A “mystery leak” is when a car is leaking fluid but nobody can immediately tell where it’s coming from. Mechanics have to track it down so you don’t lose important fluids or cause damage.
Diagnostics is the process of finding the root cause of a problem using inspection, test equipment, and (on many modern cars) onboard trouble codes. Good diagnostics prevents “parts swapping” and helps ensure the fix actually solves the issue.
They’re talking about being actively involved with your car instead of ignoring it. If you stay on top of maintenance, you can prevent small issues from turning into expensive repairs.
A season pass is a ticket you buy once that lets you go back to a place multiple times during the season. It’s usually cheaper than buying a new ticket every visit.
Low mileage means the car hasn’t been driven as much. That can help with wear and tear, but you still want to check the car’s overall condition and service history.
Leasing is like renting a car for a few years with an option to return it at the end. You usually have mileage limits, and the final bill can depend on wear and how you end the lease.
In-house financing is when the dealer helps you get the loan themselves. It can be convenient, but you should still compare the interest rate and total cost to other lenders.
They mention a product called “Rust Buster Extreme.” It’s likely something used to stop or remove rust on car parts, especially underneath where corrosion starts. The show is pointing you to their videos where they used it.
The host is describing a “Dodge Caravan” with severe corrosion in a structural area they removed. This is a good example of how rust can compromise major chassis components over time, not just surface body panels.
A subframe is like a strong “platform” under the car that holds important parts. If it’s rusted through, the car can be unsafe and repairs can be expensive.
Rack-and-pinion is a steering setup that turns your steering wheel into side-to-side wheel movement. If the mounting structure is rusty, steering can feel off or become unsafe.
Longevity in car ownership is the idea of keeping a vehicle running reliably for many years through consistent maintenance and smart repairs. The segment frames it as a mindset: even a “bad” car can be worth driving long-term if it’s maintained correctly.
Wiper problems mean your windshield wipers don’t work right—maybe they skip, move slowly, or stop. Since you need clear visibility, it’s something to fix promptly.
An assembly line is how cars are built step-by-step in a factory. The speaker is saying that even while cars are being built, manufacturers can change parts suppliers to fix quality issues.
Warranty claims are the repair requests customers make when something breaks under the warranty. Manufacturers look at those patterns to figure out what parts are failing and fix the problem.
Goodwill warranty is when a company agrees to help pay for a repair even though the official warranty may be over. It’s basically “we’ll help this time” coverage.
A flush means cleaning out the old, contaminated fluid so the new transmission can work correctly. They may also replace other parts if they think they’re affected too.
Coolant is the fluid that keeps the car from overheating. Here, it got mixed into the transmission fluid because a part that separates the fluids failed.
A project car is a vehicle that needs work before it’s usable—often due to mechanical issues, missing parts, or deferred maintenance. In this segment, the host is asked to pick up an old car, repair it, and return it to the owner quickly so it can be used again. The “putting it back together” language is classic project-car territory.
This is a Buick Century sedan from 1982. The host is talking about buying one for about $100 and then dealing with the engine problems it had. It’s basically a “fix it up and get it running” story.
Cleaning during an engine rebuild removes grime, old oil, and debris so parts can be properly inspected and assembled. It also helps prevent contamination that can lead to premature wear.
Inspecting everything during a rebuild means checking parts for wear, damage, or incorrect fit before reassembly. This is crucial because hidden problems can cause failures even after the engine is put back together.
“Scrapped” refers to the process of destroying or recycling a vehicle that’s considered too costly to repair. The story contrasts scrapping with restoration, emphasizing that saving and maintaining an older car can create value and extend its useful life.
Fleet maintenance means taking care of lots of cars using a consistent process. They built their checklist system to help make sure nothing important gets skipped.
They’re saying there’s a second review step to make sure nothing was forgotten. The idea is that missing even small things can cause bigger problems later.
LIVE
Good morning folks, you're tuned to Car Connection where the coffee is strong, the stories
are real and the wrenches never stop turning.
I'm your host Nile Motormouth Jenkins coming to you from the Car Connection Workshop where
the smell of fresh oil and a little elbow grease is all part of a balanced breakfast
and around here we don't just talk cars, we live them, whether it's a 25 year old Jeep
Wrangler getting a second chance at life, or a Nissan Rogue getting its brakes back
in order, or a Mystery Leak that's got everyone in the workshop scratching their heads.
This is where we roll up our sleeves and get it done with a little wit, a little wisdom
and a whole lot of fun.
The Car Connection isn't just about nuts, bolts and diagnostics, it's about connection.
Connection to our vehicles and to the people who drive them and to the community that keeps
Niagara rolling because when you fix a car you're not just turning a wrench, you're restoring
someone's confidence, freedom and maybe even their sanity.
We're here Monday through Saturday helping you keep your ride safe, reliable and ready
for whatever road lies ahead.
So whether you're a weekend wrencher, a daily commuter or someone who just wants to understand
what that strange rattle really means.
Welcome aboard, stick around for shop talk, expert advice, few good laughs and maybe just
maybe a genuine, authentic, often impersonated but never duplicated story right from the
lips of MotorMouth himself, exactly.
Well good morning friends, we have made it to the weekend, yes we've pulled it off another
time, thank you, thank you very much, thank you, thank you, thank you, it's fun Friday,
so if you're just zipping through the drive through and I might be doing that later because
some of my favorite coffee is on sale per coffee for a buck and I'm thinking that could be
a nice little road trip sidekick to have with me so I may join you in the drive through
this morning but double check your order, it is weekend is arriving and people start
to mentally turn the switch off or turn the rear stat down a little bit on the thinking
zone and give them a break, they may have had a tough week and they're heading into the
weekend looking to restore the little gray men that need some rest in their head, the
little gray men, well it's fun Friday, tomorrow is Q&A, a quick reminder if you've got some
questions I've got some room for you to borrow, not much but enough and I'll take as many
questions as I possibly can, it's motormouth.jankins at gmail.com and I'll make sure that the email
address is in the description box for not only our YouTube channel videos which another
reminder there is all our podcasts from here on iHeart Radio are now posted on our YouTube
channel so there's 120 posts there from our podcast so you can go to our YouTube channel
and you can watch videos and you can also I just started doing shorts and having some fun with
that now is an add on feature just another thing to get done that's okay and the podcasts are
all migrating over so once I drop a podcast each morning at 8 a.m. here on iHeart Radio
and all platforms where you're pulling wherever you're pulling your podcasts from
just type in the search bar car connection workshop you will be able to find us there
or zip over to our YouTube channel which is all the links are on the homepage or website which
we call that the biggest drawer in our toolbox to help you out to connect with us on all platforms
all levels and I will make mention take the time don't be the skimmer or the text person that skims
your text and misses 99% of it read the descriptions for our videos and also for the podcast because
I load it up with nuggets for you things that you need to know that more than likely I don't get
the time to talk about it on the podcast so I put it in there as some not propaganda but as filler
giving you other nuggets that will certainly help you to be become that owner operator of your vehicle
that actually really cares and wants to save not hundreds of dollars in service repairs but
thousands of dollars I'm in your corner I'm not here to sell you anything I'm not here to
to prop up the dealerships or anybody's products if I find a product that I really
enjoy I always share it I always share it but I will not promote and have it for 32 years
promote anything any product line good or service that I would not thoroughly use myself so let's
have a swiggy together and thank you to Crystal Ridge Dream Center serving men women and children
meals love and hope in the entire Niagara region they take care of the widows the orphans the
single moms they have programs for the single moms and they don't receive a single dime from
any kind of government funding whatsoever so they have to raise their own funding
to in in order to run all the programs that they have so if you would search your heart
and check them out on our website at carconnectionbusinessnetwork.com that's where all our program
partners can be found as well just click on their their logo and their profile page will open for
you and you can meet them and connect with them and find out more about them all the links for
all the platforms that we have running are in the top right hand corner so we have our YouTube
channel Facebook Instagram Stevensvilleontheweb.ca and I was just looking at our profile there
and I just want to say thank you to Skippy for putting such a nice profile page very professional
page up on the Stevensville website and it's our Skippy our videographer that shoots all the videos
with me each and every Monday morning bright and early 7 a.m. that's actually half time for me I'm
up at 4 but just the same she has done a wonderful job at bringing the business business owners in
Stevensville in the community together as a communal website and I think it's so cool I was
just kind of hunting around on the Stevensvilleontheweb.ca it's a really nice well laid out website get
it take a moment to take a look at that that's so cool and yeah Stevensville is the is the home of
Safari Niagara so if you haven't taken the grandkids or your kids out there for the day you're really
missing out and season passes I know are on sale right now and you might want to grab one and make
that a you know a day trip come on down to the Niagara region maybe do a cruise cruise the falls
and I head up to Safari Niagara and and there's lots of great eateries my favorite in Stevensville
is Scuttlebutts I never had a bad meal there in 20 some odd years so good shout out for them
bravo they they do a good job there it's just a small place but the atmosphere is amazing
we also have a car connection motor wealth merchandise available to you I'm not sure if you
found that yet it's on the homepage of a website and you know the whole purpose of that
website which is put together by total freedom addiction campuses in in the USA
they have a store called Freedom Expressions that makes all kinds of merchandise on site and again
they're not government funded they create their own funding to make sure that those who need
their service can get there well we're we're having we're happening and making it happener
on our merch store because would you consider some motormouth merch and join our crew in the
fight against addiction providing resources that they need to break free of their addiction for good
and together let's help them get to a total freedom addiction campus Canada and USA
where a new life awaits them there so thank you so much to those who have done that and if you
would please consider doing that we'd skip you and I would really really appreciate that you've
come alongside with the crew to the to join the battle against addiction so back to Crystal
Ridge Dream Center they're changing lives one at a time in the Niagara region they put hot meals
out the side door every Tuesday and every Friday so today is feed day and they've been seeing between
260 to 300 people twice a week and that's expensive so if there's anything you can do to help
Crystal Ridge Dream Center is a faith-based non-profit organization any donation over 25
dollars gets a tax receipt and we'll be out there banging the drum this summer at car shows and
fundraisers making awareness of what they do there and how they're affecting all walks of life
the kids program after school program they feed them they have games formed to stimulate their
little minds and they help them with homework and mentor them and also they can sign up for music
lessons it's all at no cost to the parents whatsoever it's all taken care of so and it's all through
local business and people just like you and me holding them up so let's have our morning swiggy
here's how we do it here in the car connection workshop if you're joining us for the very first
time it's all automotive all the time we are planning guests to come in uh in the month of
april so stay tuned for that uh was there anything else i needed to tell you yeah now we have more
ways than ever for you to watch listen and engage and thank you to all those who are tuning in to
our youtube channel you're pushing our numbers up we've broken 300 we're over the top and uh i
thinking that it's going to get easier from here we need to hit a thousand subscribers we've got our
hours going good and because what we have to accomplish in order to be monetized and that's
going to be a great day because uh we'll be able to uh support buying parts and fixing vehicles this
summer um at no cost we've always been providing the labor uh to the widows the orphans the single
moms and anyone who's kind of passed me a little note and said hey this this family's really struggling
and their car sucks right now can you help them out of course we can we can always do something
but getting monetized means we'll be able to get parts we'll be able to have the resources to buy
the parts do the labor and we're revamping our car connection business network that has been running
since uh about july of 2007 covid really docked the stuffing out of it we only have a handful of
local businesses that are that are on board with us and i'm just reworking the marketing for that so
if you're a small business in the niger region i would love to find out who you are where you are
the products and goods and services that you can provide to our listeners and our youtube visitors
and the whole platforms all the platforms uh we have a entire ecosystem that we take care of
getting you out there on all platforms so connect with me send me any email that's the best way
for you to connect and communicate with me is either um go in you go into our website
and you click on the info tab and i found something in our website yesterday i'll save that for a
so we have a swiggy let's let's do that first it's friday i can i can unleash the weasel now
absolutely and just just talk just talk about it we'll have the daily weather coming up in about
30 seconds so hang in there it's a little better today than yesterday and i'll tell you i ended up
hooking up the the wood hauler the trailer and getting out to a wood pile and put a plug in for
cider tree service in the and servicing in the entire niger region if you have a tree that needs
to drop uh they have an arborist now so they can trim things for you properly and shape them
and take care of them and tell you how to do that but they can remove the trees stump it the whole
nine yards no matter where it is or what it is so give cider tree service and say hi to my my
good friend my brother from another mother drew cider um that heads that up their business is growing
to be able to accommodate more and more people so if you need some trees moved because you've got a
project coming up this year get in touch with cider tree tree service so thank you for that and
drew and i connected early yesterday mornings i said i've run out of firewood believe it or not but
i i haven't run out of firewood i just can't get to it in the uh in the wood pile it's just way too
wet well i've got some stuff you can tidy up for me if you want so last minute yesterday afternoon
it was around two-ish got most of my work done hooked up to the trailer took off and wouldn't
you know by the time we got there i had a helper and it was pouring rain i mean it was almost
coming down sideways yeah we got we got soaked right through to the buckskin it was something else
but anyways it rained harder later on it sure did so the homepage of our website is the tool
for you to get to me and connect so on the info button you hold that in your thoughts for the
moment so thank you to crystal ridge dream center for being there and doing everything they do that
most of us can't if you want to become a uh volunteer um get in touch with them absolutely
because they have they have about 61 volunteers on staff not on staff but you know what i'm saying
volunteers they're volunteers not on staff but they're on staff you know what i mean they have a
post things they got to get done they love working with the team there and you know people move away
people fully retire and then they you know they back out uh so if you're looking for something to do
i'll tell you what your life will be absolutely touched there absolutely so check them out on
our website all the logos are on our homepage at carconnectionbusinessnetwork.com i always put
all the links for everything in our descriptions as well as my both of my email addresses so you
can get your questions sent in because tomorrow morning is q and a saturday so on three two one
raise your cup are you ready to go if it's a cup of joe fantastic if it's not it's whatever you pick
to be your morning beverage let's have it together on three two one
oh yeah i could really go for one of those chocolate donuts with a little chocolate sprinkles on
all in moderation
want to try again and after 30 years to get into my mankini this year yeah it might it might work
probably not yeah no phones no phones please all right our daily weather you ready it's a
little better than yesterday thank goodness for that you realize next week april fools day's coming
out i got a story to tell you about that i'll tell you it went over extremely well i had the
entire family north south east and west freaking out totally freaking out this morning our weather
brought to us by url louise grant they are car guys their husband and wife and they
are in the pre-owned vehicle business in toronto their greater toronto areas premier
pre-owned auto store selling and providing low mileage top quality vehicles when i say top quality
i'll tell you url louise they're car guys they've got 25 years experience they built the resources
to find top quality vehicles for you and do all that legwork for you ahead of time they do have
a pretty decent inventory under roof and on the lot but if you're looking for something specific
call and connect and the you know i haven't had any car lots on our uh recommended businesses portion
of car connection for a long time we're talking decades decades and decades because i just lacked
the confidence in some of these lots i just felt like i could not put my name on it and i my idea was
if i if i can support them enough to say i would buy a vehicle from them in a heartbeat
then that's a yes and when i when louise grant gave me a call we connected many years ago now
they've they've stuck by and they have always provided the exact same thing all the time low
mileage quality vehicles at fair prices they have leasing and in-house financing available
like i said if you're looking for something specific let them know what you're looking for
they have the resources and can save you thousands of steps to find that vehicle and they don't sell
any junk so city auto sales and leasing are there that where you can buy with confidence
and be treated with nothing less than honesty and integrity so check them out on our car connection
businessnetwork.com website as i mentioned already we're revamping i'm getting ready to get out there
and meet some local businesses and pack the house just like we had before with recommended businesses
that i vet myself and i would utilize their products goods and service 100 myself as well
so those are great referrals i love we're getting referrals like that well this morning
here's what we can expect for friday it's friday friday friday uh 28 degrees now and cloudy it is
very cloudy out there wind is making it feel colder about 14 degrees partly cloudy conditions from
10 a.m. till noon today with mostly sunny conditions expected around noon yippee after
yesterday yeah i think my clothing will be dry by middle of july today's temperature range
it's going to be from 23 degrees to 40 degrees well there's no minuses in there so that's a plus
haha and it will feel like 11 to 33 okay let's see if we got any precip in there
possibility there is a possibility of 0.65 of an inch now yesterday yesterday they said like 0.9
of an inch in the niger region and i gotta tell you i think i brought at least an inch back to the
shop because yeah i i came in through the side door to the shop and i stripped all my clothing
off right away it was just dripping absolutely dripping but just the same got some free firewood
that will see us through the month of april absolutely so thank you to true cider and cider
tree tree service get in touch with them you need anything as far as preparing for landscaping
or things like that prepping the land you got a tree a shrub uh something that needs
a little trimming a little fixing up they can do all that for you one call gets it all done
all right where are we going from here now i'm not sure why i'm yes yes the info tab
i haven't clicked on the info tab yeah my bad on our website for quite some time
guess what i found in there no i didn't find $20 i was hoping for it i have done that recently
put on you ever done that put on an old jacket and you reach in the pocket
most of the time you'll find a Kleenex that's unknown and uh you don't know where it's been
but this time cha-ching there was a $20 bill in the inside pocket and i can't remember the last
time i wore that jacket so that was a that was a good score absolutely so now i try on everything
so make sure you know if i packed some more money somewhere else i could use that absolutely
well send your questions in for saturday morning uh now uh motormouth i'll get it right in a minute
it's nile at ccbusnet.com or motormouth.jankens at gmail.com send in your car questions i answer
those on saturday morning so come along for that journey eight till nine tomorrow morning will be
motormouth's morning saturday morning q and a so click on the info tab and if you click on the
about button now my american friends think we say a boot does that sound like a boot about
yeah they think we say a boot i i i don't see it so somebody help me out with that send a comment
what do you think you think it sounds when when i say about they they're saying we all say we have
this accent Canadian accent that says a boot yeah i'm not with it on that one just can't pull it
together so when you click on the info you'll see a drop down menu about contact that's where the
email form is for you to email me through our website okay so clarify that makes that super
simple carconnectionbusinessnetwork.com ccbusnet.com b u s is in samned.com click on the info tab what is
also there is um you can get into a very old section of our website where i originally and here's the
thing i kick myself right in the butt i really do i had a webmaster at that time that was really
pushing me to do youtube shorts i didn't know what they were she goes do little videos and
she showed me how to upload them and made a youtube channel for us like decades ago
can you imagine where we would be today if i had really embraced that but anyhow i shot a couple
of videos in our workshop before it was even finished and so they're kind of cheesy but you
i remember the phone i was using to shoot them on was like for almost a first generation
apple phone and it had a at that time it seemed to be a very big screen compared to everybody else
but that's what i shot the videos on and our rust buster extreme is in there so you can find that
and there's also pictures of uh at the time i had a shop owner in cheek to vegas cheek to walk in
new york called me and said hey you're gonna be in the area you gotta come and take some pictures
of this cross member we just took out of this dodge caravan and so we got the pictures and they
up on our website the engine cradle the sub the entire subframe on this uh six-year-old dodge
caravan completely rotted out like when you look at it you have to really really look at the pictures
and go what the heck is that that my friends is what holds everything in the vehicle all the
suspension components were on all the lower control arms the rack and pinion steering unit
the engine the transmission all of it is bolted to that subframe and in this particular minivan
they they ended up getting a rust free subframe the rest of the van was fine the engine cradle
rotted out from salt road salt and road brine the sauce the wickedly corrosive
sauce and i found that picture on our website so i would have been in the day when norman was
looking after things she always had great ideas at that time we had over a thousand uh people
signed up for our monthly newsletter and we were starting i didn't realize what she was doing she
was actually starting a youtube channel for car connection at that time that's a couple of decades
ago now so amazing we got a couple of cheesy old videos and i i said to our webmaster let's just
leave those leaves leave those up there because that's a great reminder to all of us never forget
never ever ever forget my professor would always say this to me never ever ever forget
where you've come from and if you can help somebody else you need to do it because you never
ever forget what you went through to get where you are because the moment you do that you become
inhuman wow that was deep i'm gonna need another swiggy after that one yeah so it's fun friday
and here's what i was thinking about this morning i don't know why these things pop into my head
and i'm going i haven't thought about they ever get that i haven't thought about that for a good
jillion good billion years that's a long time well this morning and i guess it must have been still
stirring in my little gray men in my head about a car i bought off a gentleman
for like a couple hundred bucks and put it all back together and that car became an amazing tool
that served so many i i don't know why i was thinking about that this morning and it might
have been triggered because we've been talking about you know longevity and being able you could
you could give me the worst car in the world and i'll tell you what i'll drive it for 10 or 15 years
exactly how does that work well i can tell you how it works all i do is i rotate the pattern
that i created decades ago and we've now revamped it made it available to you calling it our car
connection fleet maintenance system and it is a system and the system is the secret it is
it is the secret to keeping any vehicle i don't care how old it is can be the biggest piece of
whoopty there's a word for you we use that in the shop a lot whoopty and keep it going for like
200 400 600 000 kilometers just rotate the pattern that's all you got to do
and take care of it i mean this new stuff that's out right now not for me that's all i'm going to
say don't get me started i'll need some kind of medication to bring me back down and probably
take five six days it's just i'm watching the technicians that i connect with through youtube
on their channels and i'll tell you it is a disease out there these things are breaking down
left and right serious stuff engines transmission after transmission after transmission you would
think you would think that the manufacturers that keep doing that would get on top of it
and not to name any names but i'll tell you what i had a number of vehicles from the same
manufacturer that the same problems still exist today wiper problems blower fan problems
air conditioning problems they just wrote they've just rotated from one make and model to the next
make and model and i'll tell you when i was at volkswagen working through volkswagen in canada
at a dealership that was drowning i will not say where yes i'm not the droid you were looking for
i was never here i was amazed that even while vehicles were still coming off the assembly line
there were components that were getting busier in falling down in other words quitting becoming
defective and here's what they did they would find another vendor to produce that that failing
component from another vendor they would switch vendors while vehicles were still on the assembly
line being assembled they'd hold them back till another vendor created the same product with
the same specifications from the manufacturer so that another component would replace supersede
that component before the cars came off the line the domestic companies don't do that i was blown away
that they would do that they held the line got another they were working on another vendor
because they monitor the warranty claims closely to make sure they're putting out a quality product
i'm thinking yeah you pay more money but you know what they're they're there for you
and i i did talk about a little bit yesterday goodwill warranty the amount of goodwill warranty
that i signed off on that was legitimate these vehicles were way out of manufacturers warranty
way out in fact i'll tell you the one car was uh he bought it in 1992 right out of the showroom
of that dealership he was an older gentleman and that car sat in the showroom now the building
at that time when i was there and was going undergoing a complete facelift mandatory by
by vwc folks back in canada and the dealership got they all got huge facelifts so they all
looked exactly the same well his 1992 it was a golf and it was parked in that showroom back in the
day and he bought it right out of the showroom now this is 1992 this tell you how old it is
1992 that was 2004 that was an automatic and what the seals in the automatic transmission
cooler failed filled the cooling system up with transmission fluid so the transmission fluid
migrated back and forth so there was coolant in the transmission and transmission fluid in the
cooling system it was a mass and this thing had a fair amount of mileage on it it was under 100k
and i remember the gentleman he was a big man he was like six foot two very nice man and so
the guys that were looking at it and diagnosed it in the shop i said that probably shouldn't
happen you don't know that's that's a fluke we never see that we have never seen that there
was a couple of fellas that have been in that building since 1959 so they've been around a while
and so i set a note up to my factory rep and i said can we do anything for this guy
i said it's a shame you know it's under 100 and he bought this car right out of the showroom
in 1992 and i said he comes here i said i've got his files i said he comes here for everything
he's had this car serviced at this selling dealer since 1992 and without any hesitation here's what
he said you're going to put him in a loaner car open a file you're going to sign my initials on it
you're going to get the parts department to get him a brand new transmission
and we're going to put a brand new transmission in there flush replace anything else that's
necessary and you're going to w5 that and i go what yeah he says w5 it let me know when you're
done i'll give you the code we're going to take care of him he goes that that is a loyal customer
and we're going to take care of him so i phoned the gentleman at home and i said uh some good news
and some some bad news but some good or news on top of the batter news and uh he was a gentle giant
and uh he had a good sense of humor he goes what does that mean i go well here you go the the the
batter news is the the coolant the transmission cooler failed and transmission oil and coolant
have all mixed together and created quite a mess and transmission is done um it's what's
got to come out i said but here's the good or news i'm going to send our driver wainer to come and get
you and get you down here i have a loaner car ready to go for you uh compliments of v w c and the
dealer here so you're gonna we're going to put you in that car until your car is fixed we have a brand
new transmission coming from volkswagen canada and we're going to take care of this whole bill
whatever it costs it's all taken care of by volkswagen canada he goes what i go yeah it's not gonna
cost you anything so i'm gonna send wainer up to pick you up where he dropped you off and get you
back here and get you in that car and that's what happened and that didn't cost him a dime not a
single dime i just had him sign the paperwork it was all done and it was like a year or two later
he decided to buy a brand new one and the dealership this was so cool this was so so cool
they the cleanup department cleaned up his golf which he'd taken so great care of
and volkswagen canada wanted that in the showroom with the new cars and that's where we put it we
put it right in the same spot that car was sold bought and sold and delivered to the gentleman in 1992
how cool is that isn't that cool and that i was there i was there for the breakthrough of the new
the new volkswagen beetle when they drove through town up in cambridge highway 24
it was like a hundred of them drove through town as a big promo and we had i think we had two or three
beetles in the showroom at that time it was it was a pretty cool thing when they unveiled the return
of the volkswagen beetle with the new new beetle that was a pretty cool time getting to see some
things for the you know for the very first time happen and it was so cool to see that 1992 golf
that sold in that exact same spot in the dealership it ended up back there after all those years
and uh yeah that was such a moment everybody was so excited in in the dealership especially those
who were there back in still there under the roof working as an employee and were there the day that
the gentleman bought the car so i thought i'd just a story i'd share with you and here's another one
i'm backing on that one i did start the story i was working uh in a shop up in milgrove ontario
canada uh was called edgewood garage and i worked for the newman's there and there was a gentleman
next door he owned a he owned a couple carpet stores and he would come over he was a bit of a
gruff fellow but he was all right he was friendly and uh my boss was gone i don't know where he was
he used to come and go all the time and i just take care of business answer the phone make the
bills do the work take care of the customer get him out the door and i just remember his name was
john and john comes over and he says he says uh jim tells me that uh you you know you pick up old
cars and stuff and fix him up and get him back out there i said yeah i said i try and help
families you know get a a cheap car under the butts of their sons or daughters you know going to
school or you know after school going to a you know a part-time job he goes come over and see me he
says if i don't get this car of the driveway my wife's either gonna kill me in my sleep or i'm never
gonna be eating a hot meal ever again i go wow i don't know what i don't know what i said which
one's worse john he goes well they're both don't make me happy so come and make me happy we'll make
a deal on it and uh and just you gotta get it out of the driveway by the weekend i promised her i would
do that so i i gotta get it done one way or the other but i thought i'd come and see if you might
be interested in it and putting it back together so i went over there after work just had to walk
out the driveway go right next door he was literally right next door and it was a four door
night you ready for this 1982 Buick Century and it had one of the most unfriendliest motors
under the hood known to mankind at that time that GM had put out it was a 2.8 and they were
known for blowing the intake gasket and filling the engine up with antifreeze and liquid locking
and exploding that's what was that would happen to him so anyways long story short
i get the thing for like a hundred dollars i open the hood i paid him and he goes here here's a
receipt here's the thing get it out of here it has to be gone when she's back and wakes up saturday
morning it is not to be here i said okay all right i said i'll get it hauled to my home shop and on
i'll get it out of here john not to worry i'll get it out of here so i open the hood and i go oh
john um question like where's the rest of the engine can i ask oh i i believe it's all in the trunk
yeah i took it somewhere they diagnosed it and i just said now i'm not spending any money on it
just put everything in the trunk and i'll pay you what i owe you and they shipped it here
he said i haven't touched it since or done anything with it so i open the trunk and i go well you
know there's lots of stuff in here all right scattered everywhere it looked like a an automotive
jigsaw puzzle so i hold it got the thing hauled out that very same day got it hauled to my shop
at home where i could work on neighbors cars and stuff and get some nice goodies got goodies all
the time there that we had a good team in that uh that area where i was living because i had a two
day shop there and all the neighbors were getting their cars fixed i'd stay up late and fix them
at night and put them back in their driveway so they're ready for work the next morning they'd
square with square up with me in a day or two and they'd say oh no if you gotta you know you
don't have enough room in your driveway you can use part of my driveway to park some cars if you
have to so we had a really good thing going so i i had that thing dumped in a neighbor next door
because i i didn't know whether i'd get to it right away but anyways a short story longer i got it
all back together believe it or not i got this thing the engine got all the parts out laid them
all out cleaned everything up inspected everything built this engine back up i had that car for 10
years and it was an amazing tool i opened my shop on the hamilton mountain in 1991 and i had this
little four-door buick sentry i bought for 100 bucks and i think i put maybe probably about 500 bucks
in brake brake parts and some pieces that weren't weren't there they were m i a but i got the engine
back together went over it mechanically and my my worker at the time would borrow it take it home
for a couple of days i lent it out to only specific customers that really needed a vehicle to drop
theirs off so i could service it and they would take it and drive it and gas and you know check the
oil and keep the gas full and bring it back clean and washed and filled and that car serviced i
can't tell you how many people for 10 years then one day we were at uh 1154 rymel roadies there you
go you can google that in the automall and that's where we opened our shop at that time 1991 and i
had this buick sentry there was a corvette 1975 sitting on the other side of the parking lot and
i did some inquiries and then the owner had it in at another shop in the mall the automall and
disappeared so the fellow who had the tire shop in the mall said i'll see if i can find him are you
interested in i go yeah i said i i'm interested at the right price he said well there's something
wrong with the frame uh where the power steering is connected and we he couldn't drive it anymore the
power steering pump was going into the police it's it's a bit of a mess and it's been kind of
cobbled up a few times with weld but it hasn't helped it it hasn't held so one day a guy comes in
and he says uh is nile here and i go yeah that would be me he says uh i own that corvette over
there he said i've been laid off for two and a half years that's why you know no money just on uh
you know very little money coming in and i've just been called back and it was funny because
he was getting called back to a company that my pops worked for for quite a few years and he
and my pops left there just before they did a massive layoff but this fellow didn't survive it
he says i gotta go to work tomorrow full time i have no car i go oh that's a problem he goes
do you have a car that i can buy today can you can you put a car in my hands today
and so my co-worker says well there's the you know the buick century we don't we don't we're not using
it much the last little while i said how about that car right there i said i own that he said
can i get that today i go yeah i could get you the paperwork and do a safety on it no problem
today get the paperwork done and plate it you're on your way i said that thing's been amazing
i said we've almost had that 10 years
he said okay you're interested in the corvette i go yeah he goes what do you want for your car
and i said 2,800 he goes that's fair he goes uh tell you what um will you take the corvette
in a thousand bucks and i go done and he was happy as a clam the guy came back later that
afternoon gave him all the paperwork and signed it off the whole nine yards i said you can leave
it here go get your paperwork done if there's any problems just come back or call me i said it
shouldn't be everything's in order there and he came back hopped in that car and never saw it again
for about six months and he swung in just to see wanted to see how we were making on his corvette
and we had torn it all apart frame off and we're doing it as a project
so he pulls in with that 1982 Buick Century and he goes i want to shake your hand
and i go okay he goes that's the best damn car i've ever ever owned
and i go wow that's amazing i said i rescued that car from being scrapped well he goes
i'm glad you did because you know what that's making my life get back on track and spot it's
paid for and i he just he said i just had to stop by i'm on shift snail and i just wanted to say
thank you so much that that car changed my life bam how good is that you can't make that stuff up
folks so when i'm telling you and saying to you how long would your car last if you actually
followed a proper maintenance plan how long that hundred dollar car
lasted 10 years for me and gave new life to someone else don't tell me that you can't run
an old car i let that car out and i let it it was most of the time after i got that car fixed i
don't think i drove it myself more than two or three times somebody else always had it but it
never got beat up it was taken care of and passed on to someone else that helped them get back on
their feet and i think that is just so so cool so you know when i tell you there's two waves there's
only two ways to look after an automobile and that is to have the blinders on and air plugs in your
ears you don't want to you don't want to see it you don't want to hear anything you don't want to
know nothing going on on your car nothing you don't want to know anything that's going on so
you're living in the unknown as a vehicle owner i don't know about you but that would be so stressful
for me to do that to not know that i'm sitting in a vehicle that's maintained that you know what
there's a really good chance i'm going to get from a to b without issues i would much rather see
all of you in the know owning a car and living in the know knowing what needs to be done now
in the near future and distant future because you know what who needs in this day and age
question who needs or wants more stress show of hands mines up i don't need anymore i'm
no thanks i'm full thank you the other living in the know and using our car connection fleet
maintenance system to teach you how to take care great care of your automobile takes all the unknown
out of it it does i've been using the system myself since the early 80s and i just rotate that
pattern you know our 2007 fj cruiser will break 300 000 this year i just put some more on it yesterday
yeah it's going to make 300 000 this year the the rocket the 99 Honda Civic we call it the rocket
that is hitting 300 this year stewin well i just put the battery in it yesterday fired it up
and moved it from one one driveway over to the shop here get it ready for the summer
and that thing works like a charm so proofs in the pudding if you follow the system i created
it doesn't matter how little or how much you know about automobiles you won't even need to use your
your gray matter your little gray man to think for you because it's all written down for you
all you have to do is put a check mark in the box beside the service that needs to be done
and when you finish the whole year there's check boxes for every month when you finish the whole
year here's what you do erase it off and start again finish another year erase it off and start
again i don't think i can make it any easier than that and i created it for myself when i worked on
fleet service maintenance i wanted to make sure heaven forbid i missed something because i'll tell
you you don't even want to know what happens when a vehicle goes back into the fleet and the fleet
manager gets their fella to double check everything that would they were built for and if you missed
something oh my goodness yeah it's not good whatsoever things get blown out of proportion
extremely fast that's all i can tell you about that so i'm here to help you it's fun friday
more stress or less stress and that's the lane that i have been carving out
for over 40 years and i'm handing it to you on a silver plate i am i'm not in the corner
for the for the dealers for the manufacturers for the parts companies for parts uh manufacturers
i'm here for you to teach you the basic fundamentals of vehicle ownership and you know what you'll
enjoy your ride even yesterday soaked right through to the gotchas driving the 2007
fj cruiser you know what it's quite a beast and it's well maintained and if i wanted to
unhook the wagon and take off and go north north country six hour drive to my brother-in-law's
cottage i would not hesitate that's stress-free driving and you can have that too on a fun friday
yeah so have yourself a flub dipple ripple latte whatever that looks like and i'm sorry but i cannot
i cannot condone decaf coffee i know some of you out there are decaffeinated people and that's okay
but we need high test 99.5 octane boost all the time thank you to our certified financial planners
for making this edition of motor mouse morning drive available to you tony mealy and larry teetro
combined at 50 years experience as fiduciaries folks connect click and connect just click on
their logos on carconnectionbusinessnetwork.com meet them figure out which one you want to work with
book that hour in a coffee discovery meeting leave your wallet leave your purse at home
nobody's going to sell you anything sit down with them folks and put all the cards on the table
whether it has to do with an investment portfolio anyone who has investments at the bank you really
need to let them have another look at that you're not making the money that you should
and i probably will make your christmas gift giving list this year if you do that even just for the
tax savings debt retirement estate planning that's beneficiaries powers of attorney health proxies
you've got to know all the details moms and dads if you have kids over 18 still living at home
when it comes to health proxies mortgages i haven't had a mortgage with a bank for going on 15 years
the rates are fantastic and they treat you like a human being not a rubbish can that's one of the
reasons i went back to uh credit unions i couldn't stand it anymore it was too stressful and uh when
the bank manager looks you in the eye goes nile i hate small business owners oh thanks frank that
that was cool yeah that's what i said no oh thanks thanks for sharing uh frank and um that that was
cool yeah no and i went right that same day i went right over the meridian and started to move
everything out and i said good night health insurance got it critical illness insurance
check you need all those boxes check folks and you know if you're living under stress and i know
many of you are we're not we're not an island we're not the cheese stands alone we're canadiens
and we are tough and we can get through whatever this thing is we can get through it together together
so tony and larry are there to assist you and listen and see how they can come up with a plan
to get you from where you are to where you want to be and thank you to niger block at
5000 montrose road niger falls uh building canada since 1931 and uh we're we're putting together
as of a conversation yesterday with uh david greenwell it's uh him and his brother that
have the they're the next generation of niger block uh they want to tell their story and i want
them to tell their story too they've been on montrose road in niger falls since 1931 and i've seen
pictures there if you know niger falls and you're from the niger area the pictures are
outstanding to look where they wear a montrose road and what niger falls looks like today
incredible so we're going to get um david and his brother to join us and we'll do an interview
with that and share that with you they have all the building supplies you need including including
metal and i'm getting together to have coffee with david to learn a lot more about niger block and
i'll share that with you uh that'll be the saturday after easter weekend hardscape landscaping
materials and i'm told that uh david's wife kathleen was in the office up front has a whole
list of contractors that she can recommend to you to take care of any building uh projects that you
have on your bucket list so how cool is that that's at niger block 5000 montrose road niger
falls we're absolutely blessed to have them with us because in that area contractual it's great to
have solid river uh referrals so till tomorrow morning have fun keep it under 100 enjoy the
weekend the weather's going to hang in in there for us i hear that tomorrow saturday morning
is going to be sunny and nice so take it all in and we'll see you tomorrow morning saturday morning
for motormouth morning drive q and a get your questions into me and you can do that at nile at
ccbusnet.com or motormouth.jankens at gmail.com so look forward to getting some more of those
questions and sharing the answers tomorrow morning on the air if you don't join us
enjoy your weekend and we'll see you bright and early eight a.m. on monday morning for another
edition of motormouth's morning drive peace patience and kindness always and happy healthy
motoring bye for now and we'll see you in the next one
About this episode
A lively “fun Friday” shop-and-story session from Car Connection Workshop blends community updates, weather, and a deep dive into why simple, consistent maintenance can keep even cheap cars alive for decades. Nile Motormouth Jenkins shares two personal rescue stories: a $100 Buick Century that became a long-term “tool” for helping others, and a VW Golf case where goodwill warranty covered a major transmission failure. He then lays out his “fleet maintenance system” philosophy—rotate the checklist pattern to reduce stress and prevent missed repairs.
Sometimes the smallest investments make the biggest difference.
In today's Fun Friday episode, we look back at a 1982 Buick Century I picked up for just $100-most of the engine sitting in the trunk. What started as a simple project turned into something much bigger .
That became a lifeline.
It helped customers in a pinch, kept people moving when they needed it most, and eventually found its way to someone who truly needed a second chance. Not long after, he was back to work - and back on his feet.
That old Buick didn't just run...it served.
There's a lesson in that. Whether it's maintaining your vehicle or helping someone along the way, consistency and care go a long way.. It's the same philosophy behind the Car Connection fleet maintenance system - keep things moving, rotate the pattern, and take care of what you have.
You never know the impact something small can have.
Our Motormouth Merch is available for you in our online store at ccbusnet.com, grab some gear & join our crew in the fight against addiction, helping those in need get to a Total freedom Addiction Campus Canada & USA where a New Life awaits them there! Join the fight friends, help us help others. Words are not enough to say how grateful we are to y'all. Skippy & Motormouth.
More Episodes and...project Links are available at Car Connection Business Network .com (ccbusnet.com) you'll find everything on our homepage if you'd like to follow the build & repair work we do, connect with out program partners click their logo to meet them. Thank you for giving them your business. NMJ
Like, Subscribe Share, Follow, Watch , Listen, Comment on the vids, Ring the notification Bell miss nothing & join our online community. Keep Our ignition on & we'll see you in the next one. Motormouth & Skippy.
