The Toyota Grand Highlander is a bigger SUV with three rows of seats, so it can fit more people. People look at used ones that are only a few years old because they may cost less than brand-new while still having plenty of life left. It’s commonly considered for families or anyone who needs extra seating.
The Honda Accord is a popular everyday car that many people keep for a long time. Here, it’s used to show how different driving needs (daily commuting vs winter driving) can make keeping a used car make more sense than buying new.
The transmission is the part that helps the engine’s power get to the wheels in the right “gear.” In this segment, they’re saying transmission repairs can get extremely expensive, especially if it’s not covered by warranty.
New cars have lots of computers that share information. If one computer detects a problem, it can make other parts of the car act weird or show warnings.
In newer cars, one problem can cause lots of warning messages at once. For example, if the battery isn’t supplying proper voltage, the car may think several systems are having trouble.
Lots of short drives can be rough on a car because it may not fully warm up. That can cause moisture to build up and the battery may not recharge well.
Condensation is water that forms when the car doesn’t get hot enough. If you only drive short distances, moisture can build up and cause corrosion over time.
Two cars with the same mileage can be in very different condition. How you drive—like short trips versus long drives—changes how much stress the car sees.
Modern car repair usually starts with plugging in a computer to read codes and check what the car is actually seeing. That helps mechanics avoid guessing and chasing the wrong problem.
A Chevrolet Tahoe is a large SUV with lots of electronics. The host is using it to explain that modern problems often need the right diagnostic approach.
An engine swap means putting a different engine into the car. Even if the engine is installed correctly, the car’s computers and wiring may still need to be matched so it can start and run.
This means the recommended schedule for changing synthetic engine oil. The host is saying that if you wait too long, you may miss other issues that a proper service would catch.
The engine oil keeps the engine parts from grinding against each other, and the oil filter helps catch dirt. The host is saying a real oil service includes changing both and doing additional checks.
Under the hood, there are different fluids the car needs to run correctly. The host is saying a proper service checks and tops these off, not just the oil.
The host is talking about a 2019 Jeep Cherokee. He’s using it to show that starting problems can be caused by the battery and the car’s electronics, not always by what you’d guess first.
Modern cars have lots of computers and sensors. The host is saying that because there are so many electronics, starting issues can be harder to diagnose than in older cars.
Start-stop is a system that turns the engine off when you’re stopped and turns it back on when you’re ready to go. It can be harder on the battery because it has to restart the engine many times.
A load test checks whether a battery can actually deliver power when you put it under stress. If it drops voltage fast, it’s a sign the battery is weak even if it looks okay at rest.
Voltage drop is how fast the battery’s voltage falls when you turn on something that uses power. If it drops quickly, the battery can’t supply electricity well.
A Chevrolet Silverado is a full-size pickup truck. Here it’s a 2010 model with a 5.3-liter engine and a crew cab, and the caller is describing brake problems on that truck.
“Frozen up” means a brake part is stuck and won’t move. If the brake hardware can’t move normally, the brakes may not work even if you replaced some parts.
Calipers are the parts that squeeze the brake pads against the rotors to slow the truck down. If a caliper sticks or doesn’t move correctly, the brakes can feel like they don’t work.
Brake pads are the parts that squeeze onto the brake rotor to create stopping power. If they wear out or get cooked from a stuck caliper, they need replacing.
A scanner is a diagnostic computer tool that plugs into the car to read what the car’s systems are reporting. Here, it helps check the ABS system while troubleshooting the brakes.
Bench bleeding means you bleed the brake master cylinder on the bench before putting it in the car. The goal is to get rid of trapped air so the brake pedal works normally after installation.
The power booster helps you brake with less effort by boosting the force behind the pedal. If it’s not working, braking can feel wrong—often harder than it should be.
The Lucid Air is an electric car, meaning it runs on electricity instead of gasoline. Because it’s an EV, it has different parts and safety steps than a normal gas car. That’s why a mechanic might talk about lifting it and working carefully during service.
A master cylinder’s discharge (and related intake/discharge) ports are the internal passages that route fluid during bleeding and normal operation. Checking for air bubbles at the discharge port helps confirm whether bench bleeding is actually purging air from the master cylinder’s internal chambers.
“Air bound” means there’s air trapped in a brake/clutch fluid system. Air is compressible, so when you press the pedal, some of that movement just compresses the air instead of pushing the brakes/clutch. That’s why the pedal may not feel hard and firm.
In this context, “plugs” refers to temporary sealing tools used to block off ports in the master cylinder so the mechanic can isolate where the air or pressure problem is occurring. By sealing the master and pumping the pedal, you can tell whether the master cylinder can build a firm hydraulic pressure state. This is a diagnostic technique rather than a permanent repair part.
A master cylinder is the part that pressurizes the fluid when you press the brake or clutch pedal. If there’s air trapped inside, the system can’t build pressure correctly, so the pedal won’t feel firm. The idea here is to check whether the problem is inside the master cylinder before blaming the rest of the system.
Rebleeding is the process of removing trapped air from a hydraulic system by cycling fluid through the system (typically at bleeder points). If the master cylinder is still air bound, rebleeding is often the corrective step before replacing other components. In this segment, the host suggests the fault likely lies in the master cylinder’s ability to purge air.
The Chevrolet Equinox is a small SUV. The host is saying it’s improved over time, but it still needs regular upkeep—especially oil changes—to stay trouble-free.
A turbo is a device that helps the engine make more power by pushing extra air into it. Because it works hard, it’s one reason regular oil changes matter.
Oil changes keep the engine lubricated and clean. The host is basically saying if you don’t do them on time, the car is more likely to develop problems.
The transmission control module is a computer that tells the car how to shift gears. The host is saying some vehicles have had problems with that computer after higher mileage.
Replacement cost means: if you had to buy the same thing again today, what would it cost? They use that idea to judge whether the used price makes sense.
Out-the-door price is what you actually pay at the end, after taxes and fees. It’s the number you should compare when deciding if a deal is really good.
They’re doing a quick math comparison: what the purchase price would feel like per year if you financed it with no interest. It helps compare deals on an apples-to-apples basis.
The Toyota Camry is a popular car model that’s easy to find used. They’re using it as a comparison to show how warranties and pricing can differ between models.
Concept
mechanic check it over
Before buying a used car, it’s smart to have a mechanic inspect it. They can spot problems and maintenance issues that you might miss.
The dipstick is a simple tool you pull out to check the engine oil level. If the oil is low or looks wrong, it can be a clue that the car wasn’t maintained well.
Term
brake roaders rusty
If a car has been sitting, the brake parts can get rusty. That rust can make braking feel rough or cause the brakes to not work as smoothly until they’re serviced.
The Toyota Corolla is a very common, dependable small car. Here, the example is a 2011 Corolla that starts leaking coolant while being driven home, which turns into a parts-and-repair situation.
Motorad makes aftermarket car parts. In this story, it’s the brand of the cooling-related part that was available to fix the leak.
Term
case Seal
“Case Seal” sounds like a stop-leak additive for the cooling system. It’s used to slow or seal a small leak so you can keep driving until you can fix it for real.
“Pre mix” means the coolant is already mixed to the right strength. That helps it protect the engine properly without you having to measure and dilute it.
The Ford Ranger is a small pickup truck with a bed for carrying things. Some people use it as a “beater,” meaning a vehicle they don’t have to baby for daily tasks. It’s chosen because it’s practical and can handle rougher use.
The Jeep Grand Cherokee is a popular SUV. Here, the host is talking about a 2020 one and how a change to the windshield tint led to an issue, which can happen on newer cars because the glass area often connects to sensors and electronics.
A rain sensor is a little device on the windshield that detects when it’s raining. It tells the car to automatically turn the wipers on and adjust how fast they go.
The body computer is the car’s main electronics controller for things like lights and sensors. If it stops working or gets affected by water, the car may not start.
The A-pillar is the vertical support at the front of the car, right next to the windshield. In this case, water got down that area and reached sensitive electronics.
BCM means the body control module, which is a computer that runs a lot of the car’s electrical features. If water gets into its connectors, it can cause the car to refuse to start.
A no start condition means the car won’t start at all. Here, water got into the car’s electronics and stopped the system from allowing a normal start.
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start your engines. The Car Doctor is in the garage
and ready to take your call.
I have two scripts, sets of notes, bullet points, whatever you want to call it, in front of me. The
one I was going to talk about, and I've been thinking about it all week, was about how cheap oil changes aren't cheap. And I had written some notes and
comments and to sort of talk about why that cheap oil change really isn't cheap, how it costs you in the long run. And then I got my copy of
the Wall Street Journal this week and a writer by the name of Sharon Turlep. She wrote an article about
how we're keeping our cars longer. Americans are keeping their
cars longer than ever, and you guys are remaking the auto industry and I, boy, you know, I don't know.
They're both like great topics. I read the article. It's phenomenal.
It talks about things that I've been seeing myself. And
it's not because I have agreement with Sharon. It's because
she's spot on in her assessment. And I think, you
know what, we're going to do oil changes next week.
Maybe it might work its way into the show today anyway, but I want to talk about this article. You guys
are keeping your cars longer, You really are, and it's a timely topic. I was speaking to one of my
parts warehouses this week. One of the salesmen came amount
and we were just going over things and talking about the industry, and we were talking about the fact and it's alluded to and it's not alluded it's mentioned in the article as well that certain used cars you better hang on to your seats before I tell you this.
Certain used cars are now selling for more than their new counterparts. Let me let me, let me say that again.
You're gonna go look at certain used vehicles two three year old Toyota Grand Highlanders for example, that might not that may not have the same I'm gonna call it government overreach in them as the newer models. And you're
gonna pay more for that that used vehicle, that two year old used vehicle because it's in such demand, and in general, used cars are in demand. You can't buy enough.
You can't find used cars in the volume and mileage and type and so forth that you want. There is
a demand for that used car. Today, you guys are
hanging on to cars. And the article that we're discussing
talks about it mostly from a price viewpoint, that the average price of a vehicle today is fifty grand, and it's really easy to spend ninety to one hundred thousand dollars on a vehicles. It's real doable in a very
short order, and you can lose control inside of the fact that an automobile, in my opinion and a lot of people's opinions, is it's meant to be a driver.
One of the people she talks about in the article, Sharon Turlip, is a gentleman by the name of Timothy Mason.
He drives two Honda Accords. One's a twenty ten, so
a twenty ten Honda Accord that's got less than thirty thousand miles on and he uses it for his daily commute in Massachusetts to his accounting job. And the other
is a two thousand and one Accord with a V six with more than two hundred and eighty thousand miles on, and he uses for tough winter driving. And as Mason
the accountant points out, he says, where's the financial sense in a new car better few mileage? But is it
going to say me eight hundred dollars per month because that's the price of the average car payment. And he's
not wrong. It's a very clear assessment of what's wrong
with the industry. The price of the car is now
exceeding the value of what it gives to you in return.
And then you have to get into the repairs. And
my lord, the repairs that happened outside of warranty to see cars need transmissions today. I never thought in my
entire life I'd ever see the day when a transmission repair was twelve and thirteen thousand dollars. You know, we
made a comment a couple of weeks ago assessing the state of the transmission side of the automobile, and I said, it seems like the magic number is one thousand dollars of speed, So that ten speed transmission is ten grand plus labor to put it in, and that's coming true.
A few short weeks ago, we talked about the infamous that conversation that open I had, which is still soaring in the podcast numbers of the sixteen thousan dollar Tahoe transmission.
So you guys are content with used vehicles, and it seems like you want to hang on to them longer.
And you know what, I just found my segue into the cheap oil change. So if you want to hang
on to them longer and you're trying to get the most out of them, then why are you doing cheap oil changes? Why aren't you sitting there saying and I'm
open to this conversation, I really am, But why aren't you sitting there saying, hey, Ron, you know what we see value in cheap oil changes? Because and tell me
what that becausees you know, this week in the shop, we saw number of examples of what you guys are struggling with. And it's as I said, cars are more expensive.
Repairs and more technical parts cost more, labor takes longer, and you guys are just trying to stretch vehicles more than ever before. Your credit cards are tapped out. Not
to make this a doom and Gloom radio hour, but your credit cards are tapped out to the so you're looking to find a way to Can you go to the next payment, to the next month, to the next billing cycle, to the next paycheck. I had a conversation
with a customer this week and it really kind of stuck with me, and it sort of created this conversation in my head. They looked at me and said, Ron,
I'm trying to do the right thing, but every time I turn around this car and need something else. And
I understand exactly what they mean, because today's cars are not simple. Everything talks to everything. One week, battery creates
six warning lights. And we've had this conversation, you and I,
we had that conversation about how the cars interact and how they create issues and what they do. The other
thing we're seeing is there's this divide between ownership styles.
Some of you lease, some people want to buy and get rid of it every three years. Those others want
to keep the car ten or fifteen years. Well, right now,
the majority of Americans are driving thirteen year old vehicles because you're trying to avoid that monthly payment. And as
I pointed out over the last couple of weeks, you've either got to have a car payment or a repair payment.
It's coming to that. You know you're driving an older vehicle,
that older train station car. It only goes a short distance,
so you're actually harder on that engine than the person that drives fifty highway miles a day. And that surprises
everybody we've talked about this. Short trips are brutal. Condensation
builds up, oil never really fully warms up, batteries don't recharge, exhaust systems, rush from the inside. Mileage doesn't tell the
whole story anymore. Usage matters. And another thing you've got
to understand is modern diagnosis is not guesswork. It's a requirement.
I had a conversation with someone the other day. They
were driving a twenty eleven Chevy Tahoe. They were doing
an engine swap. Ever, since they put the engine in
the vehicle doesn't run, the mechanic working on it, is that a loss, which kind of blows my mind that the mechanic is telling the owner, I don't know what's wrong with your try. What do you think I should
do next? Like, dude, you're in charge of this repair,
take care of it.
You know.
Diagnosis takes time. Cars are going to fail under certain conditions.
Not every condition sets the correct code or the code you're looking for. And the long and the short of
it is, when we're talking about trying to take care of a car and everything I'm saying to you this hour as we kick it off, why are we doing cheap oil changes? You know? Why aren't we putting in
the best grade of oil, the best possible filter. Why
aren't we taking time to drive the car? Why aren't
we allowing a professional mechanic to look the vehicle over every five to six months? As many synthetic oil change
intervals have stretched it out to now. And I don't
understand that because an oil change is much more than just an oil change. I think oil change is probably
the worst expression you can use when it comes to a vehicle. It's not an oil change. It's a service.
It's a service that includes changing the engine oil and filter, topping underhood fluids, looking up service history. What's it due for?
What isn't it due for? What have you done? What
haven't you done? It's a service. It's meant to take
the car and put it under the spotlight and say, hey, here's what it needs. And that's what a real oil
change is. Because if you want to get to the
three hundred thousand mile mark and have some understanding of when things are going to fail and what could possibly go wrong, that's really what you have to do. I
had a vehicle this week. I'll tell you this story.
Then we'll go to take the pause. I had a
vehicle this week, a twenty nineteen cheap Cherokee. The battery
was replaced when it was four years old. Here's this
battery that was just three years old. Got in it,
started up, brought it in it. You know, just something
didn't sound right. It just had this pregnant paw when
you hit the button like it like didn't want to start.
Good name brand battery. It wasn't the battery. It's the
amount of electronics that are on the vehicles today. It's
the short trip driving that this vehicle has done the past three years. It's the lack of you know, extended
highway road tests and all the combinations thereof, and the start stop feature. You know, start stop tends to beat
up everything. And this battery, when I gave it a
load test, failed, It just failed. What's really interesting is
that I'm still working on having a conversation with a software engineer. I know because we gave it the load
test using the algorithm battery tester, you know, the little handheld testery. You tell it the cold cranking amps, and
it doesn't really apply a load. It looks at a
voltage drop across the battery based on software, and the size of the battery is good or not. But when
we put a conventional battery tester on it, and actually the way I did it was I turned the headlights on with a vault meter on the battery, and I watched the battery drop from twelve to five to eleven eight in little less than fifteen seconds. There was absolutely
no reserve lift in this battery, and the battery just failed its test, and we put a battery in it.
The vehicle was fixed. Now that vehicle came in for
an oil change. Had it not been in for an
oil change, where and when and how would that vehicle have failed? Where and when and how would that vehicle
have left the owner high and dry? And that's my point.
An oil change isn't just an oil change. A cheap
oil change does nothing short of changing oil and filter, but it doesn't really allow time to look the vehicle over and take care of it. That cheap oil change,
in the long run, costs more. And if you want
to drive your vehicles for thirteen years, like the article on the Wall Street Journal talks about today, you got to start thinking about giving it better service because you sew what your reap, as the Bible says. So just
my way of thinking A five to five nine nine zero zero on naming the card doctor, I'm coming back to open up the phone lines right after this. Hey,
let's go to Spiro and Delaware. Spiro, Welcome to the
card Doctor. How can I help?
Good afternoon. I have a twenty ten Chevy Silverado five
point three liter engine crew cab and I'm having problems with the brakes. We replaced the front calipers and the
brake pads and the lines with one of them froze up.
We did a ABS breake bleed, you know, made sure everything got out the air. Right. Still still no brakes, sponge,
you know, it just goes right to the floor.
Okay, So back back up a second. What prompted you
was it that you were driving and the brake pedal went to the floor, that it just needed breaks as a result of grinding brakes so to speak. That the breaks.
Went front caliper on the passenger side froze, it locked up the wheel and it actually got hot. So okay,
we knew that there was a problem, you know.
And it's the caliber. It's not a break hose. No.
We replaced the calipers, the brake hoses, and the brake pads.
Okay, and ever since then you've had no pedal or a poor pedal pedal. Right, So tell me how you
bled the master before you go.
We have a scanner and did the ABS. You know.
It makes those grinding noise.
Which is right. Well, yeah, what it's doing is it's
working the internal valves right, you know, and and moving things around. But tell me how you bled the master,
because you put a master on this too. I think you.
Said, well, we did a bench bleed first, right, and then attached it. We checked for leaks first, all all
the wheels underneath by the master cylinder. We just figured,
you know, we put one in there. It's you know,
sixteen years old. I forget I could afford that. Uh
So we did the bench bleed and then we did the ABS again with the bleed dial. Nothing. So then
I said, well, I'm not going to get rid of the truck. I use it for work, and I put
in I bought a power booster, but a GM just the master cylinders after market, but for the power booster, I went with the GM brand, paid extra, of course, and it came with a new sensor power booster sensor, you know, the three pin. So that was installed, and
then we did again the ABS break bleed. Here's a question.
We did it according to, you know, the way it was supposed to be. Then, you know, whatever the scanner
was telling us through the front to the back. You know,
we did it in sequence. Is the car or the
truck have to be elevated when we do that.
No, it shouldn't matter. So let me let's let's let's
let's back up a second here spirou. So the truck
is off, the cars up in the air, it's on jack stands. However, you're doing this right, No.
It's on the ground. We did not do that.
That's why I asked.
We did it, laid it right on the concrete. We
did not chat.
So you're laying underneath it trying to bleed it. Yes, okay,
you can do that. It's working harder, but I get
it if you don't have access or a way to raise it. My you know, position's not going to matter.
My question is you know when you're bleeding the brakes, So somebody sitting in the somebody sitting in the truck, yes, right, the us doing it, and it's pumped the brake pedal until it gets hard. It never gets hard, it never
gets high, right, right, And then you open the bleeder and what comes out anything?
Nothing, air and fluid until we ran it when there was only fluid, okay, when it was clear.
So you've got you've got solid fluid all four wheels. Yes,
and you still have no pedal correct, all right? If
you were to have you tried capping the master cylinder. No,
all right, when you bleed, when you bench bleed the master yes, just tell me, tell me where I'm wrong.
You you you clamped the ear of the Master in a vice to hold it right you you know, you either put two fingers or you put a you know, sometimes they'll give you a plastic Okay.
I bought the kit.
And bled it that way.
So you're you're short stroke in the Master and you're you're cycling fluid back into the reservoir.
Correct.
Are you looking at the discharge port inside the Master for air bubbles if you look at the bottom of the if you look at the bottom of the Master cylinder reservoir, Yeah, there's a discharge port there. Okay, all right,
or sometimes it's the intake and at discharge. But regardless,
if you watch that, you will little air belittle you want to You really want to short stroke the Master until you get solid fluid out of those ports.
Okay, all right?
It almost sounds like you've got air in the Master, like the Master is still air bound, which brings me back to my first comment. Right, you can get plugs
that will seal that Master cylinder. If you seal that
Master and pump the pedal, does the pedal get hard If the pedal doesn't get hard, hydraulics are hydraulics. Brother,
It's got to be hard. It's it's got to be
high and hard and solid. And if you can't get
that out of the Master, then the rest of the system is just going to be terrible. Start with rebleeding
the master. I think that's where your fault is. Call
me back, we can talk further. I'm running ding in
the car, doctor, I'll return right after this from the city streets, on the city streets, the open road. He's
a run and he's help run.
Keep you doctor.
Sounds like the Mormon Tabernacle choir. The boys are practicing
so well there.
I keep waiting for your chair to burst into flames whenever that one plays.
Oh my gosh. So but in any event, let's go
to Terry, Nebraska. Terry, Welcome to the car doctor. How
can I help?
Hey? Thank you, Ron. How are things up in your
neck of the woods today?
Yeah?
Pretty good, brother, I got no complaints. I'm rolling along
having a great time, so sure.
Ye. Well, anyway, anyway, me and my wife were thinking
about looking at twenty nineteen Chevy Equinox. It has a
one point five and I believe that would be a turbo sorry, voter.
Heye, it belonged to a couple of our neighbors and they both they were older people. They both passed away
and I had that was around I think forty one thousand miles. I would just wonder what you thought of
a vehicle like that. We currently have a little bit
of a couple of older, these tight vehicles with a two point four, and I don't know, we've had good luck, but I know a lot of people haven't had too good luck with the forts and I just wonder.
I think the equinox has come a long way, all right, and this is going to come back to you know, how are you going to take care of it? I
think that the equinox is a little less but I think everything is a little less forgiving. If you're laid
on oil changes, if you're laid on fluids, if you're laid on services. You know, Terry, I think that if
you're buying it right, not that I want you to steal it, but if you're buying it right, if you're getting a fair price for what it is, and you understand that maintenance counts, and I'm guessing you do because you listen to this radio show. You know you've got
some carcentricity to you. You know, it could be a
great vehicle. You know, it would not be unusual at
the one hundred thousand mile mark. I want to say
it like that, but I have seen a few of the Equinoxes take transs in the one hundred hundred and ten thousand mile mark, not that that's the be all and end all. A couple of them have taken trans
control modules. But from my seat in the shop, we
don't see a lot of problems with them. Breaks, fluids, filters, service,
you know. But now keep in mind, I drive the
business to the point that I'm trying to do maintenance on a regular basis. I'm trying to get people to
understand just like here at the shop, it's it's here's why you want to change oil on a regular basis.
And you know, the funny thing is we do less major repairs than ever before. So the maintenance thing works.
I see it week in week out. So you know,
do you have any service history on this vehicle?
Not really, no, no, And price wise, it's in the opportunes.
I think they want around eighteen thousand, so trying to get it for just a little bit less, But I don't know that's a good deal or not well right.
And I think the only way you're going to find out if it's a good deal or not is number one, you're going to go look in the you know, paper, in the ads. What are the dealers. What's a dealer
selling a nineteen Equinox for if indeed they're still selling them, because that's almost a seven year old vehicle, although you know the age of the fleet's growing. We've talked about that,
and you know it's got the right amount of mileage.
But if the dealers are selling them for eighteen to twenty, then eighteen's a fair price. It really is. And you've
got to also think about what's the replacement cost. You know,
if you went out to buy one new, it's easily forty thousand dollars. It's double, right, a little bit better
than double that does come with a warranty where this will not right, So you know, chances are, chances are it's an okay deal. It's just as for how long.
The one way you could look at it is if you buy it for eighteen all right, Let's say that's forty five hundred dollars a year in car payments with no interest. So if you got four years out of it,
how many miles do you think you'd have on it?
If you're going to do fifteen thousand miles a year, that's sixty that's one hundred thousand miles. That's you know,
that's that's actually comparable to what everybody else is paying.
So it's it's not a great deal. It's not a
bad deal. It's an average deal. How much deal Like
the car, you do have the advantage of it was your neighbor. You know what kind of people they were.
You know, they weren't into heavy detal heavy heavy death metal rock music. They weren't out party until three in
the morning, you know, older couple, et cetera. How that
vehicle was used and how it was driven, that all comes into effect too. So and for all you know,
it was serviced at the dealer and or I'm sure you could find out where it was serviced if they're your neighbors, you know, someplace in town and go talk to them. What do they know about the vehicle?
Right?
Right right? Those are all good, good ideas, and really
a used vehicle you never really know.
You have a get a good, good time lad, Yeah.
It's it's it's it's it's it's miles and smiles, right, how much of both of you going to be doing and for what value? Now, by the same token, you
could go buy I don't know, a nineteen Toyota Camry with forty thousand miles on it from a dealer. You'll
probably pay a little bit more. You might be able
to get some kind of a warranty where you could probably put some kind of warranty on this equinox to I'm sure there's private companies that would do that if you felt the need. You know, I think the biggest
factor here is well and you know, so you'd spend a little bit more and you'd buy from a dealer.
I don't know that that makes it any better because in your price point, age and range, you know, you're buying a seven eight year old car with forty thousand miles on it. Anything's possible. But you know, as a
track record they're pretty good. Let me let me put
the bottom line on it there. But you know, of course,
the most important thing is take that car, and you have the option because it's your neighbor, I'm sure can you just take it down to your guy. Can you
take it down to your local mechanic and let them look it over, Let them pull the dipstick and look at the oil. Let them try and determine was anything
ever serviced, what was serviced, what might it need? How
long has it been sitting, if it's been sitting any length of time, or the brake roaders rusty? Do the
brakes need to be gone through? And if you do
buy it, I'm going to tell you at this agent mileage, even though to you it's low mileage, to me it's a seven year old car with forty thousand miles on it.
I'm going to do all my fluids. If it's wet,
I'm changing it. If it's a filter, I'm replacing it.
If it's I'm going to look at the date coat on the tires. You know, for all we know, maybe
they're original, maybe they're not. Maybe that's maybe that's a
buying point. Go look at the date code on the tires.
If the tires were original to the vehicle, they're due to be replaced, regardless of tread. The industry says between
six and eight years tire life from birth date to cradle the grave kind of a thing, so you know, it's it's some things to consider, some things to look at, but you really should have a mechanic check it over once and take it out on the road. Have you
driven the car?
No, I have not, and I need to do that.
Yeah, it's you know, you need to take it out.
You need to get it warm. You know, older couple,
were they in the house, you know, under care? Why
wasn't it driven? Why is it? You know it's got
they're going I don't know, six thousand miles a year, quick math. So it hasn't gone far. But why hasn't
it gone far? And you know, again, if you can
find out who's been working on it, maybe they'll tell you. Well,
you know, it had this stalling problem whenever she made left turns. You don't know, so, but it's worth looking
at it.
I really appreciate it. Thank you, and I enjoy your show.
I'm very welcome. Thank you, Jerry. I appreciate it, and
thank you sir. You'll be well up there Nebraska Way.
You know, it's it's the price of cars. It's crazy,
and you've just got to proceed cautiously. But you've got
to be open to everything, because good used cars are getting harder and harder to find a five five, five, six zero nine nine zero zero run aiding the car doctor.
I'm back right after this. So you know, used cars
and where they come from in the circumstances, it's always an interesting scenario. Danny, my mechanic, was recently at a
family reunion of sorts down in Florida, and while he was down there, his uncle Bob had a twenty eleven Toyota Corolla that with two hundred and eighteen thousand miles on it he wanted to give Danny. So Danny has
to get it home to New Jersey. So it's an
eighteen hour ride in a vehicle that's had, you know, not great maintenance, but okay maintenance. And you know, Danny
doesn't have time to check the car out, and he says, thank you, Uncle Bobby takes the title, they put temporary tags on it, and he drives it home. Well, he
sort of drove it home. He drove it to South
Carolina where the coolant leak developed. So Danny, being the
resourceful mechanic that he use, and it was just about where he was going to rest for the night, pulled into an advanced auto parts parking lot, went inside, and he said it was kind of a kind of a great experience. He had a good time. And he looked
up the coolant leak was from on a twenty eleven Corolla.
They have this little plastic radiator extension from where the upper hose meets the upper neck of the radiator. There's
like two hoses in this plastic extension is in the middle of it with the cap. And he said that
plastic piece was just I guess the Florida heat you know, Florida gets awful hot and so many heat cycles and the plastic only lasts so long, and he needed that extension. Well,
you know, he looks it up at Advance Auto Parts and they have it. You know, fortunately, Motorad. You know,
thank god, Danny said to me. He goes, thank god.
I listen to the radio show. He goes out here,
you talk about Motorad all the time, and he goes, I remember Motorad. I looked it up. They had the party,
he said, and I was able to get it, he said, sort of. He goes that Advance didn't have it, but
the Advance Danny was in South Carolina. He said, the
Advanced Central Warehouse could ship it to the Advance in North Carolina where he was going to stop further up the road six hours later. So he did that, so
we paid for it, order it and it was sent to the Advance Auto Parts at North Carolina. But in
the meantime, Danny and again he said, I'm glad I listened to the radio show. He grabbed the bottle of
case Seal off the shelf, dumps a bottle of case Seal into the car, fills it up with the right coolant, right, you know he knew. He went and got himself a
gallon of Peak and poured it in US peak pre mix, poured in the K seal, poured in the Peak, kept the rest of the Peak with him what he didn't use, drove the six hours. The k seal worked absolutely fine,
and he actually never even he bought the radiator neck and carried it with him, but he didn't bother putting it in. He didn't have to. And he did it
this week in the shop. He did it the Thursday.
And now the car is back together and ready to go.
But you look at this car and it's just an adventure, right, And it just shows the clarity of mind that Danny's got but he's a great mechanic and he can do that.
You know, you just have to think ahead. He said,
I just made everything multi dimensionally. He goes, I know
I didn't have the part here, but I could get the part sent there. And in the meantime, how do
I get from here to there? And he you know,
and he utilized the advanced autoparts network of stores that you know is coast to coast. But you look at
this car at two hundred and whatever, two hundred and eleven, two hundred thirteen thousand miles and it's a great car, and it's probably got another two hundred thousand miles in it, and it needs a rear bumper. The rear bumper's got
a crack in it. And the last thing he did
on Friday was he pulled the seats out. He's steamed
cleaning the seats, and he's got uncle Bob had a dog, so there's dog hare. There's about four inches of dog
hair on the floor. So but just you know, and
Danny said, I'm going to drive it. He goes, it'll
be my beater. Everybody needs a beater, which I understand
that I've you know, my ranger to me is my beater.
You need something just to bomb around in and just get you where you got to go. And you know
the crazy weather, but just you know, a tale of survival with a used car out on the open road and it worked. It really did work. So just you know,
just something to think about. Keep it in the back
of your mind as you're traveling this summer. You know,
you can order parts and send them to different places.
I'm surprised he didn't use Amazon, actually, you know, because I've done that myself, where I've ordered things on the road and I have Amazon bring it to the house or wherever I'm staying and it shows up. And so
it's a very different world. And you can use it
to fix cars very easily today, much more so than you could so many years ago. A five, five, five, six,
o nine nine zero zero run an aiding of the car Doctor. I'll be back right after this. Hey, I
just before we go this hour, I want to stay.
Thank you everybody. The podcast numbers were great this week.
Our social media is growing. A couple of great funny
videos this week. There's a wonderful video of a sixty
seven Volkswagon. Yeah, Volkswagon up on the lift and it
stirred a story in me that I haven't thought of in a while of my buddy Russell with his Volkswagen and his dad and dad said Russell, no changes and Russell said surepop. And that lasted about a day. So
you got to go out to Facebook and see it.
It's a great story. It's up on Instagram too, at
Ron Andanian. But just just a funny video about what
kids did with cars, right, the things we used to do and what we used to get get away with.
It's just kind of a chuckle. So but that's up there.
And again, thank you because the podcast numbers continue to thrive.
We appreciate it. I want to talk real quick, and
this comes to us from All Data All Data Dot comments in their All Data newsletter this month about a Jeep Grand Cherokee. It's a story they've got in there
about a Jeep Grand Cherokee didn't start after the person had the windshield tinted right, And you say to yourself, how could this matter? Well, it's a twenty twenty Jeep
Grand Cherokee with about forty eight thousand miles on. If
the vehicle was taken to a shop to have the top of the windshield tinted. Now there's no camera in this,
but there is a sun There is a rain sensor, all right, But the rain sensor was disconnected, and they took out a couple other censors that related to the glass in that area. And yet they put it back
together after the tint install and the vehicle didn't start, and a technician it was brought into a technician. The
technician got into it and looked at it, and he discovered that the body computer was not responding. The body
computer was offline. And when they dug a little deeper,
they found that some soapy water from the tint had washed down the A pillar. The A pillar is that
front pillar that the front of the windshield attaches to ABC pillars right eight pillars in the front the A pillar.
Soapy water ran down the A pillar. The A pillar,
you fed it right into the top of the body control module which sits down. It was sort of like
a fishing you're going fishing. It was sort of like
just dropping soapy water into the mouth of the fish, went across the connectors for the BCM, and it created a no start condition. So something simple. I don't know
if something simple. I think the simplest thing you can
do to a car today is maybe put gas in it, because you can't even do a windshield ten thing without creating a problem if you're not careful and creating a no start condition. So just be aware. All that has
got it the whole story, blow by blow, but it's a great thing to point out that, yeah, it's a careful process working on a car, and it's something you have to look at very very cautiously. I'm ronning Ady
in the car doctor, thanks for being here. Good mechanics
aren't expensive, they're priceless. See ya.
Hey he's a car doctor.
Carr advice, don't write
About this episode
Cheap oil changes and stretched intervals can backfire because “It’s not an oil change. It’s a service.” With modern cars, “Everything talks to everything,” so one issue can trigger cascading warnings and confusing symptoms—especially with short trips. Ron Ananian ties rising used-car prices and expensive out-of-warranty repairs (including transmissions) to why people keep older vehicles longer. The hour also covers practical diagnostics: battery load testing, brake bleeding/bench bleeding, and even a tint-water no-start case.
