Auto Repair Questions

There are a lot of unscrupulous mechanics/shops (http://www.jiffylubeproblems.com/) out there. I highly recommend taking your Toyota/Pontiac to their respective dealerships and let them take care of it. Seriously, who wants to take their car in for maintenance only to have nothing done to it? I'll gladly pay the extra $$ for a peace of mind that comes with a dealership. They certainly stand to lose more if they f*ck you over.

yeah... I hear you, but you still can't trust everything your dealer's service dept. says...

the service advisors have some of the most stressful jobs out there... they're prone to mistakes and they DO get paid commission on the time they sell for their technicians no matter how much work the car needs. They're alot more likely to actually do the work they say, but they charge you 2 hours of labor to do things that may take 20 mins... then they charge 100 bucks an hour...

I just so happen to be a collision repair technician (body man)at a baltimore area dealership and I can tell that most of the time they really are just trying to take your money.The thing about dealerships is that there is so much overhead that they have to find everyway to squeeze the dollars out of you.They do this by "recomending" needless repairs.Fluid flushing,belt or hose changes,tire rotations and the like are all easy to do and you can charge a lot for it. I dont know of anyone who charges $100 a labor hour for mechanical labor, It is usually around $80.Of wich the technician is lucky to see 40 percent of the labor charged.Another thing is, dont think for a second that the term labor "hour" is in any way a reflection on the actual time it takes to do the job.I think its that way just to confuse people but I dont really Know.

Finding someone you can trust is the most important thing you can do.Im not saying that you should avoid a dealership, but dont go there thinking that everything is going to be all right just because it is a dealership.Like I stated before,Dealerships have more overhead than small independants and therefore are more likley to try to get all they can.On the other hand there are a lot of good people working at dealership and if you trust yours than stick with it.I work for a dealer ship so I cant think there that bad, and frankly I write honest estimates.Then again its much easier for me to justify a repair seeing as all you have to do is look at the car and see that it is f-ed up.

In closing I will tell you a story about one time I went to a tire merchant with my girlfriend at the time.She owned a fairly new cavalier that needed a new tire.So we go to the store and the guy behind the counter looks up here car in the copmuter and tells her that she needs a ZR rated tire that was like $150.The ZR rating means that the tire is safe to up to 140 mph.I told they guy that she didnt need that kind of tire but he just kept on insisting that she had to get the ZR rated tire.After about ten minutes of arguing with the guy I decided to let him in on two little secrects.one,That I was a body man and that I knew exactly what I was talking about and second that those cavaliers have a kill switch that will stop the engine if it goes past 110 mph.He didnt have an answer for me when i asked him why he was trying to sell someone a tire that is rated for 140mph when there car cant even go over 110 mph.

I dont know if anything I have just told you is helpfull but pm me if you have any specific questions.

This is why I love the Warpath (one of the many reasons). Thanks for all the knowledge, guys. VERY helpful.

Another question:

My 1999 Camry (88,000 miles) is having this issue where the temperature needle creeps up, especially in stop & go traffic, or when idling a lot. When I step on the gas, the needle often shifts back down to the middle.

I check the coolant levels, and it's fine. What could be causing this? Is it possible the coolant line isn't circulating the coolant properly?

I can tell you that there aren't any leaks. I have repeatedly checked the coolant level, and it's never any lower.

My 1999 Camry (88,000 miles) is having this issue where the temperature needle creeps up, especially in stop & go traffic, or when idling a lot. When I step on the gas, the needle often shifts back down to the middle.

I check the coolant levels, and it's fine. What could be causing this? Is it possible the coolant line isn't circulating the coolant properly?

It sounds like your thermostat may be sticking or needs replaced. Or maybe your water pump is shot. But I would check my thermostat first, or have that checked first. Thats my guess...

Hey guys what about tires? How long should they last? I get mine rotated every oil change which for me is every 5k or so. Is that too often?

Hey guys what about tires? How long should they last? I get mine rotated every oil change which for me is every 5k or so. Is that too often?

I would think that you could go an oil change with out rotating your tires, I would say you would be ok if you did it everyother oil change.

Oh and for how long they should last...

If you rotate your tires regularlly then you should get the rateing that the tires are specified for. Like if you bought 60,000 mile tires well you should get that many miles atleast. Also, to check the thread on your tires do the penny trick.

Take a penny with Honest Abe's head upside down and place it between the tread on your tire. Aslong as the tread is above Abe's hair line then your tread is ok and there is still wear left on the tire. If your tire tread falls below Abes head then you will need to get new tires.

check the thermostat in the car... its an easy part to swap out yourself... remove the big hose going to the motor from the radiator and it should be the piece that the hose fits over on the engine... double check me on that but ive changed a lot of them and thats usually the case...

Matt... I don't believe in tire rotation. I don't do it. I had a set of goodyear eagles that I got on my G35 that I never once rotated and they lasted 70k miles...

Right now I have never rotated the tires on my Tundra and they have 25k on them and still look new. I rotated the tires on my older GMC and it seemed no matter what tire I put on them they would be bald by 30k miles...

Maybe no correlation there, I understand that it may just be happenstance... different tires, or the GMC chewed them up for some reason... but Im gonna stick with what works for me...

As long as the tires are balanced correctly you reall shouldnt need to rotate the tires...

As long as the tires are balanced correctly you reall shouldnt need to rotate the tires...

I concur. Also, alignment and tire pressure affect tire wear as well.