My apologies to Mr. Dickens, but customer expectations for their new or nearly new cars seem to be an all time high. On average, newer vehicles are more reliable and require less maintenance than ever before. In my grandfather’s day, he often spent more time vulcanizing patches on his tires than he did driving. After dark, he poured water on a carbide to generate gas, and then lit it so he had headlamps which had a hard time illuminating the front bumper.