Many Years, Many Kilometers
My car is old and has been driven a lot. For me, a car has always been one thing above all: a utilitarian object for getting from A to B. So, I don’t wash it every Saturday, and while a dent is annoying, it’s just a side effect of using it. What’s important is that the car is practical, reliable, low-maintenance, and durable.
For 14 years, my BMW 118d has largely met these criteria. It offers a bit less storage space than I would have liked, and it lacked a trailer hitch (and a €1200 retrofit was too expensive for us). But that’s about it for the criticism. For almost 14 years, the vehicle has carried us over 450,000 kilometers around the world, mostly without any problems. Wear and tear parts, yes, but usually later than expected. Last year, the first major repair came due, costing nearly €1,000, which made us question if it was still worth it. But the defect wasn’t unusual, and the car was otherwise in good condition, at least technically.
Something with the Steering, or Whatever
Until four months ago, when the power steering suddenly failed. First sporadically, then permanently. Always with a smug “ding” and a generic steering wheel symbol on the display. Our trusted workshop took a look at the car and was somewhat at a loss. Yes, it’s the power steering. But they couldn’t tell if it was the servo motor or a control unit. Unfortunately, the diagnostic interface only showed a generic error message: problems with the power steering. They went to the trouble of checking all the contacts; they were fine. But is it the servo motor, the control unit for the servo motor, or one of the other four control units? The car simply wouldn’t give up that information.
But regardless of whether it’s the servo motor or the control unit, a repair including the spare part would cost at least €1,000, and that’s if they replace the right part on the first try. Otherwise, double that. A heap of money for a vehicle with 450,000 km and 14 years under its belt.
Why So Vague?
Fortunately, we can temporarily borrow my mother’s car. Also a 1-series BMW of a similar age, but with “only” 50,000 km and it’s a convertible. We’re just realizing on our camping trip that a convertible is not for us. And surprise: on the highway near Naples, it goes “ding” and a steering wheel symbol appears. The error description? “Something with the steering.” And my mother’s car even has a proper system with a display. Can’t it be more specific? Especially since the steering was working completely normally. Okay, the error was gone after restarting the car, but still:
Why so vague?
My CPU can tell me the voltage, the current draw, the temperature, and who knows what else for every single core. If there’s an error, I can see exactly where the deviation is. And the cars? There’s an error somewhere in the steering and all related systems. But I’m not telling you any more than that. Why not? Shouldn’t it be quite simple to know which part is causing the error? The error is being generated, after all! And couldn’t they just install a few more 2-cent sensors to detect problems earlier and report them more clearly? Servo motor needs more power to turn because it’s not well-lubricated? You could surely read and display that if you wanted to.
But I suspect two reasons speak against this for the car manufacturers: first, it would save people trips to the workshop, and second, it would make it clear to everyone how the vehicle is built - and how well.
Well, there’s nothing you can do. A new vehicle with even more technology and even less transparency. The lobby is doing its job well.