“Fifty five Chevy” means a 1955 Chevrolet. It’s a classic car people still talk about, and there are different versions of it that you can tell apart by the exterior details.
A Chevy Tahoe is a big SUV. Here, they’re talking about a 2021 Tahoe with about 100,000 miles that had a bad transmission, and the owner had to decide whether to fix it or buy a different one.
Concept
repair vs replace decision
When something big breaks—like a transmission—you have to decide if it’s worth paying to fix it or if you should buy a different car. The choice usually depends on how much the repair costs and how many miles are on the car.
The Toyota Highlander is a family SUV. The caller is asking what to do about possible transmission problems, even though their car has very low mileage.
“3.5 V6” means the engine has six cylinders and is about 3.5 liters in size. That matters because it affects how the car’s power is delivered to the transmission.
Car forums are websites where owners talk about problems their cars have had. They can help you learn what to watch for, but it’s still based on people’s experiences, not guaranteed outcomes.
A turbocharger is a part that helps the engine make more power. It uses the car’s exhaust to spin a turbine, but because it runs very hot and is more complex, it can be an expensive thing to repair if it fails.
Normally aspirated means the engine gets air naturally, without a turbo. It’s usually simpler than a turbo setup, which can matter if you’re trying to avoid expensive turbo-related repairs.
“8-speed trans” means the automatic gearbox has eight gear ratios. More gears can help the car drive smoothly and efficiently, but if something inside the transmission fails, repairs can be expensive.
A hybrid car uses two power sources: a gas engine and an electric motor. In some situations it can drive using electricity alone, so the gas engine may not run as much.
The transmission is the part that helps send power from the engine to the wheels. Here, the host is talking about how the transmission is usually the main expensive problem to watch for.
It means the warranty time has ended. After that, repairs usually cost you—unless the problem is something the company admits they should have covered.
It’s when the mechanic removes the bottom cover of the transmission. That lets them replace the filter and clean out debris before refilling with fresh fluid.
The transmission filter helps catch tiny bits of debris in the fluid. Putting in a new one helps keep the fluid cleaner so the transmission can work properly.
A flush is a more forceful fluid change for the transmission. Some people prefer it, but others worry it can disturb old debris inside a worn transmission.
If you see metal bits in the transmission fluid, it can mean parts inside are grinding or breaking down. It can be an early clue that the transmission is starting to fail.
Clutch material is the friction material inside the transmission that wears over time. A little debris can be normal, but too much can mean the clutches are wearing out.
If the debris is magnetic, it often means it’s real metal from inside the transmission. That can point to more serious wear than just normal fluid contamination.
Oil analysis is when a lab tests used oil to see what kinds of wear particles are in it. The host is suggesting doing a similar test for transmission fluid to spot problems earlier.
“Headlamp assemblies” means the whole headlight unit. If the inside of the headlight gets foggy, it’s often trapped moisture, and the only real fix is replacing the headlight unit.
This means the inside of the headlight unit has moisture/condensation. If it’s trapped inside, wiping the outside won’t help much, so replacing the headlight assembly is usually the fix.
The bumper is the front cover of the car. Here, they explain that you have to take the bumper off to reach and replace the headlights, which makes the job more expensive.
The headlamp housing is the main shell that holds the headlight parts together. It’s the area you’d treat if you were trying to protect or clean the inside surfaces.
In a headlight, the refractor is the clear plastic/optical part that helps aim and shape the light beam. It’s part of what determines how the headlight shines down the road.
Subaru is the car brand being mentioned here. They’re talking about buying headlight parts for a Subaru and how pricing can differ by where you order them.
A part number is like an exact ID code for a specific car part. If two listings have the same part number, they’re usually the same part even if the price differs.
“Battery life while parked” refers to how long a vehicle’s battery can last when the car is not being driven, but systems may still draw power. Even without starting, modern cars can have background electrical loads (like monitoring and connectivity), which slowly drain the battery. Heat can worsen this by accelerating battery aging and reducing available capacity.
Cold cranking amps (CCA) is a number that tells you how strong a battery is at starting the car, especially when it’s cold. If the CCA is too low, the battery may not have enough power to crank the engine. Battery testers use this to judge whether the battery can start the car reliably.
An algorithm tester is a battery tester that uses a built-in calculation to judge how healthy the battery is. It measures how the battery voltage drops when a small load is applied. Then it estimates whether the battery can still start the car.
Voltage loss means the battery voltage drops when you ask it to do work, like starting the engine. Battery testers look at how much the voltage drops under a small load. If it drops a lot, the battery may not be strong enough to start the car.
Battery voltage is basically how much electrical “push” the battery is giving. A battery can show a decent number when it’s sitting, but still fail when you turn on things that draw power.
A carbon pile tester is a device that loads the battery heavily while measuring how the voltage behaves. If the voltage collapses under load, the battery is failing even if it initially seems okay.
“Group 35” refers to a standardized battery size/fitment category (physical dimensions and terminal layout) used in North America. The host claims Group 35 batteries are a frequent failure item for their shop, especially as they pass the expected service life.
LIVE
You're listening to Ron and Nanian The Car Doctor, nationally recognized auto expert trusted by Mechanics, Weekend wrenchers and vehicle owners alike. Ron brings over forty years of hands on
experience and deep industry insight to help you understand your vehicle.
Join the Conversation live every Saturday from two to four pm Eastern by calling eight five to five five six zero nine nine zero zero. That's eight five to five
five six zero ninety nine hundred, your direct line to honest answers and practical advice. Looking for more, visit cardoctorshow
dot com for past episodes, repair tips, and Ron's latest insights, and be sure to subscribe to the Car Doctor YouTube channel for exclusive videos, real repair footage and more. Now
start your enginies. The Car Doctor is in the garage
and ready to take your call.
Sometimes the best part of my day comes from the most surprising places. We've been talking a lot, you and
I about repairs, expensive repairs, and how repairs get done.
A couple of shows ago. That's sixteen thousand dollars Transmission Story,
which is a real story that really happened. That's from
the Bays. That's from the shop. This is the story
that just won't go away. It's the darnedest thing. Now
I've got a backtrack for a second. Okay, a lot
of you ask I bump into you from time to time, people that know me, people that don't know me, that figure out who I am, and they say, you know, what's it like prepping to do the show? And I,
you know, how many hours a week does it take you to do the show? And I, you know, I
used to say literally nothing because it really is literally nothing.
And then I realized, I'm prepping to do the show five days a week, twelve hours a day. Because I
do this right, We're turning wrenches every day, so you know, prep time becomes I don't know, sixty hours to produce too, which is which is a pretty bad ratio. But you know,
we chuckle along the way. We laugh a lot. Danny says,
you know, when and if I ever retire or fall over.
He doesn't know what he's going to do, because he said, being a greeter at Walmart's going to be boring compared to what he does. Now. It's just, uh, it's it's
it's just a crazy job. But you know, the stories
are real, the things really happen. You know, I prep
to do the show different ways, and I want to tell you about today, okay, because you and I are close.
We get together like this every week and it's important to me to be here with you. So today I
had to go get my eyeglasses my frames repaired. And
it's down in East broth Of for New Jersey, and it just consequently happens to be across the street, well sort of across the street from the meadow Lands, you know, Giant Stadium, whatever you want to call it, New York New Jersey Stadium, the place where they're going to hold the World Cup tonight here in the New York City area.
So there's there's all kinds of pandemonium going on. There's
every other car is a black limousine. There's there's you know, ambulances,
there's police, there's trap, there's bumper to bumper, There's all kinds of things going on. I'm just trying to navigate
through it and get to where I gotta go. But
the one reason, the other reason I like to go to East Rutherford now is right next to just past where I turn off for the eye doctor. And this
is how my day really started. It's really just you
gotta be me. You gotta chuckle at this. I decided
I'm gonna go see my billboard. There's a billboard of
me up down there in Route seventeen south and East r Rutherford Lenhurst, right next to the quality Ford Dealer in the Luke Oil gas station, across the street from the Burger King. So I make the U turn to
come around the back of the Burger King, and I'm sitting at the traffic light and yep, bang, there it is digital billboard up. I pop. It's kind of surreal
and it sort of makes you giggle if you're paying attention to see yourself up on a billboard. I still
can't believe. I can't believe I really do radio, but
you know I do. I have to tell you. I
was telling Tom before the show today. It took every
ounce of my willpower because I was sitting next to somebody.
I was on the right, he was on the left, and he's looking up and you can't help but see the billboard. You'd have to be driving with your eyes
closed not to see it. And there's my kisser right
four feet high, just staring down at you. It took
every bit of willpower not to roll down the window with a suburban and say, pardon me, do you have any gray poupon? You know, I just it was that moment,
and you don't get those moments in life, and it just it made me giggle, and I think you got to giggle a little bit, especially when you fixed car sixty hours a week. So you know, I got my
eyeglasses and I came back and I didn't roll down the window. I didn't want to scare the guy. With
my luck, I would have scared the guy. He would
have stepped on the gas hit the car in front of him, and I would have caused an accident. And
I could see that happening too, because strange things like that have happened also. And I didn't think anything about
the celebrity for the moment. I figured, well, you know,
this is just this is just a normal part of life, you know. For me, I get recognized and it's okay,
and I'm happy. I shake your hand, you know, I
kissed the babies. I tell you stories and whatever you
want to do. I answer car questions usually. So I
came home and I decided that before we do the show today. I was going to take blackout for a ride,
you know, take the fifty five Chevy out for a ride.
Why not. It's a beautiful day here in New Jersey.
We had those crazy thunderstorms last night, and I looked at my watch and I said, well, it's quarter to twelve.
I got two hours to show time, you know, because we're live Saturdays two to four eastern. Ah, you know
what the heck. I grabbed the missus and we jumped
in the car and we ran down to the deli and you know, got a couple of sandwiches and drove over to this quiet little park in White Coough, New Jersey and had lunch. Well, I forgot what an attraction
of black fifty five Chevy can be because when we came out, there was a couple of people standing around it looking at the car, you know, and I just, I don't know. To me, it's just an old car.
I just I parked at windows down. I left it unlocked,
like it was sort of a nice sight. But I
wasn't really worried about it. And you know, here I
am prepping for the show in my head, and you have your doubts, you know, doing it for this long?
Have you been on the stage too long? And you know,
somebody once said in show business and you never want to stay on long. You want to leave people looking
for more. And I know I tell you guys these
stories about car doctor sightings, and you know, my wife has never experienced it. And I'm talking to this one
older gentleman and he's looking at me and he's listening to me. He's asking me about the car and how
do you tell the difference between a fifty five Chevy bel Air? What model is this? Two ten? The chrome
where it goes? And then finally he looks at me
and he goes, I know who you are. You know
that moment when they caught you doing something in school and the principal came up and said Ananian and your stomach sinks. Yeah, it's sort of like that. You're like,
uh oh. He says, I know who you are. And
he turns to his wife in the car and do you know who this is? And it wasn't the name recognition,
he got it. He heard the voice, he said, he said,
there's only one person this can be black fifty five Chevy New Jersey. The voice, the way you explain things
and this is the important part, he said, you can retire.
He said, one of the things we love about you is the way you explain things. And he said, you
take it from up here, he's holding his hand way above his head, and you bring it down to eye level.
I never really thought about it like that, he brought up.
He said, you know, a couple of weeks ago, you were talking about the sixteen thousand dollars transmission, and here's your tie in right, here's the tie in back, like this transmission story just won't go away. This was the
story about the person who went to the dealership. It
was a sixteen thousand dollars transmission and they didn't want to do that, and they went to another dealer and it was an eight thousand dollars transmission. It was that
twenty twenty one Chevy Tahoe that had one hundred thousand miles on and it was puke in the trans and we went through it, and you know, is it worth fixing?
Should I buy another one? And as I said to him,
as I, and this is what the gentleman. I forgot
to get his name. I'm embarrassed. I was so overwhelmed.
I forgot to find out his first name. So when
he hears this, hey dude in the park, that was really nice to meet you. The day. I had a
good time, you know. He said. The way you you know,
keep it real. He says, you keep it simple. He said,
you make me want to maintain my car. You know.
He said, I just got rid of my eight camera with two hundred and fifteen thousand miles. And I looked
at him and he said, yep, just broken in. So
he knows the language. He knows what I'm going to say. Uh,
you know, and we shook hands and he said, you know, that sixteen thousand dollars transmission story really hit home because you're either going to have car repair bills or payments.
And he said, it's the truth. He said, I only
got rid of my camera because it was hard getting in and out of He's got a problem with one of his legs. But you know what the best part
about this morning was prepping for the show. You know
what the absolute best part was. And I appreciate the
luxury you're giving me of telling you this story. I
got to open the door to the hot rod sit in because my wife was sitting in the car. Let's
listening to it from right, and she just looked at me and she said, now, this is after forty three years of being married forty four I forget. She just
looked at me and said, you know, now I understand what you're talking about. A car doctor's sighting and there
it is slightly It just you just I'm telling you, it's you got to be me. And I'm grateful for
the life, and I'm grateful for you guys being here listening to me each and every week. The sixteen thousand
dollars transmission. It's fixing a whole lot more than just
a car. Eight five five five six nine nine zero zero.
I'm running any in the car doctor. I'll be back
right after this. Hey, let's go to Let's go to Nebraska.
Let's go close to Terry. Terry, what's going on?
Hey, good afternoon, Ron. How are you doing today, sir?
I am doing great, sir. How can I help you?
My wife and I have a twenty twenty one Toyota Highlander and it's if I remember correctly, it has a three point five V six. It doesn't have hardly any
miles on it, like maybe eighteen thousand miles. We don't obviously,
we don't drive it hardly at all. Right, Anyway, I
read in a lot of the forums that these vehicles have transmission issues, and we haven't had any issues yet, probably just because of the low miles and stuff. But
I don't know, how would you handle a vehicle like this.
Would you keep it and just see what happens, or would you trade it off or I'm kind of just wondering what you would think on it? Do you like?
So this is a V six normally aspirated, meaning there's no turbo charger on this engine.
That's right, And that's that's why I wanted to get one before and this before.
They Yeah, this just makes it so attractive. I'm waiting
for the day when the automobile industry wakes up and at least offers some models non turbo charge. You know,
I just don't see that. I just don't see the value.
I look at the cost. It's great for the first
hundred thousand miles if the engine in any manufacturer's vehicle, and the engine makes it that far. But you know,
now you've added another very costly component to fail somewhere above one hundred thousand miles. Typical life span when it's
not under warranty and all of a sudden, now you need a five thousand dollar repair, eight thousand dollars repair.
And you know, so that that Toyota that's eight years old, nine years old, with one hundred thousand miles on it.
Now the turbo charger fails in the buck thirty range one hundred and thirty thousand mile range. Now what do
you do? Gee? Do I get rid of the car?
You know, it's like having a transmission failure, And back to your point, transmissions today. You know that's an eight
speed trans That trans is ten grand to replace all day long. And you know there's enough expensive things on
a car to break. So back to your question, do
I think that car is worth keeping? Yeah? Just because
right now you can't buy another non turbo V six Highlander, right they don't. They don't make that. They don't make
that car.
Anymore, or hybrid.
I will.
When I was looking for it, we bought it, I don't know, two or three years ago anyway, when I was looking for and I was trying to find a hybrid, but you know, new ones were high and I just couldn't find a used one. But that's probably what I
should have did I don't know.
Well, and then you know the other thing to consider.
And I've never gotten a great answer from anybody on this, but I know the condition exists. So you buy a hybrid,
what are you driving terry three thousand miles a year, give or right? So I always we.
Use on trips and we don't go very we don't go very often.
And I often wonder about the car that's going three thousand miles a year, that gasoline that's sitting in the tank of the hybrid that's not really getting used because you're running off the vehicle battery so much. Yeah, you
know that that low used hybrid or that low poor you know, low mileage used hybrid. Let me get my
English correct. Mister Stirling Woods would would give me a smack.
You know, you just you just wonder. So I think
in your case, the gas engine is sturdier. I think
it's more durable. I think it's a it's a it's
a tried and true, proven product. And you know, so
start putting money away. Put one hundred bucks a month away,
put five hundred bucks a month away, save eight grant.
If the trans does give you problems in Toyota doesn't do anything for you, then you know, put a trans in it, but anything else, you know, you sell that, you buy anything else, then what's what problem is the next one going to have? Because once you get passed,
once you get past the transmission on that car, that thing's a brick. It generally shouldn't break. They're pretty solid.
So and you know that's not to say if the car ever gets to thirty thousand miles in the next five years and all of a sudden the trans starts to wind, you can't go to Toyota and see if Toyota will do something for you, because I will say this, They've made their mistakes along the way. Toyota is one
of the better car companies for taking care of their customers.
They really are. And I'm not saying it. I'm not
saying it works great for everybody, but they have they have better customer care in my experience than most write this bulletin number down Terry triple zero eight, Dish triple zero eight, DISH twenty one. It's dated February of twenty
twenty one, and it talks about a whining or a grinding noise from that transmission. Now it gives a vehicle
date range and a plant assembly number and production number, and when was it made and what day of the week and what the guy have for lunch and all those other important details. But you know, if Toyota ever
says to you, well, you know, we have no problems, Yeah, then I can even came with this bulletin.
Yea.
You know, as I always say, for a car company to print a bulletin, it's it's not a casual thing, right, It's it's not like honey right down your recipe for meatloaf.
It becomes you know, it has to go through technical, it has to go through copywriting, it has to go through legal, it has to get some sort of administrative approval.
And they put out an awful lot of bulletins, and they don't have time to waste on writing you know, minor ones, so to speak. So that that bulletin legitimizes
as all bulletins. In my mind, that if you suffer
that experience at a reasonably low mileage, that bulletin legitimizes your concern and your complaint. And you're going to find
out what they're made of, you know, you're going to find out what Toyota, what kind of car company they are and how much do they care about their customer.
One of the things I've learned being in business and getting to this age on the planet is if you wait and watch and you stick around long enough, people and companies will show you who they are. And you know,
will they will they hide behind that well you're out a warranty, or will they will they come into ge You've only got thirty thousand miles on it, and that problem was an known defect when we put the car out there. You know, let's do something for the guy.
Let's do a let's do a fifty to fifty split, let's let's let's warranty the whole thing. Let's pay for
the part and he'll pay for the labor. Something anything,
you know. It turns people's heads, and that's what that's
you know, Yeah, go ahead.
I'm sorry, No, that's okay. But so, would you recommend
servicing the transmission sooner? And would you recommend just dropping
the pan and putting a new filter in and replacing the fluid, or would you recommend a flush or so how would you how would you handle that?
At this point? Does the transmission make noise. No, so
there's no wine. Okay, so there's no wine. So I
would I would, I would just do a fluid change.
And I'll tell you why I would do a fluid change.
But I would capture the fluid and I would strain it through a paint funnel, all right, so you know, just you know, save it. Get get a five court pail,
get a big pail, you know, have them drain it out and then have them run it through the paint funnel.
And then look in the funnel. Do we see any metallic?
You're gonna probably see some clutch material and you'll see some debris and stuff, But is there anything there magnetic?
If we're starting to get if we're starting to get metal shavings out of the trans fluid, yeah, maybe something's coming apart and it just hasn't reached the point of noise yet. And I don't know, I don't know if
they'll do it. But I wonder if an engine oil lab,
and I've thought about this for a while, if one of these companies that you know analyzes engine oil would analyze transmission fluid and tell you what's in there and tell you what it's made of. Well, you got ten
percent clutch material and ninety percent metal shavings. Eh, so
things to do, Terry. I appreciate the call. You'd be
safe out in Nebraskaway. I'm running any in the car. Doctor,
I'll be back right after this.
The other keep you on right, Yeah, he's a shot Doctor.
Where's that CD?
You know?
I understand they're releasing a CD now and they're trying to struck a deal with a major label. Is that true, Tom,
that we're going to lose the band. They're going to
go on to No, No, No.
The band's staying.
They're just trying to make extra money because you know you don't pay him enough.
Well, they're not They're not that good. So let's not
get let's not get out of hand. Let's go up
to Micah. Let's go see what's going on with Micah
and Maine. Micah, how are you today?
Doing okay?
I hope you're doing well too. Always great to hear
you on the air.
Absolutely great, kiddo. What's what's going on up in Maine
this glorious day?
Well, I've got a twenty fifteen super Legacy and you know the headlamp assemblies, they're all covered in that plast they can. They get fogged up after a while, and
I've had them cleaned many times, but after ten years it's fogged up on the inside and there's nothing you can do about the inside except replace them. Well, good
news and bad news. I got a paint failure on
my bumper. The place that did it is going to
take the bumper off and fix the paint. But while
it's off, that's the only way to replace the head lamp assemblies. You got to take the front bumper off.
It's an expensive project. So I'm going to buy the
headlamp assemblies, and I got a good deal on them.
But I'm wondering what I can do to keep them from fogging Not on the outside. I can clean that,
but keep the inside from fogging up so I don't have to replace them again in five years.
When you say fogging up, you don't mean moisture.
I mean the UV fog that happens to the plastic from the sun.
Yeah, there's nothing I'm aware of, and I've never tried it, but I'm curious. There are some sprays out there that
help protect against UV, and I wonder what would happen if you took the bulb assembly up. But then I
wonder if the refractor the way it bends the light is in the way the shielding, you know, Micah, That makes me think about an invention. Right, we could pour
some on the inside of the headlamp housing, roll it around until it covers the inside face, and then spray the outside. I will tell you this that when we
clean headlights in the shop now, we use a buffer and a polisher, and you know there's various kids out there that we're using. We will put ceramic coating. There's
a liquid ceramic coating. We get it, we kind of
squeegee it on and that ceramic coating tends to prevent any UV damage from coming back because we'll actually sand that that haze right out of the plastic. But inside
there's nothing you can do because you've got to take it apart and you can't do that.
And I've had that done before. You know, my dealership
has done it for me a few times where I've had it, you know, buffed off and cleaned up. But
the good news is it being that I'm having the bumper repainted, I'm gonna have to get the whole car ceramic coated again, which I do, and I'll talk to my guy and see if he can ceramic coat those those those headlamp assemblies on the outside anyway, and if that prevents the UV, if it prevents it from penetrating, then we're good.
Yeah, it's it's for whatever reason, that seems to work.
And you think about it, right, They sell that ceramic coding that it will prevent u V damage to the paints, and it seems to work there. We put it on
the plastic and it seems to work too. Now before
I let you go real quick, you're going to buy your headlamps from Subaru, right?
Oh? Absolutely? And in fact, this is one of the
few times I've been disappointed with my dealership because I went to the parts department and I went to order the headlamps and they said they're four hundred and sixty nine dollars each, which I could sort of understand. But
my my body shop and order the OEM ones and they're able to get them at a discount, and that's all they're going to charge me is a two hundred and eighty two dollars apiece. That's a two hundred dollars
a piece different. Yeah, that's that's that's my dealership would
do that.
So the only the only question I would have is, you know, let's assume both part numbers are the same.
And I don't want to I don't want to pick on anyone body shop, parts house dealership or anything. But
what I've discovered is some places both body shop dealership and dependent shop, et cetera, will inflate list. I've seen
this more than a few times in my career, where they'll you know that that four hundred dollars part is now four hundred and fifty dollars, but we're going to give you twenty percent off list, so we're really giving you ten percent off list. So they're cutting down the
actual discount based on a generated list price. And that's
a whole nother you know, that's a whole nother conversation.
No, it really surprised me because I shopped around online and I'm only ill only buy the OEM parts for this because they just don't mount them quite the same all the time. If you get something after market and
the OEM online is between two hundred and fifty and three hundred dollars, and that's what and my my body shop is able to get them from the dealership for this two hundred and eighty two dollars. And I know
that that's fine. But when I buy from the dealership,
they're charging me four hundred and sixty nine dollars.
You know, maybe it's time to call them out on that, Micah.
You know, listen that and what they say, why are you guys so much? When you asked them, why are
you guys so much more? Would they say?
They said, Well, you know a lot of those places online and buying a bucket sell it wholesale. You know,
they're not making They're making money on the shipping, and I'm looking at the shipping. They're not making money on
the shipping. You know, it's a fair shipping price. I
don't quite get it.
Yeah, I don't. I don't. Well, listen, you know, every
once in a while, the universe seems to line up for me. Right. I started this week's show talking about
how if you wait around long enough and watch long enough, people will show you and companies will show you who and what they are. Here's here's the perfect example.
You know.
Now, I'm also going to stand up for the dealership.
The dealership's entitled to make money, and I know you know this, right, I know you get one hundred percent.
You agree with this. It's just it's just why is
there such a discrepancy If it were me and you can and I was the parts manager, Gee, why is why are we charging four and sixty nine dollars on a part that he can buy online for three hundred?
You know?
Are they are they really discounting it? Because it's trust me,
their discount isn't that huge. It's it's not a fifty
percent discount. It just isn't They wouldn't exist, So, you know,
is it a a is it a gray market part?
Is it an aftermarket part? Somehow? Looking like a super rupiece?
You start to wonder, and I don't.
Again, it doesn't make sense because I was going to have the dealership change this out, but it was going to be fourteen hundred dollars to do it. I get
that they got to take the bumper off, right, And I'm not complaining about the price. That's fine, But fourteen
hundred dollars for a full day of labor and the parts make sense. But they're not paying four hundred and
sixty nine dollars for the headlamps if they're doing it for fourteen hundred dollars. So it doesn't make that doesn't
make sense.
What I would tell you to do is take that part number and go try and go online and just you know, there will be places that show you manufacturers list.
They'll say manufacturers list for sixty nine, your price three eighty eight to eighty eight whatever. I want to see
somebody online telling me what they what is manufacturer's list, And if you find it substantially different, you know, maybe it's a conversation to go have with your salesman. Look, Micah,
I like you guys buy all my cars here. I'm
just trying to understand. Did somebody in parts make a mistake?
Is something wrong with your bookkeeping? Is this cock ey'd? Look, Michael,
I'll end the story here. I've got a parts house
I deal with, and we're buying what were we buying the other day? Oh it sounds it sounds really stupid.
Carpet shampoo and a can. You know it's a can
of turtle wax car shampoo with the scrub brush on the end. It's supposed to sell for eighteen dollars. They
had them online for two dollars and forty nine cents.
Danny and I looked at each other and we said, that can't be right. We actually called them up and said, hey,
somebody plugged in the wrong number. No, we're trying to
get rid of old inventory. Really like, why, well, we're
not sure that came down from corporate. So what the heck?
We bought twenty cans. We now have a lifetime supply,
you know, for one hundred bucks. I've got five hundred
dollars worth of carpet cleaner that I'll use on every car I own from now until the day I don't need to clean cars anymore, if you get my point. So,
sometimes big businesses make mistakes in the way they they index parts or they record parts, and they're pricing. I
find it hard to believe they're going to blow you off.
And if they do blow you off, just because I know how much you've done with them, they're showing you who they are. They're showing you what's coming, you know,
and maybe it's time to go look at another dealership.
And that's really what it's all about. But I bet
you you're going to find that that isn't a factory superroup part. I'll tell you what, Micah, keep us in mind.
Let us know what part you actually get and whether it's real super or not.
All right, Oh no, I absolutely positively know this is a factory super group part that I'm getting interesting.
Interesting.
Let us know. I know that because I know the
owner of the shop. Actually it's a chain of shops.
I know the owner of the chain. I know the
people that I work with. They're absolutely factory super, they
said told me. When I asked them about it. I said, look,
if you got an aftermarket part that you think is as good, I'll do it. They said, absolutely not something
like this. We're only going to use factory.
Telling me you want your old headlamps in the in the box they come in, yep, and then you'll have something to reference. And hey, make out, Mike, I gotta go.
I'm up against the clock.
All right, Kitto, Thanks a lot, very.
Welcome you too. I'm running any in the card doctor.
We're back right after this. Hey, welcome back A five, five, five,
six zero nine nine zero zero run an Eennie in the car doctor. If you're out there podcasting us, we
appreciate that podcast numbers continue to grow, and you've been part of our journey and we can We're happy to be here for you, and we continue to appreciate everything you guys are doing for us, the downloads and the mentions.
And we were a little late this week. I will
admit it on our Instagram Facebook post, but to tell you the truth, were so darn busy in the shop we didn't have time. I think we got up one
or two maybe this week, but we'll do more again next week. So keep watching our social media. I'll do
some mail. This one comes to us from Karen down
in Tennessee. Ron, I have a twenty twenty four Mazda,
though like you cannot tell that from the subject line.
I like somebody that's honest. The past couple of mornings,
it seems a little hard to start. I live in
Tennessee and it's been very hard hot here in the past couple of days. I'm going to have the battery
check today. My question is do the newer cars use
battery life while parked, meaning like your cell phone is always looking for a tower. I know extreme cold can
drain the battery, but what about extreme heat? Does it
have the same effect. Thanks for taking the time to
read and respond to my questions. Karen down there in Tennessee.
You know, Karen, we actually replace more batteries, and more batteries fail as a result of heat than they do as a result of cold. I know that's hard to believe,
but heat has a greater damaging effect on vehicle batteries, and we're finding that some batteries, depending upon the vehicle, depending upon how that vehicle is used three years, We've seen, you know, some batteries fail in as little as three years, So you know, yeah, it's very possible. Now let me
tell you a battery story. So we recently had a
twenty nineteen jeep in the shop that had a three year old battery that just flat out failed after three years.
And you've got to watch how you test them, which is the point of this story. We use we test
both ways. We use what we call an algorithm tester,
which is the little handheld tester that they clipped the cables, clip the clamps to the battery and they tell you how many cold cranking amps. They tell you how many
push ups it can do when it's cold in the morning, and you know it has to pass that based on a mathematical calculation of what the voltage loss is during that very light. I believe it's a two amp load
that it applies. If it's that on some of these batteries.
This twenty nineteen jeep battery passed with flying collars. But
something about it made me suspicious because I could sit there and watch battery voltage not quite hit twelve point four.
It was around twelve to two, twelve one twelve two.
I saw twelve. Something's not right here. Battery had a
full charge in it. Threw it on a carbon pile tester.
A carbon pile tester is a much higher amperage load placed on the battery. Think of it as we were
trying to turn the headlights on for ten seconds to see if the battery would hold its voltage, to see if water pressure in the line could maintain while you've got the faucet open. And sure enough, that battery dropped
like a stone. It dropped like a stone to the
point of failure. Clear cut. Put a new battery in
that jeep with the three year old battery, and the vehicle's fixed. Sometimes when you're looking for a potential problem,
the algorithm testered to me doesn't really do the job.
And I'm sure a battery engineer or a systems engineer will give me the conversation about how there's certain batteries you have to test certain ways. Then you guys have
to come up with better ways to test them because what you're doing just sometimes doesn't flat out work and that's an issue. So you know, go get the battery tested.
If the battery is original, it's well, it's only two years old, but just know that, yes, that battery after it gets to the three year mark. I'm always very
suspicious if this were a Honda, and I'll wrap it up here, and it was running a group thirty five battery, Group thirty five, how big is the house, how many bedrooms?
What's the physical size a group thirty five battery. I'll
tell you what probably the number one size failure battery, regardless of cold cranking amps, how many years it's supposed to last. We do more group thirty fives than anything else.
And it's to the point now where we get a Honda with a group thirty five, if that battery is over three years old, we're going to test it, but we're probably going to encourage you to replace it because of how much failures or how often we see failures on that particular battery. If you need more information about batteries, Karen,
you and everybody else, get out to autobatteries dot com.
Of course, I'm going to send you there. It's our
bible and our reference point. Auto batteries dot com is
going to be the place where you'll find every little bit of information the hous in the what's picking a battery, charging a battery, and basically how a battery works. So
it's a good library to fall back on. We do.
I'm on an ady in the car doctor eight five five five six oh nine nine zero zero. We're back
right after this. Hey calling all sound engineers. Where's my engineer?
Mister rad I'm driving the train. We're bothering. Oh my god, listen.
Can we have a meeting? I want to have a
I want to have a show meeting. Can we do?
You want to work fourth at July? What are you doing?
You want to go on a date?
Work fourth of July?
Whatever?
It doesn't bother me if we have to work.
It also doesn't bother me if we take the day off.
Well, let's work fourth of July. Because I'll tell you
what we're gonna do. You know, America turns two hundred
and fifty. You remember you were there the day it
was born, and I thought to help celebrate it, I thought we would give away T shirts fourth of July for everybody that calls in. That sounds good, all right,
We'll give away car doctor T shirts and uh, just help America celebrate our two hundred and fiftieth birthday. So
we're gonna do a live show fourth of July. Good
meeting is over. That works, Yeah, that works? Oh yeah cool?
Oh and you got to see I wonder I don't know how they're going to be received, but we've actually.
You're not bringing the billboard into the studio, are you?
No?
You know I'm thinking of having the studio enlargened because you know, I just won't fit. I'm telling you, Tom,
you gotta go see the billboard. It's the scariest the
billboard won't fit, or your head won't fit through the door. Well,
you know, my head's getting a little bigger. I've got
no I'm trying to I'll tell you what. Some of
the comments are just so funny. I still think about
my parts. One of my salesman from one of my
parts houses. He lives literally two blocks from the billboard,
and he keeps talking about how he gets up in the middle of the night to use the to use the bathroom, and he stares out the window and all of a sudden, my face pops up and it upsets his aim. And then his wife shelling at him in
the morning because he missed the ball. I mean, I
hate to be I hate to say it like that, but he says, you're creating marital discourse. I'm sorry. I
didn't mean to. I'm just trying to fix cars, because
after all, I'm running ady in the car doctor, and I'm here to remind each and every one of you.
Oh good lord, you know you just can't make my life up. I've got it made. I I really do.
I appreciate all of you till the next time. Good
mechanics aren't expensive, they're priceless. See he he's a car doctor.
Car advice to right
About this episode
Ron Ananian, “The Car Doctor,” opens with real repair stories, including a recurring expensive transmission quote. The conversation then pivots to practical ownership decisions: whether to keep or trade a high-mileage Chevy Tahoe with transmission trouble, and what to do when a low-mileage 2021 Toyota Highlander shows forum-reported transmission concerns. Ron explains why turbo V6 risk rises after ~100k miles, how Toyota bulletins support certain transmission noises, and how fluid changes and metal shavings can reveal early wear. Later, they discuss headlamp fogging causes, pricing, and battery testing in extreme heat.
This week on Ron Ananian, The Car Doctor, a repair story that refuses to go away comes full circle.
Ron revisits the now-famous $16,000 Chevy Tahoe transmission repair, the real-world case that sparked conversations about whether it's better to repair the vehicle you own or start over with another unknown used car. But the story takes an unexpected turn when a chance encounter with a listener reveals that sometimes the lessons behind the repair matter more than the repair itself.
Along the way, Ron shares a behind-the-scenes look at spotting his own podcast billboard near MetLife Stadium, a morning cruise in his black '55 Chevy, and a reminder that maintaining a vehicle is often about more than saving money—it's about understanding value.
Also this hour:
Should you keep a low-mileage 2021 Toyota Highlander if you've heard rumors of transmission problems?
Why some Subaru headlight assemblies become cloudy and what owners can do about it.
How heat affects modern vehicle batteries and why batteries often fail from summer temperatures rather than winter cold.
The importance of understanding long-term ownership costs before making major repair decisions.
Sometimes the biggest automotive lessons aren't found in the repair bay—they're found in the conversations that happen because of it.
