(October 31, 2019 at 1:46 pm)Shell B Wrote:(October 30, 2019 at 7:47 am)onlinebiker Wrote: I recently ran into a guy who drives, owns a car and he admitted to the fact that he knows nothing about car maintenance. He doesn't even check the oil and seemed strangely proud of his ignorance.
Really? It seems pretty dumb to me to be totally at the mercy to a mechanic's honesty.
I do virtually all the work on our cars. (We have 9 running) There is only a few things - like wheel alignment or changing tires off rims - that I don't do. (The necessary equipment is too expensive)
But I do know what those jobs take - and know what they should cost.
To me -going to a mechanic with no knowledge of the internal workings of a vehicle - it is sort of like religion. Trusting somebody (who has a profit motive) to handle part of your life and expecting to not get ripped off.
Do you own a computer and know everything about how it works and maintaining it? It's like that. Some people don't have the time or interest to devote to the topic. For me, I know the basics and a few less basic things, but I send my car to a mechanic because my time is worth more than the money I'd save at the moment. Of course, I wouldn't need a tow if my tire blew, but I don't even do my own oil changes.
Same here. If I wanted to, I could certainly invest the time to learn automechanicalology and lay out the necessary money for the tools and equipment to do these things myself. Having the wherewithal to leave it to the professionals, however, this is an expense I'm happy to bear.
I seem to recall a standup routine in which the comedian related a story of how, whenever he flushed the bog, poo water would bubble up in the bathtub. The plumber who fixed it started going into a long, involved litany of everything he had to do to get the problem corrected - clearly just trying to justify the bill - when the comic interrupted him.
'Wait, wait. Just tell me - is the shit out of the bathtub?
'Well...yes.'
'Is it likely to happen again.'
'No.'
'Here's your money.'
This strikes me as a good way to live life.
Boru
‘But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods or no gods. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.’ - Thomas Jefferson