How can wives not notice this stuff.

[Black_Thunder]

it varies. My mother notices things on her own vehicle, my sister in law does not. I worked on my sister in laws car awhile back, was just doing a simple oil change and when I was finished and was going to take it back to them I didn't even make it a half a mile before I turned around because one of the front wheel bearings was howling so bad it sounded like a plane taking off. in the midst of taking that apart I also noticed the brake pads getting low and a caliper was leaking, sometimes things just cascade to other problems

 

[ctechbob]

I dunno, probably the same attention to detail that let my wife drive 15 miles with the oil light on and no oil in her 2000 Accord.

 

[02SE]

Originally Posted by Oildudeny

Could be Tokico..

Definitely Tokico Wipe some of grime off, and you'll likely find Tokico's name.

 

[FT92]

my wife notices every little noise in her car...she lets me know right away...that's a good thing but can be a pain also as some noise really isn't a problem

 

[gfh77665]

Originally Posted by Black_Thunder

it varies.

Agreed. My wife will catch almost anything, while (true story) her late mother drove her Expedition some distance home with a locked up rear wheel, and never even knew it despite the MASSIVE burning rubber smell. What was left of the tire was so hot it scorched and killed the grass where she parked it.

 

[vwmaniaman]

My wife notices some things and knows how to change a tire and where the tow hooks go. Gauges? Well that is a problem. Her car has nothing but a speedometer a tach and a gas gauge. Everything else is a light. Kinda like my old VW bug and bus. She always records each time she fills the tank though at my request so I can keep track of mileage and condition decline in O2 sensors and spark plugs and the like. Wives like that are very few.

 

[Gebo]

Originally Posted by Sunnyinhollister

Probably the same way husbands don't notice dishes in the sink or laundry piling up..........

Ouch, that hurt but is so correct. Or that the dishwasher needs to be unloaded.

 

[JHZR2]

I just replaced 40 year gas shocks on the rear of my Mercedes. It was not failing the bounce test. Bushings were all good. The new one was a good deal harder to compress, but the old one was in no way "easy". That plus subframe bushings made it a whole new car.

 

[shrooms]

Originally Posted by SLO_Town

I'm proud to say my wife notices even very minor things. A crooked steering wheel, tire imbalance, wonky handling, weird noises, nothing gets past her. A 65 year old woman..... After 43 years of marriage I've trained her well. It helps that all our cars are maintained to an extremely high standard. That makes it easy to know when something is amiss. Scott

You're a lucky man. No matter how many times I tell my wife about the simplest things to hear or look for, it doesn't penetrate. Concrete slab understands me.

 

[Alfred_B]

Unless it's a quick degradation, it will not be noticed. I wouldn't be so hard on her. Poor quality of Toyota strikes again!

 

[Barkleymut]

I have ruined my wife and daughter. I spent so much time stressing that they report any and all oddities that may occur so that I can fix them before they become major problems. My daughter told me her brakes were grinding while she was 2 hours away at college, I knew the brakes had plenty of material so was perplexed - told her to drive it home and assured her that she would be fine. When she returned a few weeks ago, I took the Vue out and it turns out that she had an umbrella under the seat that was rubbing against something metal. It didn't sound like the brakes at all and occured more when turning than braking. Told her I fixed the brakes and she was happy. Wife's Flex had a bad coil and was missing really bad, I was at work. I told her to drive it home, she said it wasn't safe (she was 2 miles from home). I attempted to debate her and assure her that the car would not die, but she was terrified to drive it. Luckily she was able to park it somewhere that it did not get towed. Went up there that night and drove it home no problem, replaced the coil and it runs perfect now. My point is that I have scared the ladies in my life. I maintain these cars really well and would probably notice any symptoms before they became catastrophic.

 

[supton]

To be fair, my vehicles all probably have shocks (struts) just as bad. I can't tell the difference. Years ago I got a fail on inspection for dead struts. Upon removal the strut was indeed dead. They put in soft struts. I couldn't tell any difference while driving. If you aren't driving "at the limit" I'm guessing a great deal can be ignored. I used to own a VW so I got used to ignoring the CEL. These days I just ignore the TPMS and oil change light; no sensors in winter tires and often I forget to reset the maintenance light.

 

[Dave9]

Originally Posted by Alfred_B

Unless it's a quick degradation, it will not be noticed. I wouldn't be so hard on her. Poor quality of Toyota strikes again!

Not so much, every SUV should have its shocks/struts changed before 13 years has gone by, unless it was hardly ever driven. That's the nature of the beast. I don't even wait for shocks to leak, replace roughly every 50K mi, or a bit longer on cars but anything with coil-over struts I would never wait long to replace because the salted winter roads around here can cause the strut spring seat to break off, dropping the vehicle onto the tire. It happened to me, good thing I wasn't taking a curve on the interstate at the time.

 

[ecotourist]

Originally Posted by JHZR2

I just replaced 40 year gas shocks on the rear of my Mercedes. It was not failing the bounce test. Bushings were all good. The new one was a good deal harder to compress, but the old one was in no way "easy". That plus subframe bushings made it a whole new car.

I've been told (but don't know if it's true) that OEM replacement shocks are a bit stiffer than the originals.

 

[jacobsond]

Its funny what people notice and what they don't. For me I work on machines in mechanical rooms on a college campus. I can walk into any of the 40 or so mech rooms an notice instantly if something dosent sound right for that particular room. Same thing with the vehicles. Instantly will notice if it doesn't sound or feel right. For the life of me I still cannot notice when my wife gets a haircut or new cloths. Dont expect her to notice the mechanical things. That may be your job to check her car more often.

 

[madRiver]

Gradual degradation likely.

 

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted by madRiver

Gradual degradation likely.

+1 And some people are better at noticing different noises than others. I have two sisters. One drives a 2013 Jetta, and always tells me if the car makes a strange noise (usually a rock in the brakes or something) while the other has a 2003 Acura 3.2TL and wouldn't notice if the car was only running on 1 cylinder. The sister with the TL drove around on rear brakes that wore down so far they started eating into the rotor. When I asked about it she said "oh yeah, it's been making a noise for a few months".

 

[javacontour]

My wife probably asks why I can't find something in the fridge or pantry that she can find in nanoseconds.

 

[stenerson]

Originally Posted by Chris142

I asked her how long it had been so bouncy in the rear and she said she did not notice anything unusual.

Same deal with wife's Sonata. I took it for a ride and the front end was a mess.. She said : "yeah I'm used to it." Changing struts, ball joints and , steering linkage.

 

[JustinH]

Same deal with my wife's scion. Struts blown out, no rebound. I make a point to drive the thing once a week now to keep closer tabs on it.