Independent and DIY car repair is a cornerstone of American culture and has been largely protected from manufacturer monopoly until very recently. But new DRM and dealer-only diagnostic equipment is threatening that:
https://www.404media.co/the-car-repair-apocalypse-could-soon-be-upon-us/
This has been brewing for a while.
There are so many proprietary control modules that are no longer available, that cars that are otherwhile serviceable end up scrapped.
Manufacturers tended to keep spares around for ten years or so. Not a big deal if it was a Quadrajet carb, you could always swap it for an aftermarket Holley carb or even fuel injection system.
Not much to be done if a proprietary body, transmission or engine control model goes poof, and it's no longer being produced. The car is just scrap.
Hell, if the Mustang headlight shown in the article was damaged, you'd be out over a grand, if still in production. Once it's out of production, you'd want to make sure your particular model had a strong aftermarket following.
In the old days $10 and you could replace it with another sealed beam halogen and be on your way.
/old man rant of the day. 🙂
404 Media
Sir Osis of Liver 🇨🇦 🇲🇽