Article about car repairs on CNN.com
 

I was checking the news and read this. Kinda interesting.

Article on CNN.com

vary interesting. i know caddy is really bad about this. i have been told that if you unhook the battery before disconneting the air bags. they will go off. also caddy is up to like 70-100 bucks an hour for service.

Not true regarding the airbags. If so, the airbags would be going
off everytime you battery went dead. But the problems with
electronic controls and diagnosis is growing. The emissions
systems are getting more complicated. Combined with the limited
amount of information the manufacturers give out makes
working on cars problematic. Honda for the most part has
stopped giving information to the aftermarket completely. Any of
you Alldata users will know what I'm talking about. I work on my
own cars and maintain diagnostic equipment to do so. I'll update
my software every time I buy a new car. The update I'll need for
my P5 is going to cost $500. Now imagine what these techs have
to pay to maintain software for domestics, imports and european
cars on a yearly basis. Add in software to cover ABS, airbags and
emissions analyzer and the independent repairman can easily
spend over $2000 a year. More or less depending on the diagnostic
system they are using. Also, subscriptions to electronic
repair manuals can cost another $3000 a year. Now you see
where your repair dollars are going. Don't forget all the specialized
hand tools that need to be purchased and/or replaced from being lost.
I worked on cars in college professionally. It isn't cheap. I spent
an average of $8000 a year of my own money for software and
tools.

only happens when the battery gets disconnected. it something about making a link threw the battery.

The airbags won't go off disconnecting the battery. That's a lawsuit waiting to happen if it did.

just what i heard. and my source isnt normaly wrong. the battery is in the trunk. also there could be a warning. but you are right its a stupid that it would. and, yeah i would think it would open them to a large amount of lawsuits.

The $200 unit can read codes the same but that's about where it stops. Most of the good scan tools have built in troubleshooters, component specs, the ability to reflash the ECU and the ability to control components on the car to verify operation. Regarding repair information, you are right about the OBD-II, but what isn't always standard is the individual component specs and how they interact. If I need to pull a code I'll just hook up my Palm. When I need to actually fix my car I'll pull out the scanner. No substitute.

-edit- BTW, I'm not saying all that to fully support the rates that get charged and the excuse that a vehicle can't be fixed. This is why I worked on cars versus doing a co-op or working at the mall while in college. I wanted the know-how so I myself don't have to rely on the word of a repair facility. I justify the cost of keeping the latest and greatest tools and scan equipment as insurance. I'm sure some people know what a single trip to the dealer can cost when the CEL light is on. It's also nice to have this stuff when doing mods to the car and can keep an eye on things.

hey man what software and hardware are you using with your palm? and will it work on a ipaq. my college is making me buy one. And could i use it on my old OBD-I?

You can get one here for a little over $200 for the Palm..

http://www.auterraweb.com/

For OBD-I you'll have to pull codes manually or get a scan tool. Check e-bay for out of date equipment.