Writes Jim Clark:

I received this e-mail from one of my sons, age 34, today. He and his younger brother have been well schooled in the Lew Rockwell theory of everything for many years and this son made me very proud today. He is not an auto mechanic, but a biochemist who has learned a lot about money from your site:

This is why car dealerships will also start losing more business…and not just from selling cars…for service. So the “Service Engine Soon” light is on in the Blazer. We replaced the 1 of the 4 sensors a year ago, and my guess is that one of the other ones has now gone bad. The light also comes on every 7500 miles indicating general service needed (i.e. oil change, etc). So it truly could be either one as the “problem”.
So replacing the sensors is easy, but I would like to diagnose it first before spending the money. So I call 3 different Chevy dealers and ask how much just to hook it up to the computer and diagnose it….average of $100. Then I call AutoZone….they will do it for free, no questions asked….and reset it for free if its simply a “reminder” light. If it is an 02 sensor, they’ll tell me specifically which of the 4 it is so I don’t replace ones that aren’t bad. I’m not sure why anyone would take a car to a dealer unless its still under warranty. With people being forced to drive their cars longer and probably way past the warranty…dealerships are going to have to start offering the same services as AutoZone or go out of business.