And you wonder why mechanics

[crokett]

see $$$ when women come into the shop...

The van on Saturday had trouble turning over. Dashboard, etc lit up but would not turn over. Only happens when cold. Battery was 6yrs old and was not delivering amps or volts it should so I replaced it. Did not fix it. I called my mechanic and dropped it off. His theory is bad contacts on starter motor. Sounds good, my brother;s truck had same symptoms a few months ago and that was the fix. Anyhoo, LOML was gone all weekend. I told her tonight what was going on. She said 'oh, that has been going on the past 2 weeks. I thought it was just me'. Not to mention she needed a jump the other day but forgot to tell me.

I love her, I really do. Fellas, if you don't do your own work, come up with an excuse every few months to drive her car to make sure things are working. Otherwise she misses oil changes and you have to get the rotors turned since she wears the pads down to the nub and the wear indicator scores the rotors. Yes this happened shortly after we were married. She said 'oh, that's what that noise was?'

[Martin]

When I worked at the Cessna aircraft factory many years ago, the safety people recommended a program where the employee would drive a different family car, if he had one, to check the maintenance on it. Several of the men I worked with started vacations with the "wife's car" which was supposed to be the best car in the family, and had major breakdown expenses from lack of maintenance.

[Ed62]

That's part of the beauty of being retired. Only need 1 car, I do all the driving and maintenance. Another perk is that we have a '97 LeSabre with less than 70,500 miles.

Ed

[scorrpio]

Brings to memory a joke.
A lady wants to buy a used car, brings along a knowledgable friend. At the dealership, she spots a car that looks appealing, and asks friend's opinion. He checks it out and says: "well, I'd say for the price, the mileage on this car is a bit too high."
"Does it mean the car may run out of gas soon?" asks the lady.

[Mrs. Wallnut]

Don't be to hard on her Crokett. Just that some women as they are growing up are not taught that when something is blinking or doesn't start or makes a funny noise that there is something wrong with her car. I worked in a mini-mart that is along I-90 here in Washington and I remember going out and helping a young girl check their oil or put in washer fluid. These days they are not taught how to check those things which IMO is not a good thing.

My father was a mechanic and before I could even drive I was helping him with the cars we had. And before I started driving I was made to change the oil on my car and do other little maintenence things. I think that has helped because when something sounds funny I can now run to Mark and tell him where I think the noise is coming from

[crokett]

Melissa, I've told her several times if she hears strange noises or things don't happen like they should to tell me. I've since adopted the practice of just finding an excuse to ddrive her car ever 6 weeks or so. And I've stopped trying to get her to remember to get an oil change. I just check mileage every once in a while.

[cabinetman]

I always manage to drive wife's car 2-3 times a month even just to get gas, and take a spin - hoo-wee!! It's a G35 with rear wheel drive, screams pretty good. I'd do a general check of brakes, tires, etc. Then one day she comes home and surprises me by saying I'm somewhat relieved from certain duties, because at her work they have a nitrogen setup for tires. Now I can't fill them at home. Oh, BTW she is blond, and kind of just looked at me when she saw this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ch1VlmzXMQ



"I'M NEVER WRONG - BUT I'M NOT ALWAYS RIGHT"

[gjat]

My wife has an ear for this stuff. She's the one that notices every little squeak, rattle, and stutter. She also thinks I can fix anything. On the other hand, I drive a diesel and am around heavy equipment that I'm responsible for. I don't expect it to be quiet or 'dry', I keep an eye out for possible catastrophies. If it ain't smokin', it ain't broken, is my motto.
I swear, if the air filter is dirty on our Highlander, my wife will notice it just by driving and bug me that the car hesitates or doesn't accelerate like normal. I've fixed it and not say anything to see if she notices, the next day she'll thank me because she notices the car is 'peppier'. She's a freak of nature. LOL