Quote:
Originally Posted by Clodfobble
Translation: tw either drives like a grandma for less than 10,000 miles a year... OR tw is one of those people who does his own car maintenance and thus fundamentally doesn't understand the reliance an average person has on a mechanic.
|
tw got educated by 1970 crap cars. Often fell asleep on shop manuals. No way was I going to have anything repaired and not also learn why failures happen.
Two years after getting a Honda Accord, I took the tool box out. Never needed it anymore.
How many people in the late 1960s had intermittent windshield wipers. I did. The option was not available. So I designed it. How many had car alarms. I did. Again, it was not available. So I design multiple versions. How many had electronic ignition? Almost nobody. So I designed one. When did electronics ignitions finally appear? 1975 and only because EPA laws all but forced this innovation.
Ever have your electronic ignition fail? I did once in the late 1970s. So I traced the failure using only a light bulb. Replaced the failed part (with help from someone who picked me up hickhiking). Then broke open the electronic part to learn why it failed. I have little tolerance for failure and routinely must know why.
Every 5000 miles, cars went into the shop for a tuneup - points and condensor. About $100. Tires lasted only 20,000 miles (sometimes only 10,000 miles) since tire manufacturers conspired to keep the radials out of America. Grasp the trend? tw has significant knowledge about cars AND stopped doing all that maintenance once he bought cars not designed by bean counters.
What are most all failures directly traceable to (excluding those created by crashes)? Defective designs or human created failures. An idler arm was too loose (worn) causing dimished steering. So I installed a new one. But the replacement part was more defective than the original. So I put the worn one back in. That was a GM part. Read DeLorean's book to learn why.
Caught the mechanic putting 90 weight gear oil in my 1975 5 speed transmission. That would have destroyed the transmission months later. Again, failure that would have been directly traceable to humans too ignorant to first consult the manual. Humans are too often another reason for failure.
I learned by doing maintenance. Now I own Hondas. Maintenace so rare and simple that I do it all myself. Only oil changes, coolant change, an exhaust system maybe every 80,000 miles, tires every 70,000 to 108,000 miles (except when I once clicked a curb), etc. Oh. Another advantage of properly designed cars: bolts are made of proper steel so that torches and bolt cutters are not required.
Maintenance is so simple as to rarely need a mechanic. Spark plugs? No longer replaced even after 120,000 miles. A major change from the 1970s when cars were designed by bean counters.
Brake pad replacement? Once it was so complex. Even the parking brake cables were once located as to rust stuck or exposed so that water would cause them to freeze. No longer (even on the very first Honda Accord). Do you know why parking brake cables seized? I learned. It no longer happens after I stopped buying bean counter designed cars. Wheel alignment? No car designed by a car guy needs wheel alignment in its lifetime (except when a part is bent by a crash). But then how many got wheel alignment every year because they bought a GM product?
Repack grease in wheel bearings or lube all ball joints? No longer required as soon as I started buying products from car guys. Ever have to replace the computer? Again, maintenance - or connectors that corrode because some bean counter saved money?
I know this shit with a vengence because I fix everything in order to trace every failure back to its source. I can tell horror stories of auto defects routinely traceable to anti-American auto companies. No minimally acceptable car requires expensive maintenance.
One reason for buying parts from a dealer? How they treat women in the repair shop suggests which repair shop is probably inventing or creating failures. Women are routinely 'taken' by some mechanics and car salesman. I left a lot of my blood inside some cars - because I had to learn why.
There is no accpetable reason for major repairs on any seven year old car. Those problems are most always traceable to defective designs or some human who screwed up the car.
Do you buy your wiper blades at the dealer, or from Pep Boys, Walmart, et al? If not from the dealer, then you are probably paying maybe three times more money. It is normal for wipers to last 10 months to 26 months without streaking. When do you finally get tired of buying new wiper blades every three months? No wonder some people are so used to spending so much on maintenance. They even buy gas at the disount station and are spending more money on gas (a previous Cellar thread). I also dislike taking the car into the shop for inspection. Human hands mean failures. I never make that many changes to a car and don't like humans creating new failures. Humans - one of the two major reasons for expensive auto repairs.