miles.
One airbag inflator recall.
Four fuel pump recalls.
Several Bluetooth complaints.

No sale on the door lock actuator failure @ 55,000 miles and failed radiator fan motor @ 90,000 miles.

People are looking forward to owning their first electric vehicle so they won’t have to face another car repair.

I assume that’s in jest since the the fuel pumps and radiator fan would be the only items eliminated. Unless the car didn’t have windows or tires. Now add batteries, monitoring system, software, motors . . . .

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Me either. On ANY vehicle I’ve owned…even when said vehicle had over 400k miles.

Electronics are several magnitudes more reliable then mechanical parts. I don’t know why you could think otherwise.

Sounds more like you’re extremely unlikely or you need a new/better mechanic or both.

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That’s a joke, right?

Everything you listed has a variation on an electric car. No fuel pump, but it has an electric coolant pump. No alternator but it has electric power steering and AC.

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I’m pretty sure that it was intended as sarcasm.

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Obviously electric vehicles won’t have ZERO repairs…but by it’s nature electronics are several magnitudes more reliable then comparable mechanical devices. But an electric vehicle has many mechanical parts that do need attention. And then there’s the batteries. I do think that the overall cost ownership of an electric vehicle will be less.

The only electrical failure I have had in my recent automobiles was the HVAC blower Ihat quit working in my 1990 Ford Aerostar and a power door lock solenoid that became noisy and I had it replaced before it went out. However, here is a list of mechanical failures:
1990 Ford Aerostar: engine replacement due to cracked cylinder head where enough coolant leaked in to score a cylinder wall. The transmission had to be rebuilt. Fortunately, both failures were covered by warranty.
2003 Toyota 4Runner: Serpentine belt tensioner was defective from the start, replaced under warranty. Right front wheel bearing had to be replaced.
2017 Toyota Sienna: bearing in heater blower started screeching. Heater blower motor had to be replaced.

I have never had a power window failure, a computer failure, automatic temperature control failure, or an infotainment failure in any of my modern cars. I had to replace window cranks on my 1971 Ford Maverick. I had to replace vacuum tubes and vibrators in the radios of the cars I owned in the 1950s.

My experience has been that mechanical parts are more prone to failure than electronic parts.

Do you think that the batteries would last as long as ICE mileage wise and would it be the same to replace be about the same price wise?

So far, it appears that only one forum member disagrees with you, me, Mike, Beancounter, and Texases

All cars have these now, so you can’t avoid them.

See: Engine control module

Cost you nothing.

Can’t avoid 'em. Need 'em for the airbags.

I’ve had ignition cylinders fail on 1980’s cars. This isn’t anything new to the world of cars.

Same: Sensors fail eventually. When we talk about in-car electronics, we’re talking about radios, nav systems, automatic climate control, etc. Every car has, for decades, come equipped with sensors.

I bet if I were sufficiently motivated (which I’m not) I could go through and find a recall on just about every conceivable automotive component. I’ve seen fuel tank recalls, suspension recalls, wheel recalls, steering wheel recalls, and even windshield recalls. By the logic of pointing at recalls as evidence that those systems are inherently flawed and presumably shouldn’t have been put on modern cars, you’re essentially relegating yourself to riding bicycles. Only, nope, 'cause bicycles have been recalled in the past too. :wink:

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Someone was actually too cheap to replace a defective cooling fan on a car with only 90,000 miles??? Even on a beater with 290,000 miles, that kind of repair still makes sense.

They will have the fan motor replaced by a different shop. I think they were disappointed not to get a free repair as they purchased the car 2 1/2 months ago.

@VDCdriver Most electronic failures (and non-electronic failures) occur within a short period of time after a piece of equipment is put into service. Warranty periods are set to catch these failures.
I have two flat screen television sets that developed problems.during the warranty period. The one set was an inexpensive set I bought at Target. The warranty said I was to pay the shipping charges to the nearest authorized repair facility. I was debating whether or not it was worth the expense. I called the number listed in the owner’s manual. A technician was sent to my house in two hours. The technician replaced two circuit boards in 15; minutes and then spent another half an hour playing with my dog, which delighted the dog. When I asked the technician if he had ever worked on the old cathode ray picture tube televisions, he said he wouldn’t touch one–too dangerous with 20,000 volts on the anode connection on the picture tube. I kept my old tube sets working, but I am sure glad not to have to do this any more. I replaced my old tube type amplifier and preamplifier many years ago with a solid state receiver. The only repair I had to do on the receiver was a new dial cord. Now that mechanical part is gone–receivers are tuned electronically.