Road-trip season is more than packing snacks—it's about preventing the kind of failures that “leave you on the side of the road and ruin your vacation.” The hosts frame the checklist around roadworthiness, heat risk, and age-based wear: cooling systems, rubber components, and tire age. They also share how they diagnose problems (including using a scan tool) and why maintenance planning matters once you’re out of warranty. Along the way, they stress inspecting wheel bearings properly and getting ahead of small issues before they snowball.
School is almost out, vacation season is around the corner, and the last place you want to start your holiday is on the side of the highway. Today, I'mm sharing 5 critical things every driver should know before hitting the road this summer.
As summer vacation season approaches, more families will be loading up their vehicles and heading out on the open road. But before you pack the luggage and point the vehicle toward you destination, ask yourself one important question:
Is your vehicle truly roadworthy?
In Today's Motormouth Morning Drive, Nile Jenkins discusses five key areas every vehicle owner should review before vacation season begins:
✅ Is your vehicle genuinely roadworthy?
✅ Are you operating from facts instead of assumptions?
✅ Why heat is the enemy of every vehicle system.
✅ The hidden danger of aging tires and understanding tire date codes.
✅ The most neglected maintenance item on modern vehicles: belts, hoses, and cooling system reliability.
A little preventative maintenance today can help prevent expensive repairs, breakdowns, and ruined vacation plans tomorrow.
For drivers looking to stay ahead of maintenance schedules, Motormouth also discusses the Car Connection Fleet Maintenance System, designed to help vehicle owners track and plan maintenance before problems occur.
Drive informed. Drive prepared. Drive safely.
#VehicleMaintenance #RoadTripSafety #CarCareTips
Yes we Have Merch: Visit our online store (ccbusnet.com) All proceeds go to Total Freedom Addiction Campuses Canada & USA, Where lives change one at a time! Join our crew helping them to get there🚗❤️ Skippy & Motormouth👍
Our Fleet Maintenance Schedule is ready for you to order online while quantities last. Special Pricing for those Subscribed to our YouTube Channel. Get your today👍
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More episodes and ...project details & Links available at Car Connection Business Network.com (ccbusnet.com) you'll find everything on our home page if you'd like to follow the build & Repair work we do & connect with our program partners, click their logo to meet them. Thank You for giving them you support, we need them and YOU❤️ Nile Motormouth Jenkins,
"...t's where we're gonna be just look for the yellow fj cruiser and you will find us or look for the human being ..."
The Toyota FJ Cruiser is a type of SUV that’s made for driving on rough or uneven roads. It has a boxy, easy-to-recognize look, which is why people might use it as a visual reference when meeting up. It’s designed to handle off-road conditions better than a typical car.
The Toyota FJ Cruiser is a rugged, off-road–oriented SUV built to look and feel like a classic 4x4. It’s often discussed because it’s distinctive in design and is known for being capable on rough roads while still being practical for everyday use. In a podcast context, it may be referenced as an easy-to-spot landmark or meeting point due to its recognizable appearance.
"so i look at the crankshaft i want to see if the crankshaft sensor can take give me a reading of rpm as it's cranking and i got a zero"
The crankshaft sensor is a sensor that helps the car figure out where the engine is in its starting cycle. If it’s not working, the car may not know when to inject fuel, so it won’t start.
A crankshaft sensor tells the engine control unit (ECU) where the crankshaft is during cranking. If it fails or sends no signal, the ECU may not command fuel injector operation correctly, which can lead to “cranks but won’t start” behavior.
"give me a reading of rpm as it's cranking and i got a zero which means it's going i have no idea ... we've got rpm now so the computer is going to be told open the injectors"
RPM means how fast the engine is turning. The host checks RPM while cranking to see if the car is getting the right sensor signal to start.
RPM (revolutions per minute) is how fast the engine is spinning. During diagnosis, the host watches for RPM readings while the engine is cranking to confirm whether the ECU is receiving crankshaft position information.
"i'm not telling the computer to turn open the injectors to give you fuel so we get this thing running ... open the injectors they're cranking the engine we got to fire it off"
Injectors are how the car delivers fuel to the engine. If the computer doesn’t get the right sensor readings, it may not open the injectors, so the engine won’t start.
Fuel injectors are electronically controlled valves that spray fuel into the engine. The ECU opens the injectors based on sensor inputs (like crankshaft position); without a valid signal, the ECU may not command injector operation, preventing ignition.
"wham away it went so anyways same car we've got a issue with the crank sensor it's a 2009 Hyundai Accent you could watch that on video"
The 2009 Hyundai Accent is a small everyday car. Here, the host is talking about a crank sensor issue that can stop the engine from starting.
The 2009 Hyundai Accent is a compact car where starting issues can often trace back to engine sensors. In this segment, the host specifically diagnoses a crankshaft sensor problem that prevented the engine from firing.
"car manufacturers didn't they don't make that sensor is made by what we call vendors vendors now make the components for them"
A lot of car parts are made by other companies that specialize in making that specific component. The car brand typically puts everything together using those parts.
In modern automotive supply chains, many components are made by specialized suppliers (“vendors”) rather than by the automaker itself. The automaker then assembles the vehicle using those supplier-made parts.
"so number one is roadworthiness so when we do our fall our spring and fall evaluations i'm not just looking for stuff that sticks out"
Roadworthiness means the car is in a safe, drivable condition. The host is saying you should look for normal wear and age-related problems before you hit the road.
Roadworthiness is the condition of a vehicle being safe and fit to drive, including systems that affect reliability and control. The host frames it as checking normal wear items and age-related deterioration during seasonal inspections.
"we're looking for items normal wear and tear stuff as the vehicle gets older you're going to need to upgrade it"
Normal wear and tear is the kind of gradual aging you expect from using a car. The point is to catch these issues early instead of waiting for a breakdown.
Normal wear and tear refers to predictable degradation of parts over time due to regular use and aging. The host contrasts it with “something that clearly says I’m breaking,” emphasizing proactive checks before failures happen.
"really give you a bad taste heading away on your vacation and you don't want that to be the beginning of your vacation getting there and even getting back home safely without issue [2011.0s] makes it an absolute blessing vacation tire condition we need to get real are they good"
Tire condition means how healthy the tires are, not just how much tread is left. Old tires can still look okay but become unsafe, especially when they heat up on long trips or while towing.
“Tire condition” is about more than tread depth—it includes how old the tire is and whether the rubber has degraded. Even with good tread, aging tires can fail, especially when they get hot during highway driving or towing.
"have your tech look at the serial number on the tires and we did a video on that skippy and i it is on our youtube channel you can hunt that down how to read the sidewall of the tire determine when it was built"
On the tire’s sidewall there’s a code that shows when the tire was made. Looking up that date helps you figure out how old the tire is, which is important for safety even if the tread still looks good.
Tire sidewalls include a date code (often read as a year and month) that tells when the tire was manufactured. Checking the serial/date code helps you estimate tire age, which matters because tires are typically considered unsafe after a certain age even if tread looks fine.
"you can hunt that down how to read the sidewall of the tire determine when it was built so the year month date tires are good for six years after six years they're actually not allowed to sell them"
The sidewall is the part of the tire on the outside edge. It has printed info, including a code that can tell you when the tire was made.
The tire sidewall is the outer wall of the tire where key information is printed, including the tire’s manufacturing date code. Reading the sidewall lets you determine tire age, which is central to assessing whether the tire is still safe for a road trip.
"you don't want it blowing a tire either so if you're towing something fellers [2101.4s] the thing that you're hauling that's attached to the trailer ball [2108.5s] the hitch you don't want it blowing a tire either"
The trailer ball is the part on your car that the trailer connects to. If you’re towing, you need to make sure the trailer connection and tires are in good shape so you don’t have a failure on the trip.
The trailer ball is the hitch component on the vehicle that the trailer’s coupler locks onto. The host’s point is that tire safety matters not just for the towing vehicle, but also for the trailer setup connected to the hitch.
"take a look at the age of the tires on whatever it is you're towing [2122.0s] that would be a really good idea and make sure that you service the wheel bearings and if you have those bearings where you just shoot some grease into it that's not good enough"
Wheel bearings help your wheels spin smoothly. If they’re worn out, they can overheat or fail, so it’s important to inspect them rather than just adding a little grease and assuming everything is fine.
Wheel bearings allow the wheel to rotate smoothly and safely; they’re under load and can overheat or fail if they’re worn or contaminated. The host emphasizes that “maintenance-free” grease-only approaches aren’t sufficient—proper inspection may require removing the wheel to check bearing condition.
"and let's not forget the spare tire as well and that all the tools are available to you
from the manufacturer of your vehicle so that if you had to change a flat and put the the spare tire"
A spare tire is the backup tire you use if one of your tires gets damaged. Before a trip, make sure it’s there, in good shape, and you have what you need to put it on.
A spare tire is the backup wheel used if your main tire is damaged and you can’t drive safely. The host emphasizes checking that the spare is actually usable and that you have the right tools to mount it.
"if i have a flat do i want to wait half a day for the service truck to come because you're not the
only person that's probably having a problem on a super hot day so plan ahead it's better to plan"
A flatbed is a tow truck with a platform that can be lowered so the vehicle can be loaded without rolling. The host uses it to explain why planning ahead matters—on hot days, service trucks may be busy.
"so if again just like tires have their date
six years stamp date that's the due date the sixth year it doesn't go to seven they need to be changed"
Tires have a date code that tells you how old they are. Even if the tread still looks decent, old tires can become unsafe because the rubber breaks down over time.
The host is referring to the tire’s age information (commonly the DOT date code) to determine when tires should be replaced. They stress that tires degrade over time—especially from UV exposure—so age matters even if tread looks okay.
"uh stealing a
well borrowing a statistic from gates canada one of the mega suppliers of belts and hoses
four years there you go so if you have a vehicle that's uh 360 so it's three years old"
Belts and hoses are parts under the hood that help the engine run and help coolant circulate. They wear out with age, so replacing them on schedule can prevent overheating or breakdowns.
Belts and hoses are rubber-and-fiber components in the engine bay that help run accessories and move coolant. The host argues they should be replaced based on age because rubber degrades internally, not just where you can see it.
"uh stealing a
well borrowing a statistic from gates canada one of the mega suppliers of belts and hoses"
Gates Canada is a company that makes belts and hoses for cars. The host is using their info to explain when rubber parts should be replaced.
Gates Canada is a supplier known for manufacturing belts and hoses used in vehicles. The host cites the company’s guidance/statistics to support the idea that rubber components should be replaced based on age.
"been there done that got the shirt so cooling system failure if your vehicle is four years old
it needs a serious look at the cooling system belts and hoses and the condition of its antifreeze"
Your car’s cooling system keeps the engine from getting too hot. If it fails, the engine can overheat and you can end up stuck for days—especially when you’re far from home.
A cooling system failure means the engine can’t shed heat properly because coolant isn’t circulating or isn’t staying at the right temperature. On the road, this can quickly lead to overheating and engine damage, which is why it’s a common “vacation season” problem.
"it needs a serious look at the cooling system belts and hoses and the condition of its antifreeze
this long life maintenance free antifreeze is such a stinking joke"
Antifreeze is the liquid that circulates through your engine to keep it from overheating and to protect it in cold weather. It also helps prevent rust inside the cooling system.
Antifreeze (coolant) is the fluid that absorbs heat from the engine and carries it to the radiator to be cooled. It also helps prevent freezing in cold weather and corrosion inside the cooling system.
"it needs a serious look at the cooling system belts and hoses and the condition of its antifreeze
this long life maintenance free antifreeze is such a stinking joke"
In a car’s cooling system, belts and hoses help coolant flow and keep everything connected. If they wear out or leak, the engine can overheat.
Belts and hoses are key parts of the cooling system that help move coolant and keep the system sealed and pressurized. Belts can wear or crack, and hoses can soften, swell, or leak—either issue can trigger overheating.
"long life antifreeze good for five years or 225 000 kilometers and it was already three years old
on the shelf so does that mean what the moment you buy it the five years starts it says it right on"
That number is the label’s claimed “how long it lasts” for that antifreeze—usually based on both time and how far you drive.
“225,000 kilometers” is a stated service-life interval for the antifreeze the host bought, presented as the maximum duration before replacement. It’s an example of how coolant life claims are often expressed as both time and distance.
Concept
trip interrupt us
"so how much life is left in it two years 24 months
huh see the game folks that's why i'm here i'm here to help you not hurt you so cooling system
failure that one will get you every single time every time trip interrupt us and it'll be if you're
traveling on a sunday everything's closed pretty much there's no technicians for thousands of miles"
The host is talking about what happens when your car breaks down while you’re on vacation. If it happens on a day when shops are closed, you might not get fixed quickly and could be stuck.
This refers to an “interruption” scenario where a breakdown forces you to stop during your trip. The key idea is that when you’re traveling far from home, repairs can be delayed because shops may be closed and technicians may be scarce.
Select text to request an explanation
Good morning Niagara, you're tuned in to Car Connection where the coffee is hot, the
tools are ready and the talk is always tuned up.
I'm your host, Diomotor mouth Jenkins, coming to you straight from the Car Connection workshop
where we mix a little humor, a little know-how and a whole lot of horsepower.
Here it's not just about fixing cars, it's about keeping you rolling and saving you money
and giving you the confidence to understand what's under that hood.
From the classics to the commuters, the weird noises to the what the heck moments.
We've got you covered, so grab your coffee, sit back, join the crew because this is Car
Connection, your Monday through Saturday morning pit stop for stories, smarts, few good laughs
and I'm Diomotor mouth Jenkins and we are shifting into drive on a Monday morning, yes, happy
Monday everyone, I hear a few uggs out there, don't worry, it'll be okay, we're gonna make
it through the drive through, get through the drive through, get your morning beverage
and we'll have a swiggy together in just a few moments, make sure you lock it down,
we don't want any Monday morning coffee splurps onto the passenger side floor, yeah, or over
the shifter because that doesn't work either, there's too many electronics in there that
can get fried and I can tell you a story about that but I won't today, we won't go down that
rabbit hole, time is of the essence, we got a lot of information to get through this morning,
I have five more things to share with you, the title of this morning's podcast brought to us by
City Auto Sales and Leasing, GTA's premier pre-owned auto store, low mileage quality vehicles at
fair prices, so if you or someone you know is in the market for a pre-owned automobile,
that's where you can head to because you can buy with confidence and be treated with nothing less
than honesty and integrity, that's Earl Louise Grant, husband and wife team 25 years in the
pre-owned vehicle business and I'll tell you, your family is waiting to receive you there,
whatever vehicle you're looking for, if they don't have it in inventory, then just speak up
and let Earl know what you're looking for or Louise and they'll get on it, they have years
of resources and can save you a thousand footsteps, that's City Auto Sales and Leasing,
is your vehicle road worthy, that's what we're going to talk about this morning,
I have five things to share with you and that's exactly what I do on our YouTube channel,
so no matter what age you are, single, widowed, orphan, whatever, male, female, tall, short,
well there isn't short anymore, it's vertically challenged, that's what I've been told,
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join us on our YouTube channel to learn five things in the videos, they're all teaching videos to
teach you the basic knowledge and understanding of an automobile, what it is, where it is,
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a little bit more than you would be in better shape when you take your vehicle into the service
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take care of your automobile by learning just some of the basics and that's what our
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Rudy passed away on Friday and you know if you're a pet parent you know what that feels like and those
who have never been pet parents think we're all nuts so it's okay it's okay you don't understand
because you don't know what because if you knew it you knew you'd know it and know
it and not do it means you never knew it in the first place so you don't know what
so just lift her up things are a little tender this morning and that's understandable because
our pets become a part of our families and when our pets also become you ever known as
people say you you look like your pet it's true it really is a lot of dog walkers in neighborhood
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downtown stevensville ontario saturday 10 till 4 i'm in the dunk tank yeah so come and pay for
some balls and see if you have a good arm to put me into the drink all right so that's where
we're gonna be just look for the yellow fj cruiser and you will find us or look for the human being
that looks like a giant goose pimple so that's all fundraising for community services the firefighters
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connection there skippy runs that website has from the very beginning and that's how she's connected
the businesses in stevensville to the community so it's become a very cool communal website for
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to finances put your wallet away put your purse away and book yourself that hour in a coffee discovery
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you're ready 321 that's how we do it 321
mm-hmm if my voice sounds a little quirky sometimes this year i don't know what it is
but the uh yeah i do know what it is it's the um pollen is bothering me quite a bit
i had an extra swing either i had to let's jump into our daily weather and then we're
going to jump right into our topic thank you to our team of Kathy Dave and Dan Grimo at
Niagara block for making today's weather forecast available to you so for all your building supplies
concrete blocks and steel and um rebar hardscape landscaping materials to create that beautiful
backyard space and if you need a contractor lining up for you to get that all done they can do that
as well for you just talk to Kathy Grimo she has a list of contractors that would be happy to come out
estimate draft up the plans and create that beautiful backyard space for you so that's
Niagara block building Canada since 1931 here's what we got for today here it is
i have a little road trip i gotta head out to Dunville Ontario home of the mudcat festival
hey how many of you know that the giant mudcat that is a statue on display in Dunville what's
the name of that mudcat yeah put it in the uh description on one of our youtube videos or
motormouth dot jenkins at gmail dot com that's quite a festival lot let me tell you and it's
coming up mudcast fest mudcat festival say that 10 times fast in dunville ontario that is on the
lakeyry side and uh chippewa creek runs right through there that's where those mudcats are 49
degrees right now mostly sunny the wind is making it feel cooler about 47 degrees sunny conditions
will continue all day today and the temperature range will be 48 to 69 feels more like 46 to 68
yesterday we had a balmy 67 and today we're going to tap out at 69 degrees zero precipitation
we are in good shape and it's looking like we're going to be able to get our 30 day fuel savings
challenge up and running so if you're wondering what that is it's your first time around i have
a system that works if you're willing to work it and minimum if you work i've got the plan you work
the plan and do the work and i'll coach you and encourage you minimum you could put a hundred
dollars in fuel savings back in your pocket if that's of interest to you hang on to your horsepower
because we're going to help you with that and if you've got the guts to do part two
you could possibly double that so how about a 1200 dollar raise this year and you can make it up
yourself or even run things tighter and make that 2400 dollars is that if that's of interest to you
jot this down motormouth.jankins at gmail.com let me know if you're willing to participate so all
participants should start firing your request to join the 30 day fuel savings challenge into my
email box start filling it up let's see who's going to do it and who's not there's money on the table
are you willing that's the big question are you willing to take it back you're wasting money
are you willing to take that money back that's the question well let's jump right in because time
is of the essence this morning is is that the time i guess it is get your 16 pack of crayolas
your leaf bag and take some notes if you miss the program listen re-listen
download upload sideload whatever you want to do all the podcasts are available on our youtube
channel channel motormouth jankins you'll find us and all the links again are on the top right
hand corner of our homepage at carconnectionbusinessnetwork.com for short ccbusandsamnet.com
ccbusnet.com is the shortest we could get for the last three decades yeah we wanted ccbn but
there's a story behind that sometime later is your vehicle road worthy that's the question
and that's how we work here in the car connection workshop with our own personal vehicles that we
use for toodling here and there picking up parts harvesting parts shuffling things around running
errands all that thing there's there's vehicles we use that are maneuvering every day and how do
we take great care of those well the best thing i ever did was have to i worked at a shop where
fleet maintenance was huge we looked after if i named them they're still on the road today
including you know brinks armored trucks we worked on those those things were tough
they're far more comfortable today than let me tell you man they were rougher than a stucco
toilet seat anyhow uh fleet maintenance means they want their vehicle looked over stem to
stern top bottom sideways you name it don't miss a single thing and that's how i developed
our car connection fleet maintenance system it's completely up for you to review on the on our
website and there's an order form right there you send that in i personally send those out to you
directly so if you want an autographed i don't mind doing that whatsoever we put a bunch of
goodies in there with it and ship it off to you and it's very easy to use everything is there
listed as a grocery list all you have to do is get the service done put a check mark or
something in the box to show and indicate that that service has been taken care of for that
maintenance whatever it is it's all listed there for you you don't even have to think about it
you just read and go oh okay next time i'm in the shop i need them to take care of this this this
and this and then when you get it back and those services have been done check
check check it's that simple and it works for any year maker model vehicle whatsoever
so is your vehicle road worthy that's the question and so twice a year our roaded vehicles come in
one at a time and this year things kind of got a little bit messed up because one
was a nose start it broke down and it wouldn't start and wouldn't you know it it's like almost
midnight i rush out there to save the individual and i took my scan tool to see if i could collect
some data and i was in my jammies just to let you know but it was dark nobody was around he was just
me the car and the driver so i hop in quickly take a scan and i'm looking for i heard the fuel pump
running because we just put a fuel pump in there because that packed it in and i hear the fuel pump
running but car no go so i look at the crankshaft i want to see if the crankshaft sensor can take
give me a reading of rpm as it's cranking and i got a zero which means it's going i have no idea
what you're doing so i'm i'm not telling the computer to turn open the injectors to give you
fuel so we get this thing running so i played with it a couple times cycle the key and then bam i
got engine rpm and i looked at the person i go it's gonna start how do you know i know as you'd
see we had a zero before we've got rpm now so the computer is going to be told open the injectors
they're cranking the engine we got to fire it off wham away it went so anyways same car we've
got a issue with the crank sensor it's a 2009 Hyundai Accent you could watch that on video
how i dyag that and what it takes to replace that component from from the dealer that component was
$268 i went to some of my online resources 32 bucks yeah here's what you gotta know car manufacturers
didn't they don't make that sensor is made by what we call vendors vendors now make the components for
a lot of the automobiles and what do they do they assemble it that's what they do the vehicle is not
made by the manufacturer it's assembled by the manufacturer all the components that make it up
are made by vendors other companies making them components for them so number one is
roadworthiness so when we do our fall our spring and fall evaluations i'm not just looking for
stuff that sticks out that clearly says i'm i'm breaking and i'm gonna leave you on the side of
road we're looking for items normal wear and tear stuff as the vehicle gets older you're going to
need to upgrade it and if you wait till well i'm just going to see how far i can go before that
let's go that's not a good idea that doesn't work because you know what that does it leaves you with
a lot of stress and i always tell you there's two ways of owning an automobile and i'll explain that
in just a moment but we're not there yet so discovering whether or not your vehicle is
truly roadworthy means what we're looking for is items that are there's showing indicators of normal
wear and tear and then wear and tear by age so remember it's not mileage that matters it's
maintenance that matters that's where we've got to get you to change your mindset it has nothing
to do with mileage has everything with maintenance so all owning an older automobile doesn't matter
how old it is it's the maintenance factor if you're not willing to put in any maintenance then you
know once you've paid for that vehicle and it's outside a warranty guess what that's when everything
changes you now completely own it so that means mileage doesn't matter anymore because you're now
outside of warranty it's your baby it's now vehicle ownership you own it you're responsible for it the
manufacturer washes their hands of it so whatever happens from the next day forward it's on you
you can't pick up the phone and go oh well you know no you can't you can't do that because
they'll just say well um what's your mileage oh well we'd really like to help you but we can't
you're outside your mileage so they're going to remind you mileage now doesn't matter because
you're outside a warranty um what matters now is maintenance and who's paying and it's going to be
you unless you say well you know I don't want to have an older vehicle and you've got you know
scads of cash kicking around you know you have to kind of boot it out of the way because it's
everywhere you got 150 bank accounts and they're all full if you're that person hallelujah congratulations
but for most of us I think I can speak for most of us probably about 78% of of Canadians
are less than $200 from going broke that's really bad mind you that is it's a serious issue
so we need to take care of that older vehicle that we have and keep it going as long as we can
and you can but it's going to take maintenance so that's number one is taking a look at on a
regular basis at least twice a year and that is written all down for you on our car connection
fleet maintenance system is the evaluation how important that is to determine what what needs
to be serviced today tomorrow and next month so now near future distant future and that's how
you plan your strategy to stay ahead of maintenance instead of waiting until everything collapses all
at once and now you know the sky is falling because now you're looking at anywhere from
three to 5000 dollars in parts and service because labor has gone up because of
the cost of goods and the cost of goods keeps going up it's crazy so I spent a lot of time
shopping parts to get the best price without sacrificing quality of workmanship because we
don't like doing the job a second time we as me myself and I just so you know when I say we it's
me myself and I so I don't want to do the job the first time as a practice and then have to
take out a broken part that was just replaced six months prior and do the job again so I have
just like Earl Louise Grant have great resources for pre-owned automobiles low mileage and quality
prices I do the same I have my go-to websites that I can find the parts if I if they don't have it
I can go to another parts supplier and usually they have it so one way or another I have the
resources to hunt down the components I need so roadworthy that's most important so if anyone's
looking to buy a vehicle today I would say stay away from 2026 let the car manufacturers sort out
their problems look for something older that's been taken care of that's in great shape and you're not
taking the hit on depreciation yes because vehicles aren't a great investment unless you're
investing in vintage vehicles that go up in value and they cycle in and out all the time
you know this is hot then it's not this is this is the flavor of the year now it's not
and that's just the way it goes but for an average Joe everyday driver I'd be I'd be hunting for
something around 2016 with low mileage decent mileage on it and then taking really really
really good care of it you're being best you're being the best shape you can imagine because
you still once you're outside a warranty you're still paying parts and labor folks let's get to
let's get to let's cut through the crap and get to the reality once it's out of warranty it's your
baby you're paying parts and labor and maintenance whether it's three years old whether it's a three
year old car it's a 2023 or it's a 2016 either way you're paying parts and labor got me so just
remember that either way you're paying for the maintenance and that includes parts and labor
all right good I'm gonna continue to remind you on that because the talking heads have done a great
job at selling you something else that doesn't make sense whatsoever so next number two we gotta be in
the know that's why I have number one is roadworthy is it roadworthy could you go on a mega road
trip and many of you are going to be planning that and many of you might be you know going to
porch park and veranda beach this year I don't know but if your vehicle's ready to hit the road at
a moment's notice it gives you that peace of mind so being in the know creates peace of mind
and freedom you're not your brain's not rattling with will it make it are we gonna have problems
is it gonna break down and what's that gonna look like cost-wise that's not the way to own an
automobile at this time of year it's critical you need to be in the know not in the unknown the
unknown is what's going to leave you on the side of the road and ruin your vacation we don't want
to see that happen it doesn't have to happen now does that mean you throw a thousand dollars into
the car that makes that's a hundred percent guarantee you're gonna make it from point eight
point b and point b back to point a without issue absolutely not we don't have a crystal ball
we don't have a magic wand but here's what we can do as techs we can make you aware of what's
going on with your vehicle so the normal wear and tear items the serviceable items and things that
are coming on that we need to get to before they get to an expensive level so as i always mentioned
i've seen so many vehicles end up having to spend more money on them had they are brought it had
they brought it to the shop sooner so like a 200 dollar repair turning into a five
thousand dollar repair is not exaggerating it's fact all right let's move on number three
this is the time of year it's i mean the switch hasn't come on yet we've had a couple of practice
days where we hit hit into the eighties remember last summer well in our area so you know in canada
in the naga region man it was hotter than a pepper sprout all of july all of august wasn't it last
year like henry my uh john jeer tractor i brought him out to cut the grass i think twice and then
it just there wasn't any in our neighborhood here uh grass was pretty crispy heat is the enemy
heat is what causes a lot of mechanical failures on automobiles and equipment
and that's what we have to understand is we're now heading into the heat season and if there's
anything that's kind of on the edge of saying as to la vista baby i'm going to leave you
on the side of the road when it's steaming hot outside waiting four hours for road assistance
and that isn't even exaggerating so heat is the enemy that's what you have to understand
so although the car may may feel like everything is normal whatever that means nowadays what is
normal tell me in the email motormouth dot jenkins at gmail.com what is the new normal today i don't
know it's an idk i just can't give it any more gray matter number four tire condition and i've
listed two items back to back that will definitely cause some serious trip interruption and possibly
really give you a bad taste heading away on your vacation and you don't want that to be
the beginning of your vacation getting there and even getting back home safely without issue
makes it an absolute blessing vacation tire condition we need to get real are they good
are they aged six years that's the number six years so you need to look at this have your
tech look at the serial number on the tires and we did a video on that skippy and i it is on our
youtube channel you can hunt that down how to read the sidewall of the tire determine when it was
built so the year month date tires are good for six years after six years they're actually not allowed
to sell them they got to go for recycling so that is the the rule six year old tires so we need to
look at tire condition from how old are they not to how much tread is left folks well they're pretty
meaty that's the fella well he should be all right honey there's quite a bit of tread there well how
old is that rubber that's what we got to know so if you're going to head out on the roadways
loaded with a trailer and all the gear the kids the dog the vehicles packed out the totter behind
it is packed out the tires are going to work hard they're going to get hot the surface of the road
is hot and that's when they'll fail we that's why i call them whiz bangs and you don't want to
experience that when you've got something you're hauling behind the vehicle either and you don't
the tires on the the thing the thing that you're hauling that's attached to the trailer ball
the hitch you don't want it blowing a tire either so if you're towing something fellers
take a look at the age of the tires on whatever it is you're towing
that would be a really good idea and make sure that you service the wheel bearings
and if you have those bearings where you just shoot some grease into it that's not good enough
you need to take it the wheel off and inspect the bearings yeah that's not a maintenance free
thing kachung kachung kachung put a little blob a few blobs of grease in there oh i'll go a whole
lot more you know if little's good a lot more is better that's when you blow the seals out on those
things just so you know you got to know how to use them so tire condition extremely important
and let's not forget the spare tire as well and that all the tools are available to you
from the manufacturer of your vehicle so that if you had to change a flat and put the the spare tire
on that the spare works and that number two you have all the tools necessary to lift the vehicle up
if you got to do it yourself could you do it that's what you got to ask yourself
if i have a flat do i want to wait half a day for the service truck to come because you're not the
only person that's probably having a problem on a super hot day so plan ahead it's better to plan
than to fail right it's that we fail to plan not that we plan to fail but that's how it tends to
work and number five number one failure this time of year that brings most vehicles off the
roadways on a flatbed cooling system failure number one so if again just like tires have their date
six years stamp date that's the due date the sixth year it doesn't go to seven they need to be changed
the rubber is compromised by degradation uv rays just absolutely kill tires kill them
and they're black yeah and it tracks heat your cooling system has rubber components
hoses that decay from the inside out where you can't see what's going on again uh stealing a
well borrowing a statistic from gates canada one of the mega suppliers of belts and hoses
four years there you go so if you have a vehicle that's uh 360 so it's three years old
or 60 000 k warranties off you got about a year to go before you need to start upgrading some of
the belts and the hoses because it doesn't go by mileage it goes by age when it comes to
anything made of rubber it goes by age so four years belts and hoses should be replaced if you
don't you know if you want to see how far it'll go i mean if you're that type person good luck
because you're usually the one that freaks out the most when it's being hauled in on a flatbed
i gotta have my car and i can tell you all kinds of stories and i'm like um i didn't build it
i wasn't on the assembly line and it's all about maintenance how much usually i'll say
how much money have you spent on this car in the last three years and if it's husband and wife
they're looking their eyes are looking at each other waiting for one of them to answer and then
i'll go i'll make it easier how much money have you spent on your car in the last 12 months
and if i see the same eyes shifting back and forth i know what the answer is
zero not a zilch bupkus nothing nothing they're waiting to see what goes wrong and then fix it
when it goes wrong but they're the ones that get most excited when their car goes down trust me
been there done that got the shirt so cooling system failure if your vehicle is four years old
it needs a serious look at the cooling system belts and hoses and the condition of its antifreeze
this long life maintenance free antifreeze is such a stinking joke it's pathetic the marketing
team did a great job at snow jobbing all of us and if you go into our youtube channel
you will see a couple of videos where i bought i went out and i bought brand new antifreeze
and i tested it right off the shelf and in fact some of the jugs that i bought the antifreeze it was
long life antifreeze good for five years or 225 000 kilometers and it was already three years old
on the shelf so does that mean what the moment you buy it the five years starts it says it right on
the jug that it's five year 225 000 kilometer antifreeze and it was produced three years ago
and i paid full pop for it huh there you go so how much life is left in it two years 24 months
huh see the game folks that's why i'm here i'm here to help you not hurt you so cooling system
failure that one will get you every single time every time trip interrupt us and it'll be if you're
traveling on a sunday everything's closed pretty much there's no technicians for thousands of miles
and you're going to be laid up for a few days with no car
and that's not funny at that point because you're on your vacation so that's all i have for you
today uh till tomorrow morning have fun keeping under 100 put the coffee on it is Monday morning
i'm going to do the same in just a few moments everything we talk about here and on our youtube
channel everything that you need to connect with us is on the homepage of our website car
connection business network dot com cc busnet dot com you want to support the program or support
our youtube channel we now have um skippy made me get a page put together that's called and so we
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each and every week so you become a program partner so happy healthy motoring peace patience
and kindness it's monday morning we're starting the week together keep smiling and we'll see you
tomorrow morning for another motormouth morning drive at eight a.m right here in the car connection
workshop bye for now
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