Why people don't work on their cars anymore

A publisher of repair manuals reports that owners are discouraged by plastic engine covers.
The CEO provides some amusing alternative uses for the covers.
Covers can be removed without voiding a car's warranty.

You can still purchase guides to fixing your car, and Haynes Manuals will be happy to sell them to you.

But the company asked customers what's keeping from getting under the hood — the survey was "informal" — and the answer wasn't surprising.

That hunk of plastic covering the engine.

"You won't fix what you can't see," J Haynes, CEO of Haynes Publishing said in a statement.

"Most people don't realize that removing a few simple screws will provide easy access to undercover workings of their engine and allow them to work on their own cars and save lots of hard-earned money," he added. "We say there's no need to fear the plastic engine cover."

Engine covers are common. The idea is that the make of the engine bay look tidy, and not incidentally, provide a surface on which to identify the motor's specs, something that those of us in the photo-taking auto-journalism profession appreciate.

Of course, the plastic cover is quite literally a barrier to entry.

Haynes offered some amusing suggestions for what to do with a cover should you decide to remove it:

Hang it on your wall and tell people it's modern art
Use it as a serving tray for the holidays
Make some extra cash and sell it on eBay
Turn it into a litter box
Wear it as body armor for Halloween
Give it to someone you don't like as a gift. Watch confusion ensue.
Fill it with ice and put beer in it at parties
Throw it in the trash

Personally, I kind of like the hang-it-on-the-wall option, but the litter box sounds more practical.

Seriously, manufacturers aren't going to give up on the covers. But Haynes does do us all a service in reminding that the cover can be removed — and that nobody will violate a warranty if they do decide to use it as an ice bucket.

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