No good deed goes.....

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My neighbor drove by while I was rotating my sister's tires. He was told the rear sway bar in his '96 Cherokee was busted.
I told him to come by when I was done and we could put it on ramps and look at it.

He came by and and I showed him where the bar was broken on the left side and where its bracket had broken away on the right.

When he drove off there were huge flows of brake fluid on my driveway. That stupid old man has delayed EVERY maintenance operation on that vehicle.

He says he'll buy me some Purple Power to replace the stuff I have to use. What a putz.
 
Why didn't you just agree with him and let him be on his way?

His mechanic should be inviting him under the vehicle to show where the damages are, not you.

Your own fault for getting involved.
 
Brake fluid is nasty stuff. Kills asphalt driveways like trans fluid IIRC

!You let him drive away with possible no brakes soon?

Many thank you for helping the old soul.
 
It was really very nice of you to put his car up on ramps and show him the problem. Especially regarding the brakes, I would refrain from doing any work on it. If something were to happen or he disregards maintenance and ends up hurting someone due to failed brakes, you could be liable.
 
I will look at just about anything for just about anyone. I will even fix it if it's for friends or family. I guess a lot of people wouldn't have offered to take a look. Huh.
 
Probably the rear hard line. It commonly rusts out on Cherokees. He won't have any brakes soon. I lost mine after making a hard stop when someone cut me off. The brake light came on and the pedal got a lot squishier. Luckily I was able to limp home using mostly the e-brake and tapping the pedal to let drivers behind me know.

Some people are lazy and don't bother to maintain vehicles, others just don't know anything about them and what maintenance they require. I wouldn't be so quick to blame the guy.
 
Too bad that he lives in your area, this would peeve me off given that most accidents happen close to home and guess what that means for you and your other neighbors !
 
It's OK. We all have to learn to read "problematic people". You are young and will get the hang of it - eventually.

Just hope he does not do too much damage to other as he goes about his life ...

Once you learn to read these folks, you will get less and less involved with their issues. Plenty of good nice well meaning folks around that can use a hand now and then
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some are just cheap. have the money but won't spend it. Couple we know invited us to their house selling party, probably a 1.5 m house they inherited debt free. It was a bring a covered dish party. people too cheap to spend $200 on pizza.
I was busy that night and chose not to go.
 
...Indeed. Just for clarity, this fellow is an OK neighbor who married a gal I went to grade school with.

I do make a buck or two from working on neighbors' cars. However, whenever paying for anything-even parts and supplies-is mentioned, he turns white and starts mumbling. So yes, he is a bit of a rube. Also, he's been tortured over selling vs. repairing this '96 XJ for years.

When he pulled out of the driveway he stopped on the far side of our little street. I scolded him CLEARLY by saying, "You can't go around pretending you don't know what's going on anymore. You do nothing but neglect that vehicle. Complaining to me about the price of repairs has become really repetitive. Now you have to spend some money just to sell the {darn} thing."

He came back with some paper towels as I was breaking out the "Purple Power". He came by later with a new gallon he purchased so he's not completely clueless.

I wouldn't mind doing the work on his vehicle for good money but now I wouldn't touch it with a 10' pole.

Purple Power works well. I recommend it for the stains we make. Kira
 
Let it go.

You were showing good will to a neighbor by offering to help him check out his car. Then to get upset because of the consequences just takes away all that good feeling you get from being kind. It's not worth it. Having bad feelings towards a neighbor over $6 worth of Purple Power, and 10 minutes scrubbing out a stain?

Take a deep breath, exhale slowly, and tell yourself that it's OK, because perhaps you can teach the guy a few things about how he should take care of his car. And if it doesn't make a difference, well at least you've tried to help out another fellow. It's better than feeling anger every time a neighbor drives by because you don't get along.

Life's too short. Find the joy.
 
BHopkins X 2 The old guy is a neighbor? The neighborly thing would be to let him know the brakes are breaking. and suggest he should take it to a garage.
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