When Was The Last Time You Wrenched A Car?

Early last week, I brought the Charger into our local dealer to sort out a passel of recalls, not the least of which was a computer reflash to bestow Auto Park capabilities on my ZF-equipped Dodge.

This new programming, it must be noted, not only added the Auto Park feature (which actually works so seamlessly it beggars belief that Dodge engineers didn’t include it from the get-go to save themselves a world of bad PR) but also changed the font in the dashboard EVIC. I now look upon my digital speed readout with a level of disdain formerly reserved for soiled copies of the National Enquirer. Comic Sans would’ve been a better option.

Anyway, the car was also due for an oil change, so I scheduled that service for the same visit. Arriving at the desk, the mental fog cleared long enough to bestow upon me the presence of mind to inquire the cost of a dealer oil change for my Pentastar-equipped Charger.

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TomM - 5/1/2017 11:17:46 AM

+3 Boost

This morning I put new Brakes and changed the Oil in My mini-van. With the number of cars in the family nearby alone - it is a rare weekend where I do not have at least one car related repair/service going on. Last week - I replaced the fuel pump in my in-laws Taurus. It helps to have a lift in the barn to do that one.

Agent009 - 5/1/2017 1:18:13 PM

+1 Boost

You are one of the proud few I suppose. I will teach my 16 year old son to change the oil on his 3 Series this week

TomM - 5/1/2017 7:45:26 PM

+3 Boost

All of my kids and grand kids know that I will show them - and I will help - but they also have to be involved. Even my Surgeon Daughter - who is married to a Constitutional Lawyer - gets her kids to change her oil - although she can. By the time they were 16 - my boys all had built the engine for their first cars. WE actually built them each a car - from mechanical to paint to interior. I am also lucky that I live on a LARGE farm in the middle of nowhere - where they have the barn space to do this.

I believe that every almost every driver should at least be able to change a tire - although it is getting more and more dangerous to actually do it on a highway. ANd - that means that all our cars have spare tires too. Funny though - I have not rebuilt a standard in quite a while. Did you know that in the last about 20 years - Automatic transmissions have become much more reliable too - and fail at less than 20% of the rate that they once did. THAT is why you see the neighborhood Aamco now doing general repairs - they cannot exist on transmissions alone.

atc98092 - 5/1/2017 1:28:52 PM

+3 Boost

In the last couple of months I changed the oil in both my pickup and my daughter's Routan. If I'm still around when my grandson is grown enough, he'll learn how to work on cars with me. My daughters helped me a bit when I rebuilt a 68 Beetle, and then one of them drove that car for a couple of years. They both still prefer manual transmissions, but they just haven't been available in the cars desired.

TheSteve - 5/1/2017 6:43:53 PM

+3 Boost

The only work I do on my car is swap the summer/winter tires/wheels. I don't even do my own oil changes. I have no interest in that. I do have an extensive HD Audio-Visual and media architecture in my home. That's one of my interests, passions, and focuses.

atc98092 - 5/2/2017 9:35:30 AM

+2 Boost

Hey Steve, I also have AV interests. Goes along with my interest in all things mechanical and electronic. :) Been an Amateur Radio operator since 1980 as well. Don't seen them exclusive of each other, but as I get older it does get more difficult to crawl under a car or straighten up after being bent over the fender!

MDarringer - 5/1/2017 7:52:05 PM

-1 Boost

Sunday. Did some wiring harness installation in a flip I'm working on.