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Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor - August 23, 2025 - Hour 1 - Car Buying, Motorhome Repair & Tire Safety - (855)560-9900
Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor - August 23, 2025 - Hour 1 - Car Buying, Motorhome Repair & Tire Safety - (855)560-9900
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About this episode
Ron Ananian tackles a variety of automotive topics, including car buying strategies and the challenges of maintaining leased vehicles. A caller shares his dilemma about whether to purchase a leased BMW or switch to a Toyota RAV4, discussing repair costs and the emotional aspects of car ownership. Another caller recounts his experience with a problematic Ram EcoDiesel, leading to a trade-in for a Toyota. The episode emphasizes the importance of maintenance, understanding vehicle costs, and making informed decisions when it comes to car ownership.
Topics:
car buying strategies
leasing vs buying
maintenance costs
Toyota RAV4
Ram EcoDiesel issues
emissions systems
tire safety
warranty challenges
customer service experiences
diesel vs gasoline vehicles
Cars:
BMW 2002
BMW X5
Chevrolet Corvette
Ford Bronco
Ford Crown Victoria
Porsche Cayman
Toyota Camry
Toyota Prius
Toyota RAV4
Why Cars Cost More Than Just Repairs | The Car Doctor Podcast
From BMW leases to Toyota hybrids, wiring harness nightmares to blown diesel dreams, Ron Ananian takes calls that prove cars are more than machines — they’re a lifestyle choice. In this episode:
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Should you buy out that BMW X5 lease or go Toyota RAV4?
-
Why a Ford E-150’s hidden wiring fault proves experience matters.
-
The safe choice when an Audi tire takes a sidewall hit.
-
One Marine’s $11,000 RAM EcoDiesel disaster and why he traded it for a Toyota.
Maintenance, safety, and smart decisions — Ron breaks down what every car owner needs to know before signing the next check.
- Grab your Car Doctor gear – T-shirts & more at CarDoctorShow.com
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Follow the wrench – Instagram @ronananian for shop life & behind-the-scenes
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Watch & learn – Auto repair tips & videos on our YouTube Channel
-
Got a car question? Call the Car Doctor Hotline 24/7 – (855) 560-9900
-
Join the conversation LIVE – Saturdays 2–4 PM Eastern
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Filter:
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Technical
Too Afraid to Ask
Car
Porsche Cayman
".... I read about this guy who bought a 2020 Porsche Cayman that was well loved."
Car
Toyota Prius
"...he hybrid? Like I always heard you talk about the Prius being the best hybrid they have."
Car
Rav4 Hybrid
"But if we want the RAV4, do we stick with a RAV4 hybrid, or the regular RAV4, for a car that's going to l..."
Car
Ford Crown Victoria
"...king about. And I wish I could go back to my 1978 Crown Victoria. That was the best car I ever had in my life."
Car
Chevrolet Corvette
"...the way General Motors works, for example, is the Corvette tech on hand before they can sell a Corvette."
Car
Toyota Camry
"...t know. When you're buying a four-cylinder Toyota Camry, it's a pretty safe bet they've got a guy that ca..."
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The worst part about loving cars
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But on eBay, behind every car and part
is a story waiting to be shared.
I read about this guy who bought a 2020 Porsche Cayman
that was well loved.
I mean, there are plenty of Caymans
in great condition on eBay,
but this one needed some work.
This guy buys it and rebuilds the whole thing
all with parts he found on eBay.
And now that nearly scrapped Cayman
is out tearing up the track.
From Toyotas to Aston Martins,
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Now start your engines.
The car doctor is in the garage
and ready to take your call.
Yep, here I am listeners, Ron Ananian at your service.
Another hour of car doctor and let's kick it off.
Let's go to the phones right away.
Let's get going,
because we've got a lot of phone calls this hour.
Let's go to Norman.
Is that Norman in Queens County, New York?
Norman, welcome to the car doctor, sir.
Yes, thanks a lot, Ron.
You're very welcome.
I got a good, I got a perplexing problem
that everyone should have.
Okay.
I've been listening to you since 1991.
Oh, you're making me feel-
I'm coming off.
You helped me out with my BMW a short time ago
when you diagnosed it
because specifically the fog wasn't working
and we got it fixed up.
Now my car's coming off lease, Ron.
And to buy the car
and you can buy it back at $27,000,
2002 BMW X5, X3.
2002, 2002, you mean?
2022.
22, God.
Now the question comes in the repair.
When you come off lease
and you have to have the car fixed,
it is just crazy on prices for anything you want done.
Right.
And at what point do you tell yourself,
you know something?
It was, I'm 73 years old.
It was a good experiment.
My wife and I love the car.
Now let's just go back to our Toyota Rav4
that we always like
and we can buy a brand new Rav4
or we can take our chances,
purchase the car,
which has 16,000 miles on it.
We don't do that much traveling
and then you have to put up with the repairs.
But when you look at the prices,
what it costs is thousands of dollars or something
that is just like out of, we can't afford that.
I mean, put it that way.
And if you buy a maintenance contract on it,
you might as well just release the car
or drop it and buy a regular car.
So.
What do you do?
You know, cars have become a lifestyle, Norman.
And I don't know where this occurred.
I think in the last 20 years, it was a slow process.
But as you and everyone else is finding out,
you lease the car
and they cover the cost of repairs.
They cover everything, right?
You had a great three or two or three year lease,
whatever the term was, and it was a great experience.
Yeah, it was, that was your lifestyle.
And now it's time, you know, well, okay,
we've got to get another car.
And is it going to be a BMW again?
Needless to say, I would venture to guess that
to release that BMW is a very different deal now
than it was three years ago, or are the numbers the same?
Much more.
Right.
Much more, because surprise, and the problem,
not the problem is that nothing's gone wrong with the car.
Right.
So as you always say,
always maintenance, maintenance, maintenance,
any new car, any car after three years,
you've got to think about brakes.
You've got to think about fluid changes.
You've got to think about transmission.
Right.
You're thinking about things have to be taken care of.
Right.
And now it's costing thousands of dollars to do that.
I think you are on the right beam, my friend.
I think the idea that, you know what,
you had the social experiment, you had the lifestyle.
It's a nice car.
Look, nothing wrong with a Toyota,
nothing wrong with a RAV4, right?
It's not a terrible car.
Well, that's the same way into the next thing,
because you always help me out with my 2005 RAV4.
Do I go for the hybrid?
Like I always heard you talk about the Prius
being the best hybrid they have.
But if we want the RAV4,
do we stick with a RAV4 hybrid,
or the regular RAV4, for a car that's going to last?
Okay.
In other words, which one has the best repair history?
Your say so.
I think they both have a good track record, Norman.
I think both vehicles have the potential
to go the distance.
I think it's, what are you more comfortable
and what do you enjoy driving?
And I think you've got to go drive both vehicles.
Look, you're coming out of a rocket ship, all right?
And you're not exactly going to a biplane,
but you're going to a smaller rocket ship.
So, you know, how much more technology do you want,
or can you give up?
You know, there's a whole, again,
we're back to the lifestyle comment, all right?
This is going to be a very different experience for you
in the sense of, although you said you had a Toyota before,
so I don't think it's going to be totally different,
but, you know, listen, you want to enjoy driving, right?
You're 72, you said 72, 73.
Going on 73.
It's going to be my last.
I know, it's your last car.
I know everybody gets like that.
I'm creeping up on you,
and I don't think I'm ever going to say
this is my last car.
You know, the day before I go,
I'm going to be out looking at cars,
but that's just me.
I think you've got to find something you like.
And listen, I wouldn't drive just a RAV4.
You know, maybe you want to go look at a Lexus.
Maybe you want to go look at something,
a little high line there.
And, you know, the same Toyota quality,
the same Toyota mentality.
Very good.
And see where that gets you.
Part of the problem is, right now,
a lot of people are coming out of
what I would call expensive car leases,
BMW, Audi, Mercedes.
That car that they leased three years ago,
and they had to put,
oh, I'm going to guess $3,000 down,
and they've got a lease payment of $5,500, $600 a month,
they're finding it.
Now, all of a sudden, it's doubled down,
and $900, almost $1,000 a month,
depending upon the model.
Yeah.
You know it, you know it, yeah.
It's crazy, and what are you getting?
And you're going to see that change
as the economy changes, and it will.
It's just a matter of time.
There has to be an evolution here.
You know, if dollars are a concern, all right,
and I'm not saying that we want to throw money around,
I don't care, you know, I don't care how much money you have,
you just don't throw money around,
you got to show it respect, right?
Right, you want to use common sense.
Right.
The car is for transportation.
Right.
You know, my wife and I are just,
you know, just, what are we doing?
We're a few miles, but a good experiment,
you know, a good experiment having it,
it felt good, but now it feels stupid
buying a car for that much money.
It's like you'd like to spend your money
on other things in life.
Well, yeah.
Now, do you go out and lease the RAV4,
which is the second part of the question
that we haven't talked about.
I buy it.
No, I buy it.
I buy it.
Do you buy it?
I buy it.
Did you look at the lease numbers?
Yeah, the leasing went for like $350 a month.
But you know, something,
when you rent something, you're,
when you lease something, you're renting,
you don't own.
Right.
And he's like owning something to say it's mine.
Right.
And I always followed your advice.
He just do, I change the oil every 3,000 miles.
Transmission fluid, it was once a year,
I was going overboard on this at the car last.
Right.
And I'd rather just say it's mine.
I'm taking good care of it.
But at least I'm saying it's not rented.
And the lease I fell into because
you guess you were Googled into saying,
hey, look, I can afford a lease right now
because the monthly payments are there,
but you don't own the car.
Yeah.
Did you, did you drive a RAV for yet?
Oh yeah, we used to own one.
No, no, have you driven a new one?
No, no, I just went online and went looking at it.
And I see there, my wife likes it also.
All right.
All right.
We have to go down and try it.
It's something that we have to get into,
but we use you as our guru
and who to go new advice.
I appreciate that, Norman.
Call up Rod.
Call up Rod and find out what's happening
because you gave us, you gave us very,
when I was listening to you first came on the radio
and I was trying to follow along with you,
what you're doing.
And I'm not mechanically apt to fix the car,
but I come to stand when you're talking about.
And I wish I could go back to my 1978 Crown Victoria.
That was the best car I ever had in my life.
But, and I was a carburetor car.
Well, you know, I was trained as a mechanic.
And I know what you're saying.
People say this to me, they like my old school approach,
but I was trained by old school.
You know, you've got to remember
my dad was an airline mechanic.
My dad was superintendent of maintenance
for American Airlines during the Second World War.
Worked on a lot of military aircraft.
He always taught me, you know, this is the procedure.
You got to follow the procedure.
There's steps one through six.
You don't skip the step four.
And Billy, my first boss in the gas station
that I still to this day considered
one of the smartest people I ever met.
He had a genius mentality.
You know, proper maintenance done properly.
I've said that about Billy,
but he just taught me procedure and process.
My dad was gone at that point.
But old school mechanics, you know what?
It's still nuts and bolts.
It still takes fluid.
It still takes basics in order to operate properly.
And that's what I think.
I think even with the technology today.
So, you know, and it's a lifestyle, right?
So you've got to look at that Toyota,
that RAV4 real quick.
And then I'll let you go.
That RAV4, you know, the cost to operate that RAV4
is going to be substantially less than BMW anything.
And, you know, you've got to look at that.
And chances are that that RAV4 will last you
easily 10 years, if not longer with proper care.
And that's a good spot to be in.
So that's a good spot to be in.
I believe what you always say,
maintenance all the way and take good care of it.
And it'll go forever.
And I really appreciate the phone call.
You're very welcome, Norman.
You have a good rest of the day.
My best to your wife.
Yeah, well, listen to you all the time.
Thank you, sir.
You be well.
You know, it's part of the process to maintain a car.
You've got to do it, right?
Maintenance is the key.
And if you don't maintain it, you know,
and it's a funny thing.
And I do this at the shop
and maybe I'm wrong for doing it.
But somebody will come in with their new car
and as we start to work on it
and the relationship evolves.
And, you know, we start to go through things
and, you know, they'll start to come in
the 15,000 mile service, the 30,000 mile service.
And we start to show them pieces and parts
that we've replaced and changed.
And I said, you got to remember,
buying a new car has now earned you the privilege
of throwing it away one piece at a time.
But it got you there.
It kept you safe.
It kept you dry.
It brought you to work.
It did what it was supposed to do.
And that's the purpose of an automobile.
Cars are a lifestyle.
How much lifestyle can you afford?
Ah, that's the secret.
And that's what you have to realize
as you approach it.
Can't be emotional when you're looking at a car.
It's got to be factual and affordable.
And that's the bottom line.
I'm Ron and Annie in the car doctor.
I'll be back right after this.
Don't go away.
Lately, car buying has become a pretty dull experience.
But on eBay, behind every car and part
is a story waiting to be shared.
Like this guy I read about
who bought a 2020 Porsche Cayman GT4 on eBay.
It was well-loved.
I mean, there are plenty of Caymans
in great condition on eBay,
but this one needed some work.
That's just the start of the story.
So after this guy gets a great deal on his dream car,
he rebuilds the whole thing
with all these parts he found on eBay.
Performance brakes, suspension, body panels,
the works, guaranteed to fit.
Next thing you know, this nearly scrapped Cayman
was out there on the track as a full blown race car.
You're ready to go daily driver,
your next resto mod,
Hello Lotus Elon and the parts to finish it.
eBay has thousands of cars
and is the largest online selection
of vehicle parts and accessories.
eBay, things, people, love.
Gas prices, screen time, electric bills.
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And we're back listeners.
Ron and Amy and the car doctor here at your service.
Let's wander over and talk to Don in Virginia.
Don, welcome to the car doctor, sir.
How can I help?
Hi, Ron, thanks.
You and I talked early in November.
2006 E-150 had gotten a whole plethora of codes thrown.
I had thrown some parts at it.
They all sort of revolved around the EGR system
and that type of thing.
I did end up replacing the ECM.
All of those codes went away for a while
and then right before we were going on vacation
with a couple of other couples,
I started getting a storm of just disparate codes.
And so I threw my hands up
and I told my wife,
I said, I'm just going to take it to the dealer, right?
And she said, oh my God, we're not going to be able to eat.
I said, well, we'll see.
So I took it to the dealer where I bought it.
I took it on a Sunday night
because I knew they weren't going to be there.
And I dropped it off,
let the foliage of what I'd done
and all the codes along with screenshots from the scan tool.
And they opened at 7.30 on Monday morning.
They call me about 9.30.
And I said, we know what the problem is.
And I said, really?
He said, yeah, we put a mechanic on there.
He's been here 30 years.
He's worked on lots of E-150 chateaus and everything else.
You got a wiring harness problem.
And apparently the wiring harness that wrapped itself
around the orifice tube that runs from the EGR valve
down to the exhaust.
And it wore through.
Had melted inside.
And so, you know, he said it's not going to be cheap.
He said it's a lot of time and hours.
So it was about an $850 repair,
but they went in, traced it out,
repaired it because you can't find a wiring harness
obviously for that.
Not a problem since then.
Went on a 2000 mile vacation.
No problem in the mountains.
No codes.
It's doing fine.
So I guess the bulk of that is that
the lesson learned is that sometimes
when you weigh over your head,
you got to take it somewhere where there's experience
and they've worked on these things for a long time.
Well, there's that.
And there's also, you know,
you can't beat yourself up, right?
You don't know, all right?
You don't know if we're the wiring harness rubbed through.
If it short circuited,
because, you know, if it's rubbing against the metal tube,
it's ground, right?
You don't know what part of the harness.
You don't know if you damaged the PCM either, all right?
You know, I go back to the day,
I'll date myself here, 88 Chevrolet J body cars,
I think it was with the 2.8 liter,
the flat aluminum top intake manifold setup.
They would actually, the ignition coils
were mounted on top of the ignition module.
So the coil would spike, it would overload the module,
the module was tied by wiring back to the PCM.
So the coil would take out the module,
would take out the PCM,
you'd end up putting three parts in the car to fix it.
Wow.
You know, everything is interconnected.
Heck, we had a couple of GMs back in the day.
I could tell you these stories with Fords too,
GMs are just on my mind today for some reason,
that, you know, you would have bad alternators
and a bad GM alternator on certain models
would actually overload the system
and damage any of the processors on the vehicle.
So you would put multiple parts.
It looked like you were guessing,
but in fact, you were just running down the problem.
So, you know, would it could or should it?
Do you still have the old PCM?
I do.
Okay, so guess what?
Now you got to back up, right?
You know, and I would hang on to that
because, you know, if you're planning on keeping this,
this was a camper or something, right?
Or this was a-
Well, no, it was a E-150 Chateau.
So it was factory with captain's chairs.
It didn't have any modifications,
like a rebuilder or something like that.
Right, right.
So, you know, we've had it.
It's a little fancy.
It's not just a regular van is my-
Right.
Right, yeah.
So, you know what?
Not a work van.
Now you got to spare PCM.
I wouldn't be ashamed of that.
I wouldn't be ashamed of that at all.
One other quick question.
Sure.
I've got to change the plugs on this.
They've plugs have about 120,000 on it.
And as part of all this stuff before,
I went in and changed the number five
because I was showing misfires.
Right.
The plug was not in great shape.
So my question is this,
and looking through Mitchell's and other places,
the response is you probably want to take the fuel rail
loose from the brackets
in order to be able to get the tools down in
to do the, to get the plugs out
because the fuel rails sit right on top of the fuel,
the coolant plugs.
Right.
Is there anything I should be afraid of?
Is this a four?
Is this a four, six or a five, four?
I don't remember.
It's a five, four.
Five, four.
No, I think-
Two valve, two valve for a cylinder.
So I don't have to worry about the plugs being stuck.
Right.
No, I think you're going to find that,
I think you're going to find you're going to
loosen the rail and just kind of ease it out of the way.
Do you have a heated garage so it's warm?
I do.
Okay, so I would park it in there overnight,
get it good and warm and just take your time.
I would drop a little PB blaster down the hall
and just on the chance that the plugs are stuck
and just kind of work their way carefully.
And as long as you're doing plugs at this age
in mileage, you probably ought to consider-
You want to change the coils.
Yeah, change the coils.
I would.
And if we're going to do this,
let's do it once, let's get motorcraft stuff.
Let's just be done with it.
We don't want to go through this twice.
And obviously just-
Yeah, the issue is you change the four front ones
from the front of the car
and then you have to take the doghouse off
and change the four rear ones on your back.
Right.
Yeah.
Reaching out through, so.
Okay.
Yeah, so listen, it might be easier,
depending upon how the chairs are constructed
and put in there,
it might be easier to take the chairs out.
That's a good idea
because I've had those out before
to do some foam work on them.
Right.
So, you know, that might help you too.
All right?
Good luck to you.
Listen, I'm glad it worked out for you.
All right?
It did.
I appreciate you getting back to us.
All right, sir?
Thanks, Ron.
You're very welcome.
You be well.
I'm Ron and Annie in the car doctor.
We're back right after this.
Don't go away.
Lately, car buying has become a pretty dull experience.
But on eBay, behind every car and part
is a story waiting to be shared.
Like this guy I read about
who bought a 2020 Porsche Cayman GT4 on eBay.
It was well-loved.
I mean, there are plenty of Caymans
in great condition on eBay,
but this one needed some work.
That's just the start of the story.
So after this guy gets a great deal on his dream car,
he rebuilds the whole thing
with all these parts he found on eBay.
Performance brakes, suspension, body panels,
the works, guaranteed to fit.
Next thing you know,
this nearly scrapped Cayman
was out there on the track as a full blown race car.
You're ready to go daily driver.
Your next rest-o-mod.
Hello Lotus Elon and the parts to finish it.
eBay has thousands of cars
and is the largest online selection
of vehicle parts and accessories.
eBay, things, people, love.
Have heart disease and diet and exercise
are not enough to lower bad cholesterol?
Ask your doctor if Lekvio and glycerin can help.
Prescription Lekvio is the only
bad cholesterol lowering medication
that's two doses a year after two initial doses.
Do not use if you've had an allergic reaction to Lekvio
or any of its ingredients.
Common side effects were injection site reaction,
including pain, redness, and rash,
joint pain, and chest cold.
Call 1-833-537-8462 or visit Lekvio.com.
Welcome back listeners, Ron Nene and the car doctor.
Let's go down over,
let's go talk to Bill in Sussex County, New Jersey.
Bill, welcome to the car doctor, sir.
How can I help?
Hi Ron, thanks for taking the call.
You're a time listener from WTBQ.
Appreciate it.
Trying to help out my sister who lives in Chicago,
she sent me a picture of a tire from her Audi
that has some curb rash on it.
And basically there's a chunk or gouge
that's been taken out of the sidewall.
It's, if I had to guess,
it would probably be about an inch and a half long
and maybe a quarter of an inch deep.
So I told her to take it to the local tire shop
to get an evaluation.
They looked at it and their opinion was that
the tire did exactly what it was supposed to do.
That there's no steel belt showing
and that for the time being,
it was okay to leave it as it is.
I kind of err on the side of caution
and I think I know what the answer is
but I wanted to get your thoughts on it as well.
So good, and it's a good question
and I'm glad you called in.
That sidewall of the tire, this being an Audi,
this is probably what we call a low profile tire.
Yeah, it has a short height to the ground, so to speak.
Well, the tire shop is right.
The side casing of the tire did exactly its job.
It protected the tire in a sense
of something going through the steel belt,
which is now, even though it's not hanging out,
it's much more exposed than it normally would be.
This is the best example I can give everybody
to think about is you ever skin your elbow
and you don't bleed but you get that,
you take away the top layer of skin
and you get that tender portion of your skin underneath
and now it's a little, you know,
and it hurts a little bit when you rest on your elbow
and then all of a sudden you start bleeding
because you kind of poke through.
You know, she's taken away that outer layer.
So there's, if something were to,
and that's a pretty good gash, right,
that size that you had mentioned,
if something were to come up in the road,
now where's the side casing that's going to deflect?
And, you know, Bill, I always say
the road is a very unforgiving place.
Sure.
You know, and especially in an Audi,
especially a low profile tire,
you know, I know it's gonna be a $200 tire
or a $250 tire but what's her life worth?
What's the car worth?
What's not getting stuck on the side of the road
or in an accident worth?
And I think I'd have to vote with you
because I know what you're thinking.
I'd put a tire on the car.
I wouldn't hesitate.
Especially if you're gonna be going on a long trip.
Oh, absolutely.
On your day trip.
Yeah, absolutely.
Oh, listen, and yes, but even if she was gonna just,
you know, I don't care if she's a three mile a day
commuter, you know, everybody says,
well, I only go three miles a day.
Just make the brakes work good enough.
You know, a little kid rolls out on a bicycle
right in front of you, two blocks from your house.
There's no saying where that accident's gonna happen.
And I think it's in her best interest.
You know, that tire, yes, if that tire was just used,
you know, does she make that tire the spare?
But then now she's got an unreliable spare in the car
and it probably wouldn't fit
because she probably has a space saver or some other,
depending upon the year Audi, some other low profile,
so to speak, or low use tire, you know,
there's so many ways they create spares today.
I think you go out and buy a spare.
And if it tore the chunk out,
depending upon how many miles are on it,
I'd probably shoot the alignment too.
I was thinking of that too.
And I did suggest to her that she should probably
buy two tires since that's an all wheel drive vehicle.
Right, well, now the question comes up, right?
And this is, I know where this is gonna go
because now the question comes up,
how much tread is left on the other tires?
Yes.
So, you know, the industry says certain cars,
Subaru's are susceptible to it.
Certain models of Jeep are susceptible to it.
You know, Audi's seem to be a little less fussy,
but I don't wanna tempt the devil.
You know, if I'm looking at tread depth
and if the current tread depth on the car
is, you know, less than 530 seconds,
which is more than 50% worn,
and she's gonna put two fresh tires up front,
if she's gonna do some serious driving,
you know what, how old are the tires?
Are they, you know, four or five years old?
You know, those tires are gonna be date coated
in four or five years and they'll be out of the realm
in another two years,
where you're not supposed to be riding on them.
So, again, what's the value of her safety
at high speed, all kinds of weather?
Nothing handles like a fresh set of tires.
And I think it just kind of goes with the territory
of what she's driving.
All right, that's great advice, I appreciate it.
You know, I can't say it any other way.
The biggest concern I have is, you know,
here, I'll tell you the story this way.
We had a Jeep in the shop just recently
and the new customer and where he was going,
they'd been doing all his service work
and all the lug nuts were swollen.
Now, Jeeps have a problem that the lug nut is capped,
so there's a hard steel body
underneath this tinny aluminum cap.
And if you constantly air gun them on and off,
impact hammer them on and off,
eventually those lug nuts will start to splinter
and shred and then moisture gets in
and now the moisture turns into rust and there's a bulge
and now you can't fit the 19 millimeter socket on it.
You have to have a 19 and a half or some other
odd ball size in order to get the lug nuts off.
So, you know, Rich brought it in,
we got all the lug nuts off,
but in looking at the wheels,
the wheels on this Jeep,
you could see that they were getting beat up
and when we talked about it,
it's partially it's the last shop,
they were kind of animals for lack of a way to say it,
but it was kind of interesting to see
just how these wheels themselves had picked up debris
and there's a lot of junk on the road.
And, you know, it catches your eye
and you have to realize you may not hear it,
see it or feel it,
but to have an exposed wound in that tire,
I looked at Rich's wheels on his Jeep
and we did get the lug nuts off, by the way,
it took a little bit of persuasion.
Someday I'll tell you guys a story
about how we had to get out
the three quarter inch breaker bar
that's two feet long
and literally stand on it
to break some of the lug nuts loose.
They were so over tightened.
It's what's the safety?
I've never met anybody standing on the side of the road
with a flat that they knew was marginal going,
boy, I'm so glad I saved money
that I could get stuck here and, you know,
wait for the tow truck.
It just doesn't work like that.
So by all means, get her eight tire, two tires,
four tires, you know what,
take it as a warning sign and do an alignment
and then you drive in peace and quiet
and the knowledge of safety, right?
And I'm happy that tire buying is easier
than picking out oil
or getting a 40 watt light bulb
in the local hardware store.
That's right, absolutely, absolutely, Bill.
So, all right, sir, you be well.
Happy new year, happy and healthy new year to everyone.
Thank you, Bill.
And thanks for being part of the car doctor family.
You be well.
Thank you for calling.
You're very welcome.
I'm Ron Ananey in the car doctor.
We'll be back right after this.
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Welcome back listeners, Ron and Amy in the car doctor.
Let's get back to the phones.
Let's go over to Jerry out there.
And I think it's, is it Las Vegas Jerry
or what part of Nevada are you from?
No, I'm retired in Las Vegas.
I'm from the East Coast originally born in New York.
Gotcha.
But yeah, I'm retired.
Gotcha, good for you.
So what's going on?
How can I help?
Well, a couple of quick things.
Number one, I'm 65, graduated high school in 76
and I've always worked on my own cars, basic stuff.
Changing oil and everything.
And I've always kept vehicles 10 plus years.
Well, in 2021, I basically went to the Ram dealer
and built my dream truck because this Gentry Eco diesel
had great reviews and looked good.
And I wanted a diesel for the fuel economy and towing my RV.
Received the truck in March, 2022.
All was good at first.
And then all of a sudden when diesel was a buck 50 more
than gas, I took my old Nissan pickup truck,
it went cross country, came back a month later.
So the diesel sat for a month.
All of a sudden, bang, bang, bang.
Engine codes, engine codes, wrong, wrong, wrong.
Dealer for weeks at a time because they're
short diesel technicians.
EGR went out, turbo problems, an absolute nightmare
and especially sitting for months and months and months.
I've got the bills in front of me, obviously.
I didn't pay them because it's under warranty,
but it's over $11,000 in pairs.
Yeah.
What that tells me is not only do they not have any diesel
text, the texts that are working on it are clueless,
but I guess it's easy to criticize from my seat here.
It's in the safety of the studio.
But I got to tell you, you hang one part,
two parts as an educated guess.
After that, it's time to call in the zone rep
and start talking to somebody and saying,
hey, what's going on? Where are we going with this?
That was probably, I'm going to guess, Jerry,
a $80,000 vehicle.
$65,000, yeah.
Okay. All right. Still a lot of money.
Yeah, a lot of money and I paid cash for it
because I'm retired and I'm saved my money.
Right, sure.
So I was going on a trip to meet an old
Marine Corps buddy I hadn't seen in years
and all of a sudden the whole
emission system went crap again.
Okay.
So I wrote a personal letter to
Fiat Chrysler.
No response.
So I went and I got one of these
lemon law lawyers online.
And they said, oh, you got a great case.
You got a great case. You got a great case.
Well, let me tell you, the lemon law lawyer guys,
especially some of these guys online,
are a total rip off themselves.
And I can get into that if you want.
But long story short,
every time I brought it back with something wrong.
So Thanksgiving weekend,
I just,
I took the plunge
and I just traded it in and I took a beating
and I got a Toyota.
So I got a 2023 Toyota.
Right.
And it was just,
and when the Ram ran
really nice, it ran fantastic.
But I don't know if you've
had experience with these eco-diesels,
but I've heard other
guys who had these disaster stories
with the turbos and the emissions and everything.
Yeah, I'm not a fan of diesel
in general in that application
for a lot of reasons.
Number one, Chrysler's involved
and, you know, the older ones,
when it was the Cummins
back in, you know, the older,
what was it, the 03's
or the 98's going way back,
that seemed to be a better diesel.
The newer one, the more electronics they hang on it,
it seems like the more difficult
it is to properly
maintain it and get some kind of decent power
out of it and there's a lot of limitations.
But that be said, you know,
we still work on them, we still see them,
they're just not my favorite in the whole world.
I still think what happened with you is
and, you know, let me point out
the next time if you decide to take the plunge again,
I don't think you will, but just in case,
you know, the question I always ask,
when I'm buying something weird,
I want to know who's going to work on it.
Hey, do you have a tech trained in this?
And surprisingly, I'm surprised the dealership
was able to sell it to you
and not have a certified tech.
You know, the way General Motors works, for example,
is the Corvette tech on hand
before they can sell a Corvette.
If they don't have a guy that can fix it,
they can't sell it.
And I believe the other car companies do the same thing.
So I'm not sure where the bump in the road
became in that you couldn't get this solved.
And I guess it's just a reflection on the dealer
really, because if they wanted to fix it, they could.
You know, there is a culture
when you buy a vehicle,
Jerry, and I think you know that now
in terms of, you know,
you just got an example of how Chrysler
and Fiat, whoever they are,
you know, handles customer service
and handles problems like that.
You'll be happy with the Toyota.
I can tell you that.
It's a different culture, right?
It was very different, the different buying experience.
Totally.
And I'm going to tell you, I wanted the 2023
because I'm tired, because this year
they're going to turbos and everything.
I'm sick of turbos.
I'm sick of too much junk on there.
I wanted naturally aspirated,
you know, basic stuff that I could work on.
Yep, yep, yep, yep.
No, absolutely.
And let me, can I make a quick comment
about these lemon lawyer guys for guys on the year
if they ever choose to go to one?
In the fine print, you know, you think you
sign on with a lawyer because the lawyer
is going to look after you.
He's going to be on your side.
Well, in the fine print of what I signed,
it said, if you receive
an offer from Fiat Chrysler
and you do not accept it,
you have to pay the lawyer fees.
Well, I'm thinking fine, okay, you know,
get it and get an offer.
Well, I think these guys work with them.
Fiat Chrysler came back with this low ball
offer and I went to the lawyer and
like, I'm not taking this, let's go to court.
He goes, well, we're not sure, blah, blah, blah.
And they started dancing around.
So all of a sudden it became,
you're at fault and what did you do wrong?
Yep, I get it, Jerry, I really do.
Hey Jerry, sit tight, stay on the line.
Let me up, pull over, take a pause for the cause
and I'm Ron Anani and the car doctor will be back
right after this.
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I mean, there are plenty of Caymans
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but this one needed some work.
That's just the start of the story.
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with all these parts he found on eBay.
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Welcome back, listeners.
We're kind of winding down the hour here.
Jerry from Las Vegas, you're still there?
Yes, sir.
So I'm sorry, Jerry, I mean to cut you off.
Tell us some, you know, give you a little bit
of on-air therapy here.
So the lemon law lawyers aren't exactly
all they're cracked up to be. Fair statement.
Exactly, and it's state by state.
You got to look at your state.
Some states are stronger than others.
Nevada's in between, but you really got
to read the fine print with these guys.
They don't put the screws to you if they get the chance.
Right, right, right, right.
Well, Jerry, listen, I appreciate you calling in.
My spies tell me that you are...
Is it... How do you say it when you're no longer
in the Marine Corps active duty?
Are you a retired Marine? You're not an ex-Marine.
There's no such thing as an ex-Marine, right?
Well, I did 30 years, so I'm a retired Marine.
Okay.
It lets me sit on my butt, but can I do a quick shout out?
Because my local garage guy is exactly like you.
It's Dad's garage on North Rancho in Las Vegas.
Yeah, sure thing.
He works the same way you do.
Absolutely. Jerry, it's been a pleasure, sir.
And thank you for your service.
No, thanks. Love the show. You take care.
You take good care. I'm Ron Anani in the car doctor.
You know, and poor Jerry, right?
He ended up, you know, going in and...
I wish I had found him sooner in that, you know,
I could have helped him.
You know, maybe we could have diagnosed it together.
Part of the problem is, all right, you know,
you go into a dealership under warranty.
Warranty doesn't mean it's getting fixed.
It just means that it's going to be looked at for free, all right?
And I still stand on the premise of my saying that I've said
over the years that a repair shop is only as good as the people
in it. The sign on the door doesn't mean anything.
And, you know, when you're buying...
Oh, I don't know.
When you're buying a four-cylinder Toyota Camry,
it's a pretty safe bet they've got a guy that can work on that.
But if you're buying an eco-diesel from your Ram dealership,
you're buying a Corvette from your Chevrolet dealership,
or, you know, back in the day, you're buying something.
Do you have a guy that can fix this? Is he any good?
How old is he? Is he going to retire in the next two weeks?
You know, these are all great questions,
all things you want to know,
because it's all going to come down to sooner or later
that vehicle is going to have to get serviced
and you're going to need that person in order to properly,
you know, enjoy and get a life cycle out of it
if the dealer is your guy,
if the dealer is going to be the one to work on it.
And, you know, unfortunately, Jerry had a bad run of luck,
but he'll like that Toyota.
And I get what he's saying.
He's talking about his new Toyota.
He wanted a 23 because in 24,
Toyota also is going to all turbochargers
or a lot of turbochargers.
And, you know, I question that as well.
I'm not a big turbocharger fan.
I think it's some extra work
where you don't necessarily need it all the time.
But we'll see.
You know what?
Turbocharger technology has come a long way
and we'll have to learn to embrace it.
Hey, that's about it for now.
Until the next time,
I'm Ron Anani and the car doctor reminding you,
good mechanics aren't expensive.
They're priceless.
See ya.
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I'll look at those priorities and goals
alongside your full financial picture
to build a comprehensive plan
designed to help grow and protect your wealth.
With proactive portfolio insights
and an eye on taxes,
I'm here to help you make the most of your money.
I'm Laura Maxwell
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More from Ron Ananian The Car Doctor
Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor - Classic Car Doctor - October 10, 2015 - Hour 2 - You Love Your Car More Than You ThinkFrom the Car Doctor archives — originally aired October 2015. In this classic episode of Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor, Ron opens the hour with a thoughtful discussion about the emotional connection we develop with our vehicles—often without realizing just how attached we've become. Whether it's the family car that's been through years of memories or the vehicle that always seems to get us home, cars become more than machines. Ron then helps a caller diagnose cooling system problems on a 2007 Mercury Mountaineer and takes a call from a 2013 Toyota Highlander owner whose wheels were nearly left loose after a routine oil change, leading to an important conversation about trust, quality workmanship, and paying attention after service. Also featured is an interview with Derek Miller from ALLDATA, discussing vehicle repair information, diagnostic resources, and the growing complexity of modern automobiles. Ron rounds out the hour by answering listener emails about choosing the right OBD-II scan tool and diagnosing hesitation and rough idle concerns on a Toyota. A great mix of automotive advice, consumer awareness, and a reminder that our relationship with our cars is often more personal than we think.
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