Why some people are too stupid to own a car

[jjeff]

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[Eagle1]

Or parents that will, not all learning happens at school.

 

[BravoXray]

I have thought that it would be in a car manufacturer's best interest to give a discount on an extended warranty to buyers that take a class on basic car maintenance, at the dealer of maybe at a local career center and go through the vehicle's owner's manual, so they know about scheduled maintenance, like oil and filter changes, tire rotation and general vehicle care, i.e. wash the thing and keep it clean, inside and out. Have a service rep or tech show them how to check the oil and tire pressures. Maybe even make oil changes free if done at the recommended interval.
Also explain how if properly maintained, the vehicle will be worth a lot more when/if they decide to trade it later on a newer model.

 

[dodge man]

I’m a car guy and work on things in general. I tried to pass this on to my kids. It didn’t happen. My son has some skills but keeping his car clean isn’t on his list of priorities. I “made” my daughter change the oil in her car once, that was a one time thing. She has plenty of common sense but once again, keeping her car up isn’t high on her priority list.

 

[jjeff]

Have my young stepson help me maintain an old Honda 3813 lawn tractor without a deck that he occasionally uses to spray and pick our sweet corn with. At times he wants to learn stuff not involving an I pad lol he also participated when we changed out the timing belt on that old lawn mower. When he gets older I will teach him other things like backing a trailer on a truck and hopefully if it's still running driving a 5 speed on my winter beater.

 

[NoTrespassing]

I’m a car guy and work on things in general. I tried to pass this on to my kids. It didn’t happen. My son has some skills but keeping his car clean isn’t on his list of priorities. I “made” my daughter change the oil in her car once, that was a one time thing. She has plenty of common sense but once again, keeping her car up isn’t high on her priority list.

I've never kept my commuter cars clean. I think I've only washed my last two commuter cars a few times. The inside is as bad as the outside. I used to change the oil myself but found a good mechanic and his one-man shop with a lift. I buy the oil and filter and he changes it while I watch for $20. It's hard to get those little cars up on ramps without destroying the plastic air dams although it can be done. We do keep my wife's SUV clean.

My father on the other hand has always been meticulous about the upkeep of his cars, they are immaculate. He has a couple one-man shops that he takes his cars to for maintenance and repair. He was never into wrenching.

 

[jjeff]

Cleaning out one of my old trucks to sell found dozens of carpenter pencils lol

 

[BnRidge]

I think just about everything anyone does becomes a matter of tolerance and apptitude. There are a lot of things I can do myself that others can't or won't. But there are also many things that are just the opposite.
Also, it's been a goal for a long time in the automotive world to reduce the amount of scheduled maintenance. It takes longer now to meet the tolerance level of a non working vehicle.

 

[jjeff]

I think just about everything anyone does becomes a matter of tolerance and apptitude. There are a lot of things I can do myself that others can't or won't. But there are also many things that are just the opposite.
Also, it's been a goal for a long time in the automotive world to reduce the amount of scheduled maintenance. It takes longer now to meet the tolerance level of a non working vehicle.

Seems like these days added sometimes expensive vehicle options fail long before a major component including junk to make the vehicle "easier" to use like self driving cars, "capless fuel fill" electronic push button transmissions. Still recall when I bought my first car that didn't have a transmission dipstick anymore, spent an hour looking for the now mostly obsolete contraption on newer cars lol.

 

[AWSubie]

Brake fluid should be changed out every two years, but not many people do it.

I’m guilty…..

 

[jjeff]

Brake fluid should be changed out every two years, but not many people do it.

I’m guilty…..

Never heard of changing brake fluid til about a decade ago lol

 

[Oaktree]

HP don't mean a lot to me, MPG does.

I don't obsess about either. Adequate performance and reasonable gas mileage is fine with me. I'm not going to drive some cramped, underpowered little econobox just to save a few bucks on gas.

I’m a car guy and work on things in general. I tried to pass this on to my kids. It didn’t happen. My son has some skills but keeping his car clean isn’t on his list of priorities. I “made” my daughter change the oil in her car once, that was a one time thing. She has plenty of common sense but once again, keeping her car up isn’t high on her priority list.

Also, it's been a goal for a long time in the automotive world to reduce the amount of scheduled maintenance. It takes longer now to meet the tolerance level of a non working vehicle.

BnRidge makes a good point. Most of us here are of an age where if you didn't do maintenance on a regular basis, your vehicle didn't last very long. Today's young people never lived in that era...modern vehicles go 100+K with little or no maintenance.

Brake fluid should be changed out every two years, but not many people do it.

I’m guilty…..

Me too. Never heard of that. Sounds like a real hassle to DIY.

 

[NoTrespassing]

I don't obsess about either. Adequate performance and reasonable gas mileage is fine with me. I'm not going to drive some cramped, underpowered little econobox just to save a few bucks on gas.


BnRidge makes a good point. Most of us here are of an age where if you didn't do maintenance on a regular basis, your vehicle didn't last very long. Today's young people never lived in that era...modern vehicles go 100+K with little or no maintenance.

Me too. Never heard of that. Sounds like a real hassle to DIY.

I save about $1800 per year (40mpg vs 20mpg) driving my cramped econobox just in gas. Multiply that by 23 years = over $40k, some people have their price.

 

[Oaktree]

I save about $1800 per year (40mpg vs 20mpg) driving my cramped econobox just in gas. Multiply that by 23 years = over $40k, some people have their price.

Oh, I went thru a phase of that myself. When I got into my 50s I just decided that life was too short to drive an uncomfortable car. Very much a YMMV situation.

 

[jjeff]

Older Compact 4 cylinder 5 speeds I find for are fun to drive, seem to last reliably way past there expiration date,
economical to operate, and relatively easy to wrench on,for me anyway they are great commuter, 2nd cars, or winter beaters. Because it seems no one wants older, quirky 4cylinder 5 speeds you can still find them in ok shape cheap. Provided you don't mind stuff like rust, maybe a check engine light, or a chipped windshield lol.

 

[deserteagle71]

When I got into my 50s I just decided that life was too short to drive an uncomfortable car. Very much a YMMV situation.

Exactly! I can afford it, so here in the last few years of my life I'll be darned if I'll skimp and save just so my heirs can spend my money.

 

[Bearsixty7]

Me too. Never heard of that. Sounds like a real hassle to DIY.

Not really, there are some brake bleeding kits that aren't too expensive that makes doing it yourself pretty easy. I've done it on a couple of our vehicles.

Something like this,

https://www.amazon.com/Motive-Products-0090-Power-Bleeder/dp/B00O6FZJFG/ref=asc_df_B00O6FZJFG?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80195684681607&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583795260945664&psc=1

and they also have little bottles with a hose that fits on the bleeders so you don't get brake fluid all over.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07L52B4CX/ref=sspa_dk_detail_9?psc=1&pf_rd_p=56b6d1e1-8781-4e32-a7bc-5298ad4b88ac&pf_rd_r=C8S7VYANS0DMXM50BXE1&pd_rd_wg=SSNhd&pd_rd_w=gKUPZ&content-id=amzn1.sym.56b6d1e1-8781-4e32-a7bc-5298ad4b88ac&pd_rd_r=49dcc5e1-b212-4b34-b993-1c94be94ab3b&s=automotive&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWwy&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUFNVjhTR09DRURWSzgmZW5jcnlwdGVkSWQ9QTAxNTc2MjZOUVo1NjJaVEhRTiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNzc4ODY2M1I0MDJSMjM1NkNZVCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2RldGFpbDImYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

These are not the ones I have but will give you an idea.

 

[Eagle1]

Around here someone always busts a brake line and then it get all new fluid and a wheel well wash.

 

[Jstpssng]

.

I would argue that most of these are the parent’s job.

Edit; I am not the first to point that out.

 

[KennyG]

Brake fluid should be changed out every two years, but not many people do it.

I’m guilty…..

Brake fluid changes may be recommended for some cars every two years, but I think that's a little obsessive. For most people who's driving habits are average, flushing when you do a brake job should be adequate.