This one is a VERY subjective opinion on my part but I honestly think that the problem isn't so much a "computer glitch" or anything as much as some of these car designers...those high priced "engineers"...I think that some of them just have their head's so far up their own butts that they can't even remember what daylight looks like!!!!

Ok...I don't drive a "new" car...or even a newer car. Right now our "nice" car is a 1990 Chevy Corsica that I picked up last year for $600 when my wife blew a head gasket on the Dodge minivan. Week before last I was on my way out to take my Dad to a doctor's appointment and in the middle of an intersection, the car just died...no sputtering or anything...running fine one moment, dead the next. It was like someone reached over and turned the key off. About an hour later, AAA showed up with a gallon of gas and sure enough the car started right up so I thought that maybe my gas gauge was just off (hey...it happens) but then when I got it back home and was pulling in to the driveway (after I had gotten $10 worth of premium), it did it again. This time it started right up, so I pulled in and let it run for a while...no problem. About 5 hours later I went to run to the store...dead. Cranked fine, wouldn't turn over.

Well, I finally figured out it was a "crank position sensor"...basically a stupid little sensor with a magnet in it that picks up the position of the crankshaft and tells it when to fire the spark plugs. In and of itself, not a big deal...it was only an $18 part but....it took me over an hour to find the damn thing! Some lame-brained, idiot SOB engineer decided to put in on the underside, back of the engine up between the oil pan and the transmission!!! I took me almost another hour to get the stupid little 8mm bolt off the damn thing because you can't even see the stupid thing when your hand is in there! -If- they had of put the thing some place where you could actually reach it, it would have taken 5 minutes to change, but nooooooooooooo....2 hours of laying in the snow just to get the old one off and another hour to get the new one back on! I -pray- the coils never go on that thing because I'll end up pulling the radiator and the AC core just to get at them!

And then there's the little pos Daiwoo built Pontiac LeMan's my wife drives...if I EVER find the little moronic S O B that designed that thing, I'm going to grab him by the neck and squeeze until his friggen eyes pop out of their sockets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I swear if that damned thing didn't get 37 mpg, I would have pushed it off a cliff years ago! It normally takes me about 45 minutes to change a normal set of GM brake pads... -3 DAYS- with this stupid little Poni-woo! In order to just change the thermostat on this thing you literally have to remove the alternator, the time cover, the timing belt and the crank gear just to get at the thermostat housing!

I've come to the conclusion that the "engineers" who design cars today are all the gimpy little nerds who used to get the crap beat out of them in high school and this is their way of getting even! Gas pedal sticking to the floor? I could deal with THAT. It's some of this other crap that's just totally insane.

Ok...I'm gonna go take a couple of Advil PM's now and have a nice cup of chamomile tea so I can calm down again before bed time.

Jim