Stories from the Sales Frontlines

kyfdx

When I was in high school, a classmate drove a Morris Minor.. She was the valedictorian!

tjc78

. Boy was I wrong. I parked the car and got out to go look at the real cruise cars there and before I was 10 steps away about 5 people came over and all of them pretty much said the same thing, “I’ve heard about this car and read the reviews but I never saw one in person”.

I get that alot too. I can't count how many times in a parking lot, etc I get asked about my car. Once I was sitting in traffic going into Atlantic City and a guy in a Town Car rolls his window down asking me questions about the Genny. Aside from online, though, I have yet to find another owner in a parking lot, etc.to talk to. Actually, I still barely see one a week in southern NJ.

jmonroe

I'll tell you why I do my own oil changes now:

7. I enjoy working on my own cars - been doing it since I was 14 years old, Jeez - been doing it for 50 years now.

Hey old guy, for a minute there I thought I wrote that post. While I didn’t start when I was 14, I have done it a time or two myself. There are horror stories about oil changes and I posted one like this a while back (post 48743, took some criticism about it too). It’s not as hard as some may think it is and that bit about ‘spilling it’ and ‘what do you do with the old oil’ is just a way to laugh at those like us that still do this seemingly trivial but very important maintenance item. I also have a car where you have to drop a pan to get at the oil filter and this same car takes almost 7 quarts of oil and I also take my old oil to Advance for disposal.

Just the mere convenience of not having to drop off the car then going back to get it is enough to encourage me to do it myself.

I hope you don't mind a little word of advice...if you don't stop posting like you did about oil changes, you're going to get whipped up on like me.

Yeah, I want it done right too, so I do it myself.

jmonroe

jmonroe

Aside from online, though, I have yet to find another owner in a parking lot, etc.to talk to. Actually, I still barely see one a week in southern NJ.

I just saw another one the other day while I was approaching a light; it was headed towards me while stopped at the light waiting for his left turn arrow. I should have honked as I went by but I didn’t.

I say another one because until this past spring I never saw another one on the road. I got out of my car at a grocery store parking lot and this guy was standing there smiling at me and said, “how do you like it”? I said, “fine” and he points to the row pointed towards where I was parked, up about three spaces and said, “that’s mine and we have the same color too” (Cabernet Red Pearl) which is the color you have too. His car was a V6 like yours so you ought to come visit some day and we can have a wax contest. All three of us…three pretty little Genny’s all in a row.

jmonroe

driver100

. The dealers typically use the least skilled shop people to do the service.

oldcem, Thank you for writing. I understand what you are saying, and if you get enjoyment from doing it, and don't mind spilling some oil in your garage, or transporting to a disposal place that is great.

I leave most things to the experts. I don't like the fast lube places because they try to sell you everything they can. With the BMW the oil changes are free for 4 years, so I like that better. And, the mechanics have been trained to know BMWs, so I go there. (I know some will argue -snake that it isn't free, but it is free to me because I would have bought the car any way). :P

lemko

How will you clean up the spill in your garage or driveway?

driver100

I remember Morris Minors really well. My father bought a 1952 Morris and they gave him a loner Morris Minor. The big Morris looked about the same only larger. The Morris looked more modern than most cars as the fenders were part of the car and didn't look like they were added on. We have a steep hill near us and I remember my father saying he had to go up the hill in reverse (backwards) because the forward gear wasn't strong enough to take it up the hill.

jayrider

In 1964 my grandfather had a Morris Minor. Weird stick shift pattern. Drove it occaisonally -- not as fun as my Dad's 66 Volvo 122 but a nice diversion. Other car at home was a 65 Ford Galaxie 500XL with a 390 V8. Honey gold with a brown vinyl roof. Smoked pretty well with just me in the car. Add 3 friends and it was just ok off the line.

driver100

How will you clean up the spill in your garage or driveway?

lol, and thanks for the friendly advice. I must be extra lazy, but the thought of cleaning up an oil spill with cat litter just doesn't do it for me. Personally, I would rather take the dog for a walk, play tennis, read the newspaper, read a book, see a play, go on a day trip.........etc, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.

fezo

Someone in town bought a Genny because I see it going back and forth when I head into work or back home.

jmonroe

We have a steep hill near us and I remember my father saying he had to go up the hill in reverse (backwards)…

C’mon now, did you really think we didn’t know what direction a car goes when you put it in reverse? :surprise:

I know you admitted that you’re lazy but you gotta climb under a car and do some oil changes and while you’re there you’ll come upon some linkage that allows this to happen.

jmonroe

fezo

I suppose going up the hill in reverse beats going down it in neutral in the way it happened to this one guy on our street. the old family house is on a hill - actually in the middle of the hill. One night I'm in the living room and hear this rattle rattle rattle crash! seems this young fellow had just bought a used Chevelle with a stick shift and didn't know how to drive a stick. He came around the curve to go downhill in third and the thing jammed. He decides to go under the car, find the offending part and bang on it until it loosened. This might have worked had he applied the emergency brake. Since he didn't as soon as he hit the right spot the car went off on its own, passing over him and somehow failing to make the sharp left just beyond the end of our driveway. The car went right into our woods hitting a perfectly good tree.

A cop came up and tells me he's writing the guy a ticket. I asked, "for what? Careless parking?" That got a smile but no answer.

imidazol97

>Each time that I ride by his house, I make a hand gesture. It just makes me feel better.

That surprises me to hear you say that. I didn't perceive you as being that emotional and that expressive.

I think stopping to visit when you see him out, if that's possible, would be nice. Just let him know you're a past vicitim of his political goals. There have been a few occasions I've had a chance to vindicate some past transgressions by others in my life. Sometimes the backhand is so subtle they may have missed its importance from the past. But I always hope when dwell on something said, it will come back to them. It's funny how paths cross from the past.

You should chat up the past governor.

driver100

did you really think we didn’t know what direction a car goes when you put it in reverse?

Well, you never know. I just tried to make it clear, what was happening. Might not make sense if you don't get the picture.

climb under a car and do some oil changes and while you’re there you’ll come upon some linkage that allows this to happen

Do you know how low to the ground a 3 Series convertible is? I would probably get wedged underneath the car, and my wife will be laughing her head off.

oldcem

Yeah - I had the free oil changes for 4 years on my Jaguar as well - they're the dummies that kept overfilling my engine. I got very adept at pulling the excess oil out through the dipstick tube with a Mightyvac tool. My parents owned BMWs - the local dealer here is awful. Would you believe a highly trained dealer mechanic once cracked the windshield in one of my Jags while changing a cabin air filter. Anyway, I've now got the service department at the local dealer trained now - they know that I check behind them if I have work done there, and, am not blissfully unaware like most of the people they deal with.

Regards:
OldCEM

oldcem

jmonroe:

We are of like mind. Only thing that slows me down now is trying to see what I'm working on under the car through these damn bifocals. Maybe I ought to get a pair with the lenses mounted upside down for when I'm laying under the car on my back

Regards:
OldCEM

sterlingdog

"I didn't perceive you as being that emotional and that expressive."

I can see that I have disappointed you. You are a gentleman and a scholar. Unfortunately, I'm not Mr. Chips. As mentioned before, I do have some of my father in me. He was a crusty old salt who never minced words. I suppose that I am a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of sorts. I also have some of my mother in me---the ability to exhibit gentility and good manners. Only when I am treated badly, does Mr. Hyde appear. I suppose that Houdini could vouch for me. Through private emails, he has seen my more emotional and expressive sides. :P

Richard

sterlingdog

"...a pair with the lenses mounted upside down..."

LOL! Love that. They would come in handy for lots of overhead work...light fixtures, painting high places, hanging pictures, etc.

Richard

bolivar

You can get just about anything in glasses.

Heard about a commercial pilot, he had center lens for distance vision, bottom for close up, and a third lens on the top that was also close up - because the commercial jets he flew had a bunch of displays/guages above the windshield.

snakeweasel

Maybe I ought to get a pair with the lenses mounted upside down for when I'm laying under the car on my back

Maybe you could jest get a set of reading glasses since you wont need distant viewing under the car. Maybe an inexpensive pair from a drug store.

jipster

Yeah - I had the free oil changes for 4 years on my Jaguar as well - they're the dummies that kept overfilling my engine.

Some may beg to differ, but from what I've read here, and personal experience, dealerships make as many oil change boo boo's as the Jiffy Boobs and Valvoline's Bet you DIY'ers have them as well, but we never hear about those do we?

jmonroe

Do you know how low to the ground a 3 Series convertible is? I would probably get wedged underneath the car, and my wife will be laughing her head off.

Yeah you’re right. I understand where you're coming from now. Some people just ain’t cut out for doing heavy mechanical stuff. You probably never heard of ramps or milk crates huh? :P

jmonroe

tjc78

Some may beg to differ, but from what I've read here, and personal experience, dealerships make as many oil change boo boo's as the Jiffy Boobs and Valvoline's

I've never had a botched oil change, whether it be a dealer or a quick lube. If at a quick lube I do always watch their work, but never saw anything being done that looked questionable.

jayrider

Back in the late 50's in Greensburg where I grew up, there was a guy who lived down the block whose son was my buddy. He had this unattached wood floor garage with a 4 foot crawl space below. We would watch him change the oil by lifting up several rows of boards under the car and slide into the crawl space. Drained the oil right into the dirt --- no fuss no muss. Then he would drive us both to Isley's for one of those tall ice cream cones.

jipster

I've never had a botched oil change

"Botched" to me means forgetting to put the oil in, or something that is harmful to the car. I've changed the oil on most of my earlier cars, worst I ever had was losing the oil drain plug into the collection basin and having to fish it out with my hands. Misplaced the basin one time and got a bunch of oil in the driveway before adjusting it. The majority of the time it was a fairly painless, and yes, a rewarding experience. These days I'm more apt to let someone else enjoy changing my oil.

jmonroe

Then he would drive us both to Isley's for one of those tall ice cream cones.

It’s about lunch time here now and a chocolate milk shake and a couple chipped ham sandwiches sounds a lot better.

jmonroe

jayrider

Coming back to the burgh over labor day -- skipping the shake and having two sandwiches.

mako1a

You're killing me here. I too grew up there and when I heard a couple chipped ham sandwiches, I wanted to have some as well.

In Virginia the closest we get to chipped is shaved chopped ham by special request and they make a big deal about it and the slices keep getting thicker as they slice. Plus they want to smash it down while bagging it. Owww.

jmonroe

In Virginia the closest we get to chipped is shaved chopped ham by special request and they make a big deal about it and the slices keep getting thicker as they slice.

When I moved to SC there were lots of others from my company that transferred down there a couple years ahead of me. They showed the Kroger’s deli dept. how to do chipped ham the way Pittsburgher’s like it but they didn’t have the automatic chippers like they do here in the Burgh. So if I went to the deli counter and said I wanted a pound of ham they knew from my Yankee drawl I was from the Burgh and they would say with fright, “shaved”? They were really shaking if I said I wanted a couple pounds of ham. :sick:

The times that I did want chipped ham I felt bad for those people pushing that heavy slicer back and forth just to satisfy a Yankees desire. That’s another reason why I think they didn’t like us down there.

jmonroe

houdini1

Yep, I can vouch for him. Just don't get him started on politics !

snakeweasel

You probably never heard of ramps or milk crates huh?

You probably never heard of gravity huh? :P

http://www.wpbf.com/news/17964941/detail.html

http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2008/05/grandmas_car_falls_on_man_as- _h.html

jayrider

They serve gravity and biscuits at MacDonalds every morning. Feels like you're moving at 3 G's on exiting.

mako1a

I was looking at an ad for Acura and found so many different sub categories it's hard to keep them straight.

I see RL, TL, CL, RDX, MDX, RSX, TSX and type S. Could someone here give me the lowdown on which ones are good, excellent and ones to avoid and what years are better than others? Pretty much 2007 thru 2011.

I'm sure someone here has been thru this and wouldn't mind sharing the general info on these fine cars.

I went on ebay and selected TL within 100 miles and got 1 entry. Not much to go on.

jmonroe

You probably never heard of gravity huh?

Sure I heard of it and I respect it...a lot. The first thing I told my sons when they said they wanted to jack up their car to doing some minor repairs was to see if they could push the car off the jack stands/ramps and if it moved, even slightly, they didn't have it supported properly. The last time Son #2 came over to do some work I thought he was going to slide the car and jack stands across the garage floor he pushed it so hard. No sense in just giving it a love tap.

Like I said some people ain't cut out for doing mechanical stuff.

BTW, that was some pretty old news. I'm surprised you couldn't find something more recent. I think that kind of stuff happens everyday. :surprise:

jmonroe

fezo

This was sent to me. I tried it and am up to level three....

EXERCISE FOR PEOPLE OVER 50

Begin by standing on a comfortable surface, where you have plenty of room at each side.

With a 5-lb potato bag in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can. Try to reach a full minute, and then relax.

Each day you'll find that you can hold this position for just a bit longer.

After a couple of weeks, move up to 10-lb potato bags.

Then try 50-lb potato bags and then eventually try to get to where you can lift a 100-lb potato bag in each hand and hold your arms straight for more than a full minute. (I'm at this level.)

After you feel confident at that level, put a potato in each bag.

snakeweasel

BTW, that was some pretty old news. I'm surprised you couldn't find something more recent. I think that kind of stuff happens everyday

It was just stuff I found on a quick search.

snakeweasel

With a 5-lb potato bag in each hand, extend your arms straight out from your sides and hold them there as long as you can

In Boot camp we did that with M-1's :sick:

Only we didn't do it as long as we could, we did it as long as our company commander wanted us to.

driver100

lifting up several rows of boards under the car and slide into the crawl space. Drained the oil right into the dirt --- no fuss no muss. Then he would drive us both to Isley's for one of those tall ice cream cones.

Hope he washed his hands first!

driver100

You probably never heard of ramps or milk crates huh?
You probably never heard of gravity huh?

Well done snake. I just don't think it is worth the time and trouble and danger to try to save 10 bucks!
I leave things like that to the experts, or at least let people who know more than I do, do it.

driver100

You probably never heard of ramps or milk crates huh?

I have heard of ramps but I don't know how to drive my car on to milk crates. And even if i did know I am not going to do it.

Besides getting dirty, having a lot of extra junk for fixing cars in my garage, having to get rid of oil, maybe making a major mistake, doing it when the dealer will still do it under warranty......I would rather be doing something else besides change my oil. A few things that come to mind are, uh, let me see, well, uh, almost anything.

jmonroe

Only we didn't do it as long as we could, we did it as long as our company commander wanted us to.

You're right. And when I was in boot camp that WAS longer than we could do it.

jmonroe

jmonroe

I have heard of ramps but I don't know how to drive my car on to milk crates.

And you call yourself 'driver' ? :P

And as far as saving $10...you weren't listening. It was about having it done right.

jmonroe

sterlingdog

In the South we do have chipped beef. I don't suppose that the consistency is the same as chipped ham. Those sandwiches sound delicious. What else do you put on the sandwich---mustard, mayo, pickle, lettuce, etc.? I'm on a self-imposed low fat diet to help the pressure on my hips and legs. Though I have lost ten pounds since July 1st, I am missing my own cooking. Today, I got fed up and cheated---fried some chicken livers and made a banana pudding. I figured that my wife, who is also on the same diet, would be furious. To the contrary, she was thrilled to death. Tomorrow, back to the salad and the turkey breast. :sick:

Richard

sterlingdog

Like you, I'm not the least bit interested in doing my own oil changes. I would screw it all up and make one big mess. I had the oil changed in my Explorer today. The dealership charged me $34.95 which included a 23 point inspection. I know that is high, but I gladly paid it. Besides, it gave me a chance to see the new Jeep Grand Cherokee for 2011. It's a pretty vehicle---the interior is much improved with better quality materials. The rear leg room is better than the older versions. They only had one of them in stock---silver with black leather interior. Since the heat index was 106 degrees, I can tell you that those black leather seats were HOT! That particular combination is just not for me.

Richard

oldcem

Good idea - but I wear safety glasses with side shields when I work under the car.

Regards:
Oldengineer

oldcem

Hey, I've seen plenty of DIY's fubar their own cars. People who are mechanically declined have no business working on their own vehicles. They're doomed to be at the mercy of the professionals. One can only hope that they're at least smart enough to find a reasonably competent, honest shop and stick with them. It continues to amaze me that, with gas as expensive as it is, many are driving around with tires that are almost flat, and, have no idea how to put air in them.

Regards:
OldCEM

tifighter

I was looking at an ad for Acura and found so many different sub categories it's hard to keep them straight.

I see RL, TL, CL, RDX, MDX, RSX, TSX and type S.

This reminds me: Acura may have the second worst naming scheme of any brand. Total alphabet soup. But, no doubt, Lincoln beats them all. I'm car savvy relative to the normal person and know my E39 from a W124 from a W-body. But who in the heck knows the difference between a MKS, MKX, MKZ and MKT? Completely and unequivocally stupid...

driver100

I have heard of ramps but I don't know how to drive my car on to milk crates.
And you call yourself 'driver' ?

I still don't know how you get it up onto milk crates, up here milk crates are square.
I thought you had a Gennie, not a tank?

And as far as saving $10...you weren't listening. It was about having it done right.

There's more chance the guy at the garage will do it right than that I'll do it right. And, if he doesn't do it right, I can sue him...but I don't want to sue myself! :P

driver100

But who in the heck knows the difference between a MKS, MKX, MKZ and MKT?

Those are terrible names for a car. Seems strange that you can make a $50000 car but you can't come up with a better name than those.

Also, is it just me or is that Lincoln MKT one of the ugliest cars around?

houdini1

On the subject of routine car maintenance I say to each his own. I am sure there are owners out there who are fully capable of handling these chores in a competent and safe manner, plus they enjoy doing it and want to make sure it is done right. I can understand that.

When my youngest son was about 8 years old I saw him in the driveway with a hose. He had taken the carb off his older brother's mo-ped, said it was dirty and he was giving it a good cleaning !! We finally got it started a couple of days later. He has always been interested in all things mechanical (I am not) and pretty much just taught himself all that stuff by just doing it and by trial and error. Now I am quite confident that he could build an entire car from the ground up.