Festive car repairs

So, in the latest of a long line of comedy breakages, today I repaired the windscreen wipers on my Fiat Punto. Previous breakages this year include a gear knob which wouldn’t stay on the stick, and a bonnet which a qualified mechanic couldn’t open.

This time a small rubber washer on the wiper arm actuator had worn leading to it popping off the ball joint it was seated on. This caused one wiper arm to stop moving, which unbalanced the system and caused the opposite washer to fail. I phoned Fiat parts to get a replacement washer, and in order to get a new washer you need to buy the actuator it is attached to, and the motor which moves it. I’m no expert in market forces but at 110 GBP I’d suggest that’s an expensive washer.

This brings me, in a round about way, to the point of this post. I don’t mind spending 110 on my car, the problem was a design floor, but this isn’t Rolls or a Merc, I expect that kind of issue at this price range. What I do object to is having to throw away a number of perfectly good working parts, including the most environmentally expensive ones in the system, in order to replace a single cheap component. People are getting better at recycling so that waste is used for other purposes, but there is a marked lack of effort put into reducing the ‘designed in’ waste in first place. To promote reuse, shouldn’t ease of repair be considered when creating products?

Ultimately its the manufacturers who need to change their designs, but they are unlikely to do so without external pressure, its a nice little earner for them if every time a product fails consumers have to buy expensive replacement parts, or replace the item entirely. On the other hand many consumers would be reluctant to spend the odd couple of quid extra on a product if it meant it could be repaired and reused, although peoples willingness to shell out of warranties might indicate otherwise. It complex topic, with no easy answer, so I think I’ll go back to the advert paper and look for a nice easy to repair sixties mini cooper………