Ode to the full service gas station
 

which, if it isn't dead yet, is at least a dying breed. They are rapidly disappearing from the landscape.

I am, I'm ashamed to admit, unable to check the pressure on my tires myself or check or change the oil (not to mention change a tire, but that's another issue). Yeah, I know they are easy tasks, and I could learn to do them. But dammit, I don't wanna!

I used to take my car in once a month to the full service station to get the tires and fluids checked. So what if I paid a bit more for gas? I usually wouldn't even get a full tank. But now, with the price of gas, full-service is going the way of the dodo. Now there's no place to take my car to, so what am I going to do?

Around here, all the oil change places check your tires and fluids, and often will even rotate the tires and/or top off the fluids, free of charge with the oil change.

Get AAA and take your car to a regular shop for maintenance. They usually have package deals oil change/fluid checks etc. I just got a bunch of coupons in the mail for maintenance crap from the place I bought my car...

That's basically what I've been doing, but I need to check the oil and tires far more often than I need to change the oil or rotate the tires or something. They say tire pressure really affects your gas mileage.

I'm not great with "car stuff"--breakdowns make me very nervous, which is why I tried to buy the most reliable car I could find. But I want to take responsibility for it and keep it running for a while. I've wanted to get a tire gauge for a while, but I think there are several different kinds, and some of them are duds. Don't know which kind is good.

ALTERNATIVELY, YOU COULD USE THIS AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO TRY A NEW FIELD

PICK UP A SMALL REPAIR MANUAL FOR YOUR CAR ON BASIC MAINTENCE AND TURN IT INTO A SMALL HOBBY. I KNOW THIS SOUNDS LIKE IM A DUMBASS BUT SERIOUSLY STICK WITH IT FOR TWO WEEKS AND JUST CHECK THINGS

EVEN IF YOU NEVER GO BACK TO IT AGAIN YOU MIGHT LEARN SKILLS THAT YOU CAN APPLY IN OTHER AREAS OF YOUR LIFE

I FEEL THAT IN HAVING DONE SO MYSELF I AM A MORE WELL ROUNDED PERSON

That's good advice. Unfortunately not for me. I've tried similar things before with poor results, and I know that I am not mechanically minded. Years ago, when I bought a really nice ten-speed bicycle, I decided I was really going to learn to take care of it. I took a class, I got and read several books, I tinkered with it. And when I finally got down to serious maintenance . . . I took it apart and could not get it together by myself.

I have lots of talents, and lots of hobbies. I know my strengths and weaknesses. I would not trust anything I did to my car myself to be right.

I don't check my oil, I just get it changed regularly.
Tire pressure drops with the temperature. Unless you have leaky tires it shouldn't be an issue for you more then once a year.
I have auto tire pressure sensors, even for the spare (yeah, its not annoying at all to have that info flashing at me for weeks on end because putting air in the spare is a huge PIA).

ARE ANY OF YOUR FRIENDS MECHANICALLY MINDED? IF THAT IS THE CASE THEN MAYBE YOU CAN DO SOMETHING FOR THEM IN EXCHANGE FOR THEM CHECKING YOUR CAR OUT OCCASIONALLY

PERHAPS YOU CAN PAINT OR COOK OR DO SOMETHING FOR THEM AND SET UP A ROUTINE

YOU CAN GET MANY SERVICES VERY CHEAPLY THIS WAY IF YOU LIVE IN SMALLER AREAS WHERE IT IS NOT CONVIENT TO GO INTO TOWN AT A SERVICE STATION OR A MECHANIC

JUST MY TWO CENTS

Well just bless your large fonts. :2cents:

I predict, sometime in the future, the rise of the "luxury" gas station, back to full service.

. . . I'm waiting.

Okay. Who let the retards out of their pen?

(I'm not talking about Cloud, I'm talking about the shouter.)

How much would you be willing to pay?
Because this makes me wonder if station owners would allow independent workers to operate in their driveways. The gas is at the regular price and self serve is an option. But if you prefer, the bum who used to wash windscreens at the traffic lights will do any of the following:
pump your gas ... $1
wash your glass ...$1
check your tires ...$1
check your oil ......$1
sell you crack ... (negotiable)

S/he might spend 10 or 15 minutes doing a full check on a car, and so, allowing for downtime, might make $10-15 per hour.
I can foresee potential problems... safety for the workers, public liability, risk of scamming gas money, tax questions... What do you think? Would you pay?

With apologies to Keats

O auto shape! fair prices! with brakes
Of marble interiors and mechanics overwrought,
With windshield wipers and the tire treads;
Thou, silent horn! dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity: Cold Pumpernickel!
When old oil shall this make and model waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of a free tow
Than ours, a friend to fuel, to whom thou say'st,
'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.'

the shouter is new. It takes a while to figure out what's kosher here.

Zengum, the cost of those extra services was built in to the higher cost of gasoline. Don't wanna pay a bum to do it.

the other thing is the convenience factor. I could just pull in and pull out. With a regular car mechanic place, you pretty much have to leave your car for a while, or wait.

Well, I was thinking that it would be at a station with regular (self-service) prices, and you would have the option of tipping the bum/driveway worker, or DIYing.
My next thought was ... would you trust people like that with your car, and thus your safety? :headshake

Shawnee: : applause :