Ever run into the old, I only need it to last 6 more months, crowd?

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We have a 2008 Cadillac CTS AWD in the shop. Just came in for brakes. The usual, just do the minimum, we’re only keeping it till the end of winter. Been telling us that for five years now.

Well, the rear brakes have nothing left. Like, we couldn’t find the brake pad...it was eventually found, it fell between the backside of the rotor and backing plate. It had gotten that THIN that it was able to fall out of the caliper mounting bracket. Metal from the pad backing has flown all into the rims and rear fenders, rusting the entire rear of the car. Not just rims, but fenders, trunk lid. Everything.

The tires are completely BALD. The oil is 14,000 miles past its interval...that oil now has 19,000 miles on it. There isn’t a drop on that dipstick. Not a drop. We only use house brand synthetic, this oil isn’t made to go much further than the 5,000 miles we recommend.

Anyone else ever see cars like this? And the old...I only need the thing to last six months? I’m not really knocking the guy either, money is tight everywhere. I just can’t believe this car is even running right now.
 
I would be spending more time writing & making them sign waivers for all the things they didn't want fixed, than I would actually repairing it! Doesn't MA have a vehicle inspection program?
 
I have friends with brand new cars that don't want to do maintenance on them. I also have friends with older cars that complain when something needs to be replaced and push it as far as possible. Then it doesn't pass state inspection, and they act surprised and complain that it will cost them an arm and a leg to get the car fixed.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, I have other friends who will do every single service item the dealer upsells to them because they do not know any better and think it is required. Then they complain that their car "has needed more service than any other car they have ever owned!"

I was behind a co-worker in the parking lot at work recently. None of their brake lights worked. I casually mentioned it to them while walking in to the office, and they responded "Oh yes, I know. I will get those replaced next time I am at the dealer for service. I have an extended warranty for that!" Okay, sure, but brake lights are kind of important.
 
Sadly it IS a two way street. If you go anywhere but a place that has the guy's name over the door, just expect to get hassled with an upsell. The local GMC dealer is so bad I almost didn't go for the last free oil change that came with my GM CPO purchase but hey, it was free synthetic oil. Our local tire shop chain while really good, is also constantly pushing services prematurely. I just feel sorry for the guys on the wrenches because I know they are trying to serve two masters, and one is often clueless while the other is dishonest.
 
Anyone else ever see cars like this? And the old...I only need the thing to last six months? I’m not really knocking the guy either, money is tight everywhere. I just can’t believe this car is even running right now.
Its been another century since I did car "mechanicing" but nothing has changed from what you have described. I will tell you it directly carries over to industrial clients too.

There are some that invest properly in a PM program and it pays off in overall profitability.

There are some that do what amounts to a "minimal" PM and it helps but could be better.

There are plenty with that "run to fail" mindset that are always one step ahead of a catastrophic failure and then complain about that. ( when they themselves are the reason it got to that point in the first place)

Its the mental games people play with themselves.
 
My sister was like this in her early 20s with her '79 Mustang. She had no money, so full maintenance wasn't really an option. She even replaced a single spark plug wire when the car started missing on one cylinder. Then complained when something was always going wrong, or it wouldn't start when the temperatures in Wyoming plummeted. I'm not sure it was ever on any kind of an oil change schedule. It got done when it occurred to her. By the time she sold it in 1984, it was burning a considerable amount of oil at only 65,000 miles. Her next car (1984 Bronco II) suffered a similar fate. It had lost so much compression by 1989 that you couldn't park it on a slope without the parking brake. Some folks are just more comfortable learning expensive lessons than they are using an ounce of prevention. Fortunately, my sister has gotten much better about it. But she still pushes her Highlander out to 10,000 mile oil changes, which I always cringe at if she brings it up.
 
My sister was like this in her early 20s with her '79 Mustang. She had no money, so full maintenance wasn't really an option. She even replaced a single spark plug wire when the car started missing on one cylinder. Then complained when something was always going wrong, or it wouldn't start when the temperatures in Wyoming plummeted. I'm not sure it was ever on any kind of an oil change schedule. It got done when it occurred to her. By the time she sold it in 1984, it was burning a considerable amount of oil at only 65,000 miles. Her next car (1984 Bronco II) suffered a similar fate. It had lost so much compression by 1989 that you couldn't park it on a slope without the parking brake. Some folks are just more comfortable learning expensive lessons than they are using an ounce of prevention. Fortunately, my sister has gotten much better about it. But she still pushes her Highlander out to 10,000 mile oil changes, which I always cringe at if she brings it up.
No need to cringe at the 10,000 mile oil change interval on the Highlander. That is the standard Toyota service interval for the Highlander for oil changes...12 months or 10,000 miles.
 
I would be spending more time writing & making them sign waivers for all the things they didn't want fixed, than I would actually repairing it! Doesn't MA have a vehicle inspection program?
Yeah it had NH sticker that was three years old. We were wondering how this thug got a sticker, turns out it didn’t.
 
Those customers were an every day thing here. Do not back down on safety. If it needs rotors put them on the estimate. Even if they are the cheapest you can find.

If they do not like the price to fix the brakes correctly then tell them to tow it away.
Yeah we’ve done that before. On this one the guy did pads, rotors and calipers.
 
Sadly it IS a two way street. If you go anywhere but a place that has the guy's name over the door, just expect to get hassled with an upsell. The local GMC dealer is so bad I almost didn't go for the last free oil change that came with my GM CPO purchase but hey, it was free synthetic oil. Our local tire shop chain while really good, is also constantly pushing services prematurely. I just feel sorry for the guys on the wrenches because I know they are trying to serve two masters, and one is often clueless while the other is dishonest.
It’s funny you say that because I skipped my second “free” oil change with my Silverado. Just couldn’t stand the dealership pushing stuff on me, nor the wait times for a simple oil change that I can do myself with better oil, knowing I did it right.
 
This is another reason why I love carfax...when I can look at carfax and actually see those annual 5,000 mile oil changes right on time, every time? Thats the used vehicle I’ll pay a little bit more for because I have to believe that these people took care of that car. They cared. They are responsible, they aren’t the type to let things go or ignore it all together. It may not always be the case but chances are.

Meanwhile if someone were to carfax my car they wouldn’t get anywhere near the whole story. Nothing is going to show up on my carfax. I’ve done all those repairs and oil changes myself. When they actually talk to me they will know that but the initial carfax is going to make it look like I’ve done next to nothing...but that’s a unique situation.
 
The place I work at has 3 GM box trucks.
The warehouse manager used to work at an independent Auto repair/tire shop.
He stays current on maintenance and the trucks work hard and make the company money.
The shop he used to work at is local and thats where he sends them.
 
We have a 2008 Cadillac CTS AWD in the shop. Just came in for brakes. The usual, just do the minimum, we’re only keeping it till the end of winter. Been telling us that for five years now.

Well, the rear brakes have nothing left. Like, we couldn’t find the brake pad...it was eventually found, it fell between the backside of the rotor and backing plate. It had gotten that THIN that it was able to fall out of the caliper mounting bracket. Metal from the pad backing has flown all into the rims and rear fenders, rusting the entire rear of the car. Not just rims, but fenders, trunk lid. Everything.

The tires are completely BALD. The oil is 14,000 miles past its interval...that oil now has 19,000 miles on it. There isn’t a drop on that dipstick. Not a drop. We only use house brand synthetic, this oil isn’t made to go much further than the 5,000 miles we recommend.

Anyone else ever see cars like this? And the old...I only need the thing to last six months? I’m not really knocking the guy either, money is tight everywhere. I just can’t believe this car is even running right now.
Back in the day when I was racing and building engines I would get people with engines barely running with little to NO oil pressure at all. "Can you make it last just long enough so I can save up the money to pay you for a new engine?" I would usually install a high volume oil pump and fill it with Castrol 20W50 or Kendall Nitro 70 weight oil.
 
Not everyone has the same level of OCD that most of BITOG posters have. They do what needs to be done to keep her running and driving, and drive within the limitations of the cars issues.
 
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This is another reason why I love carfax...when I can look at carfax and actually see those annual 5,000 mile oil changes right on time, every time? Thats the used vehicle I’ll pay a little bit more for because I have to believe that these people took care of that car. They cared. They are responsible, they aren’t the type to let things go or ignore it all together. It may not always be the case but chances are.

Meanwhile if someone were to carfax my car they wouldn’t get anywhere near the whole story. Nothing is going to show up on my carfax. I’ve done all those repairs and oil changes myself. When they actually talk to me they will know that but the initial carfax is going to make it look like I’ve done next to nothing...but that’s a unique situation.
You can get a free myCarfax account, and log all of your maintenance. Then it will show up on the car's Carfax report if someone runs it.
 
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