More tales from the autoshop

[Bosch]

What annoys the hell out of me, is that the "donut" came into use...to "save weight and space." Bullshit. On every car I've owned, the Tempo, the Tercel, Mazda, and my current Corolla...a standard-sized wheel will fit into the spare wheel "hole" no problem. Meaning, it doesn't free up any space, and from what I can tell, a donut spare doesn't weigh much less than an alloy wheel to begin with

True but with my PT the compact spare is carried like a spare would be on a pick-up truck and the basket isn't big enough to carry the flat tire.. At least on a pick up you will always get a full size spare, that is one thing I miss about having a pick up truck.

[Primer]

At least on a pick up you will always get a full size spare, that is one thing I miss about having a pick up truck.

My Nissan Frontier pick up truck came with a baby spare.

[Oberonsshadow]

True but with my PT the compact spare is carried like a spare would be on a pick-up truck and the basket isn't big enough to carry the flat tire.. At least on a pick up you will always get a full size spare, that is one thing I miss about having a pick up truck.

Which is why I adore my truck When it's time for new tires, the new ones go on, and the best of the old ones becomes the spare. Although it's always a treat to convince the guys at the tire shop, that yes, I need tires with real tread, no, highway tires aren't going to cut it, Yes, I have some idea what I'm talking about, because my truck is a hauling rig... You put the cheap tires on my truck and I will end up dead somewhere...

When I was younger and didn't really know how/have the tools/feel confident to change a tire, I was towing a horse trailer, full of horses, and hit a piece of debris in the middle of the road. You may wonder, why didn't I avoid said debris? Well, the kids in back would have never let me live it down if I had swerved, so I held my breath and hoped nothing would happen... Lucky me, the debris punched a fist sized hole in my tire. I call AAA, and ask for someone to help me change the tire, and BTW, I'm attached to a horse trailer, be sure to let the person coming know.

Well, they not only didn't let them know, the guy who came out, didn't have the right tools. 2 hours later, I'm finally back on the road... and as soon as I got home, I aquired the tools and had someone show me how to change the damn thing myself.

Your Mazda anecdote reminds me of a tale of great fail. I once had a mechanic try to convince me that I needed an OMG EXPENSIVE REPAIR to my car because the piston rings were toast.

The car in question was a first-generation Mazda RX-7.

RX-7s have rotary engines.

Rotary Engines Don't. Have. Pistons.

(and you should have seen the argument that ensued when I told him that.. 'what do you mean it doesn't have pistons, all cars have pistons')

I've had a mechanic try to sell me a new set of spark plugs.... The flaw here? I drive a diesel. I have no spark plugs... Glow plugs, yes, spark plugs, no.

I didn't have the heart to ask if he knew that diesels don't use spark plugs, or if he just hadn't realized (after spending a significant amount of time under the hood) that my truck was a diesel... I ended up taking my truck somewhere else...

[MadMike]

Meaning, it doesn't free up any space, and from what I can tell, a donut spare doesn't weigh much less than an alloy wheel to begin with

And just how much does would a full tire add to the cost of a car? $50, if even that? What's $50 when you're already spending thousands on the damn thing?

IIRC, you're not supposed to drive over 50 mph, or over a certain number of miles on a donut. What if you break down in the middle of the night, out in the middle of nowhere? That happened to me once, but luckily that was when I had the one car that came with a full spare.

[Hemily]

it's like the story i heard from someone, who took his car to the mechanics,
didn't think much of it, until he picked it up and they billed him for a diesel filter,
he told them, they hadn't changed his diesel filter, but no..
the guy behind the counter argued back,
if they said they've changed the diesel filter, they have changed the diesel filter!
the owner got tired of arguing and just left with a final thing to say...

it is a petrol car!

[Bosch]

My Nissan Frontier pick up truck came with a baby spare.

Mine didn't full size and always peek under there and check since weight is the reason you can't put a compact spare on a truck! And I had an 03 frontier you got cheated...

[protege]

I'm just waiting for the day I take the MG in for service...and someone tries to sell me a bottle of "fuel injector treatment."

Why? The MG doesn't have injectors...it has carbs!

[Bliss]

Your Mg has Crabs? Must be that damned Lucas electric system...

[wolfie]

I've had a mechanic try to sell me a new set of spark plugs.... The flaw here? I drive a diesel. I have no spark plugs... Glow plugs, yes, spark plugs, no.

I didn't have the heart to ask if he knew that diesels don't use spark plugs, or if he just hadn't realized (after spending a significant amount of time under the hood) that my truck was a diesel... I ended up taking my truck somewhere else...

New spark plugs wouldn't have helped anyway, since the problem was probably in the carburetor (just joking - but there are some diesels with carburetors, in model airplanes, and the fuel they use is a mixture of lamp oil, lubricating oil, and ether).

My mother took her Fiat 128 to the dealer to get the snow tires installed, and they put them on the back (the 128 is front wheel drive, the 124 is rear wheel drive).

I hate the "donut" spares, and won't get a car that can't hold a full-size. One thing I've asked at several dealerships, and usually got a "interesting question" response, is "You're on a road trip. The seats are full of people, and the trunk is full of luggage. Where do you put your full-size flat tire?"

[Bosch]

New spark plugs wouldn't have helped anyway, since the problem was probably in the carburetor (just joking - but there are some diesels with carburetors, in model airplanes, and the fuel they use is a mixture of lamp oil, lubricating oil, and ether).

My mother took her Fiat 128 to the dealer to get the snow tires installed, and they put them on the back (the 128 is front wheel drive, the 124 is rear wheel drive).

I hate the "donut" spares, and won't get a car that can't hold a full-size. One thing I've asked at several dealerships, and usually got a "interesting question" response, is "You're on a road trip. The seats are full of people, and the trunk is full of luggage. Where do you put your full-size flat tire?"

Well there is a federal law in the states, I've seen the sign on the wall at least in cali. "Due to federal law if your purchase TWO tires they must be installed on the rear." Which is very outdated for FWD cars.. I've had to have the tires mounted on the rear take the car drive around the block come back and have them rotated to the front as a seperate service to get around that..

At least I was told and it was a freebie rotation, they thought it was just as stupid and this was there work around for it.

[joe hx]

Well there is a federal law in the states, I've seen the sign on the wall at least in cali. "Due to federal law if your purchase TWO tires they must be installed on the rear." Which is very outdated for FWD cars.

The story behind this begins with a sucky customer. A year or so back someone rolled into an independent tire shop that happened to sell Michelins. It's important to note that this was NOT an authorized seller of Michelin. Anyways they want to buy two tires. The mechanic (or salesman) told them they needed four tires, and that all the tires were beyond bald. The SC said no, I just want two, and put them on the front. So the SC left with two new Michelins on the front and bald tires on the rear. They end up crashing the car, and, of course, blaming it on the tire store because they didn't force them to have four tires. Since Michelin has more money, the SC sues Michelin for not properly training the unauthorized dealer. Michelin figures out that the accident might not of happened had the tires in the rear been new. So now everyone puts new tires on the rear.

My thought about the whole thing was what is the difference between crashing because you have bald tires in the front and crashing because you have bald tires in the rear?

Oh, here's some links:

New Article
Goodyear.
BFGoodrich
and
Michelin

[MadMike]

Once again, crime may not pay, but stupidity apparently does.

[Bosch]

The story behind this begins with a sucky customer.

My experience differs from time on the track, in the snow but that is me. But then the only time I have run bald tires is when it a pair of slicks at the track, never on the street I see wear bars or other signs of age they get chucked in quick time for newer, better grippier rubber.

I won't argue since I know its done that way to protect the stupid and those who never truly learned to car control. Just like helmet and seatbelt laws have allowed darwin award winners to overbreed..

Ok done ranting about that..

[Calie]

Once again, crime may not pay, but stupidity apparently does.

Sucks to be the members of this board then, too smart to get the big payouts. Though with how many brain cells we've all lost reading some of these stories...

[Primer]

My thought about the whole thing was what is the difference between crashing because you have bald tires in the front and crashing because you have bald tires in the rear?

I'd rather crash because of the rear tires going out. I can better control overall movement if I still have the front end/wheels intact. If I lose the front end, I'm more likely to roll the whole darned vehicle.

All this does remind me though....I need to get 4 new tires sometime sooner than later. The rear sidewalls are starting to show age cracks.