Nobody is designing vehicles for difficult maintenance/repair. It's a packaging/production issue. This is such a common misconception which has been passed down for decades now about how all new cars (of that time) are just 'scamming' you for extra dealer revenue.
You're right about many vehicles being serviced body-off to save time for flat rate costs, but this practice does not drive design.
Very true, maybe I came off incorrectly; I'm not saying they are designing to take our money, I'm saying they are design/building around fit, form, and function and first priority comes from LR and Fleet Maintenance considerations and not the average Joe/Jance in his/her garage! However, cab-off, or engine-out maintenance is definitely part of the design, which is why it is so easy and cost effective for them to take it out in such a fast and easy manner with the right facilities/tools; we do the same thing in aviation design with bulkhead/firewall disconnects for fuel/electrical, etc. so a properly equipped mechanic is able to do the same or close to the same as the OEM.
Agreed. It’s just a matter of “X” being installed before “Y” and only the companies that race actually care about ease of maintenance.
Changing a water pump or alternator won’t be any more difficult with that hood design, and it’s going to be a long while hopefully before owners are tackling their own head gasket jobs.
The design of the side wing/fender doesn’t seem great for supporting aftermarket front bumpers if it swoops down low like it appears to rather than having a straight horizontal seem. A lot of guys aren’t going to want to be cutting on a brand new vehicle.
Very true, everything is accessible on most vehicles; just means you might have to remove one before the other to get to another. Take the LR3 power-steering pump; must remove the AC compressor (or get it out of the way) to get it out. Might be able to get it out from underneath while on a lift but again, average Joe/Jane does not have these at their fingertips and it would be ridiculous for an OEM to design a component that fails very rarely over the convenience of a home mechanic.
HENCE, my comment that the OEM is not designing the vehicle for you to work on, they are designing the vehicle for them to work on as it is the product of scheduled and predictive maintenance plans and/or condition based maintenance (CBM) that OEMs have built into the overall product through test and evaluation! Not to rip off the customer, but to ensure the best fit, form, and function and reliability are maintained over convenience. Additionally, product support costs (warranty, scheduled maintenance, etc.) are built into the cost of the vehicle and the hourly rate in which OEMs provide service; it's called smart business plans and how companies are able to maintain continuous revenue flow on vehicles they've sold.
All topics of other discussion, but wanted to put out my thought process on my comment which probably should have been explained better by yours truly! hahaha
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