mechanics Archives - usatoday24

Accessing our car’s mechanics has become increasingly complicated. BMW has thought of complicating it even more

December 29, 2025 by usatoday24

Do-it-yourself repairability of a vehicle is something that Over the years it has gotten worse. while the systems have become increasingly complicated. Therefore, it is not surprising that multiple manufacturers have chosen to design specific tools to access sensitive parts of the vehicle. In the case of BMW, a patent recently discovered Meanwhile, CarBuzz could make things even more complicated for those who want to have access to certain parts of your car. And the patent shows some screws with heads designed in the shape of the brand logo that require specific tools for handling. What is this about? The patent from BMW describes four different types of custom screw heads that replicate the brand’s circular emblem, divided into four quadrants. Two of these sections are recessed to accommodate the screwdriver, while the other two remain flat or raised. The design of this type of specific screws means that they cannot be manipulated with conventional tools such as Torx, hexagonal or Phillips, but rather requires parts manufactured specifically for BMW. Why BMW says it does. As the patent itself explains, the objective is “to prevent the screw from being loosened or tightened using common drive structures, for example, by unauthorized persons.” The company proposes its use in structural and semi-structural applications, such as seat anchors or joints between the passenger compartment and the supporting structure of the body. The intention is that these screws can be used in visible areas, since if we judge these screws from an aesthetic point of view, the truth is that molar is cool. The problem for workshops and owners. On the other hand, and addressing the central problem behind this decision, this would turn even the most basic maintenance tasks into mandatory visits to the official dealer or, at best, would force independent workshops to purchase exclusive BMW tools. Something that, on the other hand, is not so strange if we take a look at the history of many of the largest automobile groups. Just like account In the middle, working with a two-point system and the decorative ring taking up much of the surface of the screw would increase the risk of breaking the tools, especially in applications that require very hard fastening. It’s not the first time. German manufacturers have a long tradition of using specialized fasteners. Just like points out In the middle, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and BMW routinely use triple-square, oversized Torx or even E-Torx screws, which force mechanics to have specific tool sets. Against the current. The curious thing about it all is that this patent openly contrasts with the direction that other manufacturers are taking. Mercedes-Benz for example, its main rival, advertisement that would work on redesigning its future vehicles to facilitate repairs. An example of this is their decision to replace the glue with screws in the headlights to simplify their replacement. Just a piece of paper, for now. The patent was filed on June 7, 2024 and was made public on December 11, 2025. However, it is worth remembering that manufacturers register numerous patents that never materialize in series models. There is no confirmation that BMW will actually implement this system in its production vehicles. For now, this is only technical documentation. A general trend. Regardless of whether these specific screws are manufactured or not, the patent is yet another example of the progressive distancing of owners from the mechanics of their vehicles. With electrification and greater technological complexity, drivers they increasingly depend on specialized workshops for any intervention. It should also be noted that very few owners fix or modify their car on their own. Perhaps precisely because the systems have become increasingly more complicated to access. Cover image | Paul Martinez In Xataka | Ferdinand Porsche devised the first car with an electric motor in each wheel. Today a Chinese manufacturer is going to make it possible

There are so few mechanics on the market that Ford is taking radical measures, like paying them $120,000

November 14, 2025 by usatoday24

In the United States, and in general in the main Western economies, the manufacturing industry faces a serious problem: there is no specialized labor to fill the vacancies that are leaving who retire. Jim Farley, CEO of Ford, has stressed in an interview for the podcast Office Hours: Business Edition that his company has “5,000 mechanic vacancies. A workshop with an elevator and tools, and no one to work in it. They charge 120,000 a year, but it takes five years to learn how to do it.” This lack of training is the weakest link in the chain for Ford and the majority of the industrial sector. Global talent crisis. One of Trump’s slogans when he came to power is to reindustrialize the country. However, for many billion dollar investment that I get for build huge factorieswill fall on deaf ears if there are no well-trained employees to produce. This problem can be extrapolated to any country in the world. During his podcast appearance, Farley lamented: “We have over a million vacancies in critical jobs: emergency services, trucking, factory workers, plumbers, electricians and technical trades. It’s very serious.” The situation is not exclusive to Ford. According what was published by NPRwith data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the US there were almost 500,000 unfilled jobs in the manufacturing sector, even with a rising unemployment rate that stood at 4.3%. This is an indication that, although there are people who are unemployed, companies cannot hire them because they simply do not have the training to do the jobs they need. In Spain, the problem is also significant. The BBVA Foundation estimated that the manufacturing industry had lost a quarter of its employment since the beginning of the century, and there are an estimated 100,000 vacant jobs in the industry, in a country with 2,613,200 unemployed, according to data of the EPA’s third quarter of 2025. Again, this mismatch is due to the gap between the training of the workforce and the needs of companies. Importance of Vocational Training. Farley insists that the current reality demands a serious commitment to professional training, since “to learn how to disassemble a diesel engine from a Ford Super Duty truck requires at least five years.” For this reason, the CEO points out that without a determined effort to strengthen technical training schools and offer competitive wages, the American industrial economy—and that of any country that aspires to industrialization—is doomed to failure. The lack of investment in this type of training is one of the main causes of the crisis. Farley mentioned that “we don’t have trade schools. We are not investing in educating a new generation like my grandfather, who started with nothing and built a middle-class life for his family (working on the assembly line of a Ford factory).” The Spanish FP is a success story. In Spain, Vocational Training has experienced a big change thanks to investment policies, greater training offers and the involvement of companies in the training of those who will later become their employees. In fact, according to the report ‘Infoempleo Adecco 2024‘, in 46.96% of the job offers published during the last year, candidates were asked have a vocational training degree. The FP student report of the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports reveals that, in the 2022-2023 academic year, 1,085,259 students were enrolled in Vocational Training degrees. That represents an increase of 32.6% compared to the last five years. The demographic factor is going to make it worse. A key factor in the number of vacancies is the template aging: Many workers with decades of experience are retiring and there are not enough young people trained to take their places. This is a problem that not only affects the industrial sector, but also affects the entire labor market, both in the public sector as private. Seeing that young people are showing greater interest in Vocational Training invites us to think that the number of vacancies in sectors with vacancies due to lack of trained labor at present will not increase, but the big question is whether this generational change will arrive on time and to the areas that are needed. As and as highlighted Jensen Huang, the new millionaires will not be engineers or AI experts, but electricians, carpenters, bricklayers or bus drivers. Incentives: “Pay them more”. Never have three words held as much truth as those spoken by Joe Biden when someone asked him how to end the labor shortage: “Pay them more.” Pay them more. In his attempts to attract qualified labor to his assembly lines, Ford’s CEO adopted a strategy that the company’s founder, Henry Ford, implemented in 1914: raise salaries. That’s why Farley boasted of paying $120,000 to his mechanics. Just as he told in an interview with Walter Isaacson, Farley came to that conclusion when during labor agreement negotiations, some of his workers approached him and commented: “Young people don’t want to work here. Jim, you pay $17 an hour and they’re very stressed.” To combat this, Ford approved a 25% pay increase for its workers over four years, ensuring everyone has a fair wage and a viable career future. have a professional opportunity with a good salary and job stability is the best incentive for young people to spend five years of their lives training for a profession. In Xataka | 47% of the unemployed in Spain are over 50 years old. The problem is that many will not return to work until they retire. Image | ford

The mechanics of Spain are increasingly trusting Asian cars. And maintenance data are right

September 28, 2025 by usatoday24

“If you want a car that does not fail, buy a Toyota or a Honda.” This phrase is a classic when it touches Buy a carwe want one that passes as little as possible through the workshop and we start asking acquaintances. It has an obvious problem: it is a bias limited affirmation and experience, but there are more and more voices that point that, perhaps, it does not go so disenchanted. Because there are countless brands, each with its reputation, but beyond the film that each company wants to tell us to close the embers to its flame, there are two elements of help when buying a car that does not fail: Reliability surveys and experience of mechanics. The mechanics. “I think the Asian market has eaten the European, when it was the other way around.” This is the opinion that the mechanic Kike Ferrer shared A few months ago, pointing out that “the best cars you can buy are Asians, they are the ones that are least repaired in the workshops” That is an important point because when they are under guarantee, it does not bother to have to visit the workshop, but the problems come when the Reliability outside that guarantee framework It begins to be compromised. There may be minor arrangements, but also many who bite in their pocket. The mechanic Carlos Pérez has also commented Recently that “Honda, Mazda, Toyota … are very reliable cars, well manufactured and that endure many kilometers without giving problems. Nor must we forget Kia and Hyundai, Korean and a quality guarantee.” The statistics. Kike’s is not an isolated opinion, and to check it, you have to go to statistics. This type of surveys and lists They are always controversial Because reliability is measured for both software and mechanics and, above all, because it is segmented to the North American market. Two of the most important are that of Consumer Reports and that of JD Power. Consumer Report Analyze 20 problematic areas of the car (ranging from the brakes to the engine, through broken beautifiers, potential problems outside battery, transmission and problems that affect the electric and hybrids as the battery and load) and compares with the historic since 2000, giving a score from 1 to 100 to each car. JD Power also handles reports sent by thousands of consumers. They are not simple surveys, but a thermometer that the automobile industry takes very seriously (so much that some of its findings They have forced brands to take action (such as the failure in the rotary engines of Mazda in 1973). That said, Asians such as Toyota, Lexus, Subaru, Honda, Hyundai or Mazda usually occupy the top positions. OCU table The OCU. Within each brand, obviously, there are better or worse models. For example, within Toyota, the BZ4Xlowered the score of the brand in one of the surveys. Interestingly, it is the basis of Subaru’s single, and also lowers the average of this company. But of course, when we say that it is a biased list, we mean that, although there are models that we share between markets, the European and the American are not the same. There the OCU comes into play and Whatar. Let’s go with the seconds. It is a British media that conducted a survey of almost 30,000 drivers to find the most reliable models of Great Britain. The same as before: the ones that have gone through the workshop. The result is that Lexus and Toyota (same group) led the list with the Lexus NX and the Toyota Aygo X. The following were the Mini Countryman, the Audi Q3 and the Kia Picanto. Regarding the OCU, with other almost 30,000 people surveyed in Europe and information of 276 models, In the 2024 table We see that the Top 10 is occupied by eight Asian brands and the only non -Japanese/South Korean are Cupra and Smart. And the Chinese? In the different surveysthere are names that usually exchange positions, but there are three elements that do not vary. The first thing is that Lexus is usually the first. The second is that the Japanese and South Korean are the ones who take the top positions and the third is that those brands that we see more and more through the streets are missing: the Chinese. In Kike Ferrer’s interview to Adrian.gmartin, the mechanic mentions To the Chinese cars among those reliable Asians, but with an asterisk: the spare parts logistics that, in their opinion, is not yet up to it, sharing an opinion with Pérez. Brands like mg (of the best selling in Spain) or byd are the ones that we begin to see the most in the streets and, although it will have to spend time for official guarantees to be exhausted and we start having data on how much they pass through the workshop, there are already authorized voices that approve Chinese cars. For example, Enroncap, the body responsible for granting security scores in the European territory that is clear that they are even better than others of more settled brands in the region. But of course, in the end, although a very valid opinion has nothing to do with seeing them more or less in the workshop. For that, as we say, we will have to wait a few more years. Images | OCU, Magic Booster In Xataka | The German ITV has analyzed the reliability of the Tesla and has reached a conclusion: Dacia is above

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