The Jeep Wrangler is a type of SUV built for off-road driving. It’s popular with people who like to keep older vehicles running because parts and repairs are widely available. In podcasts, it often shows up in stories about getting a used Wrangler back into good shape.
Car
2003 new Beetle convertible
This is a 2003 Volkswagen New Beetle convertible. It’s a Beetle-style car with a turbo engine, and the host is saying it was worth saving even though nobody wanted it at first.
“Two liter turbo” means the engine is about 2.0 liters and it has a turbocharger. The turbo helps the engine make more power (and often better efficiency) than a similar engine without it.
A cabin air filter cleans the air that comes into the car’s heating and air system. If it’s dirty, the car can smell bad and the airflow can feel weaker.
Bleach is a disinfectant chemical used to kill germs. People sometimes use it for car interior cleaning, but you have to be careful because it can harm some materials.
A CVT transmission is an automatic transmission that can “slide” between ratios instead of shifting gears in steps. The host is emphasizing that it needs careful maintenance, because if it fails it can be expensive to repair.
Severe service means the car is being used in tougher conditions than normal. That kind of use can make parts wear out faster, so you often need more frequent maintenance to stay ahead of problems.
The Nissan Rogue is a popular SUV. Here, the host uses a 2008 Rogue as an example of how he checks a car over carefully to decide whether it’s worth saving or should be scrapped.
The Nissan 200 SX is a sporty two-door car. It’s the kind of vehicle that enthusiasts pay attention to, especially when it’s older and needs care to stay reliable. In a podcast, it may be mentioned because people are sharing videos or stories about maintaining or working on that specific model.
This means checking the car closely from the outside (and quick checks around the engine area) to find obvious problems. The goal is to decide early whether the car might be fixable or not.
This is a step-by-step method for deciding if a broken or neglected car is worth saving. The host’s point is to avoid automatically scrapping it and instead figure out what it would take to fix it.
This is just a casual way of saying where the car ends up after it’s no longer being repaired. In this story, it’s the last step before the car is fully recycled or disposed of.
Potential fluid leaks refers to signs that automotive fluids (like oil, coolant, transmission fluid, or brake fluid) may be escaping. Leaks matter because they can indicate failed seals, damaged lines, or overheating/driveability issues that affect whether a rescue is feasible.
The host means you have to do research and figure out what repairs will cost before you decide to save the car. It’s the planning step so you don’t waste time on something too expensive.
This is a 1997 Jeep Wrangler (the TJ generation). The host is working to fix it up—adding exhaust parts, repairing damage, and getting it ready to pass inspection so it can be driven reliably again.
Custom exhaust means the exhaust system was modified or made specifically for that Jeep. It can be done to improve how it fits, how it sounds, or how it runs compared to the original setup.
The front axle is the main part that connects the front wheels to the vehicle. Fixing or welding something on it can affect steering and alignment, which is why the host mentions aligning right after.
Alignment means setting the wheels so they point in the right directions and sit correctly on the road. After suspension or axle work, alignment helps the Jeep drive straight and reduces tire wear.
An inspection is a check to make sure the car is safe and legal to drive. The host is saying they’ll finish the repairs, then get it inspected before putting it back on the road.
Used parts are parts taken from other cars that have already been owned. The host is saying they might use refurbished or used parts to help finish the repair without spending as much.
Refurbished parts are older parts that have been fixed up and put back into good working shape. It’s often cheaper than new while still getting the job done.
Here, “engine” means the main motor that powers the Jeep. The host says they were trying to find a replacement engine while they were also doing other mechanical repairs.
A machine shop is a workshop that does precision work on car parts. In this case, they’re checking whether the damaged engine can realistically be rebuilt.
Here, “certified” is used to describe Tony and Larry as credentialed financial planners, not as a car-related certification. The host uses their advice to frame the rescue strategy as a financial decision: keep a paid-for vehicle running rather than focusing on market value.
LIVE
Good morning folks, you're tuned to Car Connection where the coffee is strong, strong enough
to revive a dead fuel pump.
The stories are real, the wrenches never stop turning, and I'm your host, Niall Motormouth
Jenkins.
Coming to you from the Car Connection workshop where the smell of fresh oil, a little elbow
grease is all part of a balanced breakfast.
Around here we don't just fix 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 even a mystery leak that's got everyone 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 workshop isn't just about nuts, bolts, and diagnostics, it's about
connection.
Connection to our vehicles, to the people who drive them, 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, just maybe, even their sanity.
We're here every week, 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 and stick around for
shop talk, expert advice, a few good laughs, and maybe just one or two shop flashbacks.
They do happen, I think I just had a partial flashback right there.
Yeah, I was thinking about, don't know where it came from this
morning was, I actually fired a customer one time, well, not once, I think it happened
like three times, you know, they just push you to that limit and you just go, you know,
this is just really not worth it, it's just not, and I guess I'll share it quickly right
now, this morning's podcast brought to us by our amazing certified financial planning
professionals, Tony Miele and Larry Tietro, 50 years experience folks as fiduciaries, they're
my brothers from other mothers and let me tell you, they have helped me take care of
some very difficult rows to hold, let me just say, so whatever your circumstances are financially,
you have questions, get that hour in a coffee discovery meeting booked in, leave your wallet
and your purse at home, they're not going to be asking you for any money, lay all the
cards on the table and get your questions answered and bring clarity to your circumstances,
whether it's an investment portfolio, dealing with some debt, estate planning, do you have
18 year old children at home, are you their health proxy, that's something you've got
to check into, it's real folks, estate planning is real and if you have a checking account
and a couple of vehicles and some other stuff, you have an estate that needs to be planned for
and especially children included, so mortgages, great rates, fantastic mortgage department,
the ladies out in Winnipeg are just absolutely fabulous to work with, you have a question,
they get back to you in no time, so there's a lot more services and products available to you
through Tony Miele and Larry Tietro, just figure out which, which fellow you want to work with,
I've known these guys 20 years, so when I'm speaking, I'm speaking from my heart,
so if you feel like you're drowning, folks, hang on, don't give up, don't be discouraged,
book that hour in a coffee, that discovery meeting and get things rolling in the right
direction, okay, just do it for yourself, trust me on this one, I'm steering you in the right
direction, so this one time, I had this group of school teachers and it started out with one
and you know how that happens, you know, like the scout aunt comes and checks you out and then,
you know, says, hey, I found some goodies, we got to get there and collect them, so then the,
you know, the scout aunt goes back, so anyways, this long story short, so we ended up collecting
a group of school teachers from the same school and how you only could get into our car connection
shop, Jenkins Automotive repairs on the Hamilton Mountain was through referral, that's how I preferred
building my business was a referral system, so the deal was with the school teachers, the first
one that came in, I said, here's the deal, I said, you know what, I've dealt with school teachers
before and I find them rather aggravating and annoying, why is that, Mona Ralph and I said,
you can't tell them anything, you know, they're telling me how to fix their car and I'm wondering,
well, what the heck did you bring it to me for, was to what, aggravate me, you know, it's like
telling me how to fix the car and then you try explaining stuff to them and I said, they just
I don't know what it is, they don't seem to listen, like there's no possible way I could ever know
anything, so I said, if you're going, if you're going to send some of your cronies over, you better
tell them, you know what, don't go down that class with Mona Ralph because you'll be out the door
and I said, I'll look after you guys really, really well, but I don't want any shenanigans,
I don't have time for it, we're extremely busy all the time, so I was like, you send me a bad one
and you're all fired, and it's like, no, no, we won't do that, so anyways,
it happened, the inevitable happened, we got this teacher in and I'll tell you what, it didn't
matter what we did to that lady's car, it was never good enough, even if you gave her a discount,
you go, well, why did you give me a discount, like what's that all about, what are you looking for
for me, how do you, how do you even respond to that, so anyways, a particular day, a car comes
back in, I saw her on the schedule and I'm like, oh, dear lord, help me, give me strength, give me
strength, extra strength, time and all, she comes in and it starts right away, so I just go, no
problem, we'll get you to the school, your car will be ready on time, blah, blah, blah, so I did all
the service, I did the service myself, and I washed and I vacuumed the car because this was the day,
I decided, you know what, I'm no longer tolerating this one, so I did put a call into my original
school teacher that came in and I was fixing a car, one of those $500 beauties that I picked up,
and it was going to be for his son, but he didn't pass his license, so then he ended up driving it,
and that's how the connection happened, that's how things came together, so I let him know, I go,
that one has to go, he goes, yeah, we had problems at the school with that one, I go, yeah, I can't,
I can't deal with that one, no, no, so I told him ahead of time, I go, just so as you know,
let the others know, this one is going this week, so anyways, I did all the service, vacuumed the
car, washed the car, and put it outside, and when she came, I said, I made sure, you know,
there's nobody else around, be respectful, and I just said, today is your last day coming here,
I said, I can't tolerate this relationship, you and I should just not be doing business together,
it's not working, what are you saying, and I go, well, here's your invoice, just sign it here,
you don't owe me anything, it's all on the house, all of it, the work's been done, as you requested,
it's cleaned, it's washed, I did it myself, wasn't my apprentice, I did the work myself,
and today that's it, here's your keys, here's your copy, please don't come back,
and she likes looking at me, I'm going, I'm serious, I'm done, I can't tolerate,
you're, you're frustrating me all the time, you know, I can't tell you anything, you don't listen,
and then you question everything, she goes, well, why are you not charging me for the bill today,
there you go, so that was the reason behind it, I thought, I don't know why that came in my head
today, but I fired her, she was the very first one, I fired as a client, just was not worth
the aggravation all the time, question after question, but not questions regarding the work,
the question, it was always a why question, you know, do you ever have children that do that,
I don't have children, but they like to hang around with me, my, my nieces and nephews, and
they'd ask you a million questions, I finally just said, because elephants have big feet,
usually did it, well good morning, and welcome to episode 200 today, today is our 200th episode,
I can't even imagine it to be honest with you, because being on the air once a week live for
31 years, it would take us forever to do 500 episodes, but we did pretty much 52 episodes a year,
pretty much, two were prerecorded, and while I have a little, have a little break, and the rest
were all live, live radio on every Saturday, so here we are, we're cracking open, tomorrow we'll
begin season three of motormouth's morning drive in the car connection workshop, so I do have five
things for you today, and so stay tuned, if you're in the queue to get through the drive-through,
let's have our morning swiggy very quickly here, and for those of you who don't like talk radio or
talk whatsoever, this is probably not a podcast for you, it's probably podcasts are probably not
for you at all, so I'm just saying, if you're interested in keeping your vehicle long term,
and keeping that engine and transmission going, and having peace of mind driving,
and saving time, money, and a few bloody knuckles, this is your podcast, I'm Nile Motormouth Jenkins,
I have 44 years as a service tech, and that's probably way underrated because I started in the
industry at age 13, and yeah, I'm not going to tell you how old I am, you can take a shot at it
though if you want, you know, if you want to send that out in an email, I'll find something in the
prize box to send out to you for guessing my age correctly, yeah, correctly, totally correctly,
yeah, so put that at, send that over to Nile Motormouth Jenkins at gmail.com, all the information you
need, and to follow us, and to like follow the building and repair work that we do,
you can connect with us, and our program partners all on the homepage of our website, we've made it
super simple for you, so if you're skipping through the drive-through, it is Thursday, and we're getting
close for the weekend, and you know what happens, things start shutting down, so I would flip dipple
check that, I'm buying you a little bit of time here to get yourself organized, so whatever your
morning beverages, if you're joining us, we have a count it down three to one, we have a swiggy
together, we want to thank Niagara Block, the next gen, the next generation, Kathy, David, and Dan
Grimo for building Canada since 1931, with building supplies, they make blocks right there
on the site, and also all your steel girders, and rebar, and angle irons, they have all that stuff,
but if you're looking to create a beautiful backyard space,
Niagara Block, 5000 Montrose Road, Niagara Falls, they have all the beautification supplies you need
to put together that beautiful backyard oasis that you've always wanted, if you need a contractor,
a referral, you need to talk to Kathy Grimo, she has a list of contractors that you can count on
to put together the budget, the project, get it started, and get it finished all at the same time,
so on our homepage, you will find all the links available for our program partners, and simply
put, without our program partners, we wouldn't have been able to make the jump from radio to over
to digitals, and to hear myself say that we're in the 200th episode is mind-blowing for me,
just I can't imagine it, I could never imagine we would hit 200 episodes, and we started last October,
that's right, yeah I had like one day of tutoring, here's how your stuff all works, go to it, have
at it, so have at our homepage, if you click on the logo for any one of our program partners and
recommended businesses, the page will open and all the pages are the same, so it's nice and easy
for you to navigate, and thank you for giving them your business, because we need them and we need
you too, so thank you, thank you to all those who are doing that, top right hand corner of our homepage
is a place you want to pull over and park, that's where you'll find our youtube channel, everything
we do over there is not a mirror image to our podcast, just so you know, and I do all the
descriptions and I put lots of more tech tips in, in the descriptions for you to help you even
further, on our youtube channel you're always going to learn five basic vehicle fundamentals,
what it is, where it is, how it works, how you broke it, and you don't want to break it again,
because that costs too much money, so we show you how you can prevent those things from happening,
by just getting a little better understanding of how your automobile works, thinks, and performs,
so if those things are important to you, you need to become a subscriber, and help us to get to our
first thousand subscribers, so that it unlocks the algorithms, and leave a comment, that really
helps as well, with the algorithms, so they push our videos further out to bigger and larger audiences,
so we can help more and more people on the planet that we're spinning on, the other thing that helps
is to ring the notification bell, so that you're notified when the new videos come out, so you
don't miss a single rescue project, and repair work that we do in the car connection workshop,
it's that simple, just ring the notification bell, we put two new videos out every Tuesday,
and every Friday, so you get three fresh ones every single week, there's almost 500
proponents for you to watch and listen to, and all our podcasts, I've got them set to populate
to our YouTube channel, so if you go to our YouTube channel, everything's there for you,
all in one place, we are on all podcast platforms, Spotify, Amazon, Apple, Podbean,
so wherever you're searching podcasts, just type in Car Connection Workshop,
and you'll find us, we're on Facebook, Instagram, Stevensville on the web.ca, we are
classified as automotive professionals there, and we put up bloopers, outtakes, and reels,
on those three community, whatever you call them,
the community, that's our community, that's the word I was looking for, Facebook, Instagram,
Stevensville on the web.ca, and if you're looking for something for the kids to do this summer,
or grandkids, or even yourself, you'll have a great day out at Safari Niagara in Stevensville,
and there's lots of wonderful eateries out there, and specialty shops, that's where my barber shop
is, and a big hi to Cab this morning, if he's listening, does a great job for me, fantastic,
the hair's still on my head, so that's good, that's good, so let's have our swiggy together,
you ready? Get your 16 pack of crayons, Crayola, they have to be Crayola, and a flattened out
leaf bag, so that you can take some notes this morning, if you can't, you can listen,
re-listen, like, share, and follow on our YouTube channel, and iHeart Radio as well, so we're easily
findable out there, you can find us, we're just about everywhere, so 321
that was so good, I had to hit the mute button,
I almost started, you know, you ever realize, yeah, you shouldn't inhale coffee, it wants to come out
right away, anyhow, anything happens here, the car connects your workshop, our coffee's strong enough
to resurrect a dead fuel pump, we like it that way, lots going on in the car connection workshop,
and lots of things going on coming up that we have for you as well, if you or someone you know
is in the market for purchasing a pre-owned vehicle, I would highly endorse the husband
and wife team, Louise and Earl Grant at City Auto Sales and Leasing, yes, it might be a bit of a
drive to head out there to the Toronto area, but you know what, you're not buying a car every day,
and you want to know who you're buying it from, Earl and Louise Grant, they're going to treat
you amazingly well, you have an amazing car buying experience there, providing you with
low mileage quality vehicles at fair prices, they've been in the business 25 plus years,
they've developed their resources for those quality low mileage vehicles, and Earl's a car guy,
he's fussier than I am, times 10 on steroids, he does not bring in any junk, it has to meet
his criteria and I'll tell you, he knows how to pick them, that's how they've earned the title
Greater Toronto Areas Premier Pre-Owned Auto Store, you can buy with confidence and be treated with
nothing less than honesty and integrity, if they don't have the vehicles that you're specifically
interested in, let them let Earl know and Louise what you're looking for, because if it's out there
and it's any good, Earl will find it, but if they're out there and they're not any good, he's not
going to push pull and drag any junk over to their pre-owned vehicle dealership, so check out City
Auto Sales and Leasing and let them know that I sent you and have a great vehicle purchasing
experience, let's jump into today's weather and we thank Earl Louise Grant for bringing us today's
weather, let's see what's going on, I know right here in South Shore's Lake Erie, it's looking
rather stormy at the moment, so in the Niagara region, here's what we got coming up,
on the rainometer, 0.5 of an inch in the next 24 hours, 59 degrees right now and raining, it feels
warmer about 60 degrees, cloudy conditions expected around 7am, today's temperature range is from 58 to
72 and feels like 59 to 71, we'll top out today at 72, yesterday we hit another 72, so I would
suggest take your Nellie with you, it could be a wet one, season three is just around the corner
for us, but before we get there, let's tackle one of the biggest questions I've heard in 44 years
in the service bays and 32 years behind the microphone, what do I need to do to keep my
vehicle longer, that's not even a 30 second answer, I can't give you a 30 second answer on that,
because even the best maintained mechanic needs premium fuel in the morning, yeah,
that's what I'm talking about, and you're probably saying why didn't he say that,
because that's what we run on here, let me tell you, after hearing a question like that,
what do I need to do to keep my vehicle longer, I cannot give you an answer under a minute
on that one, that's why we have 200 episodes of our podcast Motor Mouse Morning Drive
and well over 450 proponents in our YouTube channels for you to flip through and watch
the videos and learn as much of the basic fundamentals of vehicle ownership,
which will put you on the right path, I do have a title for this morning's
podcast, Focus and Hit the Mark, and what I'm sharing with you is exactly what I do
if I'm looking at a specific vehicle that perhaps may, may make,
say that 10 times fast, may, may make a really good rescue, and in fact I have a vehicle in the
service bay right now, Orange Crush, that was a rescue, no one wanted it, because it's a stick shift,
and it's a beautiful little 2003 new Beetle convertible, two liter turbo, and it scoots,
and I'll, I'll be honest with you, that thing runs on farts and a jar, it's unbelievable,
the fuel economy on it is crazy good, but anyways I bought it for a song, and it had some abuse on it,
and I looked it over, and I just did a video with it so you can watch the video, because we've
gotten into talking about cabin air filters, you got to watch the videos on that, I got to finish
that off today, this afternoon I got the final cleanup to do, I got to work with some bleach,
and a mask, and some hospital authorized bacteria killer product, yeah it's a product I got through
I can't remember, Tansha, that's it, Tansha products and Welland, yeah Ron Hubbard,
that's where I go, that's my go-to place for commercial cleaning supplies and stuff, so a
little plug for those guys, they've been good to me out there, their hand soap, soft hand soap
lasts forever, and it's antibacterial, so anyways I got some cleaner there, that's antibacterial,
does streptococcus, and all that nasty, those nasty bugs, so I've got to use that after I use
the bleach to finally finish up on the inside of the O3 Beetle, so I can begin to assemble the dash,
so watch the videos on that, that's huge, that's a circumstance that you don't want to get into
ever, ever, ever, so anyways I say that to say this, I decided after looking it over,
would it make a good rescue, could we rescue this thing and bring it back to life and use it
as a tool to go to fundraising events, let the kids have their pictures taken in it, it's usually
the moms that go get out of there son, I'll take it from here, they do, they're like can I hold the
keys and like show off to my friends, like I just won this car and I go of course you can, yeah I'll
help you do that, absolutely, so the five-step pattern that I'm going to share with you is the
strategy that I use to determine do we move forward with this thing or is it a hack, we walk away
and the 2008 which I'm driving and that's an amazing little car and yeah it has some issues with the
CVT transmission and when you understand that little animal how it works and how it can cost you
like $16,000 if it goes down, you need to be wide awake, eyes wide open to drive it and take care of
it, take very, very good care of it with kid gloves on and so that thing's been amazing and that was
a rescue as well, that's first generation Nissan Ragu, that's what we call it, the Ragu and it's
been amazing, you know I've taken it out to the wood pile and split wood not with the Ragu but
put all my stuff in there while the FJ was down having a treatment in the shop here and it
performed very well, it's a four-wheel drive so it would have been a shame to just say you know it
sat for almost 11 months without usage and things really go bad fast folks, so the less you drive
the worse your vehicle is for maintenance, that's the answer, you're in a category called
severe service and you got to grab that because it's true, you know brakes and stuff rot off
before they wear out on your vehicle, it's that simple and the only way you can stay ahead of
that curve is maintenance times maintenance divided by maintenance
equals maintenance, that's just the way it has to work, so the less you drive the more maintenance
your vehicle requires, so I'm giving you the five-step pattern that I use to evaluate a vehicle
and the O3 Beetle and the O8 Nissan Rogue are two great examples of how my checklist works,
it's how I determine do we kick it to the curb, is it over and she's singing,
it's time to go or do we buckle down and can we bring this thing back to life
and have it be a reliable piece of transportation, so are you ready? Okay tomorrow's Fun Friday
here in the MotorMouth Morning Drive questions, I need your questions by noon on Friday's okay
for Saturday's Q&A, just a quick reminder before I forget to put that plug in is by noon on Friday,
motormouth.jankins at gmail.com or Nile at ccbusnet.com and if you didn't get that it's okay, any
description check into any description on our YouTube videos or on our podcasts and I put all
that information always there for you so you can connect and find everything you need to follow us
and be part of car connection a hundred different ways, so because we now have more ways for you
to watch, listen, and engage so come and join us Monday through Saturday, number one the title
the title fits the whole package focus and hit the mark so what I'm looking at is
the vehicle and in fact there is a video we skipped and I did on the 2008 Nissan Rogue
when we took it down to the Niagara River and I did a walk around evaluation as though the vehicle
was sitting there at somebody's home in the driveway in a parking lot I've looked over vehicles
just about everywhere in a field behind a shop behind a garage in a box with a fox
and I do the same pattern what I'm looking for is if I focus enough can I hit the mark
and bring this vehicle back to life rescue it from the the crusher basically because that's
where it's going to go and get picked over perhaps and then head to the crusher
and then to its final resting place the melting pot so first of all number one is I strategize
so I look the vehicle over I'm going to formulate a list and I'm going to be absolutely brutally
honest about the vehicle everything anything that's broken missing loose or it's just not there
or there's things leaking or there's potential fluid leaks I see potential fluid leaks leaking
hoses belts wiring you name it this is where I go around the vehicle and I'm beginning my checklist
and then to strategize to step two that helps me to realize that this vehicle is either
it's a clunker a lunker and it's got to go or hey this thing is pretty decent with some elbow
grease some tlc throw some parts at it and some service we got ourselves a good ride and a reliable
ride right here so that brings me to my next step number three I got to recognize what that's
going to cost so that's where now the homework begins okay so we've I've I've got my sights set on
this via particular vehicle we may get it back to the shop and rescue it can we hit the mark
completely so number three recognizing the cost and not factoring in the labor because you'll
say well you're a mechanic you can do that well yeah but I still have to factor in my time where
am I going to have how am I going to create the time that that vehicle is going to need to bring
it back to life and rescue it and make it a reliable source of transportation for self or someone else
period so number four I may need to improvise on some things in order to hit that mark so that
means there may be things that aren't so critical that I can overlook for the time being
but they're not deal breakers and what do I mean by that could be lazy seat belts could be some
broken stuff inside the vehicle that definitely needs to be taken care of but it's not a safety
related issue not a safety related issue and yeah what's with lazy seat belts anyway you know I mean
what what is that where you know the thing won't go all the way in all the time yeah yeah we'll do a
video on that but I can't because it's uh in Canada you can't mess with seat belts but if I was in the
U.S. I could show you how to fix it yeah it is fixable and it's it doesn't affect the seat belt it
just makes it fixed so that it retracts properly every time and I've run into that with vintage
vehicles and a fella showed me how to do it and I know how to do it so it saves you a lot of money
but in Canada we can't mess with seat belts you can't you can't even buy used seat belts in Canada
the recon yards will not sell them to you they can't but they can sell you used airbag well unused
recycled okay so it hasn't popped out so we're going to do a video with that too we're going to fire
off a steering wheel airbag and show you how that works you'll be you'll be shocked and what that
looks like so number four is improvise again I may have to uh can I get these components that I need
can I just go into the you pull it recon yard and uh grab some decent stuff and get this stuff
replaced and get the broken stuff out of there get everything I at the end of the day I want
everything working as the vehicle left the assembly line and then some so if I improvise I mean
what can I do can I fix what's there can I rescue the components that are broken or are they done
what's the next step grab some used components go and pull some parts off at the you pull it
and save some money and get the job finished and number five is now you got to execute the plan
that's what happens next otherwise guess what happens it's just going to continue to sit around
and decay period you know in our uh 1997 1997 Jeep TJ Wrangler is sitting
in the staging lanes it needs to go out to Jesse's shop just to have custom exhaust put on
and a bracket welded on the front axle so we can align do an alignment on it and I've got some
welding to do uh body work on the floor because the floor was wet for so long it went through on
the driver's side so I'm going to take care of that myself then it'll be ready for an inspection
and it'll be out on the road so there's a proof in the pudding and that is when when the the
vehicle's ready for the road that is where I'm going to unveil how much it cost to rescue that
vehicle and bring it back to being a reliable piece of transportation and you're all going to be
in shock and I and I'm thinking of a way how we can do a little um give away on that where if you
guess guess the amount uh the money that was spent to rescue it we'll have a prize pack so we're
going to put together something that we can have a little bit of fun with that so so it's focus
and hit the mark so number one is strategize number two is realize number three is recognize
and number four improvise with used parts refurbished parts or can I refurbish stuff
and number five is you got to execute the plan and what that means is getting it all done not
taking six months ten months or just parking it back out in the driveway no you're going to get it
done and make it a reliable vehicle again and that's money that's money well spent so the result is
will equal you now have a vehicle that's back in order and ready to perform saving you buca bucks
exactly I take a look at the price of vehicles today and that's why I say you're going to all
be blown away my friends as well they're saying you've spent a ton of money on that jeep really
to find a ton and they throw some numbers out and I just start laughing I go boy are you ever
going to be shocked so you got to wait to see the final episode where we reveal every nut every bolt
every fastener every little tiny nibbly bit that it took to put that thing together included we waited
and still worked on getting the mechanicals done while we were trying to find a replaces a replace
engine and it came through some of my firefighter friends that are jeep people they found an engine
on facebook marketplace and we jumped all over it and got it and then I went through that you can
watch all those videos as well went through the whole engine to make sure it was healthy to drop in
there to perform because at the end of the day the purpose of that vehicle was to see if we could
do it in 30 days but we got we got snagled when discovering that the the reason it ended up in
the wrecking yard was they blew the engine to smithereenies that's what happened yeah and you
can see all that as well in the series so I'm working on creating that entire jeep 97 jeep tga
wrangler rescue into an evergreen series that will be forever on the internet available to those
who are doing the same thing and it can show you the other reason behind it was I wanted to see
could I take a vehicle out of the wrecking yard and have it back on the road in 30 days and reliable
and we almost pulled it off till once we got the engine running I knew it was bad I knew the
engine was bad and where I got it from nobody knew anything really about it I got no history
no history with that vehicle whatsoever so I'm out there on a limb all by myself going well
let's see what we can do so we made it all the way to the point where getting the engine running
and discovering that the engine was not even we couldn't even rebuild it that's how destroyed it was
I even checked in with it with our machine shop and
Dion said not only says even at cost he says it wouldn't be worth it even if I built that
motor at cost it would not be worth it so find one find one that is rebuildable or find one that
is a really good fit for what you're working on for your youtube channel so and that's what happened
it took six months but we did we lucked out and we got an engine that has about a 100000
k on it and we went through that so you can do this the this exact same thing to that vehicle you
have in the driveway you know if you're financially strapped and in a bad position the economy isn't
the greatest the best vehicle in the driveway are certified both Tony and Larry are certified
financial planners and say keep it going it's going to be the thing that slingshots
you forward because it's paid for who cares what it's worth on the market that doesn't matter
a hill of beans keep it going and until things get better and and that will work it will work
every single time so you have to follow that sequence folks focus and hit the mark
so that wraps up our 200th episode today I hope you have a fantastic Thursday the weekend is just
around the corner Q&A Saturday coming up remember tomorrow is fun Friday we kind of let our hair
down just have a a natter for a half hour or so in the car connection workshop with the motormouth
morning drive and I need your questions for Q&A in the hopper by noon on Friday so that gives
me enough time to select three decent questions out of everything that comes in and then dissect
those on Saturday morning so it's nile at ccbusnet.com or motormouth.jankins at gmail.com and all that
information is in the description box on our youtube videos and on our podcast so don't forget
to like subscribe share and follow and we'll see you in the next one and we do have merch I almost
forgot that our stores on the top right hand corner of our homepage all the goodies in there
that you purchase all the proceeds go back to total freedom addiction campuses Canada and USA
stand with Skippy and I we have a passion and compassion to help those who are suffering with
addictions that have made that decision today's the day let's help them get them there let's help
them get to the nearest total freedom addiction campus so that a new life can be created so let's
work together and make a difference we'll see you tomorrow morning for another edition of motormouth
morning drive 8 a.m sharp happy healthy motoring peace patience and kindness always bye for now
About this episode
Car Connection Workshop lays out a “focus and hit the mark” approach to rescuing problem vehicles—starting with a walk-around evaluation, then triage and cost homework, followed by improvising with used/refurbished parts, and finally executing the plan. Along the way, the host contrasts expensive risks like CVT failures on a 2008 Nissan Rogue with the reality that low or severe service can accelerate wear. Real rescues include a 2003 New Beetle interior decontamination and a 1997 Jeep TJ Wrangler, including custom exhaust, welding, alignment, and sourcing a replacement engine after a machine shop verdict.
Not every vehicle is a rescue candidate, and not every repair project makes financial sense. In Episode 200, I share the exact 5-step evaluation process I've used for decades to determine whether a vehicle deserves a second chance, should become a donor vehicle, or is headed for the scrapyard AKA The Crusher🚀
From assessing the true condition of the vehicle to calculating repair costs, estimating time requirements, and finishing opportunities to save money through refurbishment and repair, this proven strategy helps remove emotion from the decision-making process.
Whether you're considering a project car, evaluating a family vehicle, or trying to decide if a repair is worth the investment, these five steps can help you focus on the facts and hit the mark.
If you enjoy the podcasts, videos, vehicle tips, and real - world automotive advice, here's how you can help[ support what we do:
☕️🍩 Buy Me a Coffee:
Support the show and help keep the microphones on and the cameras rolling at: buymeacoffee.com/motormouthnile Thank You❤️
👍 Visit our Merch Store: Pick up some Car Connection merchandise and wear it with pride! Best of all, all proceeds from merchandise sales go directly to support Total Freedom Addiction Campuses Canada & USA changing lives one at a time, together we can help them get there friends🚗
✅ Fleet Maintenance Schedules On Sale: Our popular fleet maintenance schedules are currently available at a special price for subscribers. Whether you manage one vehicle or an entire fleet, these proven maintenance plans can help reduce break downs, control costs, and keep your vehicles operating reliably. visit the review page to fill out the order form and get your today while supplies last. (ccbusnet.com) 👍🚗NMJ
Help Us Reach Our First 1,000 Subscribers: we're officially halfway there! If you haven't already, please subscribe, like, comment, and share our content with family, friends, coworkers, and fellow automotive enthusiasts. Every subscriber helps us reach more people and continue providing free automotive education and entertainment.
✅ Follow us on Facebook & Instagram, stevensvilleontheweb.ca (click bus tab) for additional videos, reels, updates, and behind- the- scenes content.
Thanks for being part of the Motormouth community. Your Support helps us continue helping drivers make informed decisions and get the most out of their vehicles.
We'll see you in the next podcast, video, or somewhere out on the road👍🚗
