Also precisely how I feel about the possibility of my mechanic retiring , although he's a youngster by comparison , only 40 years of those very same attributes Bob's ( AZ ) mechanic possesses. He's been working on my Porsches and MBZ's for 30 of those years and although he specializes in German cars , he works on his brother's Ferrari all the time, and he'll fix just about any make and model car as long as it's not too new ..
But as difficult as time wil make it for us to find a mechanic who can work on 968s, if you have a new car you'll pretty much be at the mercy of the " Stealer " for the near foreseeable future ; my first awareness to this was the factory stereo issue ; on many newer cars you cannot replace the stereo to any aftermarket units . The electronics are all integrated in such a manner that prohibit your changing the stock unit because nothing else will function in its place . So you're stuck with the factory's usually mediocre system at a cost that's 2 x or 3 x of a far, far, superior after market product you could buy.
As for the service and repair aspects associated with new cars ; on some makes you cannot even change the oil except at the dealer because they are the only ones who can reset your service interval alert light to disappear from the instrument panel. Cost of a dealer oil change for a brand new Fiat : $ 250 ( that's just labor and does not include the oil and filter ! ) . You can only imagine what a timing belt change , or any other major service or R&R cost will be at the dealers . And no other option at your disposal because without the proprietary computer settings management requirement your car will simply not run unless a dealer services it .
