Look, I’ve owned probably thirty cars in my lifetime. Everything from a beat-up 1985 Toyota Corolla to a pristine BMW M3. And after all these years, there’s one thing that keeps hitting me over and over again.
Modern cars are getting too complicated for their own good.
I was talking to the guys at EuroJap Performance last week when I brought my Audi in for service. We got into this whole conversation about how cars used to be simple machines you could fix with a wrench and some common sense. Now? You need a computer science degree just to change the oil. Okay maybe that’s an exaggeration but you get my point.
Here’s what really gets me. Car manufacturers keep adding all these fancy features – adaptive cruise control, lane assist, seventeen different driving modes – but they’re making basic maintenance a nightmare. My neighbor tried to replace his own brake pads on his 2023 Mercedes. Three hours later he was on the phone with a tow truck because the car wouldn’t recognize the new parts without a dealer reset.
Remember when you could pop the hood and actually see the engine? Now it’s all plastic covers and warning labels. “Do not touch. Authorized personnel only.” Come on.
The worst part is how this affects regular people. Used to be, if your car started making a weird noise, you’d ask your uncle or that friend who “knows cars” to take a look. Nine times out of ten, they’d figure it out. These days, that same weird noise could be anything from a loose heat shield to a failing sensor that controls twelve other sensors.
And don’t even get me started on the cost. I remember paying $300 for a major service twenty years ago and thinking that was highway robbery. Now? Basic maintenance on a European car can run you four figures easy. The parts alone cost more than my first car.
But here’s the thing – and this is important – just because cars are more complex doesn’t mean you should skip maintenance. If anything, it’s more crucial now. All those sensors and computers? They’re monitoring everything. Skip an oil change and your car knows. Ignore that check engine light and suddenly you’re looking at cascading failures that could’ve been prevented.
The key is finding mechanics who actually understand these systems. Not just someone who can plug in a code reader and replace whatever part comes up. You need people who get how all these systems work together. Who can diagnose the actual problem, not just treat symptoms.
That’s getting harder to find. Dealerships charge astronomical rates and often just throw parts at problems. Independent shops sometimes lack the specialized tools or training for newer models. It’s this weird middle ground where nobody wins.
What really burns me is how manufacturers design things to fail. Plastic intake manifolds that crack at 80,000 miles. Timing chains that stretch because they used cheaper materials. Electronic water pumps that cost $2,000 to replace when a simple mechanical one would’ve lasted twice as long.
They’ll tell you it’s about efficiency. Weight savings. Environmental concerns. But we all know what it’s really about. If your car lasts 300,000 miles with basic maintenance, they can’t sell you a new one every five years.
I’m not saying all progress is bad. Modern engines are more powerful and efficient than ever. Safety features have saved countless lives. But somewhere along the way, we traded reliability and repairability for bells and whistles most people don’t even use.
My advice? Buy the simplest version of whatever car you’re looking at. Fewer options means fewer things to break. Learn basic maintenance even if you’ll never do it yourself – at least you’ll know when someone’s trying to rip you off. And find a good independent shop before you need one.
Because here’s the truth nobody in the industry wants to admit: most car problems are still simple. That check engine light? Probably a loose gas cap or dirty sensor. That grinding noise? Likely just brake pads. But they’ve made diagnosing these simple problems so complex that people panic and assume the worst.
Cars should serve us, not the other way around. They should get us from point A to point B reliably, safely, and without requiring a second mortgage for maintenance. The fact that this has become a radical idea tells you everything about where we’ve gone wrong.
Maybe I’m just getting old. Maybe I’m nostalgic for a time that wasn’t actually that great. But I don’t think so. I think we’ve overcomplicated something that didn’t need to be complicated. And regular people are paying the price.