I drove by a small automotive repair shop recently. Outside the shop was a large marquee sign board of the kind you see in front of gas stations and such. The sign simply read, “OBDII HERE.”
Some quick background on the term OBDII: “OBD” stands for OnBoard Diagnostics – a vehicle’s engine computer monitors various functions related to the engine and pollution controls. The “II” (that’s the Roman numeral two) refers to the second generation of OBD.
OBDII has been with us since 1996. Wouldn’t you be astonished to find a shop that didn’t work on 1996 or newer vehicles? The repair shop could use their marquee sign to tell us something remarkable – a current special they’re running, or perhaps that they’re experts in Mazda Miatas – but instead they’re using it to tell us something that doesn’t help us at all.
