Agent009
Agent009
"If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough."
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Are Better Cars Making The Average Driver Mechanically Dumber?
A recent British survey revealed that an alarming number of drivers couldn’t point to the most basic engine components, much less name them on sight. A similar survey performed by Goodyear earlier in the year indicates that 60% of American drivers did not know how to check tire pressure on the car much less change a flat tire if it was needed.

With reliability quickly becoming non issue and the complexity of internal systems on modern vehicle on the rise, the typical consumer is being forced to forego many services to outside facilities rather than perform the most basic service. Our question to you is do you perform any maintenance on your vehicle, or simply trust another individual to do it for you?




Are Better Cars Making The Average Driver Mechanically Dumber?



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Agent009Agent009 - 7/13/2007 4:02:36 PMView My AgentSpace
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So can you find the dip stick? Or call AAA?

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Caddyman07Caddyman07 - 7/13/2007 4:26:22 PM
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You have never opened the hood of your car except to clean it? What do you mean clean it. Clean what?

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BimmerstangBimmerstang - 7/13/2007 4:32:04 PM
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The dipstick is a "moot" point on the new BMWs...no dipstick.
Stop the madness for us stupid old gear heads

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JonathanJonathan - 7/14/2007 1:48:23 AM
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It initially shocked me when I couldn't find the dipstick on our AMG as I was used to doing fluid checks myself. There is an electronic oil level gauge. I finally came to terms with it when I realized that we all trust our fuel gauges and don't really need a dipstick for our gas.



Will_Will_ - 7/13/2007 4:36:18 PM
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Increasing dealership service is also to blame, specially BMW's free maintenance. With such programs in place, you'll never have to open your hood unless something goes terribly wrong.

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BremboBrembo - 7/13/2007 4:43:57 PM
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I didn't know cars come with oil dipstick anymore.

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EnnNorakEnnNorak - 7/14/2007 2:14:02 PM
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Not only do cars still come with dipsticks but some dipsticks are designed by dipshits. I have an Audi A6 (fortunately leased) that has the most useless hard-to-read dipstick you can imagine. It's all-plastic (presumably to meet some silly wight goal) and it's only slightly stiffer than a Gorilla's pubic hair. Whatever happened to good old stiff metal dipsticks?


I95SPEEDINGTICKETSI95SPEEDINGTICKETS - 7/13/2007 5:13:14 PM
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Yep
They still do.

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kart1kart1 - 7/13/2007 7:30:17 PM
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I can do all of those things and I do all of those things except changing the oil. The reason is because the cost of the oil change (around $24 for my MR2 and $28 for my TSX) isn't that much.

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IS3andMEIS3andME - 7/13/2007 8:22:00 PM
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Caltrans, come on, put a little effort in it. I change the oil in my IS300, plus I bought the manual. I like being able to understand what problems there are and how to solve them, just so the dealerships to pull a fast one (and they all do from time to time---especailly to people who think like you do). For newer cars you can watch the mechanic do the job and ask questions and buy the manuals for the cars. People like having an excuse to be lazy, and have somebody else do something for them.

As far as I know, cars still have engines, spark plugs, 4 wheels, and brakes. It is just the electronic sytems that control all these components have gotten more complicated. If you have a foundation of the former and have a yearning for knowledge and ask questions, you can figure out a lot more and save money

Yes, it's not like a Nova SS, but at least try to learn something about taking care of your car...

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PlanoA4PlanoA4 - 7/13/2007 10:38:33 PM
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I always change the oil, rotate the tires, etc. By doing so I am also inspecting for any issues. I have found this heads off most issues, like a screw in the inside sidewall of a tire. A high speed blowout waiting to happen.

I also have the diagnostic software to monitor the complete vehicle. May times this is where the dealers nail you and you can head it off at the get go.

for example I reset an error code on the AC unit of a car that said an expensive vacuum switch had failed to operate. The dealer wanted to replace the part at over $750 plus labor. Four years later the error code never popped up again and the issue never reoccurred. The error codes tell you everything.

A bad tank of gas than throw several error codes that the dealer can use to replace parts needlessly. When all that is needed is to clear the code and see if it reoccurs after the gas is replaced.

Dealerships are under tremendous pressure to make money and many times an error code can be tripped and a part replaced for no real reason. Of course if the code reappears it should not be ignored.


RupertRupert - 7/14/2007 6:57:21 PMView My AgentSpace
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I'm good with most stuff...but my filters? My what?

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