I Hate When That Happens

Aren’t cars great these days? With proper care, they start up in almost any weather-without having to plug them in. They are comfortable to drive. They have a lot more power than they used to, and they get better fuel economy than in the past. The bodies don’t rust out and the paint even stays looking better than just a few years ago. These are all great things. My concern is that with all the technological advancement our vehicles have made, we may take things for granted.

I have been in the car fixing trade for over 30 years. And over these years, I have witnessed the “morphing” of our vehicles that we drive along with the driving public as well. It used to be that every winter people were in for a “winter tune-up”. This was a common thing and people knew that they would have problems if they did not take care of this each fall. Now, with the great improvements in our vehicle, I see some people just expect their car to go without care. This last week I have a couple cases in point:

We had a very nice young person in that needed their vehicles brake system repaired. The vehicle had about 80K on it. The repair needed was in the hundreds of dollars. This, of course, was a much unexpected surprise for this individual. We also had another client that dropped off their vehicle saying that it ran poorly. We asked if the check engine light was on and they responded that it has been on for over a year. After testing this vehicle, we found that the catalytic converter was plugged up not allowing the exhaust to get out of the tailpipe, causing an extremely low power situation. We found a code set in the computer for the ineffective catalyst. More importantly, we found a code relating to a fuel system running lean (not enough gas). Upon further testing, we found the front Oxygen sensor was relaying to the computer that the engine needed more fuel. The engine computer responded by giving it more fuel. The problem is that the sensor did not recognize that the amount of fuel had increased and it still thought that the system was running lean. So the engine computer increased the fuel to a point that, according to its programming, was excessive. When the computer realized this, it turned on the check engine light. The vehicle still ran OK (however, I am sure the fuel economy suffered) so they continued to drive the vehicle. Well, now we had it and the repair to get it back on the road was way more than the customer had anticipated. The point is, in both of these cases if action had been taken sooner, the problems could have been minimized and the cost could have been between 2/3rds and ½ less.

The lesson of course is, don’t take your vehicle for granted. If a light comes on, that is telling you that there is a problem. We hear this often that the check engine light has been on for a long time. It may be true that the first issue may not have been significant, however, if something else would happen you would not know it because the check engine light was already on. The point is, if the light is on, it needs to be fixed. And back to the individual with the unexpected brake problem. There are many things on our vehicles that wear out gradually. The best policy is to have periodic inspections. If you check the vehicle maintenance schedule, you will find the inspections recommended. I still feel that every vehicle should have an annual “once over”. This way, things can be caught before they become unexpected and more expensive. I Hate When That Happens!