The Right (and Capacity) To Repair
The sitch
My partner has a 2017 VW Jetta, acquired about two years before we met and began dating. Ever since I was introduced to the car, the touchscreen on the multimedia player has never worked. I didn't even realize it was a touchscreen until the prompt to add my phone for Bluetooth pairing or Carplay operation came up, but it was never a priority to repair until she recently got a new phone and wanted to integrate it.
So began the process of investigating the repair to see how challenging it was.
How hard was it?
It turns out, not very. The VW MIB2 was standard across all Volkswagen-Audi Group (VAG - questionable acronym) cars for a period of 4 or 5 years, up until 2020-ish from what I've read anecdotally. I figured I'd watch a few videos first to establish a reasonable foundation for what to expect, and although VAG implements some hardware DRM to detect if the whole infotainment system has been replaced, they don't care about the discrete parts of the MIB2 being replaced.
The parts that needed replacing were likely only the touchscreen digitizer, but as this seemed to be a relatively known problem, I figured it could be beneficial to swap out the whole screen. I'd read some middling reviews regarding longevity for budget screens on Amazon, so I spent around $260 getting something not-bottom-barrel.
The uninstall and reinstall process itself was pretty straightforward. Gently pry away the plastic infotainment shielding to undo the clips on the trim, unscrew the box itself, and remove the rear connectors and cable harness (admittedly a little finicky, but doable once you know how the fasteners operate).
After peeling back an already-vestigial warranty sticker and unscrewing the MIB2 chassis, the screen was connected with a beige socket mounted on the main PCB. A little opposing pressure and gentle wiggling frees the screen and its rear shielding, which must also be unscrewed to access the ribbon cable connectors sending data and power to the screen. Replace the screen, reverse the whole process, and reinstall the stereo. Done in less than 90 minutes.
Okay, and?
The situation just had me thinking that this is probably the final era of car you can even remove the infotainment from, in order to gut and replace parts. Maybe some early 2020's cars still have infotainment boxes installed inside of the car...but increasingly manufacturers are moving towards systems with fixed screens, or even tablets guiding most of your configuration, entertainment, climate management, even vehicle operation and charging statistics for modern EVs.
I grew up attached to my iPods. I've gutted and replaced just about everything inside the most famous MP3 player of all time, since 3.5mm headphone ports were notorious for failure when shoving the iPod into your pocket and letting the cable apply lateral pressure to the port. The high level process was much the same; undo clips along the chassis, unscrew things until you get to the part you needed, and the only part adhered to the shell was the battery. Documentation of this process thankfully still exists in an accessible manner, courtesy of iFixit, the absolute GOAT of repair documentation.
I often worry about the streamlining of products like this. When I was buying my own car, a 2019 Mazda 3, I was sold on the sleek unification of the interior, but now I'm not sure that was the correct approach. Having more modular components allows for easier disassembly and repair; if I had to diagnose the center console dial lagging or desyncing from the display, they're separate components. I would likely have to perform far more disassembly to even access the connection points, without understanding if it's a failure in the hardware or software. While I know there are resources around reprogramming or flashing new software on one's car, this task would certainly exceed what I would classify as an accessible repair.
The same goes for the whole system powering the car. I've never hated electric vehicles (beyond the Cybertruck, which I view as an exercise in ego and vapidity), but do think about how unrepairable they are from an end-user perspective. In theory, given the hardware and enough time and information, the layperson could grow to know what's under the hood of their combustion-engine-powered car, how it all works and connects together, and separate individual components for replacement or repair. In contrast, Tesla gives you a frunk, and a majority of its components require specialized tooling to access and repair.
Where do we go from here?
Regarding the automotive industry? I'm not sure. Nothing designed during or after the pandemic was manufactured with end-user maintainability in mind.
In the consumer electronics space, though, things are a little different. Framework is modularly constructed and provides a wealth of documentation. Valve and iFixit (again, the GOAT) worked together to make Steam Deck repair documentation available. The Fairphone was designed to be easy to disassemble and repair. These aren't the cheapest options in their categories, but the companies behind them put in the work to make replacement parts and repair knowledge available. There do exist good options; I just wish that the rest of the industry would take note. It's gratifying to do something yourself - it gives you a sense of ownership and connectivity to the things you use.