Hacker News Reader

Comment by markx2 | Hacker News Reader

My eldest daughter knows her way around cars, and she refuses to buy any car that has any sort of computer in it.

She knows how to change this, repair that, fit whatever and is very happy doing that. But she also knows that as a female if she goes into any garage for a 'diagnostic' she will be overcharged. In fact even for something normal with a 'non-computer' car she will be overcharged.

Cars without computers are like gold.

View on HN

As a fellow “analog” automotive enthusiast, I’m curious how she defines computer in this situation?

Given that ECUs / microprocessors have been standard on cars since the late 60s / early 70s.

For me it’s the network connections and updates that scare me. The software on my ‘99 Benz hasn’t changed in 24 years, and I don’t need it too.

I’ll add a small point to this. The computers my old cars do have, I’m quite thankful for. Being able to purchase a ~100-200 buck code reader and easily plug it in and figure out what my warning lights are trying to tell me has been a great educational tool and saved me a ton in maintenance.

Advanced software can be used for good. It's sad that the same advanced systems that can perform extremely accurate self-diagnostics that empower even the most amateur mechanic to do their own work on extremely complex ICE setups for years and years will also be the component most likely to render the vehicle a 6000-lb brick made of animal skin and rare earth metals

I suspect she may be referring to the stereotypical carbureted V8 + manual / hydraulic auto combination that's still highly popular amongst US enthusiasts, which certainly has no ECU at all.

Microprocessors didn't exist until the early 70s. Late 70s / early 80s is when they started becoming common in cars.

Heh, thanks for the info, I have a bit of a gap of knowledge about that era of vehicles outside of a type II fun experience with an older Ranchero.

I see VW advertising a car with an ECU in 1968, but likely just transistors.

any car builtin the last 100 years have electrical components. Any car built in the last 50 have "computers".

Even the camshaft-crankshaft system could be considered an analog computer that renders (in realtime) the positions of the valves based on the phase of the pistons. Any car with an internal combustion engine has "computers."

Reply on news.ycombinator.com