[sho_hn]

This isn't actually all that new: Quite a few of luxury automobiles have had non-serviceable engine compartments for many years. It's not uncommon particularly with high-end sports cars, where engine covers may only be removed by licensed technicians. Those tend to be held by special screws requiring non-standard tools or similar. Ironically it's often the engines one might want to marvel at the most.

[malwrar]

And it’s why I won’t buy a Ferrari.

Half joking, of course, but seriously I think this sort of design choice just reinforces the idea that the manufacturer, not the buyer, owns the product. Locking the hood closed, the symbolic innards of your car, isnt the only way to build a car safely. I fear moves like this will just further alienate people from the tech they rely on.

[sho_hn]

I know exactly what you mean: I'm fond of pointing out that I probably wouldn't be a software engineer today if the computers I grew up with had been as locked down as an iPhone. It only sort-of works in a world that today also features a Raspberry Pi, but is not sustainable on its own. In my brain I refer to this as "educational sustainability" somehow (then again, isn't all education motivated by sustainability of civilization and culture?), but I'm sure smarter folks have discussed and given this a better label.

That said, luxury sports cars are an oddball market with non-obvious concerns and economics. A lot of the limited production run cars these restrictions apply to are essentially too valuable to actually drive. They're collectors' items, or acquired as speculative goods that will increase in value. It may be that making them more "tamper-proof" is in a strange way in the interest of the buyers.

[perl4ever]

Are there really "special screws" that are difficult to deal with these days? Any hardware store carries sets of what used to be obscure security bits. Torx (innie or outie) and hex don't even count as "special".

I had read that the reason for the plastic covers on fancier cars, while partly for appearance and to discourage amateur servicing, also are there for a substantial reduction of engine noise. But I never heard anything about owners not having permission to remove them.

I've speculated that one reason for making it a hassle to service modern cars is that if an owner has been messing with their car, screwed it up, and brings it to the dealer, it's more likely there will be clues that warranty coverage should be denied.

[sho_hn]

I am not referring to the plastic engine covers, but entire pieces of body work like the bonnet and more.

[perl4ever]

Like on what model, for example?

[sho_hn]

E.g. a recent 911 GT3 or several Bugatti models, for example the Divo. It's often mid-engine sports cars, also because not designing them to make the low-mounted, mid-positioned engine accessible saves a lot of complexity and removes design constraints.