I’ve ran into people many times (mid 20’s) and when the topic of car maintenance came up, most of them either 1. Never checked, or 2. Have no idea how to check/change their oil. I know quite a few that would rather just run it low and blow the car up than crawl under it to drain the oil and change the filter. Anything that sounds like it involves effort scares the shit out of most people
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How truly helpless is the general population?
- Thread starter AIAW
- Start date
I was taught how to change a tire when I was 10 years old driving down a back road in a 5 speed since my father wouldn't let me drive an automatic until I knew how to drive a standard. got a flat, pulled over, dad pulled out a beer and said get to work. took me about an 45mins to an hr but got it done and back on the road. did have to go back to the store to get my pops more beer but that just meant more driving for me.
yes I see these idiots that cant do anything without their phone and they were never taught to do anything since the way a lot of these parents teach their kids is put them in front of the tv and dora will teach ya. it would just be horrible for them to actually spend time with their kids.
yes I see these idiots that cant do anything without their phone and they were never taught to do anything since the way a lot of these parents teach their kids is put them in front of the tv and dora will teach ya. it would just be horrible for them to actually spend time with their kids.
The shirts these people wear just crack me up. it always describes the person wearing it. "white men are terrorists" worn by a white man. I mean I wouldn't really call him a man but you get the picture.
The irony, is that many cars today are closed loop systems. You can't even check the oil, because there is no dip stick. Same for the transmissions.
Q
QuickNDirty
Guest
I can't even imagine how fucking boring it would be to own a vehicle I couldn't work on. No way in hell I'd pick up a vehicle I couldn't drive, either.
Some of the best times of my life have been spent working on vehicles. Those moments when some dumb quick and dirty bullshit ended up working perfectly are the best. (using a piece of 2x4, a transmission jack, and the trailer hitch on another truck to compress the forks on my '03 manual F150 diaphram spring when replacing the clutch pre-emptively, for example)
It's also a fucking riot to teach adults how to operate a manual transmission while drunk and (they are) lost in the woods. You just can't have that kind of fun in an automatic =/
Which ones?
When it comes to ATs, you need to be able to check. If a clutch starts smoking itself I want to know before the OBD throws an error code.
I haven't seen one with no engine oil dip stick yet. New cars are so reliable, its no wonder no one know how to work on them. My 1973 chevy pickup taught me many lessons about working on cars.
I can understand why they sealed up the automatics and said, "if its not leaking, its fine." Now that those cars are old, it sure sucks for the owner if they leak.
What is at the root of the problem? A generation that hasn't learned anything, seems to need generation that isn't teaching anything to proceed them. Have most people become too reliant on public education to teach them everything they need to know? Are they spending too many hours in the class room learning useless shit?
I can understand why they sealed up the automatics and said, "if its not leaking, its fine." Now that those cars are old, it sure sucks for the owner if they leak.
What is at the root of the problem? A generation that hasn't learned anything, seems to need generation that isn't teaching anything to proceed them. Have most people become too reliant on public education to teach them everything they need to know? Are they spending too many hours in the class room learning useless shit?
BMW's for starters (Mini Coopers as well, since they are made by BMW). As I understand it, all the 2018 Mini Coopers no longer have a dipstick (and they never had a means to check the automatic transmission).
On the flipside, with maintenance included, they (the dealer) can no longer say your engine problem was because you didn't top off the oil (and direct inject twin scroll turbos do tend to burn oil). It's done when the computer pops the service message, and the dealer performs the service.
Pretty common these days. BMW, Audi, VW, Mercedes. Mostly the European market. No engine oil dipstick and no transmission dipstick. Some have even done away with a drain plug, instead using a vacuum system on a special nipple that runs into the oil pan.
https://wiygul.com/support/1911/the-disappearing-dipstick/
Even the current model F-150 has no transmission dipstick - it's just a plug that you have a crawl underneath and loosen much like checking a differential. Stupid-ass engineers put it right next to the exhaust pipe too (and the engine has to running/transmission warm to check the level).
Everything these days has a sensor (that will most likely fail). On top of that, you've got people (as described by this entire thread) that wouldn't use a dipstick anyhow, either because they don't know to, are lazy, or just don't care.
https://wiygul.com/support/1911/the-disappearing-dipstick/
Even the current model F-150 has no transmission dipstick - it's just a plug that you have a crawl underneath and loosen much like checking a differential. Stupid-ass engineers put it right next to the exhaust pipe too (and the engine has to running/transmission warm to check the level).
Everything these days has a sensor (that will most likely fail). On top of that, you've got people (as described by this entire thread) that wouldn't use a dipstick anyhow, either because they don't know to, are lazy, or just don't care.
Yes...and no. If they want to stand by their "3 years/36k maintenance included", then they own any problems due to low oil being the culprit. If the tech screws up, they can't hang it on you anymore.
But, for people like you, there are after market add-ons to allow "checking oil". Just like there is no water temp gauge in Mini Coopers...Scan Gauge rolled in and made an add on for that. Where there's a demand, usually there is a solution. Free market enterprise at work...
It's the same reason I installed a titanium heat shield for the turbo, strut tower cross brace for the front end, Garmin GPS hardwire mount (with opposing Scan Gauge mount), Koni suspension, among other mods...because I wanted them, and they weren't factory available.
But, for people like you, there are after market add-ons to allow "checking oil". Just like there is no water temp gauge in Mini Coopers...Scan Gauge rolled in and made an add on for that. Where there's a demand, usually there is a solution. Free market enterprise at work...
It's the same reason I installed a titanium heat shield for the turbo, strut tower cross brace for the front end, Garmin GPS hardwire mount (with opposing Scan Gauge mount), Koni suspension, among other mods...because I wanted them, and they weren't factory available.
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https://www.topspeed.com/cars/car-n...nge-is-done-on-a-bugatti-veyron-ar181881.html
I ran across this gem the other day. Those with the heaviest pockets can take things to a whole new level
I ran across this gem the other day. Those with the heaviest pockets can take things to a whole new level
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck that. I keep cars for a good long while past any free service gimmicks and the warranty.
I'll just keep buying used cars, I guess.
Q
QuickNDirty
Guest
One nice thing about pre-emptive maintenance aside from rarely having shit go south when you don't want it to is a pile of spare parts that aren't dead yet =)
Meh. I think there will be a resurgence in either new cars having customer serviceable designs, or I think we'll start seeing "retro" new niche car brands that allow it.
Like you, I like the idea of being able to work on my own car because I tend to own them far longer than most, but that is not the trend these days by many, and available time becomes less and less for those that live the urban rat race lifestyle...
Like you, I like the idea of being able to work on my own car because I tend to own them far longer than most, but that is not the trend these days by many, and available time becomes less and less for those that live the urban rat race lifestyle...
Emissions mandates will never allow it. The things will only get more and more sealed up until combustible engines are no longer a thing on the roadways.
As to the OP's topic, the city dwelling twenty-somethings don't even shop for their own groceries today if they can avoid it. And we expect them to change a tire? How barbaric of us. Proves my point that pickups are turning into the same as SUVs in the 90s, soccer mom driven grocery getters. I can't wait for oil to hit $150/bl again so those fags quit driving up the prices of trucks and flee back to Prius where they belong.
Yeah, when I see a pickup truck that has a $60k price tag, I kinda gotta wonder. Kind of like all the Ford Raptors here in SoCal, that NEVER see offroad, and yet when in places like Missouri (where they could actually be useful), they're like hen's teeth. The area that has the higher standard of living (incomes) is driving what is offered (and for how much), not the environment where they're actually useful. I see the soccer moms with the "mall wheel" drive all the time; and never ever offroad (hell, not even an unpaved or graded gravel road).
So you're saying the Range Rover isn't really required to make it to the culdesac in a blacktop curb and gutter situation?...
R
My mom's neighbor's kid is a stay at home son and about 30.
He had a flat and I asked if he needed help changing the tire. He took me up on the offer.
I walked him through each step on safely changing the tire... he did fine. at the end I recapped with him the steps and the safety things-
not having body /legs under the car
level ground
parking break on
chock tire
etc.
He was so grateful that someone would teach him something, and not just yell at him....
He had a flat and I asked if he needed help changing the tire. He took me up on the offer.
I walked him through each step on safely changing the tire... he did fine. at the end I recapped with him the steps and the safety things-
not having body /legs under the car
level ground
parking break on
chock tire
etc.
He was so grateful that someone would teach him something, and not just yell at him....
I've repeated your story, OP, several times last week.
I wear a suit and tie everyday, work in an office, and live in close suburbs. I haven't owned a pickup truck for 20 years (much lamented).
I was over at my mom's this weekend adding a circuit, and building a wall and door casement to turn create a separate laundry room and furnace room. These are easy carpentry/electrician operations that don't make me special or anything (though I am meticulous and do very good work), but these things in the face of changing a tire are like building my own rocket and landing my dog on the moon.
We all have to specialize. That's the world we live in, but to pretend that because of that we have to become ignorant, half-men, who can't be self sufficient is bat-shit crazy. I embrace technology, I'm no Ludite, but I don't go bushwhacking without a non electronic compass, or make passage without a sextant. You have to be self sufficient and think about how you will operate when shit breaks and fails, and you're on your own. I honestly can't imagine any other way to be, or how shameful it would be for me to do it differently. If I don't know I ask, but I am where I am from a lifetime of doing that. When I don't know what's wrong with something I just grab the tool box and start taking it apart till I get to something that looks broken. I just don't get it, and I especially don't get being proud of being a man-child, but I suppose it's the same thing as their pride in being totally ignorant of guns. It's some sort of mental disorder...
I wear a suit and tie everyday, work in an office, and live in close suburbs. I haven't owned a pickup truck for 20 years (much lamented).
I was over at my mom's this weekend adding a circuit, and building a wall and door casement to turn create a separate laundry room and furnace room. These are easy carpentry/electrician operations that don't make me special or anything (though I am meticulous and do very good work), but these things in the face of changing a tire are like building my own rocket and landing my dog on the moon.
We all have to specialize. That's the world we live in, but to pretend that because of that we have to become ignorant, half-men, who can't be self sufficient is bat-shit crazy. I embrace technology, I'm no Ludite, but I don't go bushwhacking without a non electronic compass, or make passage without a sextant. You have to be self sufficient and think about how you will operate when shit breaks and fails, and you're on your own. I honestly can't imagine any other way to be, or how shameful it would be for me to do it differently. If I don't know I ask, but I am where I am from a lifetime of doing that. When I don't know what's wrong with something I just grab the tool box and start taking it apart till I get to something that looks broken. I just don't get it, and I especially don't get being proud of being a man-child, but I suppose it's the same thing as their pride in being totally ignorant of guns. It's some sort of mental disorder...
30 somethings know how to use the internet, don't they?
They don't know because they don't want to know. So why should any of us help them?
It's called "Failure to Launch Syndrome", and it's not as kewl as Mathew McConaughey makes it seem...
