Dieselhead Lament: How come people don't fix things anymore?
 

In my new neighborhhod to the Left of me is the Homeowner Association President. He has two new SUV's and his groceries are ordered on the Internet. The house are spaced closely and the arrangement is claustrophobic, its almost like living in a Townhouse.
When he saw my car jacked up, he came running over and tried to cite the HOA Clause about having a disabled vehicle. I said its not disabled, its under repair.
I noticed that most neighbors here live "inside their house" They all drive new cars for the most part and drive right into their garages at night and out in the morning. Inside comes the glow of 36" LCD TV's, the jangle of phones ringing and people on the Internet. Most people hire others to cut the Lawn.
I'm the only oddball who lives outside my house. To me the lawn, driveway and backyard are my living room, especially in the summer. I love the smell of cut wood or burnt steel.
The sight of me on a Saturday is not pretty. No Dockers, or Izods. Just grease from head to toe as I keep my 5 junkers running. I think most neighbors think I am either 1. DUMB 2. POOR 3. OWN NO GOOD CLOTHES 4. NUTTY 5. Cant wait until I move. 6. THINK I AM FROM THE 1950"s
The thing that makes me wonder, is how do these people survive financially? Contractors cut their Lawn, 8 year old Washing machines are discarded and TVs and Computers sit on the Curb with "Free" signs on them.
I may not be rich, but i have few debts. I shop on Craig's List and from Trading Times. The only guy I feel a kinship with is the Russian immigrant who is a blue collar guy of some sorts who lives nearby who speaks no English, and even he has a nice Lexus.
Well they have over 50 communities. Someday i wish they would have a community wher you could not live unless You could weld aluminum, owned a engine hoist and dessed sloopily on weekends.

Who's the President of that HOA?


Got to petition to get this guy Carrameow out of the neighborhood...........he clearly isn't one of "us"...........








:D

I suspect it's just a symptom of the fact that many people have more money than time. They are basically just paying for their free time. If it's worth paying someone else $80/hour so you don't have to crawl around under your car, you get to spend a few extra hours hanging out with the family, watching the game, whatever.

Replying to your title
 

Modern cars, TVs, and such are almost impossible for the average consumer to repair. They are designed to be as inexpensive as possible to build, since people in general and Americans in particular want to buy the least expensive products. Repairability adds cost so it's left out.

Electronic auto components are also non-repairable. Even the dealer's expert doesn't repair stuff like that. They run a test and replace the component that the test tells them to replace. Electronics used to be repairable down to the component level -- not any more. You can't even see the components.

Then there's the question of labor cost. Anyone who faces a big repair realizes that labor is often the biggest factor. That's one reason why the car dealer's service technician "replaces a module" rather than repairing it (even if that were possible).

Finally, and especially where electronics is involved, advances in technology make today's marvelous gadget obsolete tomorrow. The future replacement will be improved and possibly less expensive. Computers, celphones, etc. spring to mind. Why repair? Throw it away and buy a new one.

All of that means that Carrameow's neighbors and our neighbors stay inside and play their video games while we work on our 20-year-old repairable cars, our 40-year-old vacuum tube hi-fi equipment, and our other repairable toys.

Jeremy

I know it isn't feasible, but that clearly is not the place for you! You need to live next door to me, or Mustang Man298, or WhiskeyDan, etc........
Ah, the joys that would bring......;)

Sounds like you're in the wrong neighborhood...there's got to be cooler people in Seattle.

Definitely. With the desirable living conditions you listed I'd suggest avoiding HOAs at all costs! The main goal of HOAs is to create uniformity. If you don't fit into the mold, you're an outcast.

There's this recent credit commercial starring some guy on a big yard tractor, cutting the grass of his 'mini-mansion' while he's lamenting about his wealthy lifestyle, and whining "I can barely afford my finance charges! Won't somebody help me?"

As for repairing things, aside from the 'newer is better' mentality, many things just aren't built to be fixed anymore. And even when you'd prefer to repair, if you're mechanically unskilled, there's the fear of getting a repair person who's incompetent or a crook.

I have friends that think nothing about charging 3 or 4 grand on all new appliances, as soon as the first one breaks, or the color goes out of style.
Fortunately, my mechanical talents can usually keep mine going until they're at least a couple decades old. Then I shop for newer replacements at local thift-stores, yard sales, the Habitat store, or curbside.

Happy Motoring, Mark

Dont worry much about them. They are funding the rest of us......

MAN OH MAN... what a bunch of nasty neighbors!:freak:

It is GOOD to live in the country! Heck, I have had two neighbors come over to see if they could help me! One has a couple of MBs as projects as well. We are now planning a wrench day (hopefully soon!) so that all of the local Benz owners can come over and we wrench together.

It helps that I have a nice big garage with an air conditioned rec room above with a Brunswick pool table and a Tiki bar...... My wife calls it the "Man Shed".:D

There are people, right on Mercedes-Shop, who think nothing of dropping $5K on a stove. Now, seriously, does anybody really need a $5K stove?

$3.5K would get you three very good appliances.....but, certainly not extravagant.

For $5K, it needs to be airconditioned, have a nice audio system, and be capable of driving comfortably on the interstate!

As it happens, over the past two years I've had to install a washer, dryer, dishwasher, microwwve and kitchen faucet. Total cost around $250 (And a sore shoulder!)

Happy Motoring, Mark

I've got two good stories:

Always coveted the bottom freezer fridge (I'm 6'4"). Cost for a new one is well over $1K. Well, I think not, since there is nothing wrong with the top freezer unit........other than the fact that it's old and the gaskets are shot.

Check on e-bay and find a pristine KitchenAid over in NJ. Opening bid is $100. I bid $150. Nobody else bids.:D

So, for $100. and $50 in gas and tolls, I've got, effectively, a $1K machine that will probably last another 10 years.:)

My washing machine also functioned fine, but it was also over 20 years old and I wouldn't mind a larger tub. Find a "recon" fellow who doesn't recon anything. He picks up the perfectly good units that the people toss out after three years. I find a pristine GE in the shop/warehouse with all the bells and whistles. He gives it to me for $125.:)

Well, definitely not me. I try to fix everything. Just took apart the courtersey light in the 240D, cleaned the rocker switch contacts and it's fixed!

Like others have said, you live in the wrong neighborhood. Looking forward to future stories of your encounter in the "hood" :D

Man buy an old pickup truck and start hitting the curb for their free stuff, sell it on craigslist or fleabay, pay for your new parts and laugh at them.:D After all they would be bank rolling your fix or repair MB shop everytime they put something out. Of course you would have to do this under the cover of darkness so the peoplethatbe don't complain about the junkman living down the street. (As I'm sure I'm well known as!!:eek::D) Good luck.

First of all, I love your posts. Always entertaining and well-written.

Second, you're definitely in the wrong part of Seattle. You should try Ballard. It's been five years since I lived up there, but assuming it hasn't changed too much you should find lots of down-to-earth fisherman-type folks there working on boats, cars, etc. in their driveways or in big metal sheds in their yards. It's great. Also, it's one of the more affordable neighborhoods in the area, which is a bonus.

My old washer was 27, and I got tired of rebalancing the load every spin cycle so it wouldn't try to walk out of the laundry closet. A neighbor put a 6-year-old super capacity GE out at the curb, claiming it had a "bad switch". So far in the year I've had it, it's worked perfectly. Apparently I don't use whatever cycle that requires the 'bad switch'.

There's currently no homeowners association where I live, but Fairfax County recently announced a crackdown "zero tolerance policy" on junk cars, illegal apartments/buisnesses and other zoning crimes in residential areas, so now with a surplus of homes languishing unsold in my neighborhood (one next door to me), I've been trying to tidy up my clutter and keep a low profile.

Happy Motoring, Mark

Sadly, these neighborhoods are too common.

My apartments are really cool about working on vehicles. I personally changed my differential last weekend and I've even seen people changing transmissions in the parking lot.

Actually i felt more at home at the apartment....
 

I dont mean anything Ethnic by this AT ALL. They were a lot of Hispanic American people where I lived and on Sundays the parking lot would be full of people doing the mothorhead thing. And I remember once this guy lent me a really expensive wrench, didnt even know my name, wouldnt take a deposit. I had to chase him down and find him to return it.

I lived in a neighborhood with stiff HOA rules and a ten foot gap in between houses. I would fire up the welder on a Saturday and a group of wife dressed men, drinking wine coolers, would come over and hang out. They would never help. They would yap about how one or the other took shop in school or mess with the welder.

When I was building my wooden fence it was the same. They would ask "Why build instead of buy?" I would sip my roke and wink at their wives.

I moved to the country and haven't looked back. 3 acres and I'm pretty sure my closest neighbor is in a different timezone.

Many people in this country have used there homes as their ATM's. It was suggested by an economist just 5 years ago, that the way of the future was just that. Refinance every year, pull out the cash and go play. As this housing market comes apart all that will come to an end. If the government bails all those people out, I am leaving, unless "they" cut me a check for an equal amount for using common sense.

Many people have no experience with the pride that comes with fixing something. No concept for the feeling of driving down the road in a classic that you have made that way. What it feels like to review your mental notebook and noting the items now working (that haven't worked in years)

The world is a large place and there is enough room for us all. I prefer to stay out of their neighborhoods, they scare me.

The most bankrupt of all is the government, i dont think it will even going to be able to bail itself...
Our repairable MB's may become very popular in an economic crisis. Also making thing repairable generate more jobs. I would bet this will come around.

America has been playing for far too long the same game than Banana republics have been playing during the 20th century (read printing too much money).
All of us should enjoy this and start watching people soon scrambling for economic cover...

How do you know they think these things of you?

Well, look on the other side. If you spent money to beautify your house and my house was a mess and you were trying to sell your house, do you think my mess will make your value go up or down?

Sure there are! I'm one of them!

I've taken a car to the repair shop all of three times in my life, and only because the weather was so miserable that I simply couldn't see myself crawling under the car in anything like four feet of snow, or a three inches of standing water.

I've only purchased one new car in my life, and I only did that because I had less than a week to get a car capable of driving 300 miles a day. On top of that, my company was reimbursing me for it completely.

I recycle a lot of things others discard. I've picked up three cars off of CraigsList. I've bought computer parts at Value Village. Heck, I have clothing from value village.

Every three or four years, I build a new computer, frequently with slightly used components that I picked up from someone who only used them for a month before the next latest and greatest component is released. That alone means I spend half or less than what most people are paying for a computer, and I'm using stuff that's already been manufactured.

I dumped close to a grand on a semi-pro digital camera 7 years ago that takes photos just as well as the newer cameras, even if it's four times the size, and I still use it several times a week. Before she met me, my wife went through several $300 - $400 cameras within two years. I know a lot of other people that do the same thing. It's a huge waste of money, and most of that stuff ends up in landfills, instead of being properly recycled. I buy things with the intention of using them for a long time, not replacing them every six months.

Sure, Seattle is full of people that buy a phone, car, computer, clothes, and appliances every year, but we're not all like that. The vast numbers of old diesel Mercedes roaming the streets is proof of that.

*Note: I'm more in to saving money than hugging trees. Don't get the wrong idea. I do believe conservation is something we should all take part in, but you won't see me skipping my daily showers in order to conserve water any time soon.*

Carrameow, you let me know when, and we can go hit the local salvage yards for parts, then scare the patrons of the nearest StarBuck's in a fancy neighbourhood with our dusty clothes and grease-smeared faces. We're likely to have the pleasure of knowing that we're the only folks there that aren't in debt up to our eyeballs. :D

Where is this recon guy located? I need to replace a refrig and stove (both over 20 years old) Of course the fridge just moves to the basement.

My mother has a pristine 1950's GE with the big chrome handles and the top freezer. It still works perfectly and has never needed a freon charge or any other service. That is why they make the new ones like crap. If everything lasted 50 years nobody would be in business.

Hey, Man... this story sounds pretty familiar.... when I rolled in with the 80 300TD 3 wks ago I couldn't help wonder what the neighbors were thinking. What with 3 mb's in and out of the driveway and now.... a 4th one....:P not counting the domesticated vehicles....

Most of the time when a D is on the driveway the hood is open and me tinkering in it..:pleased: Its my afterwork and weekend hobby....

although, I do any under-the-car work inside the garage so things don't look like a mess outside..:)

My neighbors are very nice though.... its probably because I ocassionally share our cooking with them (pancit, adobo, paella...). Fortunately for them, I also like to cook;). Plus they know where to go if they need tools, extension ladder, wheel borrow....

How do you know they think these things of you?
 

How do you know they think these things of you? You nitwit dont you know what "Rhethoricallly speaking" means:):):)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carrameow
I think most neighbors think I am either
1. DUMB .........................................I painted a car flawlessly and today
I butchered a simple epoxy paint job
on garage floor
2. POOR .........................................I have a daughter in college
3. OWN NO GOOD CLOTHES ...............I own no good clothes
4. NUTTY .......................................I am replying to your stupid post
5. Cant wait until I move.................. If I couldnt wait to move to Seattle
last year, dont you think there is a
parallel universe where others think
the reverse
6. THINK I AM FROM THE 1950"s ........Because thats my favorite decade.



How do you know they think these things of you?

Carrameow,
You are a man after my own heart. I am a design manager for a company that produces automotive chassis components. I do not fit in with the other managers. They are all members of the local country club; I am not a member nor do I have any desire for it. They drive late model luxury cars (or decked out trucks); I drive a 1981 or one of my two 1985 300D's. I do not live in the right housing development. I live in the country in a newer, but very simple home about ten minutes from work. I keep around a dozen chickens and usually a parts car behind the hill in the back yard. I do not spend a lot of money one fine clothes. I get most of my clothes as birthday or Christmas gifts. I do prefer to wear a kilt and good wool 'tank' kilt is quite pricey.

To top off you situation I would recommend a Rhode Island Red rooster, a parts car out front, and a kilt. Yes, your neighbors will think you strange, but it that might drop property value, thus property taxes.:rolleyes:

Be a Bohemian!!:pleased:

I look forward to the day when I can afford to pay someone else to work on my car.

I rather sail, golf, or relax on my days off. I really need to work on my golf game.:o

BTW I hate HOA with a passion. You couldn't pay me to live in an area with one.

Lived in one of them "evil" places for a few years. One neighbor was a gearhead with a Nova, so I could relate to him. The others, though, were nice to me when they needed to borrow things. Other than that, some were nothing but backstabbing beeotches. Problem was, I could only tell one that was slime, never figured out the others. Wasn't there long enough. Now I'm on 4.5 acres, with non complaining (heck, I never see them) neighbors, and feeling much better.

.
I have learned the secret to living peacefully in a HOA.

You fix little things for the neighbors.

Some carburetor cleaner and Sea Foam for one neighbor, and becoming the guy that cuts the lawn for the other neighbor has done the trick for me.

And I get paid for doing it !!

I feel sad for some of the people in the gated communities.
They seem so fearful.

Have Fun
RichC
:joker:

Neighbor of the Year" in two neighboods to "Cynical Neighbor"..
 

Its kind of funny I went from "Neighbor of the Year" in two neighboods to "Cynical Neighbor"...in one neighborhood an eldery lady from India begged me not to leave because she was widowed and knew I would always help her in jam and I would shovel snow for the older people....in another neighborhood, I set my car on fire but I was still liked, there were a few single mothers around and my whacking and hammering on cars at wierd hours gave them a sense of security...I guess its just a chemistry thing

But what happens when the friendly neighbor moves, and is replaced by someone that can't be bribed with cutting grass or carburetor cleaner?
In my case, due to a nearly-dead real-estate market, I'm trying to keep my place relatively tidy. For now, this prevents me from dragging home that '80 300D another neighbor down the block wants to give me.
Even though there's no HOA here, and my nextdoor neighbor claims he wouldn't call the county on me, who knows what his hungry realtor might do?

Happy Motoring, Mark

I had one of those. He did something to piss me off and I returned the favor in spades. Even cost him a potential buyer when he was trying to sell. Made sure others knew that it wasn't aimed at them. Moral of the story is you can be friends with me and reap some benefits, not associate with me and be neutral or piss me off and I'll find a way to screw with you on a daily basis.

Well, you will always have something to worry about as far as that goes. However, I don't bother to get upset with the HOA. After all, if I am trying to sell and your place is a mess, won't that affect me?

Both of them work, are mortgaged to the hilt, have 2 car payments, or even more likely 2 car lease payments, and probably in credit card debt from hell. How do I know? I was one of them. Until I saw the light (ie. had kids) and figured out where my priorities should be.

Now, I'm not unlike yourself. I live in the largest historic district in CT. In a neighborhood of half-million dollar+ restored colonials and victorians and $300K bungalows. While there is no HOA, the town is very strict with their policies regarding vehicles under repair and unregistered vehicles.

I am somewhat fortunate that on one side is a practically deaf woman in her mid-80's (the worrisome part is that in the not-so-distant future there will be a new owner there) and on the otherside is a guy who specializes in restoration of old houses and has a 3 car garage right along our property line that he uses (technically illegally but I couldn't care less) as his workshop. So any work I'm doing is practically invisible from the street even though it's not that far from it.

I had my Scout project parked behind my garage, wrapped tightly under a blue tarp and invisible from the street. One day I had a notice posted on my front door from the local building instructor telling me that I had two weeks to remove my unregistered vehicle from my property or get it into my garage. Unfortunately, I now lost my 1 car garage space (and why a new 2 car garage is in the planning stage). The only reason I won't move out is because we do have a very good school system and that's the bottom line for me.

For now, here in Fairfax County, I'm allowed some unregistered vehicles, so long as they're 'hidden from veiw' by a fence, hedge or garage. In late '96, during the last real-estate slump around here, a desperate home-seller called the county on every homeowner in the neighborhood with an unregistered vehicle. 23, including myself. I had to build a privacy fence around the back half of my driveway to enclose 3 vehicles.
More recentky, when the house next door went on the market, I had my junk Dodge storage-van, and a dead Honda Civic hauled away, and moved my second 240D to Mom's garage in Virginia Beach. I also bought one of those $250 tube & tarp 'garages-in-a-box' to hide my '67 Sunbeam Alpine, and shelter some of the stuff that used to be in my storage-van.
So far as I know there's no county restriction against an 8' x 20' steel shipping container. (It's not a vehicle or permanent structure)
Maybe one of those will be my next storage-shed!

Happy Motoring, Mark

You live in the wrong part of suburbia :)

I also live in suburbia, but where I live, some of us fix their own cars. A guy across the street in the apartment complex has undertaken some pretty serious reapirs in the parking lot, and another was replacing a crushed radiator on the curb one day. Ny neighbor always has a friend over working on their car, and then there's me out in my carport working on mine.

There's a lot of people who live like you describe too, but there's some who believe in fixing and repairing. We're in unincorporated county and therefore lower rent, maybe that has something to do with it. No good free junk out on the curb through :)

I live in a duplex with a railway running behind our house. There is an alley behind the detached garage, and on the other side of the alley there is just enough land to park a car before the ditch beside the railway. The railway owns that land, so the town ca't really complain. And the railway seems to have been really good about people storing things there.

However....I DO feel the need to get out of town and onto an acreage. I can understand how some people would feel about me having my "junk" parked there, but right now I am one of a few. I live in a cottage area a block from the lake, and recently property values have soared here in Alberta with the gas and oil prices. The average price for lakefront property, 1 block away, is $1million. Acreages are extremely hard to find in the area for under $450,000 (size does not matter, availability is the key here). Our town has gone from something like 5,000 people to 11,000 in five years. The cottages nearby are all being torn down and replaced with modest houses like the one up the street, currently going for $398,000.

I don't feel the pressure now, but when more of these homes go up, I'm sure they will start the pressure on us gearheads to move. :(

dunl, bear this in mind as well, anything that happens to your vehicle stored on that land will not be prosecutable... it's technically not yours anymore... so don't push your luck too much.

Velcome to the new Amerika:P they can't afford their lifestlye, over thier heads in credit card debt. But don't worry, soon you'll have the last laugh. This country will fall on it's *** shortly and you will be the only one able to survive. I would move to the country though. The people your living next to are worthless spoiled brats and would rob you blind or kill your mother for $0.25.

Well, I just learned that this past summer, the Peoples Republic of Fairfax County passed a new ordinance outlawing the use of storage containers anywhere on residential property for any period longer than 30 days!

Wrenchheads unite! i suggest we start our own country! now can you imagine? a classic benz in every driveway:D

My wife and i still have the same maytag washer we bought 15 years ago and we were bummed out that it cost us 300 bucks.:D I have never bought or needed the best of anything except food. I bought a Monark boat instead of a Lund and saved 25k. Does the same job as the Lund only its got a seamless welded hull compared to a pop rivited lund. A friend and his wife came to dinner to our 100 year old home, they kept saying we had to see thier (new) house. Well to each thier own but I rather like my 100 year old oak trim and handmade 5 panel doors and cabinets compared to plastic trim and such:scream: I couldn't go for sub living with people telling me what I can or can't do on my own property. Our friends coudn't paint thier fence without the hoa approving the color. I have restored my home to practicley original with my own two hands and nothing feels better to me. Just don't turn a wrench too good:o


Jim

You need to come north to Pennsltukey. I agree I would never be in an area w/ a HOA. matter of fact, I got a varience to run a Home Improvement business from my house. They can't complain about debris, material, trailers, skid steers, tractors...

I'm not trashy, but I have my fair share of red neck in me - including a 1969 Chevy C30 pick up turned into a trailer!:eek::D:laugh3:.

I pulled the heads on my truck in the driveway last fall. Took me so long that the neighbors thought the orange cherry picker was a new hood ornament.

Lets see...Right now I have...
1996 Explorer Limited, 1998 Chrysler Concorde, 1993 Ford F350 Crew Cab dually, 1984 MB 300D, fore mentioned trailer, 6X12 Enclosed Utility trailer, 1996 Shasta 5th wheel trailer, 1970 John Deere Model 70 ...all parked between the road and my kitchen door.

That’s an outrage! The Commonwealth should ban together and fight! :eek:

Exactly 0 other people on our street work on their own cars. And its not even a real wealthy neighborhood. They probably all think we are crazy for having 5 cars (and 3 MB's) at our house. But we could care less. :D :D Homes are in the average of $110-150k range. Everyone drives a fairly new buick, SUV, or Toyota/Honda. And a few people with newer minivans. A person across the street from us had to have their 2003 Pontiac minivan towed to a shop a couple months ago because of a bad alternator...thus the battery was dead, and they couldn't start it... :D :D :D I was amazed. :dizzy2: Pretty entertaining to watch those types of people though. :) About half the people on my street do their own yardwork.....so at least they do that much. :D And people walk their dogs...and take their kids for walks....so they spend at least some time outdoors. There's plenty of HOA style neighborhoods around here though. A few of them are very close by. I'd loose my mind living there.

I would like to say something like "smart people know there limitations; smarter people have none" but that is too much BS even for me. I think it is like out in nature; every little creature finds an area where it can survive and we are the same. DIY types can be happy with the fact that they have a better chance of suriveing if the eco system changes. I feel good, really good when I fix something (and the feelig last as long as that thing is still working); I just don't get that same feeling when I buy something.

Our entire family is of the "Buy it to last, and keep it working, and fix it yourself" mentality. Thank heaven we still live on a farm even though the developments are slowly moving in on us. We'll hold out as long as we can I guess.