Yes, I know that you are technically correct but give me a break. It makes no MEASURABLE difference. By the way, I did explain what you just wrote to her when she said that but believe me, she didn't understand what I was talking about.

Scott

Ask your girlfriend if she drives around with the windows up and the A/C off all summer to save money on gas too. But be prepared to duck real fast.

LOL!!!

"turn off the lights, save electricity" my Mom used to say in her funny English...
 

as we sat in the driveway idling, and i would explode in silent giggles, not wanting to be disrespectful,,wondering if she thought somehow if the electricity was shipped from our house to my alternator...

but you know whats worse--people who know enough just to be dangerous..and who think they are right...I cant tell you how many watercooler discussions I hear where the Office Jocks try to tell ladies straight faced whats wrong with their vehicles...

There were people in the 60's and 70's who didn't have clue either. It's just gotten worse with the decline of manufacturing in the US, computers in cars,leasing, etc. No need to get your hands dirty anymore. My personal favorite from 20+ years ago. Guy from the Finance department (Automotive related company btw) approaches me and says his 2 year old Toyota started making a screeching sound when he turned into the parking lot. He said he bought it new two years ago after he graduated college and so far it had given him 30K plus of trouble free driving and he didn't understand why he would have a problem. While walking to the car I figured out he didn't have a clue about cars and asked him when he last changed the oil. Big eyes - "You have to change the oil?!!". I had tools, etc in my beater and pulled the oil pan plug - less than a quart of black sludge oozed out. Pulled the oil filter - it was essentially dry and looked like it had cobwebs in it. We picked up some oil and a filter and filled it up hoping for the best. It fired up but with a slight rod knock. To Toyota's credit that car soldiered on for 80K more miles (with a rod knock and regular oil changes) before he traded it in at a Toyota dealer.

Reminds me of a friday BS session back when I worked in corporate-land. About 7-8 people sitting around on a Friday afternoon talking about what they were doing that weekend. Golf, Tennis, watching "the game" on TV, etc. Then they asked me.... I said taking the transmission out of my truck to fix an oil leak and then if I have the time going for a cruise in my hovercraft. They were incredulous. The increasing specialization of the world is most vexing to me. Everyone is so comfortable just performing their little niche job and then watching sports or other mind-numbing crap on the boob tube. When I lost the corporate job I went back to construction but this time I am making it a career and not just a paycheck. I have also sworn to myself that I will keep learning all I can about the world around me. It amazes me how screwed up peoples priorities are. I get calls to do the most simple jobs, stuff that with a little effort and some research any homeowner could do with ease. But no. They call me. How you can go through life without being able to perform the most basic maintenence on the two most expensive things you will ever own, your house and your car is beyond me. I have actually had prospective customers that have problems with 500+K houses tell me they just want to "patch it up". They don't want to spend their vacation money fixing the house correctly. How does ignoring serious issues with your home, your most expensive/prized/investment because you want to go on vacation make any sense? These are the people that I just walk away from. These are the same people that don't know where the hood latch is. These are also the people that 300 years ago would have been killed quickly from famine, animal, etc. causes. Unfortunately there isn't a mechanisim to take care of them today. RT

Boy RT, you're really on the mark. The folks that owned my 130 year old house before me had contractors do everything. When I bought this place I restored the barn [it was literally falling down] and the house-- I redid the wiring [shhh-don't tell my insurance co.!] the plumbing, ripped out all the shoddy sheetrock work and tons of other stuff. The last folks had someone else doing their yardwork as well. I can't believe they actually paid to have some of this work done.

I'm sure the last goobers didn't know how to raise their hood and if they did they wouldn't have a clue as to what to look for. It's really sad. How they can go through life oblivious to the world around them is beyond me. Like my Granddad always said. Only two kinds of people. Those who make things happen and those who watch things happen. I guess I'm just not a watcher. Boy am I thankful for that!

Cheers,

Bill

At my last job, most of the younger people I worked with drove new BMWs. All of them took their cars to the dealership for everything. Apparently, those cars have lights on them that tell them when it's time to get the oil changed or when the oil drops below a certain level. I doubt any of them have ever even opened the hood. They all also thought that 70,000 miles was a lot to have on your car. You should have seen their looks when I would tell them I drove a 20 year old car with over 200k on the engine!

Scott

I also agree completely with you. I take immense pride in the fact that I work on my own car and my own house. If I don't know how to fix something, I will go out and buy a book and learn how to do it. When I first bought my house and didn't know anything about fixing toilets putting down new floors and insulation but believe me, I learned quick.

The one thing that really pi$$es me off is when I do repair something and either (1) it takes me a long time or (2) it doesn't turn out right and I have to do it again, and then someone else gives me cra# about it. Like, why is it taking so long?? Do you really know what you're doing since you have to do it again?

Yeah, maybe it takes me a lot longer than a plumber or mechanic and maybe I don't get it right the first time but at least I'm doing it myself which is a lot more than most other people can say.

Scott

I know what you mean, I do everything I have the means to do myself.....I remodled my Kitchen , and both bathrooms, by gutting the rooms to studs and redoing everything. Including Ceramic tile work.......people asked me where I learned to do it......I said watching Hometime and this old house.....

THe plumbing and electrical work I already knew from my father teaching me.

He always said to never pay someone to do what you can do yourself. You will have far more money in your wallet and the bank if you do.

Oh, and the same thing applies to all my cars.......

I'll be hitting the big five-o next year and I agree that there has been a huge brain drain over the years.

Part of the problem is that when we were kids, the intenal combustion engine was considered a marvel that almost had a life of its own. We took pride in making it work as efficiently as possible in our vehicles.

The IC engine has been replaced by computers and all the gadgets that that revolution has spawned, and the generations to follow now regard the car as another appliance.

Seeing this ahead of time, I laid out the ground rules for my son's first car as follows:

1) I will cover parts and major repairs and show you how to fix your 300D anytime and anyplace if something goes wrong.

2) the first set of tires are free. You are responsible for all subsequent ones as well as wheel alignments.

3) I will not be responsible for any damage caused by negligence or abuse. You blow the engine because you did not check the oil, you buy another one and you will install it. ( I have a cherry picker and a lawn chair.)


Needless to say, he keeps his 1500 dollar car up as if it were new, changes his oil regularly and because it's a diesel Benz, it has rewarded him with 40,000 miles of nearly trouble-free driving.

I think you are talking about my '89 Toyota truck. I bought it used with 70k thinking it was just getting broken in. After my first oil change, I noticed a rod knock. I lived with the knock until it finally turned into a clank at 125k miles. Installed a rebuilt engine, I've got 170k on the truck now, still have the original alternator, starter and fuel injectors.

sad...
 

My ex-husband had a Dodge Colt back in the early 80s...his mom bought it new & passed it to him...he saw the oil light on for weeks!, but thought it was like gas (you could run out and it was ok)...he blew the engine...then he spent $2200 getting a rebuilt engine installed...then about 5 k miles later he wrecked the car...HA

fast forward 20 some years...my son came home from a visit w/dad...told me his dad was changing the alternator in his truck and dear son (12) had to show him how to put the belt on! "it took him 2 hours just to bolt the alternator on" LMAO...Son has had little to no mechanical training, but instinctively seems to "know" cars (my dad is like this~just seems to be "one" with the car). Luckily, he seems to have missed his dad's mechanical ineptitude. I can't wait a couple more years until I can get him a "fixer" hee. Told him he can learn to drive when he is as tall as me (very soon!). We have private roads/property he can learn on, so don't fear on the highways...

Man, no wonder he's your ex. :D

Cheers,

Bill

This is all so amazing to me.. My family aren't big wrenchers or anything, but when I learned to drive my parents said, "Ok, we'll teach you how to drive the car, how to parallel park, and how to change oil and put on a spare tire." It all came as one thing, because they figured that knowing basic maintainence was just part of knowing how to drive a car. Like I said, my parents are mechanics or anything, and most work they take to their local indy shops, but they change oil, change filters, etc. I just thought that was normal...

My girlfriend's family was the same way. They were intent on her not being beholden to any man to fix her car for her on the side of the road, so she learned to change belts, change oil, change filters, put on spare's, etc. Again, she doesn't do big maintainence on her own, but all the routine stuff she does. Though my girlfriend DID con me into changing her oil for her last week... Not because she couldn't, but because she asked really nice... I'm a sucker. ;)

I understand that brand new cars have less DIY potential, but it amazes me how many people don't even check their tire pressure.

Maybe there should be an additional part of the driver's licensing about basic auto maintainence. You have to put on a spare tire, check the tire pressure, check the fluids and change the oil in front of the DMV otherwise you fail. If you have one of those fancy cars with no oil drain system, you still have to put on a spare and check your tire pressure and fluid levels.

The amount of fuel wasted in this country because of low tire pressure is staggering. A million little straws on the already weak camel's back.

I'm encouraged though, because the one person at work who spends more time dicking with a car than I do is this girl about my age who tears apart her Honda about every week to fix or improve something. She's the only one who doesn't cringe when I say I'm going to change my oil that weekend or something.

Rant Rant Rant.. Back to tweaking the 300TD for a 1000 mile journey to CO next week. ;) Change oil, check fluids, check tires, check brakes, install new speakers for stereo. :D

Peace,
Sam