Scary lack of knowledge and responsibility !
Discussion
Person takes car into main dealer, sounding real rough (the car). Sir, it's not been serviced for over 3 years.
"But isn't that covered by the warranty?" No. "Nobody told me it would need a service, anyway, what is a service?"
Oh dear. True story too.
Or the woman who bought a new mazda and ran it for 120,000 miles without lifting the bonnet, before it expired. When asked why she didn't have it serviced, she replied "why should I? It lasted for 120K"
"But isn't that covered by the warranty?" No. "Nobody told me it would need a service, anyway, what is a service?"
Oh dear. True story too.
Or the woman who bought a new mazda and ran it for 120,000 miles without lifting the bonnet, before it expired. When asked why she didn't have it serviced, she replied "why should I? It lasted for 120K"
CharlesdeGaulle said:
silverfoxcc said:
Oh FFS they walk and more worrying, drive among us.
I hope you were joking when you posted that s you left off the winky smiley face!
If not. get a bus pass, you sir are a danger on the road
Don't be a sanctimonious prick. I hope you were joking when you posted that s you left off the winky smiley face!
If not. get a bus pass, you sir are a danger on the road
As others have observed, it clearly doesn't mean crack on as normal, but it does mean you've got to put some oil in the bloody thing.
My Wife's Mother had just bought a new VW and she let her other daughter drive it a few times. Within 3 months of owning the vehicle the daughter managed to total the car. Front was all smashed up and went into some farmers wall or something. She blamed it on an oil spill (despite have crashed every car she has ever owned). Like it is some sort of cartoon. Police could not find said oil spill at all and near did her for dangerous driving. Her Mother ended up having the car wrote off and I believe she still had to make the car payments for long time after. Never owned a car since.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
When my mother in law died, it transpired that my father in law didn't know if he took sugar in his tea!!!
my uncle ventured into the kitchen during a family reunion, only come back asking where they kept the cups, they had lived there 20 years, he insisted he lived in a house with a wife and two daughters, why should he ever go in the kitchen.
w00tman said:
So, in the interests of self-learning and all of that, how does one go about learning how to do bits and pieces around the car?
I'm a big fan of driving and cars, but outside of topping up of various fluids, checking tyre depth, the real basic-of-the-basics, I couldnt tell you how or what to do to sort brakes, or diagnose a fault or ...
How does a beginner (mechanically speaking if not shown in age!) start to learn how to do more without f*cking it all up?
Don't shoot me!!
Ask the person who knows about cars to show you, separate and distinct for "get them to do it", go on Facebook, have a brew.I'm a big fan of driving and cars, but outside of topping up of various fluids, checking tyre depth, the real basic-of-the-basics, I couldnt tell you how or what to do to sort brakes, or diagnose a fault or ...
How does a beginner (mechanically speaking if not shown in age!) start to learn how to do more without f*cking it all up?
Don't shoot me!!
Night school courses, I did one years ago, learnt a bit but I was already more advanced than a lot of the folk on it, good to have access to the tutors knowledge and workshop though.
Read the manual, radical I know but its not hard, just have a go, or just a look, sizing up things gets it straight in your head and something mysterious can soon seem obvious.
Youtube is your friend, an amazing resource, use it !
motco said:
It doesn't mean crack on at all - as normal or slowly! What it will mean if you do is that you'll have to put a lot of money in to it, never mind the oil. If you have been running so low on oil that the pump pick-up is exposed, then you will have overheated the very reduced volume of oil and degraded it, and had transient pressure losses for some time before the light comes on due to sloshing in the sump. The engine will possibly have already suffered some damage anyway. The pressure warning light is a big red DO NOT IGNORE THIS light!
Look, I know all that. My point was simply that the low oil level warning light does indicate that the car needs oil. I'm not suggesting for a moment that you run a car until you see that light, or that you don't need to take immediate remedial action, but it does mean you need to add oil. Honestly, it's like pulling teeth in here.
V8 FOU said:
Or the woman who bought a new mazda and ran it for 120,000 miles without lifting the bonnet, before it expired. When asked why she didn't have it serviced, she replied "why should I? It lasted for 120K"
She does have a valid point - spread over a sufficient time period that could make for reasonably frugal motoring, as even with a dead engine it's still worth a reasonable sum.
CharlesdeGaulle said:
motco said:
It doesn't mean crack on at all - as normal or slowly! What it will mean if you do is that you'll have to put a lot of money in to it, never mind the oil. If you have been running so low on oil that the pump pick-up is exposed, then you will have overheated the very reduced volume of oil and degraded it, and had transient pressure losses for some time before the light comes on due to sloshing in the sump. The engine will possibly have already suffered some damage anyway. The pressure warning light is a big red DO NOT IGNORE THIS light!
Look, I know all that. My point was simply that the low oil level warning light does indicate that the car needs oil. I'm not suggesting for a moment that you run a car until you see that light, or that you don't need to take immediate remedial action, but it does mean you need to add oil. Honestly, it's like pulling teeth in here.
w00tman said:
How does a beginner (mechanically speaking if not shown in age!) start to learn how to do more without f*cking it all up?
Buy a Haynes Manual. It helps if you're technically minded. Start with something simple, or even ask a knowledgeable friend to help/supervise/bring beer.SlimJim16v said:
V8 FOU said:
Or the woman who bought a new mazda and ran it for 120,000 miles without lifting the bonnet, before it expired. When asked why she didn't have it serviced, she replied "why should I? It lasted for 120K"
Don't believe it.SlimJim16v said:
w00tman said:
How does a beginner (mechanically speaking if not shown in age!) start to learn how to do more without f*cking it all up?
Buy a Haynes Manual. It helps if you're technically minded. Start with something simple, or even ask a knowledgeable friend to help/supervise/bring beer.If you need to know anything about a particular car or doing a particular job them google/youtube/forums will have just about everything you want to know.
But understanding how internal combustion works, and the differences between petrol and diesel engines would be a good start.
My brother, a well-educated, intelligent man with his own business, called me about his Renault Megane Scenic. The conversation went like this:
Him: Car won't start. Got any ideas?
Me: Really? OK, let's see. Do you know there's fuel in it?
H: Yep, filled it last night.
M: OK, does the radio come on when you turn the key, is the battery flat?
H: Oh, it turns over fine, just won't start.
M: Well there isn't much else I can do over the phone, suggest you get a professional to look at it.
H: Any particular professional?
M: Just call wherever you last had it serviced, they'll send someone out or offer you a recovery probably.
H: Never had it serviced.
M: What? But you bought it new 5 years ago. Do you mean you never had it serviced after the three year warranty period?
H: No, never ever. Meant to, but never got round to it. I just put some oil in when the light goes on.
M: (after a long pause) How many miles has it done?
H: 60,000. ish.
M: (after an even longer pause) Riiiight. Call your nearest workshop, explain the situation, and don't argue when the man calls you stupid.
I saw one of the spark plugs, which the mechanic had considerable difficulty extracting. It looked like it had been baked in tarmac.
Him: Car won't start. Got any ideas?
Me: Really? OK, let's see. Do you know there's fuel in it?
H: Yep, filled it last night.
M: OK, does the radio come on when you turn the key, is the battery flat?
H: Oh, it turns over fine, just won't start.
M: Well there isn't much else I can do over the phone, suggest you get a professional to look at it.
H: Any particular professional?
M: Just call wherever you last had it serviced, they'll send someone out or offer you a recovery probably.
H: Never had it serviced.
M: What? But you bought it new 5 years ago. Do you mean you never had it serviced after the three year warranty period?
H: No, never ever. Meant to, but never got round to it. I just put some oil in when the light goes on.
M: (after a long pause) How many miles has it done?
H: 60,000. ish.
M: (after an even longer pause) Riiiight. Call your nearest workshop, explain the situation, and don't argue when the man calls you stupid.
I saw one of the spark plugs, which the mechanic had considerable difficulty extracting. It looked like it had been baked in tarmac.
w00tman said:
So, in the interests of self-learning and all of that, how does one go about learning how to do bits and pieces around the car?
I'm a big fan of driving and cars, but outside of topping up of various fluids, checking tyre depth, the real basic-of-the-basics, I couldnt tell you how or what to do to sort brakes, or diagnose a fault or ...
How does a beginner (mechanically speaking if not shown in age!) start to learn how to do more without f*cking it all up?
Don't shoot me!!
Haynes Manual.I'm a big fan of driving and cars, but outside of topping up of various fluids, checking tyre depth, the real basic-of-the-basics, I couldnt tell you how or what to do to sort brakes, or diagnose a fault or ...
How does a beginner (mechanically speaking if not shown in age!) start to learn how to do more without f*cking it all up?
Don't shoot me!!
You could buy some old banger for £100 with problems, with a haynes manual tear it apart and see how it works, service it and learn from that.
Most modern cars can be diagnosed with an OBD2 scanner £15 off the usual suspects
Edited by AVV EM on Wednesday 20th July 18:50
w00tman said:
So, in the interests of self-learning and all of that, how does one go about learning how to do bits and pieces around the car?
I'm a big fan of driving and cars, but outside of topping up of various fluids, checking tyre depth, the real basic-of-the-basics, I couldnt tell you how or what to do to sort brakes, or diagnose a fault or ...
How does a beginner (mechanically speaking if not shown in age!) start to learn how to do more without f*cking it all up?
Don't shoot me!!
Generally, being willing to try (and fail!)I'm a big fan of driving and cars, but outside of topping up of various fluids, checking tyre depth, the real basic-of-the-basics, I couldnt tell you how or what to do to sort brakes, or diagnose a fault or ...
How does a beginner (mechanically speaking if not shown in age!) start to learn how to do more without f*cking it all up?
Don't shoot me!!
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