Expecting too much from non-car people?

My girlfriend didn't even know how to check her oil level or tire pressure. I'm slowly trying to teach her the basics of automobiles.

the extended family on the in-laws side thinks i'm a car killer...

we went though a number of cars in rapid succession... but thats what happens when you get certian older cars with the millage they had... you pay next to nothing for them and when the transmission dies or something like that happens you think nothing of it... you junk it and move on to the next old POS that will inevitably die in your care... nothing as awesome as rods though blocks or anything like that though lol

i've had one car that died due to my own neglect (my neon ACR snapped a timing belt... which was completely my own fault for not changing it in a timely fashion)

but yes i'm amazed at how long an old beater will go and go and go... our '91 escort is a prime example... and it'll likely get given to my dad who also understands basic maintenance of a beater... keep fluids in the engine, trans, coolant system, steering system, keep air int he tires... don't beat on it. to hard and it'll keep going.... and going and going...

My wife (who is also a car owner and driver in the LeMons series) doesn't ever check her oil. Or tire pressure, etc... She does however know how to change her brake pads ion about 30 minutes.

She was amazed the other day AND was telling me how lucky I was that I found a problem....

I had opened the hood of my truck to check the oil and other fluids while the gas pump was doing its thing. I noticed a sweet smell immediately. I checked around a bit and noticed that the top of my radiator has a small crack in it.

It wasn't amazing or lucky or any of that stuff. i found the problem because I look for things like that.

What else do you do while waiting for the fuel pump to fill up your vehicle?

Just another vote on the "he likes to work on cars". No, I like to drive sporting cars. Most of those cars are expensive. So expensive that I have to wait 10-15yrs (or more) for them to be in my price range.

That is why I work on cars. I'm not on a mission to save every starving dog of a car simply because their owners can't be bothered to feed them. Will I help someone figure out what's wrong with one? Sure. Will I do a head gasket for a free 12-pack and a chicken dinner? Hell no, unless you're my partner or a blood relation.

Weird thing these days, SWMBO has gotten worse about noticing stuff. She was really good about keeping on top of the Bravada's condition (since it was so ratty), but all the electric crap still functions in the Exploder. It still "feels" new, since everything works and she forgets how old it really is.

wvumtnbkr wrote: i found the problem because I look for things like that.

Great point that you pointed out to us. I am always popping the hood of all our cars to "look around".

Want to make me nuts? Throw 1 ounce of coolant or a random bolt under my car and I will be busy for an hour.......

my neighbor in college was on military disability or something, and for whatever reason, had a decent income while going to school. he was one of those never fix, never check kinda people. he drove a passat that, for the entire two years i knew him, had clicking CV joints. he'd pull into the parking lot, click-click-click, i mentioned it to him and he says yeah, they've been like that for a while, i'll fix it eventually, and never does. one day he buys a ski boat, but doesn't have a tow vehicle, so he buys an old 4x4 suburban, probably late 80's vintage, and tows his boat with it for a few months. until one night around 11 i hear a commotion outside and he and his buddies are trying to push the beast into a parking space with a plastic bumper grand cherokee. it didn't go well. i ask what happened and he says that the battery died while they were out on the lake, and i mention that the E36 M3 side post batteries are known to do that. so he charged the battery and then when he starts it, its making a horrific sound, like a beer can is stuck in the oil pan. spun bearing. i pull the dipstick and the oil is jet black with sparkles in it. "see that? those are parts of the inside of your engine, because you never changed the oil. he was still trying to unload it, needing a new engine, for about what he paid for it when i moved away.

all of my cousins and my sister are really good at destroying cars through neglect. I tend to drive cars at least 5 years.. sometimes up to 10. If rust had not made my Ti dangerous to drive.. I would still be behind the wheel of that beastie.

In the time I have owned my Ti (6 years) one of my cousins has had 7 cars.. and not almost dead, cheap cars, when he got them either

Datsun310Guy wrote:

wvumtnbkr wrote: i found the problem because I look for things like that.

Great point that you pointed out to us. I am always popping the hood of all our cars to "look around". Want to make me nuts? Throw 1 ounce of coolant or a random bolt under my car and I will be busy for an hour.......

I hope no one that knows you and likes to play practical jokes ever sees this

I am helping a smoking hot girl learn about cars. Like she wants to know how everything works and isn't afraid to get dirty or anything. I really need to learn to explain things better so she doesn't leave.

Oil, filter, tires, brakes. Is it really that hard?

To my buddy, cars are appliances.He is also an engineer. At the time he had a 95 Lumina. I come by the house one day and see the quarter panel all crunched up.

"What happened here?"

"Oh. I locked my keys in it when it was running, so I used a crowbar to open the back door."

"Um, why didn't you just break the window? That's like $40. That metal's gonna cost a lot more to fix."

Light bulb goes on above his head. Later that day, my brother comes over.

"Hey Casey, look at Jon's door."

"Wooogh! What happened?"

"Lock his keys in it. Popped open the door with a crowbar."

"Why didn't he just bust a window?"

Much laughter at Jon's expense.

fritzsch wrote: I am helping a smoking hot girl learn about cars. Like she wants to know how everything works and isn't afraid to get dirty or anything. I really need to learn to explain things better so she doesn't leave.

Ancient "trying to get other people to understand" stuff (cliches to us, but Confusian mellowness to the applianced masses):

1.) The engine is the 'heart' of a car, and oil is its 'blood'. And the only thing approaching the blood cleaning ability of the kidneys or liver on a car is a can full of paper no bigger than a can of beans. The nice thing is that folks who make cars understand replacing that can shouldn't be like an organ transplant.

2.) The battery is the 'brain' of a car. Without power, all is dead. Your windows won't work, the zombies can open your unlocked doors, and it won't even tell your 'heart" (engine) to keep pumping. Lucky thing is that when a car is brain dead, it's not so much of a hurdle to replace the brain.

3.) Suspension is your feet, but tires are your shoes. Unfortunately for cars, running around barefoot is not an option. If you can't run the 100m dash (or climb the Appalachian Trail) in your bedroom slippers, it's probably not because there's something "wrong" with your feet.

Good luck, fritzsch!

fritzsch wrote: I am helping a smoking hot girl learn about cars. Like she wants to know how everything works and isn't afraid to get dirty or anything. I really need to learn to explain things better so she doesn't leave.

Make sure you teach her the proper way to clean up as well. I recommend a full body scrub after wrenching.

fritzsch wrote: I am helping a smoking hot girl...

Intewebs rule #17:

Pictures, or it didn't happen.

I bought my second neon at the same time my wife(then GF) got her first civic. 18 months in, she totals it. All we can afford was another older civic, from the same friend of the family. After an other 18 months, it is getting bad, we just got married and used wedding gift money for a down payment on a newer Accord. We are 18 months in, I'm taking excellent care of it, but she has already racked up 40K on it. By the time I plan to replace my neon in another... 18 months... I think her accord will have higher miles than the neon.

So 4 1/2 years in the POS neon has outlasted 2 civics, and who knows what my wife will do to her car in another 18 months.

neon4891 wrote: I bought my second neon at the same time my wife(then GF) got her first civic. 18 months in, she totals it. All we can afford was another older civic, from the same friend of the family. After an other 18 months, it is getting bad, we just got married and used wedding gift money for a down payment on a newer Accord. We are 18 months in, I'm taking excellent care of it, but she has already racked up 40K on it. By the time I plan to replace my neon in another... 18 months... I think her accord will have higher miles than the neon. So 4 1/2 years in the POS neon has outlasted 2 civics, and who knows what my wife will do to her car in another 18 months.

Is she the cause of these problems, or is it just bad luck? My wife's car looks pretty messed up, but she drives it into Boston, parks, and drives home every week day. The only damage I can blame on her isn't even bad enough to notice. I mean, the paint would've been scraped if the previous owner hadn't sand blasted it all off tailgating every gravel truck he could find. The best was a big merc that rear ended her on I93. It left a classy emblem print in the rear bumper, and all of his coolant on the ground.

Her family, though. Dang. They destroyed a 2007 camry by 2011. There wasn't a panel on it (roof included) without something scratched or pushed in and a hub cap was missing, and none of them commute. At least they keep buying boring cars. The problem is that they keep driving at all. I just heard from my wife that her sister was complaining about her 2010-that's right, nearly show room new-corolla running kinda funny, and she (my wife) noticed a light on the dash. She asked my S-I-L when she got the oil changed last and her response- "I think a year ago?" argh... Good luck getting Toyota to replace a blown engine under warranty when the oil pan is full of sludge, and they have no record of any work being done to it.

Even better- the whole family was driving on I93 and hit some debris, which totally isn't' their fault. It was night time, and bostonians drive like kids on the bumper car ride, so crash debris is everywhere. They drove on it to the next off ramp since the city really has no shoulder to pull over on, and parked somewhere. This ruined the tire/wheel completely. Potholes everywhere, ok, fine, that's understandable. What's not- In the car were 4 people with BA's, 2 of those with MA's, and 1 of those has a Ph.D. The 5th person had no degree at all, as they were 19 and in college. None of them knew how to change a tire. The car had a jack, a spare, 'tools' and instructions. Good thing they weren't in the middle of nowhere with a blizzard coming in. They had some excuse, like the bolts wouldn't come loose (they did for me) but an emergency situation doesn't care about your excuses. It makes me really worry about them.

friedgreencorrado wrote: The nice thing is that folks who make cars understand replacing that can shouldn't be like an organ transplant.

You've clearly never changed the oil on a Honda K24.

In the car were 4 people with BA's, 2 of those with MA's, and 1 of those has a Ph.D. The 5th person had no degree at all, as they were 19 and in college. None of them knew how to change a tire.

NOBODY knows how to change a tire any more, or is willing to do it. On my way to work the other day, I passed a 20-something guy in a Wrangler, off the side of the road in a safe place, with a flat. There was a spare on the back door and one can only assume a jack inside. He looked bored and pissed off and was poking at his mobile phone. He could have changed the tire in under 10 minutes total.

My fukus is definitely a beater now......it was given to me because the dealer refused it as a trade in claiming the trans was on the way out. 4k miles in my care thus far with just oil change, still shifts weird though. My winter beater last year lasted 4 months for $300, fuel pump died, and I didn't feel like changing it.....I'll scrap a sho before I replace a fuel pump.

Duke wrote:

friedgreencorrado wrote: The nice thing is that folks who make cars understand replacing that can shouldn't be like an organ transplant.

You've clearly never changed the oil on a Honda K24.

Coffee in my keyboard..

Rufledt wrote: Her family, though. Dang. They destroyed a 2007 camry by 2011. There wasn't a panel on it (roof included) without something scratched or pushed in and a hub cap was missing,

Last time I was at the junk yard.. there was a kid there with an integra.. EVERY panel on that car had bondo and primer on it. Really.. how do you dent the roof enough that it needs 5 pounds of bondo?

In reply to mad_machine:

In their case I was curious, too, as there is no reason to rope anything to the roof of a camry. The answer came while my M-I-L was dropping us off at an airport. She tried going through the gate after a car without getting a ticket and the gate came down on the hood. Had she hit the gas sooner, it would've been the roof. She wasn't trying to get free parking, it just hadn't clicked in her head what she had to do there. That is, until the gate slammed down in front of her.

Rufledt wrote: In reply to mad_machine: In their case I was curious, too, as there is no reason to rope anything to the roof of a camry. The answer came while my M-I-L was dropping us off at an airport. She tried going through the gate after a car without getting a ticket and the gate came down on the hood. Had she hit the gas sooner, it would've been the roof. She wasn't trying to get free parking, it just hadn't clicked in her head what she had to do there. That is, until the gate slammed down in front of her.

It is truly disturbing to me that there are people this oblivious to what is happening around them while they are driving.

In reply to e_pie:

You and me both

I got another one- My parents had some lazy, lazy people move in next door a few years ago. They don't mow the lawn until it's like a wheat field, and they leave towels on the line in the backyard until they rot from the UV rays. They had some car trouble (I wonder why) about the same time as they had a baby, so funds were tight, and a generous guy at their church gave them an old suburban to help out. A year later, the thing was dead. It turns out, the guy drove the car around for the year and never once popped the hood. Never checked the oil, ignored the warning lights, never took the thing to jiffy lube, nothing but gas. It ran out of oil, and he drove it until the thing wouldn't start anymore. As much as I don't like GM products, I have to admit those aren't crappy trucks. They just can't run forever without any oil.

Rufledt wrote:

neon4891 wrote: I bought my second neon at the same time my wife(then GF) got her first civic. 18 months in, she totals it. All we can afford was another older civic, from the same friend of the family. After an other 18 months, it is getting bad, we just got married and used wedding gift money for a down payment on a newer Accord. We are 18 months in, I'm taking excellent care of it, but she has already racked up 40K on it. By the time I plan to replace my neon in another... 18 months... I think her accord will have higher miles than the neon. So 4 1/2 years in the POS neon has outlasted 2 civics, and who knows what my wife will do to her car in another 18 months.

Is she the cause of these problems, or is it just bad luck? My wife's car looks pretty messed up, but she drives it into Boston, parks, and drives home every week day. The only damage I can blame on her isn't even bad enough to notice. I mean, the paint would've been scraped if the previous owner hadn't sand blasted it all off tailgating every gravel truck he could find. The best was a big merc that rear ended her on I93. It left a classy emblem print in the rear bumper, and all of his coolant on the ground. Her family, though. Dang. They destroyed a 2007 camry by 2011. There wasn't a panel on it (roof included) without something scratched or pushed in and a hub cap was missing, and none of them commute. At least they keep buying boring cars. The problem is that they keep driving at all. I just heard from my wife that her sister was complaining about her 2010-that's right, nearly show room new-corolla running kinda funny, and she (my wife) noticed a light on the dash. She asked my S-I-L when she got the oil changed last and her response- "I think a year ago?" argh... Good luck getting Toyota to replace a blown engine under warranty when the oil pan is full of sludge, and they have no record of any work being done to it. Even better- the whole family was driving on I93 and hit some debris, which totally isn't' their fault. It was night time, and bostonians drive like kids on the bumper car ride, so crash debris is everywhere. They drove on it to the next off ramp since the city really has no shoulder to pull over on, and parked somewhere. This ruined the tire/wheel completely. Potholes everywhere, ok, fine, that's understandable. What's not- In the car were 4 people with BA's, 2 of those with MA's, and 1 of those has a Ph.D. The 5th person had no degree at all, as they were 19 and in college. None of them knew how to change a tire. The car had a jack, a spare, 'tools' and instructions. Good thing they weren't in the middle of nowhere with a blizzard coming in. They had some excuse, like the bolts wouldn't come loose (they did for me) but an emergency situation doesn't care about your excuses. It makes me really worry about them.

ever here of educated idiots ?

iceracer wrote: ever here of educated idiots ?

Book smart, common sense stupid.