Get a 60-day free trial at www.shipstation.com/hoovies. Thanks to ShipStation for sponsoring the show!

I own a computer repair shop and EVERYTHING is getting more expensive / harder to fix vs buying a new one. It's a multi-industry problem. Those of us trying to run an honest business keeping things out of landfills and junkyards are facing an impossible task of remaining profitable, and the average consumer is the one that suffers the most. Right to Repair is useless as long as manufacturer's are allowed to price everything with such a high markup that it makes no sense for a shop, or customer, to repair vs buy new. I say this as a Right to Repair advocate who's testified to my state and federal reps. Repair businesses are in a dire situation and I've lost all faith that things will ever change. The EU still has hope, but the US is simply too scared to ever limit how much profit a company can make off of their replacement parts / tools for the greater good of their citizens AND the planet. It sucks.

I have worked as an auto technician over 35 years(recently retired) and I can say without a doubt that it is so much more difficult to repair a car now more than ever. I worked all those years exclusively for one European brand at new car dealerships only,starting as an apprentice and working my way up to shope foreman the last 15 years or so. Even with all the in-person factory training as well as countless online courses it is becoming close to impossible to accurately diagnose many of the problems in today's modern vehicles due to the complexity and sheer amount of time it takes to do just that. Additionally, it gets to the point of where the time invested to fix the car becomes an astronomical repair bill and just doesn’t make sense anymore. No one wants to spend $3,600 to repair their air conditioning or $2,300 to make their power windows operate because of a wiring harness or computer replacement. How about $12,000 for a transmission or $3,200 so your automatic tailgate opens again? Yes, these are actual repair bills that went through our dealership repair shop. These are not Ferrari/Maserati or Porsche bills. These were for freakin' Volvos! This is why leasing took over. Nobody buys cars really anymore. They just turn them in and get another new one. Most outside repair shops don't have the proper equipment, properly trained technicians and/ or money to invest in either to make it worth their while. This seems to be the same with any industry. A plumber recently wanted over $1,300 to replace a simple leaking valve on my boiler at home. I bought the valve online for $73 and a friend and I installed it in about 40 minutes! We have become an economy of consumers. Companies just want to sell more cars, televisions,dishwashers,cell phones,toasters,etc, etc,etc. Don't fix anything, just throw it away and buy a new one. It's all about quarterly profits and the insatiable quest for ever increasing profit.

All those corporations will be telling us how concerned about our environment they are. Yet they haven't got a problem to sell us products designed to fail and to not be repairable.

Uncle Tony did a video some time back asking the question 'Are we at the end of collectable cars?' One could drag a car of old out of a barn and get it running pretty quick. You are not going to drag a post 2000 car out of a field 30 years from now, toss some cables on it and fire it up.

Right to REPAIR is essential

Talk to module master in Moscow Idaho. I had a brake module for the ABS fail on my Porsche 996. Porsche dealers wanted between 5000 to approximately 7000 for replacement. Module Masters fixed mine for $300.00

Breakers yards, in the 70’s & 80’s, looked like breakers yards - now they look like parking lots. Insanity.

My grandfather had a 2 bay shop. He retired when cars became more electrical than mechanical.

The modules being locked is totally a right to repair issue! Its not just iPhones and tractors its all electronics and other parts. Support right to repair!!!!

My wife always asks me why I will work on my 1966 MGB, but not touch our daily drivers and this video captures everything as to why I won't touch a newer vehicle.

I’ve thought many times of taking one of these heavily electronically burdened vehicles, gutting out the electronics and put in a universal hot rod wiring harness. Swap out the steering column if needed, and put in a crate engine with a carb. Then the outside the car looks the same, but it doesn’t need a computer to turn on the brake light. 🤪

The Testarossa engine is ancient, and still one of the most beautiful engines I’ve ever seen.

Ultra-luxury car brands believe it harms their brand to have a bunch of sub-$20k cars out there being kept alive by independent shops and DIYers.

A prime example of the "throw it away when it's slightly damaged" state of affairs that we have been living in for the last 30-ish years, things are no longer built to last, they are just built to be replaced.

Sold my BMWs, sold my Jeep, sold the wife’s SUV. We both drive older now. No car payments and two classic cars that are cheap to fix and run forever. We updat them with modern suspensions and engine swaps that are aftermarket supported. Mine a 79 Malibu, hers a 94 2 Door Yukon. And couldn’t be happier

That Maserati Ghibli looks like an automotive war zone.

Regarding the Bentley, you should look up Louis Rossman, he's a Hero when it comes to advocating against greedy corporations who literally serial code lock out parts from working until you get to a dealer. He managed to win in court against John Deere if memory serves me right. He's a strong voice against that corporate greed making things unfixable, hiding behind the it's for your own safety lie. He also recently moved to Texas. Would be awesome to see you guys do a cooperative video.

Cars are manufactured, like smartphones. They have evolved the technology to pack as much capability into as small a package as possible. They don't want you repairing them. They want you to replace them on a predictable and short buying cycle. They will keep this up until buyers demand better.

Hoovie singlehandedly keeping this car wizard guy employed for decades. Not sure why Hoovie doesn't just hire him as his fleet manager and call it a day..

Just wait until all cars become part of the "Internet of Things" and the manufacturers decide your 5-10 year old car needs to be replaced and they send a signal to brick it. Time to buy a new car, who cares if you can't afford it.

If Hoovie was familiar with the "sunk cost fallacy", we wouldn't have a channel to enjoy anymore.

The same problem exists in the military. When I was in in the 80's we could fix the electronic stuff. As time went on it changed to test light, red or green. Card out, new card in and faulty card sent back to the manufacturer for replacement. This has gotten far worse now days, and most Western equipment is not repairable by servicemen in the field.

When I left the dealership in 2019 it was for this reason bad labor rates more and more complicated and after 15 years I hung my wrenches up and moved to greener pastures

You make good points for holding on to 30 year old cars. Made in the 70s, 80s, and 90s.

Tyler: I’m having trouble getting anybody to ship my Fisker. Also Tyler: I use ShipStation and you should too!!

Wife's SUV gets damaged in early December. It's not 5 years old. Only took 4+ months to get parts, damage repaired, and painted. Then had to return due to sh!t work....I told the regional manager, "You know it's easier to get parts for my '76 Valiant sedan & easier to fix."

The relatively cheap, small cars with the small engines are still very nice to work on. But they get more rare every month.

The clickbait title furthers my belief that the only person in this video worth watching is Car Wizard.

I was a service advisor in the 80s. The T tops on GM “A” body car leaked water, whistles when driving when they were NEW!😳 Seems like your Gand Sport is normal !😳

That junkyard definitely sent you a known junk engine and hoped they wouldn't hear from you again

So many talk about this these days but I was hearing the same stuff 20 years ago. People who are of more modest financial means buy a used luxury car thinking they will get a cool car for a bargain and then they go to the parts store and have a heart attack. With these luxury cars just because they get older doesn't make them cheaper to fix. I mean look at what Jay Leno pays to keep his old cars running. I think what will change is peoples mindset of buying a car more for what it is rather than the bargain price tag. If they need just a daily driver than there are plenty of affordable options. I would never buy any of these cars expecting them to be cheap to fix. Ever.

Until recently I had three cars in the household. . 15 years old 22 and 52. I love that there are people who can service these... though was tough finding a good Jaguar mechanic for the 2008. Anyway I just sold it and bought a 2020 Mercedes E450 wagon. You bet I'm going to buy the extended warranty.

Definitely keep the bathroom in the mini barn. That way you don’t have to run to the house to use latrine.

As an Audi/VW tinkerer, I would suggest to look at Canada. They have better relationships with OEM German suppliers than in the US. I work with a parts dealer in Toronto who has never failed to find me weird parts.

Luxury cars that dont run but are still comfortable inside....new homes for the homeless of the 2030's. Rent one for $2000 /month. Junk yards will become the new 5 star hotels. Add a food truck or two and you have your own town.

I like the way The Wizard runs his shop, like a NAVY ship Captain. No Bull,No excuses. And he is a happier camper for the efforts to not take jobs that cost him time,which costs money. I would do things exactly the same if i could start over new.(Im too old now,Retired and not going back to the dirt and grease.But i do love the job.)

Thats why as European i'm in love with US cars. EU cars are like this for years, and they are all like this. Premium - budget no difference. I remember first time i saw 2013 dodge charger hemi and i was shocked, car from 2010s i can fix at home with my buddy while drinking beer. Same with pentastar v6 or LS V8 cars.

Used airbag modules can never be programmed legitimately, IIRC it's US Law or something like that to prevent cleared accident data. But there are services on ebay that'll read and rewrite the data from the chip, EEPROM or something like that. And reset it for you that way. It probably exists for VW/Audi and usually it's $30 or so.

I'm glad to keep my 89 GTA for 25 years now. Technology and everything unfortunately sucks. Everything is getting worse to replace or find new and older

Thank you for sharing. It’s not always rainbows and sunshine. Thanks Hoovie for the years if entertainment.

I've been involved with the auto industry since 1974. I earned 3 Honda/Acura Masters Certs. 1 Toyota Master. 1 Chrysler 1 Jeep and 2 GM master Cert. Emission Instructor-retired, A Tire Certifcation Instructor. I am presently retired and own 2 late model Jeeps. For each I purchased service manuals and tech series updates. To Service or check I purchased a late model Diagnostic Scanner. Even now, I have to get in touch with a Local Jeep Dealer as only the manufacturer has the best information. Vehicles change so quickly that even dealers are stomped by Quirks that appear. I grew up owning a 1970 Duster that was simple to repair. When my wife bought a new Chevrolet Camero and had problems not starting, scanner showed computer model problems. Bought a new Computer and nothing. After hours and hours it ended up being a defective Key chip!! I spoke to a Tech at Land Rover and he said new vehicles can have 20-30 computers. Glad I'm retired!! Yanni

“That’s just how things are these days.” Hoovie’s 5 years away from “Get off my lawn!” 😂

They want to go all-electric because then you will only have the illusion of control. You may push a button to start your vehicle but they can shut you down with the click of a mouse if they want-and there isn’t a thing you can do about it.

Retired auto mechanic here and I have said for a long time that cars were getting stupid and harder to fix. Recently had a 2019 ford escape with a very fixable transmission issue that nobody wanted to fix, they just wanted to replace at almost $9000. Traded the car that weekend. Oh and car only had 75000 miles. Did not buy another Ford product.

I can't be the only one who cringed everytime Tyler placed the module on top of the Bentley! 😂😂

The module with that part number crosses with a 7L Touareg, Porsche Cayenne, and VW Phaeton. It is $600-$700 from a VW dealer.

It's almost as if obsolescence were a feature built into the car now.

I used to work at Chilton in the early 1970s, writing repair and tune-up guides for foreign autos, Honda and Peugeot. C'est la vie.

We live in a world where most goods are made to be disposable to keep consumers spend more than they should. It’s quantity over quality.

I’m not saying this is easy, or smart, but I think the way forward with cars like these is repairing the module. Circuit boards only have so many things that can go wrong. If it’s not physically broken, it’s usually the capacitors which could be considered wear items. If you replace all the capacitors on an old board, it will work more times than not. Maybe we all just need to get better at diagnosing and servicing circuit boards.

True story: I was a BMW stealership technician... Master certified from '99-'09 When the E65 came out, I remember thinking to myself "these are gonna be completely WORTHLESS in 15-20 years..." It just didn't make sense to me at all

Congratulations on the upgrades to your farm project. Looking forward to all of your progress in the coming months.❤

Buying my 21 year old truck last year is starting the best car investment ever. Sold my '11 GTI due to the electrical gremlins

Hoovie is the type of guy who sometimes like to eat Grilled Cheese

I have four cars, all paid for for many years. All of them are over 100k miles, one is significantly over 200k, and two are close to 200k. They all run great and only the Silverado Z-71 4x4 has reliability issues (dashboard doesn't work half the time and the battery dies after a few days. I have to keep it plugged in all the time). The other three cars are Scions, and were all purchased new. A 2006 xB (toyota), 2013 FR-S (subaru) and 2016 iA (Mazda). All very solid runners. The iA has been all over the US (we live in Kentucky and that car has been to Seattle, Chicago, St Louis, Arizona, south Florida). The xB has 230k miles and is still on the original clutch. I hit a deer at 150k and the front end was creamed pretty good. I have after market (amazon) LED's as my headlights on one side now. It burns no oil and drives "smooth as puddin'" I'll drive it until it leaves me on the side of the road. I'm 70 and over trying to impress people with what I drive. It's why the xB is my favorite. But I do use the FR-S to get to the golf course. 🙂 I've never been into exotic cars, though my friend from High School races Porsches. He's been into them since his 924 he bought in the early 80's. They are fun, but I prefer my six speed FR-S. For starters, I can easily fix it myself, though I had the dealership replace the spark plugs at 140k miles since to do it right you really have to jack up the engine a bit. But it is amazingly fun using Michelin SS4's on the smooth Kentucky twisties all over my rural area. BTW, as I see what's happening with modern cars, I may have purchased my last car. I'll try to keep these four running as long as possible.

Sorry if someone has already pointed this out but the airbag module at 4:00 is widely available here in Europe, fits quite a few vehicles, cost is around € 150 new, from € 25 used

That airbag module is $800 on the US VW parts website. It's the same one from the Phaeton and Touareg.

There is not one part for my 1964 split window VW bus I cannot buy. Not one part for that vehicle is still available from VW.

Thanks for the garage update! It’s looking good, I think you need a big neon Hoovies garage sign for the wall in there.

In any vw family control module problems search by part number it is always shared with other models , this module is used in vw touareg 2004 and listed under 20 $ online

That was a nice black 1967 Cadillac at the Car Wizard's shop. That's my style.

I had a 78 Chevy Monza my dad bought cheap with a blown head gasket. Fixed it with liquid glass and drove it for a few years. Never had another problem with it. Eventually totaled it so it ended up where it belonged anyways.

1) 11:25: the engine is not totaled, you can send it to machine shop to resurface 2) the 2000 dollar module, all car today using Can bus (1 wire for signal, 1 wire for ground). It is not encrypted, you can inject your own signal to by pass the controller module. or replace it with manual window controller.

Love the update, regarding Hoovie's Farm. Keep them coming! Have a great day. 😎

Always love the "weeezird!" and then he shows wizard doing something strange😂

Car Wizard, if you were going to rebuild that engine, ANY machine shop worth 4 cents a day would have ran that block through a caustic hot tank washer and gotten EVERY BIT of that junk out of the block.

I worked in the car sales industry for 5 years and I learned to hate anything from the last 15 years. I’m a professional driver now and drive multiple vehicles with the peace of mind my own 2004 Volvo V70 20T won’t let me down when I get around to driving it occasionally.

Finally you got something right. Said that parts will be a problem, plus the fact that 99% of mechanics simply dont understand computers, the digital world or new technologies! I give these garages, another 3 to 7 years.

Financial ruin! Catastrophe! Let's go buy a Cybertruck! I just love to watch your shenanigans Hoovie!

You should do an experiment. What's cheaper to run. One modern car, or 7 old cars on a budget. Each for a day of the week.

New Bentley airbag module around 800usd in Europa. Used under 100. Always can try to read eeprom from demaged module and rewrite in other one from Porsche Cayenne or Vw Toureg etc.(more easy to find).

That black 1968 Coupe DeVille at the car wizard's is beautiful. One of the best engines, the Cadillac 472 cubic inch and in 1968 actually with a 10:1 compression ratio. TH400 transmission.

Open deck design is what was a big problem with the engines in Chevy Vegas. The aluminum block didn't have iron liners, so the piston sleeves would vibrate while the engine was running, which would cause the bores to get scuffed, and destroy the head gaskets. The cars were transported from the factory in rail cars stood on their nose, which I think also caused problems with things internally getting damaged by unloaders who didn't follow procedure. Vert-A-Pac it was called.

That module is also in a VW Phaeton, touareg and cayenne, so you should be able to find one i think

Just a thought: I find many problems modern cars have to be absurdly easy to fix compared to old cars. Or, should I say, absurdly easy to diagnose. I discoverd the key turning trick to see the codes on my Chrysler products back in the 80's and 90's and it saved me a TON of time and money. An 80's reliant died. Simply would not fire. I checked the code. It was a faulty map sensor, which a junk yard gave me a replacement for for free. I took the five minutes to install it and the car started right up. Then my 80's Dodge Omni did the same thing and I parked it in my garage for months until I tried the same trick. It was an obscure electronic switch of some sort on the driver's side inner fender. $19 at the auto parts store. I took the five minutes to plug it in. Car started right up. I could go on, but I think you get my drift. Modern cars tell you what's ailing them if it's a component served by the computer and OBD. Old cars didnt but, then, a lot of these components didn't exist on them either.😉

0:28 and 05:23 The Ninja: "We're too deep into it (to stop now). That's the same excuse I used to hear smokers use when they would say, "I can't stop smoking now... I have too much invested in it to quit".

My newest vehicle is a 2001. Focus on the 60's thru '00. Easier to work on and the parts are cheaper.

That Bentley airbag module is shared with the VW Phaeton and VW Touareg. Gan literally get them for under £10 used in the UK. This sounds like a ‘Mercia problem. Also, not sure how Ninja is trying to program this but in my experience you need ODIS-E and only ODIS-E will do it. Universal scanners just don’t work as reliably.

Great dose of reality! You don't need a fancy car to have these problems. Try a DIY change on a throttle body for a 2014 Jeep Compass! $$$ once you find the engine needs re-programmed.

I saw 2 different shops on KZfaq repair 2 different modern Rolls Royce’s, so don’t think it can’t be done. 😂

I recall back in 2010 I bought a used 2007 Lincoln Navigator. The Navigator was mint and just a beautiful truck but for some reason The Navigation System was missing it's Disc with the Map's. I went to my local Dealer and they wanted $400 for the Disc with the Maps and I told them no thanks. I checked eBay and found a recent map Disc for $25 and it worked like a Charm! Dealers are such a terrible rip off for anything!

Tyler, this is indeed going to be the way with the newer cars. There are many specialists who can repair modules or supply reconditioned ones. This is where the online forums come into their own. KZfaq is also another useful platform.

Hot rodders thought the world was ending in 1975 when cats were installed on cars. Then the world was ending again when OBD-1 went into effect in 1981. Then the world was ending again when OBD-2 went into effect in 1995. Then again when CAN came in around 2005. Heard it all before. And do you "need" an airbag module to drive?

All depends on the units made too. We run an old 09 BMW E61 3.0d and have to say the local Euro Car Parts and BMW dealer is excellent. I bought a repair kit for the damper and v belt and the price was a little over aftermarket, but not by much. Can’t grumble about that. In the USA perhaps different.

Thats why I drive Mk 4 Jetta TDi's. 1999-2003. Easy to fix modify and comfortable. Cheap parts. 50 mpg and easy to modify with great results. With the right tune, you can have a beautiful driving all around great car.

Now people know why I am looking for a well maintained 1995-1996 Ford F-150 with the 4.9l inline 6 cylinder engine. It is because it will be on the road long after all the 2010-2024 models are long gone. Most of your older 1996 and older insert brand made great trucks that last a long time and easy to work on. That old Ford Camper Special you purchased awhile back is a keeper Hoovie you should hang on to that one.

I do not know anything about the situation in the USA, but here in Europe we have a lot of backyard electronic workshops for the repair of electronic parts for cars. You send them your broken module and the VIN of your car, and a few days later you get your module back and it is working again. The part you show in your video is from the german manufacturer Bosch and you can simply buy it from a Bosch dealer (at least here in europe). If necessary, for a few Euros the backyard-guys are able to program the necessary software and data on that thing.

3:58 you can probably find this module in a golf, Porsche cayenne or, something similar

You are doing great things. Bring lots of joy. I have been critical, but you really put a lot of effort and love into these videos. Keep it up

Thanks for the shop update 👍🏻 Stay positive! It will be fantastic when finished

the more technologically advanced (and expensive) cars become the more they turn into disposable appliances

Its almost been 20 yrs since that SLR Maclaren Mercedes came out,I still love it. I think its the cornerstone of you're collection.

Happens that past luxury cars, maintain their expensive maintenance. Taylor savings us car enthusiasts thousands avoiding some bargain luxury cars.

When the Wizard retires will he be willing to visit and answer questions while you turn the wrench? I used to work at U-Haul a long time ago and my manager at the time broke his ribs. I got to do my first brake controller install. He did stop by for a while, even though he was not back to work yet, in case I had problems. I got it done ok and the vehicle owner was very understanding on the extra time spent (If I remember right not charged for).

Even that Friday is a Donut day, Hoovie allways comes first for me! You’re not so dumb as you pretend to be :) ❤ your videos!

My daily drive a corsa vxr nurburgring blew it's engine to pieces a couple weeks ago, typical problem child on the z16let-a/b16 engine series is melting piston 4 but this engine decided to blow p1 out of 3 different holes I've got a used 30k miles engine coming and hoping the bores are OK but we are just going to strip and forge this engine anyways to prevent issues and ensure we are confident in the thing!

that airbag module has the same number on as my old 2006 vw touareg. Got one used for 25€ . worked fine.

11:10 I used to work at the shop in Kyiv, that was destroyed by two ruzzian rockets hitting the same spot. This happened this February. The same Maserati SUV, as in this video, was chained to the concrete floor to fix the geometry and then to get painted. They even were the same color. Every alloy, plastic, rubber and glass part got burned out. The steel skeleton is still intact with the concrete floor. Sent you an email with the photos. I’m going to release a video of “before the attack” and “after the attack” about the project vehicle I used to work on, that also got destroyed. Almost half a year of work destroyed by one attack.

True Story: My dad's 2016 Ford Fusion Hybrid was acting funny so he asked me if I thought maybe the alternator was bad. I told him I would take a look... I popped the hood and could not find even ONE thing that resembled a car engine or components thereof. Tried checking the running voltage, should be 14+, but I was not allowed to start the engine while the hood was open. I could not FIND an alternator, could not CHECK an alternator, told dad he had to take it to the dealer. And this, being a simple operation that I could do in auto shop in High School... can't do it anymore. Cars are no longer "Horse/Buggy Replacements", they are "Tech Toys" that "generate corporate profits".