plastic coverings and slick, unnecessary design features under the hood is to just make the average person, who would normaly consider changing their own spark plugs, just throw their hands up in the air and say, "Forget it, I'm going to the shop" Cause with my 95 era truck, and 2000 era car, you lift the hood and BAM, everything is right there. I lift the hood of new cars and think the first thing I have to do is plug in a laptop and get some code.