This made me think of the recent announcement of Moxie, a robot “friend” for kids, especially kids with autism. Parents shelled out somewhere around $700-$900 for it, and the company just announce they will cease to work because the company is going out of business/ having financial troubles
Yes, this does happen, and it really highlights the "bureaucratic" aspects of products. I read about a Chinese automaker, WM Motor, that went bankrupt and left customers with hobbled cars, because of a connection the car made to the carmaker's networks via smartphones. They couldn't lock their cars or use the air conditioning, and the dashboards were useless. Of course, those kinds of stories prompt regulations that paper over the issues, and so most of them won't be quite so dramatic.
In a similar vein, I’ve recently discovered that mice like the flavor of the windshield wiper fluid in my 2023 Volvo EV. If this were my Miata, I’d easily find everything I needed to know about how to access and repair the fluid lines: I’d just go to the owner’s forum or YouTube and there would be something useful there. But not with this new car, at least not on the XC40 forum (or anywhere else). There just doesn’t seem to be a community of people who feel confident to work on these themselves, and it’s not possible to buy a “shop manual” for it. I’ll take it to the dealer, I suppose …
Matthew Crawford wrote somewhere in Shop Class as Soulcraft about the fairly recent design feature that automakers are using: the double hood over the engine. You pop open the hood, and lo! there's another hood covering the engine. It's a sign saying, "You shouldn't be here!" There is a sense that you should cart your car to the dealer for even the little things of maintenance. I hope that's beginning to reverse, and there's some hope. John Deere (a manufacture with a lot of installed base out where I live), has been forced to let go some of its strangling clutches on tractor repair. They claimed that software that's essential to running a tractor is only serviceable by authorized dealers, in the process screwing "owners" of tractors during critical times of the growing season. I think the FTC began enforcing laws that allow for a "right to repair." We'll see how that pans out in the next administration.
You already sell your Miata? My Porsche went quickly, too. It's awaiting transport to new owners, a father-and-son pair who are excited to get their hands on the old beast. They'll work together to keep it on the road.
BTW, the mice might like the tubing. I had similar problems with squirrels, who disabled a car and a truck by chewing fuel lines. They like the plastic, which was based on corn byproducts, I've learned. The petroleum-based plastics aren't as appetizing, apparently. We have an abundance of hungry squirrels out where I live. All craving plastic!
I need to get back to Shop Class as Soulcraft for a second read. The tubing is gone now on both my Miata and my XC40 Recharge. One I can fix all on my own; the other … stay tuned. I’m not selling the Miata yet … gotta see what automotive pleasure comes my way once the XC40 goes off lease before I get let it go. I need a big shop like yours! Juggling three cars in my driveway is no fun.
This made me think of the recent announcement of Moxie, a robot “friend” for kids, especially kids with autism. Parents shelled out somewhere around $700-$900 for it, and the company just announce they will cease to work because the company is going out of business/ having financial troubles
Yes, this does happen, and it really highlights the "bureaucratic" aspects of products. I read about a Chinese automaker, WM Motor, that went bankrupt and left customers with hobbled cars, because of a connection the car made to the carmaker's networks via smartphones. They couldn't lock their cars or use the air conditioning, and the dashboards were useless. Of course, those kinds of stories prompt regulations that paper over the issues, and so most of them won't be quite so dramatic.
In a similar vein, I’ve recently discovered that mice like the flavor of the windshield wiper fluid in my 2023 Volvo EV. If this were my Miata, I’d easily find everything I needed to know about how to access and repair the fluid lines: I’d just go to the owner’s forum or YouTube and there would be something useful there. But not with this new car, at least not on the XC40 forum (or anywhere else). There just doesn’t seem to be a community of people who feel confident to work on these themselves, and it’s not possible to buy a “shop manual” for it. I’ll take it to the dealer, I suppose …
Matthew Crawford wrote somewhere in Shop Class as Soulcraft about the fairly recent design feature that automakers are using: the double hood over the engine. You pop open the hood, and lo! there's another hood covering the engine. It's a sign saying, "You shouldn't be here!" There is a sense that you should cart your car to the dealer for even the little things of maintenance. I hope that's beginning to reverse, and there's some hope. John Deere (a manufacture with a lot of installed base out where I live), has been forced to let go some of its strangling clutches on tractor repair. They claimed that software that's essential to running a tractor is only serviceable by authorized dealers, in the process screwing "owners" of tractors during critical times of the growing season. I think the FTC began enforcing laws that allow for a "right to repair." We'll see how that pans out in the next administration.
You already sell your Miata? My Porsche went quickly, too. It's awaiting transport to new owners, a father-and-son pair who are excited to get their hands on the old beast. They'll work together to keep it on the road.
BTW, the mice might like the tubing. I had similar problems with squirrels, who disabled a car and a truck by chewing fuel lines. They like the plastic, which was based on corn byproducts, I've learned. The petroleum-based plastics aren't as appetizing, apparently. We have an abundance of hungry squirrels out where I live. All craving plastic!
I need to get back to Shop Class as Soulcraft for a second read. The tubing is gone now on both my Miata and my XC40 Recharge. One I can fix all on my own; the other … stay tuned. I’m not selling the Miata yet … gotta see what automotive pleasure comes my way once the XC40 goes off lease before I get let it go. I need a big shop like yours! Juggling three cars in my driveway is no fun.