I've given up on self-maintenance. I can track things like fluid levels and the normal stuff, but the days when I could pull out major components and replace them with stuff harvested from salvage yards are long gone. My Delta 88 had a big V8 engine, but the front end was so huge that there was probably room for two more engines under the hood. You could see everything, and knew what it was all for.

The modern engine compartment is so full of cryptic crap that I'm not even sure where half the equipment is any more. I don't think I've ever actually seen the Eurovan's oil filter except when Scott has pulled it out. So cramped is its engine compartment, that the radiator and entire front end actually hinge partway out to access some parts of the engine. A small price to pay, I suppose, for a van with a huge interior that is still shorter than many normal cars, and turns almost within its own length.

The newest cars, when you open the hood, present you with a smooth, black plastic block that covers most of the engine, like some giant microchip. Amateurs need not apply. Doubly true, I suppose, for future electric cars when massive charges will lurk in the guts of the machine. I've accidentally shorted a single car battery before. I would not like that to happen with a battery half the size of the car.