Apollo 11 was the famous Moon landing mission. The host is using it to show that today’s phones and computers are far more powerful than what was used for the Moon mission.
They’re comparing how powerful computers were during the Apollo era versus today. The point is that modern gadgets are dramatically more capable, and that progress eventually shows up in cars.
The host describes a buyback offer that’s framed as a deal but is actually a fraction of the truck’s real market value. This is a common ownership issue: dealership offers (trade-ins or buybacks) often prioritize their resale margin, so comparing to actual market pricing matters.
They’re talking about how expensive it is to finance a car each month. When the payment is big, you start thinking harder about whether a repair is worth keeping the car.
The speaker is using a valuation question to guide repair decisions. In practice, owners compare the cost of a repair to the car’s market value and what they’d lose by keeping versus replacing it.
They mean the car is mainly for everyday errands and family use. For that kind of car, people usually care more about it being dependable than being exciting.
That light means the car found a problem and logged it. It doesn’t always mean the engine is about to fail, but it’s a sign you should get it checked, especially if the car is running rough.
This is the classic “repair vs replace” decision based on cost, risk, and how reliable the car is likely to be. The discussion frames it as a budgeting problem (repair cost versus a car payment) rather than just a mechanical problem.
The ignition coil helps make the spark that lights the fuel in the cylinder. If a coil fails, that cylinder may misfire, and swapping the bad coil often fixes the problem.
Aftermarket parts are made by companies other than the original equipment manufacturer (OEM). The host emphasizes selective use of aftermarket components, especially for critical timing-related parts where quality can vary widely.
A replacement engine means swapping in a different engine because the original one can’t be repaired cheaply. It’s a common fix when the engine is badly damaged.
Jasper is a company that rebuilds engines and transmissions for resale. People use them because they’re known for offering warranty-backed rebuilt units.
Ford is the car maker being referenced here. The speaker is talking about getting timing parts from Ford, which can be important for whether the repair is possible.
“Numbers matching” means the car’s key parts—like the engine—are the original ones that match the car’s records. Collectors like it because it proves the car is more authentic.
A “rebuild” is when a shop takes the engine apart, fixes what’s worn out, and puts it back together so it runs reliably again. The host is talking about what that kind of work costs.
They’re talking about replacing the rubber coolant hoses. When an engine is out or being worked on, it’s smart to replace old hoses so you don’t get leaks or overheating later.
“Manufacturer spec” refers to the exact oil standards and approvals required by the automaker (often tied to viscosity and performance tests). Using the correct spec helps ensure the oil provides the right protection for that engine’s design and tolerances.
“Lifetime trans fluid” means the fluid is supposed to last forever. But in real life, transmission fluid gets dirty and worn out over time. Many cars still benefit from changing it at intervals.
The transfer case is what sends power to the front and rear axles on AWD/4WD cars. It has fluid that keeps the gears lubricated. Changing it helps prevent wear and overheating.
The front diff is the part that helps the front wheels turn at different speeds when you’re cornering. It needs its own oil. If that oil gets old, the gears can wear out and start making noise.
Coolant is the fluid that keeps the engine from overheating. It also helps protect metal parts from rust inside the cooling system. If it gets old, the engine can run hotter and corrosion can build up.
“Meets spec” means the coolant is the exact type your car is designed to use. Using the wrong coolant can lead to poor protection and possible damage over time. It’s worth checking the label or the owner’s manual.
Rust is corrosion of metal components, often starting in hidden areas like underbody panels, suspension points, and wheel wells. It can become a major reliability and safety issue by weakening structural parts and causing expensive repairs.
The head gasket is like a thick seal inside the engine that keeps important fluids separated. If it breaks, you can get leaks and serious engine problems, so mechanics often test for it before doing expensive work.
K-Seal is a brand of head gasket sealer/stop-leak product. The host mentions using it and having a good success rate, but also emphasizes that it may fail if the leak is caused by a crack or a gap larger than the product can seal.
Service history is the record of maintenance and repairs a vehicle has received over its life. The host is pointing out that if you don’t know the service history, you can’t reliably predict how the car was treated or what prior issues may exist.
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How can I even hope to possibly top something like that?
Right?
What an opening? It was sort of on a different note.
It was just it brought a turly eye to watch the ortums to lift off. First of all, I have
to comment that I had to chuckle a little bit because my mom's name and armenion was Artemis, so I like that they're sending my mom to the moon, you know, just just you know mom's up there. Now, I'd probably
go right by it and go here. I am, but
how awe inspiring that we have that technology. You know,
you think about it, and I can't wait till we get to the moon. I was saying this to Tom
Ray before the show today. I can't wait till we
get to the moon, because you know, somebody's gonna light a flare up there next to the Apollo landing site and go here we are again. For everybody that says
we never made it to the moon, because I think you guys are I think you guys are wrong. I
really believe we went to the moon in sixty nine.
You know, it's just like when we were kids watching the Apollo launch and watching, you know, they're going to the moon. And it was just I was watching it
the other night with my wife and she's sitting there doing something and I said, we.
Watched them watch the launch rocket to the moon. We're
going to the miside, we've already been there. I said,
who cares? We're going again? And you know, and the
arguments I hear is, well, why don't we go sooner.
I don't know, you know, I don't know what makes that.
I just I just believe we were there. We're going again.
Look at the technology we have and and I get kind of excited because that moon technology, that rocket technology filters its way down into our lives every day. That's
where we got digital watches from. That's where we got
microwave ovens from. That's where we got a lot of
the features you see on cars from. A lot of
that technology was developed during the sixties on the Space program, So, oh you bet, yeah.
And did you see did you notice some of the camera angles and stuff they had from satellites and from from drones and from planes up there. We didn't have
this technology in the sixties, No we did.
It was incredible. No we didn't. I mean we went
to the moon Originally. We're way off topic here, folks. Sorry,
hopefully somebody's out there still listening. But we went to
the Moon in the sixties on a slide rule and a pencil and a piece of paper, and that was literally it. And when they tell you the part about
Apollo eleven had had less computing power, your watch, Your watch has more computing power than Apollo eleven had in it.
Your your your phone has more computing power. Your computer
has way more computing power than the rockets that went to the moon today. That's how primitive it was. It
was like, you know, somebody once told me it was like taking a putting a marble in a slingshot and naming it by eye and going oing and there's where, and we made it. Anyway, I want to talk to
you about a car that came into the shop this week because it really got me thinking about everybody out there listening, like why would you listen? And you know,
maybe you should, you know, because we're here to talk about your car, your problem, your situation and try and save you some money along the way. And it may
not be the initial repair, because the initial repair may be so overwhelming that but when you compare it. My
guy Andy called me from Paramas Chevrolet this week. They
want to buy my plow truck back. And I kind
of laughed at him because Andy always kind of you know, he's he's a salesman. I can tell when he's lying.
His lips move, and you know they want to, they want to, they want to, you know, they want to buy the truck back for you know a third of what it's really worth. And I told him that. I said, Andy,
it's not worth twenty five grand, it's worth thirty five to forty on a bad day. It's only got eleven
thousand miles on it. It's three and a half four
years old. It's perfect, he says, and Andy kind of
you know, hey, is it clean? Is it in good shape?
And I said, Andy, now you're really going to insult me.
Is it clean? Is it in good shape? What do
you kidding? Remember who you're talking to. But long story short,
we got to talking about the price of cars and what cars are costing now. So they've got eight year
payment plans eight years, and the average the average payment on a lot of cars, depending on what you're buying, you know, mid level up can be anywhere from six to eight hundred dollars a month. Some of the vehicles
today are eleven hundred dollars a month, and these are Chevrolets.
I'm reading stories about BMW's and Mercedes in the highline German cars fifteen sixteen hundred dollars a month car payments ten hundred and twenty hundred and thirty thousand dollars. Cars
is not so impossible to put your finger on anymore.
It's it's out there. It's a real number. So what
is your car worth? If you had to put five
thousand dollars in your car, is it worth doing? And
you've got to start asking yourself questions about you know, have you done maintenance? Have you Is this the first
major repair you've had? And the car is six seven,
eight years old? Is this the first major repair you've
had in the car? Is you know, three years old?
Where where do the numbers fall? Because auto repair, ownership
and decision is really about numbers. This one was a
twenty fourteen Chevy Equinox, had about one hundred and thirty two thousand miles on and it wasn't a bad vehicle, kind of middle of the road. You know, it does
what it's supposed to do. It's a grocery getter. It
takes the kids where they're supposed to go. You know,
it's not exciting, it's not sexy, but it's dependable and it just it does what it's supposed to do. The
customer walked in, very nice guy, mid forties, and I can see on his face, you know that look that those words that are running through his head. You ever
see that look, the look that says, oh, I know this is going to hurt. Is the car done? And
he looks at me and he says, ron, just tell me straight, Am I done? Is it time? I said,
what do you mean? I don't get that? He says,
I don't know if I should fix this thing or just get rid of it. The check engine lights on,
it's running rough. My wife doesn't trust it anymore. Now
I don't trust it anymore. And now we're not talking
about the car. We're really talking about a decision, right
you've all been there. You're really talking about do you
spend you know, five six hundred dollars or do you go for a car payment of you know, eight nine hundred whatever it might be. It's not worth fixing. It's
time to move on, he's saying. And I'm here to
tell you, like I told him, that may not be true, not anymore, because if you've got a newer vehicle, something made in the last twenty years, and you've done your maintenance and listen, there are some dogs out there, there are some vehicles that you know, there are some vehicles out there I wouldn't set on fire. And put on
the railroad tracks because they're so bad. But you know,
there's some vehicles out there that are worth saving. And
that's really the decision because I see this every day.
You know, the difference between a car that makes it and a car that gets traded in early really isn't the car. It's the decisions that have been made along
the way. It's also knowing you know you're at this
decision point on one hundred and thirty thousand mile twelve year old vehicle. You've got to know what's wrong. So
you can't overreact to every light, every noise every morning, and you can't underreact. You can't ignore him. You can't
wait till it becomes a disaster. The understanding, the point
of decision, the best point of decision is somewhere in between.
So you've got to have a plan. But we've got
to be honest. Everything around you is forcing, Hey, I
want to get a replacement. It'll be so simple, I'll
I'll just go buy another vehicle. There's advertising, there's the dealerships.
And he's cold calling me, right, he calls me in the middle of the week, Hey, Ron, how you been Han't it? From Indian seven eight and nine months whatever.
He's just just making sure in case I want to buy that new car. Everything's well meaning, everything's friends and family. Oh,
it's got one hundred thousand miles on it. Time to go.
And that's where a lot of your heads are today.
And you know it's funny. We went to the diner
in town two nights ago for dinner and my kids were with me and we're talking about things, and just out of the blue, the waiter came up and I said, Jerry, what kind of vehicle do you drive? And Jerry's an
older guy, he's, you know, been around a while, he's been driving a long time. I've got to know seven
Lexus two hundred and thirty five thousand miles on it, which I knew he was a car guy right off the top of his head. You can always tell a
car guy, somebody that's paying attention knows the mileage right.
And he's saying, you know, I've got two hundred thirty five thousand miles on it. And I said, why do
you drive something that old? And he said, because you know,
I've owned it since new, I've done all the maintenance.
I know what I got And it's because it's a reliable car. It's got some maintenance it needs here there,
and every once in a while something big breaks and I just fix it and I keep driving it. And
I think that's important. So when you're sitting there and
you're seeing is it over, you know, you gotta kind of slow down, you gotta take a look. And that's
what I told Frank that day. We brought the car
in and yeah, it's got to miss and the check engine lights on and it's got to shake to it.
And we looked at it and there was a misfire on one cylinder, cylinder number three. Now, a misfire code
doesn't mean replace the engine. It doesn't mean major repair,
it doesn't mean change everything. It means what do you
want to do? We diagnosed it one. It was a
bad ignition coil, all right. We always start simple, simple
works probably eighty percent of the time, and it did in this case. Right, it was a bad ignition coil
on number three. Spark plugs. Oh, I talked to Frank.
Frank wasn't a real full time customer. He's been in
and out a couple of times and he says, yeah, I haven't done plugs yet. Well, here we are one
hundred and thirty two thousand miles. You need plugs. So
the estimate was written. It was about four hundred and
fifty bucks. Three coil, I'm sorry, four coils and a
set of plugs. A very easy engine to work on,
four cylinder, and you know, did our thing, and yeah it worked. It was a bad coil and the car
runs great. And Frank said to me, he goes, well,
I guess I was premature. Yeah, you kind of word.
Because you can't guess. You've got to and you can't
throw parts at it. You can't go, oh, it's running rough.
It must be a bad coil. You've got to diagnose,
you know, if you're mentally already sitting in a dealership.
And I'm not saying that's wrong. I'm just saying you're
jumping the gun, right, You've got to look over the whole car. Frank knew he had done a transmission around
one hundred and ten thousand mile mark, and here he is with engine issues. He's done every oil change. He
showed me receipts. We went through his list and I
explained everything to him. I gave him the what if conversation?
What if the alternate went bad. What if a starter
went bad. But it's a young car, it's only got
one hundred and thirty thousand miles on it. Cars today
are just made better. You know, a lot of you
are like Frank, right, you're driving a vehicle with seventy five one, one hundred and fifty thousand miles on it, and somebody planted this idea in your head that once a car hits a certain mileage, it's done. And that's
not necessarily true. Now, I'm not talking about vehicles so old.
We've got parts issues, and every once in a while, even on a seven year old or a fourteen year old car, you're going to have a parts issue. But
you've got to consider this. You're taking the vehicle you
own and taking away or repair and trading it in for a payment. And is that what you want to do?
All right? You can run them longer, you can run
them safer, you can run them better with maintenance, and you can keep that car and not trade it in for a payment. You can just drive it until something's
really strained going on and you want to get rid of it. Then, So if you had that crossroad, do
I fix it or do I dump it. You stick around,
you give me a call eight five five five six ninety nine hundred. I'm ronning Ady in the car Doctor.
We'll kick things off when I come back right after this. Hey,
a little later on, I want to talk about Chrysler.
Chrysler's in the news this week, and I'm going to tell you why, so you want to stick around for that.
There's some really crazy things going on there right now. First,
let's go over to Charlie and Virginia. Charlie, welcome to
the Car Doctor, Sir, how can I help?
Got a two thousand and three Ford Explorer for later?
Okay?
Overhead cam right? It keeps eating timing chains. I bought
the car about fifteen years ago, perfect condition, had a hole in the block, so I bought another engine, completely rebuilt it, and after about thirty thousand miles tension owners timing chain now on strip, came loose, ran up the timing chain, knocked hole in the valve cover, skipped a few links on the timing chain, bent all the valves on one side. So I fixed it well. I bought
the repair kit from the local auto parts store, so I thought, well, maybe it was cheap Chinese stuff. So
I bought a timing kit from Nappi. That one only
lasted about twenty five thousand miles. Right, So I finally
gave up and bought an engine had one hundred thousand miles on it out of a wrecked car, and that one only lasted about thirty thousand miles. That's the same thing.
Well, the caveat I would tell you is I would agree with you that some of the components in the aftermarket I wouldn't use, such as timing chain kits. I'm
going to be honest. You know, listen and after market
company sponsored this radio show, and if you notice, if you're a long time listening, I'm selective on what I recommend.
There's some things I like, there's some things I'm not fond of. And then that that that second engine or
that third engine at one hundred thousand miles, if the if the chain failed at one thirty, if you don't know the history of that, if you can't show me oil change receipts, which you can't every five thousand miles, right, I'm going to tell you, Okay, there's that answer. So
when that engine failed, what did you do?
Well, the car's been sitting since.
Okay, So let's let's make this simple, all right, because because here you are, you're thinking, ron, I need a new car. Right, this is like a perfect segue from
my opening.
Okay, Well, the problem is it has a rebuilt transmission, all new front end parts. Right. I hate, I hate
to junk it.
So here, let me let me make this easy for you, Charlie.
All right, I promise I'll be painless. You know, is it?
Is it a rot box, rust, rot, corrosion? No, no,
clean as a whistle, right, a whistle. This is real easy.
Have you priced the new vehicle yet?
Yes?
Right, that's why, that's why it's sitting, and.
How it's my wife. And how much is that new
vehicle that you want?
Thirty forty dollars used? Right?
Used? Okay, so let's make it forty. It's a good
even number because by now, if this has been going on in length of time, that forty thousand dollars vehicle's probably forty five. But we'll say it's forty, all right.
Have you priced a replacement engine from a reputable rebuilder.
Well, I did from Jasper, okay, or I can I got a spare engine. Now I can go ahead and
rebuild that one.
You could. You could and.
Buy the the timing kits they call them cassettes right by the cassettes from Ford and hopefully if they still make them. I'm not sure they did. Well.
Yeah, I don't know the answer to that one. But
I like the idea up. I like the idea of
the local engine builder. And I'll tell you why, because
nothing against Jasper. I just like the local guy. He's
somebody you can go talk to. He's somebody that's seen
all the problems. He's somebody. And the better ones are
usually very intelligent. They really are there. They're like a
thrill to talk to every time. Ron Ross, who used
to be an engine builder in our neck of the woods when we had it, when we had machine shop, used to stop. Every time Ron stops by the shop,
I learn a little something more. It's just fascinating to
listen to them and the way they break things down.
So I think it's let's take that spare engine. Was
that the original engine that came out of the car. Yes, perfect.
Now it'll be numbers matching, so it'll be good for the restoration circuit. In the show car circuit, you can say, hey,
it's a numbers matching explorer. You know I would take
that one out and take it to a local machine shop.
And what's it going to cost to rebuild? I bet
you it's every bit of four to five grand, yep.
And and you know a couple grand to put it in seven grand? Yeah, let's make it eight. Let's make
it eight grand to put an engine in that and do the hoses and do the whatevers and all the spare parts. And guess what, at the end of the day,
for under ten ground, under ten grand, you got a vehicle you can count on. You got a vehicle that's reliable.
You got a vehicle you know the history on. And
you're miles ahead of the curve. I'll tell you what, Charlie,
stick around listen on air. I won't come back to you,
but I'll try and announce. I've got a machine shop
I'm thinking of down your neck of the woods, Brian.
I've got to find Sharon Motors. I'll find some contact
info for you. I'm running any in the car doctor.
We'll be back right after this.
From the city Street.
To the Oven Rule tonight.
If you run his head, Ron will keep you all right. Yeah,
he's a car ah doctor.
Card invist. Hey for Charlie. Who was we were just
talking to from Virginia. Charlie, you're looking for Ward Sharon
s H E E R O N Enterprises word Sharon Enterprises.
They were in Virginia. I believe they're in Bumpus b
U M p Ass Bumpus, Virginia, a small machine shop, a two man, three man operation. I've talked to Brian
via email a couple of times. I think we've had
him on the show once, actually, if I'm not mistaken, a couple of years back. But they're about as small
town as you can get. And the things that he
says and does, I can tell he he very much knows which end to hold as far as a wrench, and he sounds like a great guy to deal with.
I wouldn't know him if I was standing next to him, to be honest, but he's somebody I would trust with an engine because he just talks the talk and he walks the walk. So by all means, you can look
them up and I would take them your explorer engine and talk to them and see what they can do for you. I'm not sure where you guys are locale wise,
but going the distance for a good machine shop today is not something abnormal. It's kind of becoming very commonplace
finding good people. So but do that. If you need
anything else, you give us a call. Chris An Upstate,
New York at twenty five f one fifty. What's going on, sir?
This is too new to be broken. What's going on here?
It's not broken yet, just some preventative measures prior to good idea for Yes, sir, thanks for everything you do.
I really appreciate it. Thank you.
Great job.
So I'm coming from a nineteen f one fifty with a five point zero V eight and now this is the first Eco booster turbocharged motor that I've had in the car. So I'm looking to get the most out
of it that I can. And I've heard that it's
not a bad idea to one let it warm up because it's a turbo motor, and two let it cool down for a minute or two after driving. Now, the
way I drive, I drive very conservatively. I don't like cars, trucks,
anything like that. But I don't know if that's something
that's an old way of thinking or a new way of thinking. Good idea, bad idea, But I do like
to take care of the things that.
I do as I think it's an old and current way of thinking. How's that for an answer? Okay, I
like that idea, you know, back in the day, which I don't think we could do anymore. We actually used
to set up some of the turbo diesels, some of the GMS. We would wire in a timer that you
could get out of the truck. You could turn the
engine off, get out of the truck, set the timer for three minutes or two minutes, whatever you wanted, get out of the truck, walk away, locked up off, and in three minutes, the truck would shut off. And what
that would do was it would circulate the oil. So
you would take that super hot oil out of the engine, out of the turbo, you would circulate, you would allow cooler oil to come in and do that over a three minute time period. And we saw GM turbos back
in the eighties go to two hundred and fifty thousand miles, which was unheard of. And the only thing I could
ever come up with in my head was, I guess what we're doing is really effective. Because we're taking super
hot oil getting it out of there, We're preventing it from coking up or clogging the artery, so to speak.
And we're putting in cooler oil and then you know, letting people, letting them warm up, letting these vehicles warm up, you know, And this always gets me in trouble with the oil guys. But I got to tell you oil
is everything to a car today. It still is. And
you know, we see we see better longevity and less problems out of the vehicles that have their oil changed on a regular basis, using good quality oil, using something that meets manufacturer spec and you know, just being diligent about it. And I think those are the keys to success.
I really do you know, I'm driving I'm driving a twenty two year old suburban, a thirty year old well it's almost thirty years old. The little shop truck, the
rangers almost thirty years old. It's a ninety seven, ninety seven,
two thousand and seven. Then no, that is that there? Yeah,
it's thirty years now, right hotly hotly smokes, you know, So there's there's got to be something said for that.
I think that would only put you in a positive position.
I'm kind of amazed you had a five leader f one point fifty and did you have any problems with that five leader, I.
Have to ask, Well, for the most part was good, but I did call a while back it had some stalling issues. It would drive for three four hours highway
driving right, come down off to a light and it would start to shudder and then it would cut out on me. It did it about four times for the
life of the car. But other than that, no problems.
But never could figure that one out.
Right, there's there, There is a legitimate reason to replace a vehicle, you know, it's you know, in my opening conversation today, I said eighty percent of the time was my number for the majority of cars. And I think
I think that eighty percent rule is accurate. I think
eighty percent of the cars today are fixed reasonable, reasonable solutions, reasonable cost. The next fifteen percent of those eighty you know,
or I'm sorry, after the eighty that next fifteen percent, that's labscope territory, that's headache territory, that's problematic, and that last five percent probably isn't worth fixing. And I see
manufacturers all day every day. They've got this car, that car,
they can't fix that car, And I blame it on the complexity or it's not worthwhile to fix the car.
It's cheaper to just replace the vehicle, you know. So
I think I think you probably made a wise choice.
But you are driving. You are driving a V six
twin turbo or single turbo.
It's the single turbo, okay.
So just just stay on top of the oil changes, Chris, and the rest of your maintenance, you know, not to forget that too, don't. I don't believe there is anything
such as lifetime trans fluid. I don't believe in you know,
lifetime drive train fluids. You know, even if you're driving conservative,
I would still do all the drive train fluids by fifty front diff rear dift transfer case. And you know,
to do coolant a little early. You know, it's like
mom said, if enough is good, more is better, and too much is just enough. You know, Let's let's let's
do coolants in the in the six to eight year range, you know, as long as it's proper coolant, something that meets spec, you know, and you've got to be careful with that because a lot of coolants out there just don't seem to have it today. Just be careful of
what you're poorn. And I think you'll be fine. I
think you'll like what you have excellent, So all right, sir.
All right, sir, well, I appreciate it very much. Again,
thank you for all you do.
You're very welcome. You enjoy your new vehicle. So okay,
well take good care. I'll talk about Chrysler for a minute,
real quick before I go to pause. You know, what's
upon a time Chrysler was innovation, k car as, minivans, really forward thinking engineering. Right, think of all the cars
Chrysler had today this week in the news, Chrysler Walter P's got to be turning over like a top is down to one vehicle. And what a vehicle? The PACIFICA
minivan one. That's it from the company that brought us
the minivan. It's a PACIFICA and that's it, all right,
And you got to say, how does that happen? I
think Chrysler's lost their focus. I think they stopped listening
to their customers. And you know, you guys all want
something simple, something inexpensive, something reasonable to drive. The majority
of you do. Some of you want sports cars, and
some of you want horsepower. And I get that, but
you know, every day in the shop, customers come with vehicles they bought based on styling features or promises, and you know, five years later they're sort of upside down and repairs, technology and parts costs and they're struggling to keep up, you know. And Chrysler isn't alone in this.
Chrysler's got their share of issues too, but it's it's it's the most visible example. Now you can look at
the other side of the industry. Right, what's been the
most recent technology boom in recent years the evs? Right,
EVS took off four or five years ago, and now it's not a boom. Now it's a pause. You know,
for the last couple of years, we were told EVS or the future, billions of dollars invested, factories built, production went right through the roof. And you guys aren't buying
them because you're not buying what the industry thought you were going to buy. And you know why, because they
took away tax incentives, they took away you know, government backing, you know, and you're all asking the real hard questions, how far can I go? How long does it take
to charge? You've all driven evs now for a while,
and you're finding it's cumbersome it's difficult, you know, to sit there for any length of time to charge the battery.
And you're looking at you know, after that sixty thousand mile mark. Gosh, if I hear everybody tell me about
what it costs to put tires on an EV, the tire business, the tire company guys are happy. So you know,
here's what you can do. And this is what I
want you to think about. You know, the connection between
these two stories, christ there and EV's is because the industry, all right, the tail is where bag and the dog.
The dog has the wag to tell. The industry keeps
telling you, guys, what you should want instead of listening to what you actually do. What you need is reliability.
What you need is affordability. What you need is something
that makes sense in your daily life, something you can use every day to get back and forth and do what you gotta do. And until the industry gets back
to that, you're going to see. Chrysler and evs are
just a tip of the boom, just the tip of the spear of what's going to happen. So here's the takeaway.
If your current car is running well, take care of it, maintain it, invest in it, think about everything, think about the body, think about the undercarriage, think about rust. Rust
is a big deterrent. But if you've got a reliable vehicle,
maybe right now, the smartest car you can own might be the one you're sitting in. And that's a car
doctor a moment for today. I'm Roninanian. I'll be back
right after this. And here we go. Let's get going.
Jill in Michigan, fourteen FOURID escape. How can I help you? Jill?
What's going on?
Hi?
I have a very high mileage. I got a two
hundred and thirty thousand mileage board escape, as you said.
And I've been having over the past eighteen months recurring coolant lake problem. I've been you know, it's I noticed
it from the coolant overflow tank going down or I get that warning message on it, right, and so I've just been nursing it along. We watch it every time
I get oil changed. And suddenly got worse over this
last rough winner, and so I decided to have it fixed in early March.
And they.
They said they saw a leak, and they replaced the engine coolant outlet housing and some other things, and so the bill was twelve hundred dollars, and I took it home and it seemed okay at first, but then I went on a two hour highway drive and I got the warning light again. So when I took the car
back to them, they said they did another pressure check and that it checked out okay. And I asked them
if they had done a pre work pressure check before they started the work, you know, because it was a two and a half day job with the replaced gasket, and they said no, because they had eyeballed it. So
then he said it had to be the head gasket and that they didn't suggest that I it was too expensive of a job to fix that, so they suggested this blue devil gasket seiler were in there. And my
question is.
Did they make a mistake?
Yeah, because where I am is, it's like a twelve hundred dollars job and it's it's still got the problem and actually a little worse right than it was well.
And the reason it's a little worse is because this is like plumbing. They fixed, they fixed one leak and
the other one now is more aggravated because it has to hold more pressure because the first one's not leaking anymore.
So you know, it sounds like the first repair from my seat here was legitimate. It sounds like, and are
these your regular guys? Was this a new shop? Was
this an old shop to you or you know?
Well, I have been to them before, but not for quite a while. I didn't know them personally, but I
went back to them.
So the you know on your part. And I always
like to point this out because this is a great example of Jill. If we were at the shop and
I'm on my side of the counter and you're on yours, and you're you know, I know you for any length of time, and I'm probably even more concerned if I don't know you, because I always try to play cover your butt auto repair because I want to try and give you all the options. And you know, always tell
everybody my job isn't to just fix cars, it's to try and manage expectations. What's everybody looking for? So you know,
the conversation would have been, hey, Joe, we looked at the car. It's got a leak from the thermostat housing.
All right. I don't want to sit here and thump
my chest and say, but the size of the leak doesn't match what you're describing In the length of time you're describing. From what you're telling me, it would have
to be. It would kind of have to be a river,
if you know what I'm saying. It have to be
a pretty heavy leak to lose what you're talking about.
And I would also explain that the danger here is we can fix this leak and possibly have a second, but we won't know that until we do number one. Right.
I understand why they didn't do a pressure leak because there's a visible leak and all they're going to do is aggravate it. And I get that too, And you
know this is the rock and the hard place that both you and the shop get get TwixT in between.
But I think there's a solution for this. And let
me just pull over, take this pause. When I come back,
we'll finish up. Don't go anywhere. I'm Ron an Endy
and the car doctor. We're back with Jill right after this. Jeney,
you're still there. So I think part of the conversation
should have been we can do this, but we don't know about that. We won't know until we do this.
So you know, my guess is you probably would have said, let's try the cheaper repair before we do a deeper dive on a potential head gasket. There is some testing
they could have done for a head gasket, but it would have aggravated the first leak, the leak that they repaired.
But at that point, you're either committing to fixing the car or not fixing the car. And that's the conversation
they needed to have. So there's that manage expectations philosophy. Right,
if you want to repair this, if you want to try something, I'm not familiar with Blue Devil. I'll be
honest with you. I've had people ask me about it
from time to time. I can't tell you if it's
gonna work not gonna work. We see it around the area.
I see more people using kcal Ultimate their head gasket version.
They make a specific head gasket sealer k Seal does.
You'll find it at your local Advanced Auto Parts. We've
used it. We have a very good success rate with it.
If that doesn't work for some reason because there was a crack limit or a failure limit of how big of a gap it will work with all right, then you're faced with a head gasket or engine repair, engine replacement.
I can tell you round numbers right round numbers to put an engine in that Ford Escape, probably between eight and ten grand. And then I'm going to come back
and ask you have you owned this carsons? No? Have
you no? Okay, you know you don't know service history prior.
What you also have to consider is at two hundred and thirty thousand miles, if it needs a trans that's another six grand. Now, well you might know.
Service history because I do think it was a Ford Company car.
Okay, So, but even so the issue will become what's left.
I think you've got to look at replacement car repair value and work from there. I'm running any and the
car doctor who mechanics aren't expensive, they're priceless. See if
the car doctor car advice to write
About this episode
Ron Ananian opens with a wide-ranging rant on moon tech and how space-era innovations show up in everyday vehicles, then pivots to the real theme: “fix it or forget it” based on numbers, not emotions. A 2014 Chevy Equinox with misfire and rough running is saved with a simple diagnosis—bad ignition coil and overdue spark plugs—costing about $450. Calls expand into timing-chain failures on a Ford Explorer, turbo/maintenance habits, and a Chrysler/EV critique about industry chasing trends instead of affordability and reliability. The hour ends with a coolant-loss Ford Escape case and managing expectations.
On this episode of Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor, Ron starts the show reflecting on the wonder of space travel, the technology behind the return to the moon, and how innovation from the space program still shapes our everyday lives—including the cars we drive.
From there, the conversation comes back down to earth with a question many drivers are facing right now: when is it worth fixing the car you have, and when is it time to move on? Ron shares a real-world shop story about a 2014 Chevy Equinox that looked like it might be at the end of the road, only to prove that the right diagnosis can make all the difference between a manageable repair bill and a costly new car payment.
Calls this week include a 2003 Ford Explorer with repeated timing chain failures, advice for getting the longest life out of a newer turbocharged Ford F-150, a look at why Chrysler’s struggles reflect a bigger disconnect in the auto industry, and help for a listener with a high-mileage Ford Escape battling an ongoing coolant leak and tough repair decisions.
It’s a thoughtful, practical hour about repair versus replace, maintenance versus monthly payments, and why the smartest car you may own could be the one already sitting in your driveway.
