Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

jmonroe

driver100 said:

houdini1 said:

driver100 said:

houdini1 said:

And here I just thought that I might lose my radio settings ! When the shop replaces your battery how do they keep all this from happening? I assume they have to disconnect the old battery before replacing it with a new one.

That is a good question, which JMonroe basically answered. But, I can't find out - and I have looked around, what happens if your battery goes dead and you have to get all your settings back? Maybe it can't lose 100% of it's power, but, I think though, for example if it cracked it could. I'd like to know what is involved....like I said, Maserati said it could cost a few $1000s. In the MB manual it says don't leave your car for more than 6 weeks without running it or you should use a trickle charger.

How expensive could it be to have a small back up battery for critical items, like computers and smart phones have.

Exactly....I think RB said BMWs have something that would do that. Maybe we should sell the idea to a car company.
I have a friend who fixes his cars and keeps them running for a long time...usually around 200,000 miles.
This was his quote about the GLK not starting, and about it being OK after a 30 mile run on the highway;

Chargers perform the best by trickle charging, so, methinks your battery needs to be replaced! There may still be a bit of life in the battery, but on really cold days it loses 2/3rds of its power! A good charger will get the battery up quicker than the alternator/generator of the car.....so.....driving the car helps but an overnight charge is far superior!

I agree with your friend that your battery probably needs replaced because at its age it is due. However, I don't agee with him that a charger, especially a float or trickle charger is better for charging a battery than the cars charging system because a cars charging system has infinitely more charging capacity than ANY float or trickle charger. Other than when you leave a car undriven for long periods of time like you do, a good battery never needs charging at home. If you need to use a float or trickle charger for regularly driven cars, that is a good indication that you have a battery that is failing. I own a lots of tools and testers but I have never owned a battery charger of any kind because my cars are driven regularly. If a properly operating cars electrical system cannot keep a battery charged, you have a battery that should be replaced before it totally fails on you.

As has been mentioned, batteries today don't last much more than 5 to 7 years. A big reason for this is because they are maintenance free. Years ago you had to add water to car batteries every so often to keep them alive. Today you can't add water and because of this they slowly cook themselves to death. So we pay for the convenience of not maintaining our batteries by replacing them more often. There ain't no such thing as a free lunch, not even when it comes to batteries.

jmonroe

imidazol97

I think what's missing here is that the MB store should have done a quick battery test, much like Walmart or Autozone can do just by connecting a device that simulates a load test as well as checking the charging system. That equipment detects deterioration of the battery without actually doing a load test, IIUC.

They could have said that Mrs. 100, your battery is only at 40% of its original capability. We can check it with load testing after a proper charge. Here is an S456 as a loaner for your needs and please return for the car when we call with more information.

Now Driver100 is going to wonder if he'll come home to a dead car and a scorched charger.

Maybe Mrs. 100 should stop at Walmart's auto service and have it checked. Or Canada Tire. I liked that company when we had them here in the US.

fintail

A long drive might solve it.

Back in 2018 with my prior car, I had a similar issue. I was gone for 3 weeks, came home to a dead battery (car was 2 years old). MB roadside assistance jumped it, and everything was back to normal. Fast forward a month, I am heading out early on Christmas Eve, press the button and all of the lights flicker, starter would only click. Called roadside assistance again, they jump it and suggest I visit the dealer (who was open that day). I stopped by, spent a couple hours there while it charged, then hit the highway for a few hundred miles. Never had another issue. For the few weeks prior to the Christmas Eve incident, I only drove the car on short ~3 mile drives (20 minutes in traffic here), it was thought that many short drives with no longer drives to recharge harmed the battery.

For the current car, I can actually check the battery status with the car's app, and when it hits a certain point, the car sends an alert.

My old car, which has virtually no draw while the car sits idle, is apparently easy on batteries even though it has a generator. Current battery is from 2014 with no signs of issues, prior battery lasted 7 years, and was only done in when the car suffered an issue which required constant cranking to start, to the point that my indy mechanic suggested I just replace the battery after I drained it via an unsuccessful starting attempt (car had to be towed, another fun incident).

driver100 said:

Mrs D flew home for a few days....can't be gone for more than 2 months at a time for some reason. She got there last night, took the GLK off the trickle charger, drove one block to a neighbors house to pick up the mail.....the temperature was -10F.......unusually cold.
She drove home....car wouldn't start for her this morning. Took Uber to a doctors appointment. Called AAA, they came, boosted her car to start it. She drove it to Mercedes dealer.
Here is the lesson to be learned:
This is what the service advisor theorizes; The trickle charger probably doesn't keep the batteries power topped up, it allows just enough of a charge to keep all the instruments and settings working. Will probably start the car, but, under extreme conditions like this....very cold, the battery won't be kept charged very much.
She is going out of town this afternoon, hoping the driving will keep the battery charged enough.

driver100

cdnpinhead said:

P. T. Barnum said it best, closely followed by H. L. Mencken.

Look it up, if you don't know already.

That is fine....but, can somebody tell us what the actual cost would be to get all your settings and codes back, if the battery is really dead?

driver100

jmonroe said:

driver100 said:

houdini1 said:

driver100 said:

houdini1 said:

And here I just thought that I might lose my radio settings ! When the shop replaces your battery how do they keep all this from happening? I assume they have to disconnect the old battery before replacing it with a new one.

That is a good question, which JMonroe basically answered. But, I can't find out - and I have looked around, what happens if your battery goes dead and you have to get all your settings back? Maybe it can't lose 100% of it's power, but, I think though, for example if it cracked it could. I'd like to know what is involved....like I said, Maserati said it could cost a few $1000s. In the MB manual it says don't leave your car for more than 6 weeks without running it or you should use a trickle charger.

How expensive could it be to have a small back up battery for critical items, like computers and smart phones have.

Exactly....I think RB said BMWs have something that would do that. Maybe we should sell the idea to a car company.
I have a friend who fixes his cars and keeps them running for a long time...usually around 200,000 miles.
This was his quote about the GLK not starting, and about it being OK after a 30 mile run on the highway;

Chargers perform the best by trickle charging, so, methinks your battery needs to be replaced! There may still be a bit of life in the battery, but on really cold days it loses 2/3rds of its power! A good charger will get the battery up quicker than the alternator/generator of the car.....so.....driving the car helps but an overnight charge is far superior!

I agree with your friend that your battery probably needs replaced because at its age it is due. However, I don't agee with him that a charger, especially a float or trickle charger is better for charging a battery than the cars charging system because a cars charging system has infinitely more charging capacity than ANY float or trickle charger. Other than when you leave a car undriven for long periods of time like you do, a good battery never needs charging at home. If you need to use a float or trickle charger for regularly driven cars, that is a good indication that you have a battery that is failing. I own a lots of tools and testers but I have never owned a battery charger of any kind because my cars are driven regularly. If a properly operating cars electrical system cannot keep a battery charged, you have a battery that should be replaced before it totally fails on you.

As has been mentioned, batteries today don't last much more than 5 to 7 years. A big reason for this is because they are maintenance free. Years ago you had to add water to car batteries every so often to keep them alive. Today you can't add water and because of this they slowly cook themselves to death. So we pay for the convenience of not maintaining our batteries by replacing them more often. There ain't no such thing as a free lunch, not even when it comes to batteries.

jmonroe

Good answer. I think what my friend was saying was the trickle charger was not the culprit in his opinion. He believes the battery was charged, but taking it off the charger, and leaving it in 0 F weather for about 15 hours could have zapped 2/3rds of the batteries power...or more, if the battery isn't up to par.

roadburner

driver100 said:

cdnpinhead said:

P. T. Barnum said it best, closely followed by H. L. Mencken.

Look it up, if you don't know already.

That is fine....but, can somebody tell us what the actual cost would be to get all your settings and codes back, if the battery is really dead?

As I've said repeatedly, most likely $0.00; the Maserati service information I posted stated that except for the time and date the car essentially resets itself. In light of that I'd like your friend to ask that Maserati dealer exactly what they do to justify a $1000 labor charge; the fact that they "generously" did it for free tells me it was a scare tactic. Again, don't fall victim to that "we gotta program EVERYTHING" scam.

driver100

imidazol97 said:

I think what's missing here is that the MB store should have done a quick battery test, much like Walmart or Autozone can do just by connecting a device that simulates a load test as well as checking the charging system. That equipment detects deterioration of the battery without actually doing a load test, IIUC.

They could have said that Mrs. 100, your battery is only at 40% of its original capability. We can check it with load testing after a proper charge. Here is an S456 as a loaner for your needs and please return for the car when we call with more information.

Now Driver100 is going to wonder if he'll come home to a dead car and a scorched charger.

Maybe Mrs. 100 should stop at Walmart's auto service and have it checked. Or Canada Tire. I liked that company when we had them here in the US.

Usually the MB dealer gets you in and out quickly, often do things without an appointment right away. But, my guess is the unusually cold weather for a few days overloaded them with work. They said the best thing was to drive the car the 30 miles she had to go....and that seemed to solve the problem.

The good thing is it made me think about the 2014 C250 whose battery is almost 7 years old. I'll take that in when we return in November.

No time to change the GLK now, Mrs D returns tomorrow, but, will have it looked at when we get back in April.

driver100

roadburner said:

driver100 said:

cdnpinhead said:

P. T. Barnum said it best, closely followed by H. L. Mencken.

Look it up, if you don't know already.

That is fine....but, can somebody tell us what the actual cost would be to get all your settings and codes back, if the battery is really dead?

As I've said repeatedly, most likely $0.00; the Maserati service information I posted stated that except for the time and date the car essentially resets itself. In light of that I'd like your friend to ask that Maserati dealer exactly what they do to justify a $1000 labor charge; the fact that they "generously" did it for free tells me it was a scare tactic. Again, don't fall victim to that "we gotta program EVERYTHING" scam.

Good explanation....thanks. I do know one thing, because of the poor visibility he dented a rear panel when backing up.....Maserati wasted $4000 to fix it, the Lexus body shop he uses did it for $1800.

driver100

As has been mentioned, batteries today don't last much more than 5 to 7 years. A big reason for this is because they are maintenance free. Years ago you had to add water to car batteries every so often to keep them alive. Today you can't add water and because of this they slowly cook themselves to death. So we pay for the convenience of not maintaining our batteries by replacing them more often. There ain't no such thing as a free lunch, not even when it comes to batteries.
jmonroe

I forgot to mention.......this was very informative...makes sense and is another reason I'll check out the battery in the C250 when we return in November.

ab348

tjc78 said:

I guess your Continental was an upscale car.

In it's day, I'm sure it was. By the time I got it, no. It was a winter beater.

Looked just like this one (plus rust):

Maybe you should indulge nostalgia and get this:

https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/lincoln/town-coupe/2341055.html?refer=blog

sda

That dash was so much classier, and had real gauges instead of warning lights than the 77 and later Lincolns, which was very similar to that of the Marquis.

ab348 said:

tjc78 said:

I guess your Continental was an upscale car.

In it's day, I'm sure it was. By the time I got it, no. It was a winter beater.

Looked just like this one (plus rust):

Maybe you should indulge nostalgia and get this:

https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/lincoln/town-coupe/2341055.html?refer=blog

tjc78

Nice ride. Many purists believe 77 was the last good year. 460 was still available and Lincoln specific dash.

tjc78

I will have another land. Just not sure if it will be a late 70s Continental or a Panther.

fintail

Oh that steering wheel design, it was in virtually everything.

sda

tjc78 said:

Nice ride. Many purists believe 77 was the last good year. 460 was still available and Lincoln specific dash.

My bad, I was thinking 77 was the first year of the lesser dash. As you may remember we had a 77 GrandMarquis, 460, deep dish wheels, dark metallic brown, matching vinyl roof, and dark brown leather and corduroy interior. I used to play Emmy Lou Harris, Luxury Liner, on 8 track, of course when I drove it, lol. For some reason, I liked that car, still do.

oldfarmer50

sda said:

That dash was so much classier, and had real gauges instead of warning lights than the 77 and later Lincolns, which was very similar to that of the Marquis.

ab348 said:

tjc78 said:

I guess your Continental was an upscale car.

In it's day, I'm sure it was. By the time I got it, no. It was a winter beater.

Looked just like this one (plus rust):

Maybe you should indulge nostalgia and get this:

https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/lincoln/town-coupe/2341055.html?refer=blog

78k miles, that’s just about the useful life span of a car in 1975. They were so poorly made and full of pollution controls. 218 net hp. from a massive 460.

BTW, that Tesla that someone bought used and had the features removed? It was just announced that Tesla put all the features back.

sda

oldfarmer50 said:

sda said:

That dash was so much classier, and had real gauges instead of warning lights than the 77 and later Lincolns, which was very similar to that of the Marquis.

ab348 said:

tjc78 said:

I guess your Continental was an upscale car.

In it's day, I'm sure it was. By the time I got it, no. It was a winter beater.

Looked just like this one (plus rust):

Maybe you should indulge nostalgia and get this:

https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/lincoln/town-coupe/2341055.html?refer=blog

78k miles, that’s just about the useful life span of a car in 1975. They were so poorly made and full of pollution controls. 218 net hp. from a massive 460.

BTW, that Tesla that someone bought used and had the features removed? It was just announced that Tesla put all the features back.

That sounds right. At less than 50k the transmission started to slur shifts 2-3. Dad didn’t want to pay for a transmission repair so he traded it for 78 Deville D’Elegance with 35k. About 6 months after, it digested it’s transmission which he had to replace. Can I say he wasn’t pleased. Worse yet, he took a fancy to a gorgeous 79 Eldorado diesel. A good experience, no. He didn’t buy another GM car for years.

explorerx4

@oldfarmer50,
Nothing like some bad national publicity to make you change your mind.

fintail

My mom's old T-Bird was the same way. I don't know what the mileage was when it hit the end of the line, but I know in 1985, something went awry (transmission I think), and my dad told my mom it wasn't worth fixing (she loved the car and was sad to see it go). They literally gave it away, to a friend who built custom cars and wanted some bits from it. It was roughly a 10 year old car, a somewhat premium product when new, never crashed, not beat up, maintained, but with scrap value.

Funny thing, it was replaced by a Tempo, a car that doesn't have the best quality rep. The Tempo stayed in the family, under a few drivers, for 14 years, and was finally sold, still running and driving fine (eventually driven by teen drivers, but still maintained), with 190K miles on it.

sda said:

That sounds right. At less than 50k the transmission started to slur shifts 2-3. Dad didn’t want to pay for a transmission repair so he traded it for 78 Deville D’Elegance with 35k. About 6 months after, it digested it’s transmission which he had to replace. Can I say he wasn’t pleased. Worse yet, he took a fancy to a gorgeous 79 Eldorado diesel. A good experience, no. He didn’t buy another GM car for years.

ab348

fintail said:

Oh that steering wheel design, it was in virtually everything.

New for '75 I believe, and Ford used variations of it in just about everything they made. The '74 and earlier version was similar but with straight-across spokes instead of bending down at the ends.

sda

I do like the dark blue leather interior. I’m so tired of gray, black, tan, ivory.

imidazol97

sda said:

I do like the dark blue leather interior. I’m so tired of gray, black, tan, ivory.

X2

sda

What's wrong with this picture?

stickguy

It’s not the BMW you traded your accord for?

houdini1

tjc78 said:

Nice ride. Many purists believe 77 was the last good year. 460 was still available and Lincoln specific dash.

That is about when everyone went over to front wheel drive.

tjc78

sda said:

oldfarmer50 said:

sda said:

That dash was so much classier, and had real gauges instead of warning lights than the 77 and later Lincolns, which was very similar to that of the Marquis.

ab348 said:

tjc78 said:

I guess your Continental was an upscale car.

In it's day, I'm sure it was. By the time I got it, no. It was a winter beater.

Looked just like this one (plus rust):

Maybe you should indulge nostalgia and get this:

https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/lincoln/town-coupe/2341055.html?refer=blog

78k miles, that’s just about the useful life span of a car in 1975. They were so poorly made and full of pollution controls. 218 net hp. from a massive 460.

BTW, that Tesla that someone bought used and had the features removed? It was just announced that Tesla put all the features back.

That sounds right. At less than 50k the transmission started to slur shifts 2-3. Dad didn’t want to pay for a transmission repair so he traded it for 78 Deville D’Elegance with 35k. About 6 months after, it digested it’s transmission which he had to replace. Can I say he wasn’t pleased. Worse yet, he took a fancy to a gorgeous 79 Eldorado diesel. A good experience, no. He didn’t buy another GM car for years.

Sloppy 2-3 shift on a C6 is easily fixed by adjusting the intermediate band. It’s a maintenance thing on that trans.

My 79 had nearly 200k on it. Engine was toast, but trans was fine and believed to be original.

jmonroe

sda said:

What's wrong with this picture?

Another Honda driver that can't read. Where I come from that is a towable offence.

jmonroe

abacomike

sda said:

tjc78 said:

Nice ride. Many purists believe 77 was the last good year. 460 was still available and Lincoln specific dash.

My bad, I was thinking 77 was the first year of the lesser dash. As you may remember we had a 77 GrandMarquis, 460, deep dish wheels, dark metallic brown, matching "Coach" vinyl roof, and dark brown leather and corduroy interior. I used to play Emmy Lou Harris, Luxury Liner, on 8 track, of course when I drove it, lol. For some reason, I liked that car, still do.

I bought a 1988 Lincoln Town Car in dark brown with a brown vinyl roof and brown leather interior. I drove that car from Chicago to North Miami Beach in 18 hours - it was truly a smooth road car at 70 mph - but it handled like a boat on a lake. It was quite "squishy" and cornered like a tortoise. But on a straightt road, it was delightful.

Cadillac in those days had a much better suspension and a Sedan DeVille handled and cornered quite a bit better. Lincoln was always known in those days as a "squishy" luxury sedan. My very next car was a Ford Mustang GT - I was so bored with the Lincoln I jumped onto a roller coaster, so to speak. Loved the stick with three pedals.

fintail

I think I have blabbed about it before, I vividly recall the rocker style cruise control switches, and my dad showing me how they worked. I imagined it was some kind of autopilot system, and was a little disappointed that it wasn't

ab348 said:

New for '75 I believe, and Ford used variations of it in just about everything they made. The '74 and earlier version was similar but with straight-across spokes instead of bending down at the ends.

explorerx4

Pretty much everyone has wheel mounts cruise control buttons now, so it was kind of ahead of its' time.

explorerx4

Shortly after Thanksgiving, I started getting noticing a moldy/pungent smell when I would get in the truck in the morning.
Watched a bunch of youtube video's on how to fix it.
My biggest problem was finding the cleaner locally, must be more of a seasonal item.
It's fairly warm today, mid forty's and sunny, so I did a couple of applications.
Will find out tomorrow if it worked!

fintail

Funny thing, MB used a cruise control stalk on many models well into the 2010s. Some people really hated it (it was muscle memory for me, as it was a layout they started using around 1973 IIRC and I had it in like 6 different cars), so it has now migrated to a steering wheel spoke.

graphicguy

explorerx4 said:

Shortly after Thanksgiving, I started getting noticing a moldy/pungent smell when I would get in the truck in the morning.
Watched a bunch of youtube video's on how to fix it.
My biggest problem was finding the cleaner locally, must be more of a seasonal item.
It's fairly warm today, mid forty's and sunny, so I did a couple of applications.
Will find out tomorrow if it worked!

Considering how my friend's ionizer worked on the smoke filled cabin of the used F150 he bought, I'd recommend one of those highly.

graphicguy

sda said:

What's wrong with this picture?

The only reliable car parked in the BMW lot? Just kidding, couldn't help myself...I like BMWs and have owned 3 of them.

tjc78

Toyota had the stalk thing for a good while too. I thought it was pretty convenient. It also allowed for more room for other steering wheel controls such as HVAC. I liked having that on the wheel.

fintail

Oh yeah, I think Toyota even used the same stalk switch for like 20 years as well.

I remember the MB setup would receive complaints of people confusing it for a turn signal stalk or something similarly dumb, so they eventually gave in.

tjc78 said:

Toyota had the stalk thing for a good while too. I thought it was pretty convenient. It also allowed for more room for other steering wheel controls such as HVAC. I liked having that on the wheel.

driver100

sda said:

What's wrong with this picture?

a BMW wannabe

houdini1

driver100 said:

sda said:

What's wrong with this picture?

a BMW wannabe

driver100 said:

sda said:

What's wrong with this picture?

a BMW wannabe

But if you had one of those you wouldn't be shopping for back up cameras and battery chargers.

sda

I had a nice Sunday morning strolling different car lots looking at cars. I find that relaxing and fun. The BMW Pre-Owned is part of a larger local dealership group and opened this store, next to their Honda dealership this month. I was walking back to my car and thought, what a good picture. Originally this was built for a Mazda dealership. It is also where I bought my 92 Miata.

driver100

houdini1 said:

driver100 said:

sda said:

What's wrong with this picture?

a BMW wannabe

driver100 said:

sda said:

What's wrong with this picture?

a BMW wannabe

But if you had one of those you wouldn't be shopping for back up cameras and battery chargers.

No, and I would be bored to tears driving it

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

houdini1 said:

driver100 said:

sda said:

What's wrong with this picture?

a BMW wannabe

driver100 said:

sda said:

What's wrong with this picture?

a BMW wannabe

But if you had one of those you wouldn't be shopping for back up cameras and battery chargers.

No, and I would be bored to tears driving it

If it’s reliability is anywhere near the myth I’d love driving it and giggling every time it turned over another 100k miles.🤪

cdnpinhead

The giggling person in a horizontally-striped shirt, horrified to be driving anything that isn't covered by a warranty.

Quite a picture.

abacomike

cdnpinhead said:

The giggling person in a horizontally-striped shirt, horrified to be driving anything that isn't covered by a warranty.

Quite a picture.

I would amend your comment by stating, "...any expensive German car that isn't covered by a warranty..."

As an afterthought, any expensive European car (MB, BMW, Mazeratti, Porsche, Rolls, Bentley, Jaguar, etc.)

dino001

So out-of-warranty Cadillac is OK?

driver100

dino001 said:

So out-of-warranty Cadillac is OK?

I was going to say the same for Cadillac too....I'd want an iron clad warranty on one of those.

I am more dubious about buying a used Cadillac than a used Mercedes.

However, I did see a new XT4 today that looked pretty nice, they really worked on those lines, especially around the rear lights.

driver100

.....don't forget, 2 out of 3 of our MBs are out of warranty!

roadburner

Over the past few weeks I noticed that I was unable to send addresses from my BMW Connected app to the nav system on my 2 Series. I did the usual tricks, deleting the phone from the car and vice versa as well as performing a hard restart on the phone as well as the telematics. No joy. Now, if I was Driver's Maser buddy I'd scamper off to the Maserati dealer and likely get charged $250 or more for "diagnostics." Instead, I went to my 2 Series forum and discovered that the problem is solved by pulling and reinstalling fuse #120- which provides power to the telematics. Five minutes later I was back in business.

driver100

roadburner said:

Instead, I went to my 2 Series forum and discovered that the problem is solved by pulling and reinstalling fuse #120- which provides power to the telematics. Five minutes later I was back in business.

That would work great, if he could find the fuse.

Some people can fix cars, some can fix their houses, some can build stuff. For other people, their expertise lies somewhere else. I have friends that keep cars going for decades, and do most of their own repairs. In this case, my friend who had the Maserati but traded it for an Audi SR8 (I think-big racing Audi anyway) was brilliant at retailing. Found himself out of work, mortgaged his house to invest in a business plan, built a chain of stores....he doesn't care if he has to pay the dealer $250 to fix his car.

Actually he wouldn't fix it or have a $250 bill, he only keeps a car while it is under warranty.

The SR8 could be different...he might keep this one for a long time, likes it and has found it isn't worth much when you trade it in.....people aren't interested in expensive used cars that could cost a lot to fix on their own dime.

driver100

Hold on there...they stole that rear from a Honda CRV:

roadburner

driver100 said:

roadburner said:

Instead, I went to my 2 Series forum and discovered that the problem is solved by pulling and reinstalling fuse #120- which provides power to the telematics. Five minutes later I was back in business.

That would work great, if he could find the fuse.

Some people can fix cars, some can fix their houses, some can build stuff. For other people, their expertise lies somewhere else. I have friends that keep cars going for decades, and do most of their own repairs. In this case, my friend who had the Maserati but traded it for an Audi SR8 (I think-big racing Audi anyway) was brilliant at retailing. Found himself out of work, mortgaged his house to invest in a business plan, built a chain of stores....he doesn't care if he has to pay the dealer $250 to fix his car.

I'm sorry, but no way in H*ll do I consider replacing a fuse "fixing" a car. Being able to pull and replace a fuse is a minimum level of competence that every driver should possess. I suspect that your friend Mr. Maserati is equally clueless behind the wheel.
He should be confined to public transit.