12/03/2011
My Pastor recently lost a vehicle (a Dodge Caravan mini-van) to a computer glich and it has me very disgruntled. It seems that different electrical devices (wipers, lights, etc.) became out of control and worked in a random and uncontrollable fashion. The part that has me fried is that the going rate for repair was as least $1500. Did you get that - $1500!!
With my background in computers and electronics in general I know a rip when I hear of one. Pastor was in need of constant transportation and the cost of the repair as relating to the value of the vehicle forced him into a purchase of a newer vehicle, putting pressure on him financially.
In evaluating the cost of repair, the consensus was that because this was electrical in nature (electronic really) and because there might have been some protracted analysis prior to the repair (although I personally doubt this), the dealership had to fudge the price into a comfortable zone. This is true in so many cases today with technology devices. More importantly, if the computer was to be replaced, only the dealer of the brand/make of vehicle could supply it - hence the tendency to really milk the customer.
Knowing that the computer is a proprietary chip - and that these chips are mass produced by the millions, and that the cost to produce is really low - this is a put up job to pound the buying public. Where we use to have a simple toggle switch to turn on a device and then again to turn it off - we now have a CPU (read computer) making logical decisions and then actuating the intended devices. All one has to do is look at the wiring diagrams in a Haynes manual to see how the electrical hookups are now wired - all circuits are dependent on these microchips. A good example of this is when comparing the spark inducing electrical components of yesteryear with today's components. In the older pre-environmentally friendly cars, a set of breaker points were the primary initiators of the primary side of the coil which set in motion the secondary, high voltage side of the coil which provided the E.M.F. to jump the spartk gap at the spark plug. Today, they have a computer empowering the primary side of the coil and in many cases, the dealership is the only place where you can find the computer chip. GOTCHA!!
I haven't yet looked into the particular problem my pastor just experienced, and may not be able to do so with any degree of accuracy. but my suspicion is that a simple connection failure, either at a common ground point or at one of the many multi-conductor connectors was the cause of the failure. If I am right, then this is as close to larceny as you can get.
Pastor told me that he visited three mechanics and none could help him. If this is true, then perhaps I am missing some technical data that would substantiate the hopelessness of this sort of situation. My instincts (born out of a lifetime as a technical analyst and technician) tell me that if anyone wanted to be the least bit helpful a different outcome could have prevailed. To my knowledge, no one attempted to isolate any of the circuits that were going wild. No one put a voltmeter on any of the failure points in an attempt to detect the level of failure. Perhaps the dealership had a technical analysis flow chart that told them the answer without these technological tests and if so, most probably the answer was to replace the microchip that was making the logical decisions and that bears out the import of this writing - that the whole episode was probably a condition of a business being in a catbird position and taking advantage of it.
To sum up the situation - gimme 1500 bucks or tough luck buddy. This only bears out the downward trend of intelligence and compassion of today's workers. Why be a helper - why learn procedures that could help someone - why take a reasonable profit when you can gouge the blazes out of someone? Amplify this one situation by 330 million (the approximate population of the U.S.A.) and you can start to see why the decay is all around us.
It is my conviction that this vehicle could have been repaired and a reasonable profit could have been made by a dealership for under $300. If it didn't require a part, it should have been able to be repaired for under $150.
I'd welcome a response from anyone with a different point of view or with additional information about this or similar situations. We have got to get more tough minded with ourselves about what we should be doing to pay for our space on this planet. If you think that ripping someone off is cute, clever and O.K., then you should quietly tolerate someone ripping you off. Unfortunately, that is not what I am witnessing on an every day basis as I view my "fellow Americans".
C.Rizen
