Dumb things people say about cars.

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My Dad never drains the oil he just changes the oil filter every year and adds oil when it is low. That way the new filter screens out all of the dirt in the oil.

This car was yet another "crude oil discovery" once the drain bolt was unleashed.
 
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Another good one is when people exaggerate or completely misrepresent what's wrong.

Knew a girl whose tie rod broke. Not hard to spot, wheel turns in at an extreme angle and you go nowhere fast. In her mind, the wheel fell off, and that's what she told folks.
 
I take excellent care of my car...I have the oil changed every 3-4,000 miles.

Meanwhile these same people ignore power steering fluid, brake fluid, PCV, air filters, cabin filters, transmission service, spark plugs, fuel filter, hoses, serpentine belt, etc.
 
Okay, I debated whether or not to put this one on here but here goes. Keep in mind I am still working on this woman and she is much better now.
My wife once questioned when I told her that I was going to change the oil in her car and rotate the tires "arent the tires already rotating as you drive?"

She was riding with her ex boss somewhere and noticed that her brakes were screeching when she applied them (ex boss car), she mentioned this to me when she got home that night and I told her that the brake pads probably needed replacing. She relayed this to her boss and was told that the fluid was still full so the brakes were still good.
I ended up changing these pads out a few months later guys, along with a caliper (yes the piston fell out), 2 rotors and 2 sets of brake pads. I did that as a "parts only, thank you" job and felt that it was my duty to keep the people that share the roads safe.
 
"I bought my car because it's a driver's car."

Usually in reference to something like a BRZ/FR-S or 3-series.

Of course, this is said by someone who has no intention of ever taking the vehicle to a track-day event or autocross and lives in a state like Michigan, where "corners" exist only on highway on-ramps.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
If you want some sadness/ ignorance look at a craigslist ad.

"Needs wheel barons" (Imagine a verbal diagnosis report by a New England mechanic.)

altinator, cadillac convertor, tire thread, all exist in unicorn land.


Try reading the posts on mazdas247.com. Someone has a raddle in their dash, another unfortunate needs to fix the squeek in his break peddle, and elsewhere a member needs to know how to remove the front bumber.
 
"I don't know how to put air in my tires." Really?! Who didn't have a bike when they were a kid and learned how to do this.

I even heard a bit on one of the local radio stations in the area that one of the DJ's didn't do an oil change in 125k miles and the mechanic asked her if an oil change was done, and she said that all she did was top off her oil with a 5qt jug!!! All 5qts!
crackmeup2.gif
 
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Originally Posted By: SLCraig
Once a guy was telling me about his buddy's twin turbo S4, and he said it was so fast, and the second turbo hadn't even kicked in yet when they were driving it.
Obviously not knowing a thing about how they work. I chuckled.


My eyes watered, I was laughing so much! I have one similar from when I bought my A6 in 2008.

The salesman was trying really hard to impress me by telling me that the 2.7 is a twin turbo engine (same as the S4 you referenced), and when you step on the gas a little it will activate one of the turbos. If you needed to really step on it, it would then fire up the second turbo so the air would be comprssed a second time. He thought they were in series and the second one would add to the psi from the first.
 
Originally Posted By: DirtRacer53
and she said that all she did was top off her oil with a 5qt jug!!! All 5qts!
crackmeup2.gif

how is that possible? How could the sump even hold that? I smell [censored]...
 
Originally Posted By: threeputtpar
Originally Posted By: SLCraig
Once a guy was telling me about his buddy's twin turbo S4, and he said it was so fast, and the second turbo hadn't even kicked in yet when they were driving it.
Obviously not knowing a thing about how they work. I chuckled.


My eyes watered, I was laughing so much! I have one similar from when I bought my A6 in 2008.

The salesman was trying really hard to impress me by telling me that the 2.7 is a twin turbo engine (same as the S4 you referenced), and when you step on the gas a little it will activate one of the turbos. If you needed to really step on it, it would then fire up the second turbo so the air would be comprssed a second time. He thought they were in series and the second one would add to the psi from the first.


To be fair, sequential twins have been done, although they don't work quite like the guy described. The Audi 2.7, however, has parallel twins.
 
OK, I'll tell one on myself here! Keep in mind that I was an 8 or 9 year old kid at the time and I've learned a little about cars since then, along with perhaps being a bit more honest, LOL.

At the time (early '70's), our family owned a '69 Ford Galaxie two door sedan with the 302 cubic inch V8. Once I lied through my teeth to my neighbor friend (a boy about the same age as me) that it had a 461 cubic inch V8 and backed up my "claim" by pointing to the numbers "461" that were part of the VIN under the front window glass! I did that because his dad had a mid '60's Thunderbird with the 390 cu. in V8 and I didn't want to have to admit that our car had less displacement (and hence, less horsepower) than his! Kinda funny what you remember doing as a kid sometimes...
 
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Originally Posted By: refaller
I hear people talk about their V4s all the time. Most BMW mommies drive V6s as well. Never correct them.

ref


Saab did make a little sports car (the Sonnett ?) and a few other models with a V-4 engine in them in the late 60's.
I'll bet the owners saab'd every time they needed parts for them, just like modern Saabs.
 
someone's low oil light came on.
she asked her coworkers about it, and was told that most cars took 5qts of oil.
so --blindly assuming that her car was OUT of oil, which it was not-- she topped it off with 5 qts!

We emptied 12 qts out of that car, it was meant to take about 7.



Had someone at autozone try to tell me that my camry did not HAVE rear wheel bearings, maybe it was an option?
I went to advance instead... they found the bearing in their computer.



coworker got a car with all 4 tpms sensors showing faulty. he replaced all 4. of course, it turned out to be a CEM software concern that caused it to lose communication with all 4, and he'd wasted his time
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: dwcopple
Originally Posted By: DirtRacer53
and she said that all she did was top off her oil with a 5qt jug!!! All 5qts!
crackmeup2.gif

how is that possible? How could the sump even hold that? I smell [censored]...


When I was in high school I got a ride with a friend once. His Dodge 3/4 ton, with 318, started rattling something fierce at some point. He got out and dumped in 5 qt of oil. ! I told him that, perhaps, he ought to put oil in a bit more often. He said why? Been doing that for 10 or 20 thousand miles...
 
Originally Posted By: MrHorspwer
"I bought my car because it's a driver's car."

Usually in reference to something like a BRZ/FR-S or 3-series.

Of course, this is said by someone who has no intention of ever taking the vehicle to a track-day event or autocross and lives in a state like Michigan, where "corners" exist only on highway on-ramps.


I've got lots of fun, hilly, banked curves near where I live in MI. Oh, and roundabouts. Those are fun at high speeds too.
 
Originally Posted By: dwcopple
Originally Posted By: DBMaster
I change my oil every 3,000 miles cause I like to treat my car right.
and I run premium fuel as a treat too...LOL

Honest to goodness, I had a teacher tell me once that his Pontiac's brights symbol on the dash was an Indian chief head with feathers as an homage to Chief Pontiac. I said "No, it's not, it's a lamp with beams coming off of it!" The look on his face was freaking priceless. Kazaa!!!
How old was the teacher? We had a 1960 Pontiac Star Chief and the bright indicator actually was a silhouette of an Indian head with a feather pointing back...
 
Originally Posted By: opus1
Originally Posted By: dwcopple
Originally Posted By: DBMaster
I change my oil every 3,000 miles cause I like to treat my car right.
and I run premium fuel as a treat too...LOL

Honest to goodness, I had a teacher tell me once that his Pontiac's brights symbol on the dash was an Indian chief head with feathers as an homage to Chief Pontiac. I said "No, it's not, it's a lamp with beams coming off of it!" The look on his face was freaking priceless. Kazaa!!!
How old was the teacher? We had a 1960 Pontiac Star Chief and the bright indicator actually was a silhouette of an Indian head with a feather pointing back...


Yep, "Kazaa!!!" I guess
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Everybody tell me I'm going to wash the paint off my cars. I have to grit my teeth and bite my tongue every time one of my neighbors says that to me. It drives me up the wall! Leave me alone and MYOB!! Your car isn't next either!

I haven't talked to my neighbor in a few weeks due to it being cold. He doesn't come outside much in the winter. I haven't hand washed a car in close to a month due to the weather. First thing out of the neighbors mouth is "It's too cold to wash the car. You're going to wash the paint off that thing. You wash that car every day don't you?"

ARRRGGGGGHHHHH! Has anyone ever successfully washed the paint off a car?? I wish my wife and I had moved to where we have WAY less neighbors than now. She doesn't go outside much so she never has to listen to this [censored]. She also grew up with neighbors all around her unlike me.

I always try to be nice,but I'm about sick of the comments. I guess I'm going to have to resort to washing my vehicles inside the garage with waterless or rinseless washes so I don't have to listen to this mess anymore.
 
i've washed paint off before.... GM had issues with certain colors in the late 80s-late 90s... i believe it had something to do with water based primer not reacting well with the base coat and clear coat?

either way, the clear tends to flake off, then the basecoat soon after, in hilariously large chunks. sometimes you can get the clear and color to come off at the same time, so you don't even expect it.
 
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