Just had an issue with my catalytic converter. Apparently my car has two of them- The rear one, I found a replacement part online for $150. The front one is a dealer-only part, and runs $1100.
The thing that really gets me, though, is how everything’s coming as an assembly now- If the switch on your power window goes, you have to replace the entire panel with all the door lock, window, and mirror switches. Instead of an external bumper, it’s now underneath the molded plastic body panel- so even a minor bump means replacing the whole thing instead of buffing out a few scratches.
Fuckers. I want my open source 3D printed car already!
We just have to repair the modules. Get generic parts (e.g. said switch), replace the original that failed with close-enough one, and be back in business. Bumper fails, weld the plastic or replace missing pieces with fiberglass. And so on…
3D-printed cars will be a bit impractical for couple more years. Small plastic parts are doable this way already, bigger ones will take their sweet time, and metals will also require some more development which seems to be under way. Opensource, that will also take some time; for the time being, we have to go with “opened source”, aka what could be reverse-engineered and published. We need better reverse-engineering tools to lower the barrier to entry and make it easier and less time-consuming.
Which will have to get hacked soon in order to protect our freedom. And we’re back with the reverse-engineering tools mentioned above…
Working on it… Don’t worry, we’ll have that “feature” in a couple of years or so…
Incidentally, the Competition Commission of India ruled last year that exclusive agreements between manufacturers that restrict the availability of spare parts to “authorized” entities are anti-competitive and banned them. Upshot is that the consumer (or his roadside mechanic) can do their own service without going to the company.
The sad thing is, there’s nothing that dictates that it has to be any other way!
If I can change the HDD and RAM on my PC, or if I’m so inclined, even the cooling system, why am I limited to different rims and a stereo system on my car? It’s even worse in that my granddad used to practically rebuild cars for kicks. In his world, it wasn’t all that uncommon to dismount an engine, take it apart and put it all back together. The technology we have today should be making that easier, not harder…
For all the security implications, I think things like the ELM327 (which I have, btw) are a very important positive step.
