Funny but sad. The sad world of today.

[Lozz360]

They did indeed.

In that case things have changed. My car owners’ manual advises me to take the car back to the main dealer in the event of a light bulb needing changing.

 

[Oldhippy]

I used to change my own clutch and everything in between. These days oil, water and air in the tyres are all people can do without having to deal with the computers cars now have. Years ago you could jerry rig things to get you home in many cases now the computer kills the car at the slightest glitch.

 

[Beebo]

Even changing a battery is almost impossible due to the other bits you have to remove just to access it and the whole system needs a reset which can’t be done at home.

 

[JohnHughes307]

I used to change my own clutch and everything in between. These days oil, water and air in the tyres are all people can do without having to deal with the computers cars now have. Years ago you could jerry rig things to get you home in many cases now the computer kills the car at the slightest glitch.

But on the other hand, they hardly ever go wrong! I used to do clutch, decokes, valves etc. when I had crap cars as well. I suppose I might now as well, but I don't need to 'cos the cars don't go wrong 😄

 

[captain nemo1701]

The modern world. 😟

Back in the early 90's, I rented a house with some friends. One had turned 20, me approaching 30. I once had to show her how to boil & mash spuds....really!. I don't think anyone ever showed me how to do it, I just observed my mother doing it.

 

[dodgy]

I used to change my own clutch and everything in between. These days oil, water and air in the tyres are all people can do without having to deal with the computers cars now have. Years ago you could jerry rig things to get you home in many cases now the computer kills the car at the slightest glitch.

This is all very true. But how often do you see cars broken down at the side of the road these days? Used to see dozens of them on any long trip in the UK 20 or 30 years ago, now you notice them due to the rarity of it.

 

[BrumJim]

In that case things have changed. My car owners’ manual advises me to take the car back to the main dealer in the event of a light bulb needing changing.

If its a Golf, it could well be an engine-out job.

There is the Germany conundrum, where you have to carry a replacement set of bulbs in your car incase one blows, but no requirement on the manufacturer to design cars so that bulbs can be replaced on the roadside without tools. Or, if @Lozz360 is correct, then a driver can't replace the bulb without invalidating the car's warranty.

 

[Profpointy]

Even changing a battery is almost impossible due to the other bits you have to remove just to access it and the whole system needs a reset which can’t be done at home.

I needed to change the battery on ky ex-mrs' Landrover. Bought a new battery and fetch it home, opened the bonnet -where the f is the battery? After much head scratching and actually searching the vehicle I surmised it could only be under the passenger seat, as there was nowhere else it could possibly be hidden, and indeed it was!

 

[Oldhippy]

Computers in cars are a menace. I am a troglodyte however and enjoy tinkering with computerless engines.

 

[Blue Hills]

I dont know... I refuse to believe that people were that stupid in the days before the World Wide Web. Of course there will always be stupid people but less of a way for people to spread it like a wild fire.

You can post a video of yourself riding on the bonnet of a car that is rolling down the road at 70mph and put it up on social media, Then other people will watch your video and do the same and upload it and the next person and the next person after the next person will follow and do it until its spread all over the world.

There will always be stupid people. But im inclined to believe that people had more common sense back in the days before the internet.

the daftest web/tech solution i ever heard about was an app that used gps satellites and mapping to tell you when you were standing somewhere dangerous. Standing on a cliff-edge? - not safe. Awandering down a railway line - not safe. etc etc.

Even changing a battery is almost impossible due to the other bits you have to remove just to access it and the whole system needs a reset which can’t be done at home.

i really hope electric bikes don't end up going this way before I need one.
(have been spared the horrors of car ownership by never in my life having owned one - the ones I mistreated were company ones)

 

[Oldhippy]

I imagine the day isn't far off when pub glasses will come with warnings on the perils of having a pint.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

May contain nuts on a bag of peanuts.

Strangely, an image of testicles tattooed with those first three words came to mind.

 

[Pale Rider]

but no requirement on the manufacturer to design cars so that bulbs can be replaced on the roadside without tools

EU regulations specify bulbs must be changeable by the roadside.

That doesn't have to be tool free, which is why some cars come with a cross head screwdriver in the tool kit.

 

[Oldhippy]

Wasn't it the original Ford Ka that you pretty much had to dismantle the inner wing to get to a bulb? I knew someone that had one and was a bit of a nightmare I believe.

 

[Blue Hills]

I imagine the day isn't far off when pub glasses will come with warnings on the perils of having a pint.

In communist warsaw I do remember going into a bar, sitting down and finding a notice on my table telling me that alcohol ruins/can ruin families.

and in communist crakow, going in a student bar, finding vodka and cola at some incredibly cheap price - not being a great fan of cola, communist or not, I attempted to leave the counter with just the vodka, leaving the cola or taking it in a separate g;lass to feed to a plant. The aged polish woman behind the bar arm-wrestled the cola into the vodka. Didn't make a lot of sense to me.