The maintenance thing
has shifted from do-it-yourself...to take it to the dealer . (for me) Of course....you need$$ for this.
I remember getting regularly chewed out by my dad for not checking the oil often enough...or the radiator water....or the brake fluid....or the fan belts.....endless guilt!
Starting a car in the winter used to be pretty touch and go.....I used to use this dipstick heater thing....an electric dipstick you'd keep in the oil while the car sat in the garage over night during winter...so the oil would be thin enough to start the car easily in the morning.
Even if I wanted (my husband
) to do something on my car....all the electronic stuff makes it impossible. It IS highly annoying to have to take your car to the dealer and get a diagnostic ($$) to find out what it needs.
And that "Check engine" light
mine came on, I freak out all weekend, don't drive anywhere for fear of breakdown......steel myself to drive the 50 miles to the dealer on Monday, only to find it's some emission thing, $270 to fix.....makes no difference in the running of the car, it was always running fine....
Still, I like clean air, and I like safety.
Remember when you had to take your car for a car inspection every year or two? I can't remember exactly why that was required....but they did away with it in my state long ago.
I guess they figured out even if they guaranteed that everyone had working turnsignals....they couldn't make numbskulls use them.
