[Vwdiesel] illiterate design

[Patrick Dolan]

Bill, I am with you all the way when it comes to ease of repair.  Also on weight of the cars.  I feel similarly about the music.

BUT:  If you look at crash survivability between now and 20 years ago, there has been a quantum leap in that area.   Also in emissions, handling, durability, etc.   In the 1960s when "safety cell" designs started coming from VW, Audi, D-B, Volvo, BMW and Rover (!)  we saw the first little level of complication layered on top.  Then at the same time we (i.e.VW) got electronic injection (and much later the rest of the world) and we got another layer of complexity (response of mechanics was then to stop diagnosing and blame the computer and replace it first).  And so it goes.  Won't even mention all of the "consumer convenience" items that were never found in a VW.

So, even as a DIY (I haven't actually been a professional VW mechanic since 1973 and engine builder since the early '80s) I am not happy, but understand why I need to put up with all of this stuff.   While I long for the day when a Beetle would come into the shop and I could tell you what was wrong with it, what part numbers I was going to put in, how long it would take and how much it would cost (even which department or person screwed up causing the problem in the first place) often in the interview before the test drive, I am not prepared to go back to a time when my personal transportation was polluting the planet and depleting our resources at a fierce rate, was guaranteed to blow up in my face in less than 100k miles (33k if it was a T1 or T2 with Type 1 engine - average life of #3 exhaust valve) and either mame or kill me in what should have been a surviveable collision (in which I might have become involved due to the crude state of chasis, brakes and tires at that time).  I 

To see what I mean, look at an early (50s) VW manual.  In a couple of hundred pages was everything you ever wanted to know about the car - including how and why certain things were designed as they were.   Today, three times as much paper will only give you a cursory glance at what MIGHT be there, and no clue as to the how and why.   Similar comment if you go to Etka.  Even a C1 took a very few pages to get all of the parts onto the screen.  A current C6 (A6) takes that much for almost any one category.  

The secret is to suck it up, buy all of the Bentleys and VAGCOM, take your time and attack one problem, one system or one component at a time.  Then you/we can enjoy the benefits of all of that progress and have a safe, clean, comfortable environment to listen to the Beatles and Stones in all of the digital clarity we couldn't have imagined in our youth.

----- Original Message -----
From: William J Toensing <toensing at wildblue.net>
Date: Wednesday, September 1, 2010 4:28 am
Subject: [Vwdiesel] illiterate design

> Not just VW's but almost all cars seem to be made to make life 
> hard for those who have to work on them. I wish they would make 
> those who design cars work on them before the design is approved 
> for production. Of course this won't happen. Cars are designed for 
> ease of assembly on the assembly line. They are now proposing  a 
> government grading of A+ thru D for fuel economy, good in my 
> opinion, but I wish cars would be graded for ease of repair. I 
> started driving Citroens in 1960. At that time, mechanics would 
> look under the hood & ran the other way. Now when I look under the 
> hood of my 1970 ID-19, it looks simple compared to today's cars. 
> The body design was a DIY delight. 4 bolts to take off the front 
> fender, one nut to loosen to take off a door, & one bolt to remove 
> the rear fender. The "D" space frame was abandoned when they went 
> to the CX series, I suppose for ease of factory assembly.
> Bill Toensing, Nevada City, CA
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