The "Right to Repair"

[Steve Glazener]

Hi Eric, et al..

Just trying to make a general comment about your recent newsletter asking for responses to the “Right to Repair” movement… and sadly, it has become a movement, of sorts. I just wanted to say to you, and anyone else listening, that I feel that if I own something, a vehicle, or any other inanimate object, a home, a weapon, whatever, I have the right to wrench on said object, no matter how inept I may be at trying to fix it or make it perform its task better.

If along the way, I happen to meet individuals such as yourself that know more about what I’m doing and are willing to take the time to help others, I consider that one of the better things in life, just to share experiences and have a few laughs and tears and beers along the way. I won’t even go there about what dealerships and legit garages do to make it work, we all have to survive doing something, and if that’s something you love doing as well, then that makes you a happier person.

My bone of contention is with car manufacturers who deliberately design products that require ongoing service from said mfr. I.e., I recently purchased a 2010 Nissan Altima sedan, one owner, 206K mi (yea), 2.5L and the dreaded CVT trans. I was well taken care of by the previous owner, who always had the time and $ to have it professionally maintained, followed maint schedules religiously, never abused it.

Why would Nissan dealers publish info like, “Oh, you *never* have to change the oil in the CVT transmission.”?? Seriously? If its mechanical it requires lubrication, or to be made of indestructible material, which so far doesn’t exist. So you let some customers believe that you can go 100,000 or 200,000mi without replacing the lubrication??? Then, you (the designer) make it harder on the end user by not providing a dipstick to measure said fluid, or even not providing a drain plug on the pan so the owner can change the fluid without screwing it up? And, after years of data that clearly states that heat is the #1 enemy of CVT failure, don’t provide a tranny oil cooler stock from the factory to extend it’s life??

There are many points on both sides of the fence here that I don’t want to get on a rant about, I don’t have a monetary investment on how many customers I get; but I do feel adamant about MY right to do whatever I want to something that I paid for, be it harmful to the object due to my ignorance or not. I’m 67 right now, and lots of mileage on me too, so I don’t crawl around on concrete floors like I used to, but I still do whatever I can to keep my vehicles in the best shape I can.

One bright spot about aging tho, at least I’ve learned (took a long time) to know when I can’t handle a job and seek professional help. That’s pretty uncommon these days, unfortunately experience is a great teacher, and the only way to get experience is to screw the pooch a whole lot of times 🙂

Hope you got your garage location dilemma sorted out, I expect I’ll be reading about it sometime. Been there, done that, ain’t pretty, just keep on truckin’, keep the faith and it’ll all work out. Cheers!

Steve G

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