Some people have recent model cars that have been well-maintained. They regularly take their cars to dealers for oil changes and check-ups. Many problems are caught early, and some problems are fixed at no charge to the owners.
Some people have older model cars that are worn-out, badly-maintained, or both. When problems happen, they often can't afford the repair costs at a dealer. They just drive with the problem, fix it themselves, have a friend fix it, or take it to a local garage. If a local garage attempts to fix the problem, it may be able to a great job, an adequate job, or an improper job, the last causing even more problems.
Taking a page from No Child Left Behind, we should fire any mechanic that does not show yearly improvement in successfully repairing cars. It doesn't matter if he or she is reasonably successful with a majority of the "basket cases" brought in, if he or she doesn't improve from year to year…
Showing posts with label auto repairs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label auto repairs. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Taxes - burden or cost of civilization
My latest published letter is "Taxes aren't big in world of financial burdens". See
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/196096/
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/196096/
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Who wished us an unhappy new year?
For me, 2009 ended with a whimper! Me whimpering as a developing cold sufferer.
My cold made itself known after supper and by bedtime (yes, 10 on New Year's Eve) I was wondering if my coughing would keep both of us awake. I did manage to stay asleep until one and woke every hour or so after that.
There went our three-day weekend at our cabin. No way did I want to keep my wife awake with the shaking of the smaller bed every time I coughed. And there was no escape to another room to muffle the worst of my coughing.
2009 also ended with a whimper in that my wife's car wouldn't start. We did jump start it and she ran an errand or two. But then it died again. Jump starting a Prius is not much fun because the battery is buried under a bolted-down cover.
On Saturday when I was feeling better we did go shopping, including for a battery charger.
As you can see from "Stopped in our tracks" Sunday was better.
But Monday was downhill again. On the first of several errands, somebody noticed that the spare tire was hanging wrong. Oh, boy, back home right away. I read the manual about accessing the spare, but nothing seemed to work to raise it or lower it. I tried three times, coming in when my fingers got cold. The third time, I called the dealer for a service appointment for Tuesday, today. But by the time I called I was sick again with cold. It took to bedtime for me to feel half-way decent again.
Of course, I was sick with worry a good part of the night figuring out how I would get to dealer without the spare tire falling all the way down and doing who knows what damage.
Before the appointment I hooked a nylon tow cable to the wheel of the spare and wrapped and wrapped the tow cable around the trailer hitch. For extra security, I wrapped and hooked a bungee cord on top of the cable.
I drove normally to the dealer but I kept hearing a ping. When I pulled into the service area I saw my securing of the cable had worked fine. But the hook came out of the spare tire wheel and was dragging on the ground!! At least the spare tire wasn't scraping on the ground.
For $33.68 I was told that the tire had been stowed upside down. Having somebody else stow it correctly in a warm place was worth it.
Tomorrow we jump start my wife's car and she takes it to a dealer to have the battery checked.
Maybe then we can start a normal new year? Whatever normal is.
My cold made itself known after supper and by bedtime (yes, 10 on New Year's Eve) I was wondering if my coughing would keep both of us awake. I did manage to stay asleep until one and woke every hour or so after that.
There went our three-day weekend at our cabin. No way did I want to keep my wife awake with the shaking of the smaller bed every time I coughed. And there was no escape to another room to muffle the worst of my coughing.
2009 also ended with a whimper in that my wife's car wouldn't start. We did jump start it and she ran an errand or two. But then it died again. Jump starting a Prius is not much fun because the battery is buried under a bolted-down cover.
On Saturday when I was feeling better we did go shopping, including for a battery charger.
As you can see from "Stopped in our tracks" Sunday was better.
But Monday was downhill again. On the first of several errands, somebody noticed that the spare tire was hanging wrong. Oh, boy, back home right away. I read the manual about accessing the spare, but nothing seemed to work to raise it or lower it. I tried three times, coming in when my fingers got cold. The third time, I called the dealer for a service appointment for Tuesday, today. But by the time I called I was sick again with cold. It took to bedtime for me to feel half-way decent again.
Of course, I was sick with worry a good part of the night figuring out how I would get to dealer without the spare tire falling all the way down and doing who knows what damage.
Before the appointment I hooked a nylon tow cable to the wheel of the spare and wrapped and wrapped the tow cable around the trailer hitch. For extra security, I wrapped and hooked a bungee cord on top of the cable.
I drove normally to the dealer but I kept hearing a ping. When I pulled into the service area I saw my securing of the cable had worked fine. But the hook came out of the spare tire wheel and was dragging on the ground!! At least the spare tire wasn't scraping on the ground.
For $33.68 I was told that the tire had been stowed upside down. Having somebody else stow it correctly in a warm place was worth it.
Tomorrow we jump start my wife's car and she takes it to a dealer to have the battery checked.
Maybe then we can start a normal new year? Whatever normal is.
Friday, March 06, 2009
The bill for the indirect tax to the city is in
My truck wasn't ready yesterday because the mechanic ran out of time. The dealer gave me a loaner for overnight, and I went back this afternoon to pick up my truck.
As I wrote yesterday, a tie rod had to be replaced. The sleeve was on the ball joint, and the latter had to be replaced also. I was a bit pessimistic about the total bill. It was $594.13.
I went to the filing cabinet to look up our real estate taxes for Duluth. For this year and last we will pay about $600. Add the tax for the auto repair and that is $1200 in taxes to the city of Duluth for two years. I think I would rather pay that directly and have better streets.
Would you believe that the dirt road that runs in front of our cabin is in better shape than some of the streets around our house? And we pay a pittance in real estate taxes to the township. Maybe we should go back to having dirt roads in our cities. When the snow trucks come by, they will smooth the streets.
As I wrote yesterday, a tie rod had to be replaced. The sleeve was on the ball joint, and the latter had to be replaced also. I was a bit pessimistic about the total bill. It was $594.13.
I went to the filing cabinet to look up our real estate taxes for Duluth. For this year and last we will pay about $600. Add the tax for the auto repair and that is $1200 in taxes to the city of Duluth for two years. I think I would rather pay that directly and have better streets.
Would you believe that the dirt road that runs in front of our cabin is in better shape than some of the streets around our house? And we pay a pittance in real estate taxes to the township. Maybe we should go back to having dirt roads in our cities. When the snow trucks come by, they will smooth the streets.
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