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If you can get a scan tool it's not the same situation I'm describing. Lots of auto manufacturers now send data to their own servers instead of keep diagnostic information on the car. Then if an auto-repair shop wants to access it, they can't just scan the car, they need the auto manufacturer to provide it. EV manufacturers do not even have OBD ports. Other manufacturers like Nissan have blockers that keep you from clearing codes or running bi-directional tests. https://dobkinlaw.com/trapped-by-the-tech-why-congress-is-battling-automakers-over-your-right-to-self-repair/
I've also had a car where everything is poorly accessible, and that accessing certain parts of the engine require specialized tools or taking the whole thing apart. Increased safety measures have made crumple zones bigger and bigger, which means the engine, transmission, turbochargers, and emissions equipment need to be packed into a tinier and tinier footprint. The smaller the footprint becomes, the more things you have to remove between you and the alternator you're trying to replace. Audi designed many of its vehicles so that the entire front clip of the car must be unbolted and slid forward into a special "service position" before anything could be replaced up there.
"it’s the fast-approaching reality of vehicle ownership" (from the article) -- maybe, but I can't see anybody saying that this is happening now? (A quick google on "nissan blocks clearing codes" doesn't turn anything up, for instance)
A standard OBDC tool will still do most reasonable things on most cars -- whatsmore, it's actually way easier to get a factory-equivalent bidirectional tool than it used to be due to bootleg Chinese stuff that plugs into a laptop. For GM, you've needed a Tech2 for bidirectional communication for about 30 years -- these used to cost $10k, now you can get a $100 dongle from China.
Not sure this is true (a light googling seems to suggest that North American manufacturers use a standard port), but if so it's another good reason not to buy an EV (or that EV, if it's limited to (say) Tesla)!
This has been a common bitching point since sub-compact Japanese cars started replacing enormous American boats -- I don't love it, but the existence of drawling hillbillies on Youtube who show you the real way to do these jobs (as opposed to what the service manual tells you) has improved the situation immensely.
I'm going to display my ignorance for all to see but it serves a point. If this is so difficult for someone with the intellectual curiosity of the average Motte-goer, imagine how much harder it is for the the average schmuck.
About a year ago my 2017 Chrysler Pacifica started overheating after about 15 minutes of driving . We took an overheating problem pretty seriously so my husband brought it into the local mechanic. He's good, the best in my small town as far as everyone is concerned. He went over it, used a diagnostic thingy, did a couple tests, said it was one thing. Ok, he replaced that one thing and my husband drove it home. It worked ok for a while.
After about a week, it started overheating again. We took it back, mechanic did another look around, said something else needed to be replaced. That probably both things needed to be replaced to start, but the second thing didn't show up on the diagnostic tool until after the first one was replaced and the error cleared. Ok, we let him replace the second thing, all we had to pay was parts, he did the labor for free since he didn't get it right the first time. A week later, it started heating up again. We took it into the official dealership and a couple days later received back a car that hasn't acted up since.
Maybe we were taken for suckers by the most trusted and competent mechanic in town. That's a possibility. But the thing that seems more likely given the close-knit nature of our community is that the problem was too opaque and difficult to diagnose for someone in the top 1% of car mechanics in my town. And if that's the case, average schmucks have very little hope. Why should I bother trying to learning how to work on my car when someone who works on cars full time couldn't figure it out?
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