3rd Sep 2011, 20:44

Adding computers to cars was probably the single biggest improvement in regards to overall reliability. Sure - I have an old car too. A 60 year old car to be exact. I can easily tune it up. But with an on board computer, most of the actual tuning is done by the computer. There are oxygen sensors, EGR valves, TPS sensors, knock sensors, and many others all working in unison. What these do is monitor almost every aspect of the engine's performance. Fuel, air, speed, and ventilation are all controlled automatically and adjusted constantly. This is superior to mechanical systems like carburetors that are usually out of whack due to human error.

My brother's car has around 300,000 miles. My Dad's truck has 256,000 miles. My truck has 243,000 miles. These are all vehicles from the 90's and early 2000's. The eldest is now going on 16 years old. My Wife had a 90' Honda Civic we sold last year. In other words, the car was already 20 years old. Thus that more or less proves that cars with on board computers are absolutely fine. I have yet to see a computers fail. Just because something has new technology, doesn't mean it's a bad thing. Lack of knowledge of how something works doesn't mean it's bad or harder to maintain. Get a book, get a code reader and learn how to work on it. I do, and so far I find it easy.