Those “machines” are mechanics. It is the guy or girl who’s wearing a shirt with their name on it — a walking, talking, diagnostic machine who uses the tools and equipment they own to solve vehicle problems.
Scan tools and meters are machines that provide information, so they can do only so much in the way of formulating a diagnosis. They provide strategic direction for the repair, allowing a trained mechanic to know which path to take. These folks are the “real” machines who have the skills to pinpoint what is wrong with a car. But, most of the public likes to believe that a “magical mystery machine” does all the work.
Some car owners seem to think they are far more intelligent than the vehicle engineers, designers and the mechanics combined. They think they can fix their car by going to the parts store, watching a YouTube video and spending a weekend tinkering around with it. I’ve been told more than once by an irate customer that it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to fix a car, so it shouldn’t cost that much or take that long.
It’s beyond me where the idea of a machine that can answer every type of automotive problem by simply plugging it into the car came about. I suppose some of it comes from growing up with the TV and watching sci-fi shows, but reality doesn’t come across as real with a portion of the driving public. They’re still stuck with the notion that Mr. Spock will break out his Tri-corder and inform them about the composition of the material making up their engine block, and the exact cause of their engine misfire.
Soon telematics and remote diagnostics may make the vision of a “one machine can fix all” far more real than we can imagine. Not that I believe there really will be a “fix-all” machine capable of re-gapping a worn-out spark plug, but I do believe a lot of systems will be diagnosed, and possibly electronically repaired, by remote intervention.
The technically advanced vehicle of the future may become too far advanced for anyone except for the skilled mechanic. And, while we may be in a technically advanced computer age, where further advancements will undoubtedly be made, the trained mechanic is still a big part of the future. So, the next time someone asks, “Where’s that machine?” tell them it’s where it has always been, in the service bay, and you’ve been talking to it all this time… it’s your mechanic.
