The check engine light is a warning light on your car's dashboard. It means there might be something wrong with the engine, and you should have it checked out.
A lift is a tool that raises cars up into the air so mechanics can look underneath them. This helps them check for problems that you can't see when the car is on the ground.
The average price of a vehicle is how much people usually pay for cars. This price can change depending on how many people want to buy cars and other economic factors.
Carfax is a service that gives you a report on a car's history. It tells you if the car has been in accidents or has other issues, helping you make a better buying decision.
Rust is what happens to metal when it gets wet and starts to break down. It can make cars look bad and even cause them to fall apart if not taken care of.
A used car inspection is when a mechanic checks a second-hand car to see if there are any problems. This is important to make sure you don't buy a car that needs a lot of repairs.
Brakes are what help a car slow down or stop when you press the pedal. They are very important for safety while driving.
Term
$2,500
$2,500 is a large amount of money that could be needed for car repairs soon after buying it. It's important to be prepared for such costs.
Term
$50,000
$50,000 is a typical amount someone might pay for a new or nearly new car. It's important to think about how much you'll spend on the car overall, including repairs.
Front-end damage means that the front part of the car has been hurt, usually from an accident. This can include things like the bumper or hood being damaged.
An aftermarket warranty is like an insurance policy for your car that helps pay for repairs after the original warranty ends. It's important to read the details because not all warranties cover the same things.
The Chevrolet Equinox is a type of car called an SUV, which means it's bigger than a regular car and can hold more people and stuff. It's known for being comfortable and good on gas, making it a popular choice for families.
The PCV valve helps your car's engine run cleaner by recycling gases that would otherwise escape into the air. It's a small part but plays a big role in keeping the engine efficient and reducing pollution.
An overhead cam is a type of engine design where the part that controls the engine's valves is located above the engine's cylinders. This helps the engine run better.
Four-wheel drive means that all four wheels of a vehicle can get power from the engine, which helps it drive better on slippery roads or rough terrain.
A tow strap is a strong strap that helps pull cars out of trouble, like when they get stuck in the snow or mud. It's handy to have in case of emergencies.
The Porsche Cayman is a sporty car that is designed to be really fun to drive. It has a powerful engine and is built to handle well on the road, making it a favorite among people who love fast cars.
A recall happens when a car company tells people to bring their cars back because there is something wrong that needs to be fixed for safety or reliability.
The Audi Q7 is a fancy SUV that has a lot of room inside for people and their things. It's known for being comfortable and having nice features, which makes it a good option for families who want a bit of luxury.
A dipstick is a tool that helps you check how much oil is in your car's engine. You pull it out, wipe it clean, and then put it back to see the oil level.
But again, taking your car questions real quick. Opie made a great point and I just wanted to,
I want to get to Andy here shortly, just a minute. Yes, I do not like the Equinox,
not a huge fan of these smaller vehicles that are turbocharged and chained and everything like that.
And when I started doing this show, I really did like Kia and Hyundai as a brand. I really did.
I have since changed my opinion because I've seen too many of these come in left and right.
I mean, I want to say probably about a year, maybe a year ago, two years ago, I had a Kia and it was
not me personally, had a customer with a Kia and, you know, needed an engine and Kia's covering it.
I mean, they're doing the right thing, right? Because it's a 10-year, 100,000 mile warranty
and they're doing the right thing and there is a class action lawsuit and there is a recall and
they are replacing these engines. But this particular gentleman, he's like, hey, you know,
hey, I called the dealer. Yeah, it's covered. I'm a great. And he goes, but I'm number 100 on the
list. There's 99 cars in front of me. They're telling me it's going to be months and months
before I get an engine. So that should tell you that there's a massive problem. And, you know,
and again, 10 years ago, Kia was great. Hyundai, Kia, they were rock solid, but these newer ones
today, man, they just absolutely drink oil. And, you know, again, everybody's like, well, I don't
see it. I don't see any smoke and you don't. And what does everybody tell you? I change it once a
year. I change it every 10,000. I'll change it every, you know, BMW recommends once a year.
That is absurd, absurd. You know, I have a, I want to say it's a 2017 Audi Q7 at my shop.
It's a 17. It's a little older, less than 100,000 miles, needs an engine, you know, and,
you know, I've, it's $10,000 to fix it. And when we called them and they're like, oh, we'll just
junk it. I'm like, well, okay, we'll go ahead and bring us the title. Well, we still owe $20,000 on
it. I'm like, you know, I felt so bad, you know, they are, they're either forced to spend $10,000
to get their car running again, or they junk it and spend $20,000 to, you know, to, to junk it and
send me the title, you know, I never, ever want to see anybody do that, you know. And there's always
this mass, this mass confusion as to when you should be changing your oil. And I'm telling you,
with these newer cars, it's so important that you do it. Just like Obi said,
every Friday he checks his oil. If you have one of these cars, your Audi, your BMW, your Hyundai,
your Kia, your Chevy, you need to be checking your oil once, once a month until you get a grasp
on the amount of oil that it's using. Now, again, at Donovan's, you can bring your car to me,
I'll check your oil for free. It doesn't cost you anything. If you're like, hey, Dane, I don't know
how to check my oil. That's fine. And some cars don't even have dipsticks anymore. Sometimes you
have to go through the computer in order to check it. You know, and same as, you know,
air pressure, I see so many people that are paying, you know, $1.75. I mean, every single time I pass
a gas station that has an air pump, there's somebody there using it because their tires love,
right? Two things. One, you can go out and buy a pump on Amazon for, you know, pretty cheap
if you've got a low tire, but the tires don't, they're not supposed to lose air. If your tire is
losing air, it's because it has either a nail, a screw, a hole, the valves leaking, the rims leaking,
those tires are not supposed to lose air. I mean, I've had, I have cars that are,
I've got one that's been at my shop for, shouldn't be there, but it's been there eight months. All the
air, all the air in the tires are still in there, right? So if you're putting air in your tire
once a week, once a month, it has a hole and it can, and it can be repaired and it can be fixed.
Okay. So it's, you gotta just, you have to be aware of your vehicle nowadays because they just,
they just don't last as, they, they, they're just not what they used to be. And I'm here to try to
help you out to save you from wasting thousands and thousands of dollars because somebody lied to
you that they, they, they told you that you should, the salesman that sold you their car says, oh,
change it every 10,000. That's wrong. It's dead wrong. And I've never had anybody call me here
and prove me wrong. Can a car go 10,000 miles on oil change? Yes.
Will a car go 10,000 miles? Will the mo, will most or majority of vehicles make it 10,000 miles on
an oil change? No. Why? Because there's no oil in it. So I'm here to tell you, you know, yes, cars
can go 10,000 miles, but they're all of these vehicles the way they're designed due to, you know,
the, if the government standards as far as fuel efficiency goes is they burn oil and they put
the, the, the, the oil viscosity just gets thinner and thinner and thinner. These new
Toyotas are zero W eight. When I got into this industry, it was 1540 for a diesel and 10 W 30
for a car. Now we have zero 20, zero 16, five 20, five 30. Now zero, I mean, I have to stock,
you know, so much oil because every single car calls for a different grade, but that oil just
gets thinner and thinner. I mean, it's literally water. And then you sit there and you go, I wonder
why it's, it's using oil because it's going right past the rings and it's burning it up.
And then guess what? The, the, the vehicle that you bought in, in three years has got a blown
engine. And guess what you got to do? You got to go out and buy a new one, but you got to spend
$20,000 in order to junk it. So you can go buy a new one. I don't want to see anybody do that.
You know, so it, and it's something that anybody can do it. Again, if you're in the tri-state area
and you, if you don't know how to, I mean, you know, we, there are resources out there. You can go
to Google, you can go to YouTube, they'll show you, right? Or you can bring it to, if you're
locally, you can bring it to a dime of an entire and just go, Hey, my oil lights on, most cars don't
have the oil light. And everybody has this pre, this, this understanding that, oh, if my car's
low on oil, the, the, the low oil light will come on. No, they don't. I can tell you that I have
cars that come in that have zero oil in them. Half a quart system holds five quarts of oil.
It has a half a quart of oil in it. No oil light. Custom brings it in because the check engine lights
on and it's running bad. It's running bad because it doesn't have any oil in it. Check engine lights
on because it doesn't have any oil in it. The oil lights don't come on. And, you know, reason being
is, you know, it's much, it's better for you to blow your car up. So you go out buy a new one.
I don't want to see you do that. It's, it's so important that you just check it. And again,
you can bring it to any of your repair shops and just say, Hey, check my oil. If it needs a little
bit of oil, pay him for, it's the cheapest and best thing that you can do to prolong the life
of your car. Otherwise, it's going to be, you're going to, it's going to be so much more money.
It's, you know, it's just, it's so important. So, and do not buy an aftermarket warranty
ever. Opie made it at a great point. Do not ever buy an aftermarket warranty. If you want to buy
a extended factory warranty, I'm okay with that because it's still with whatever manufacturer,
Ford, Honda, Hyundai, whatever. Do not ever buy an aftermarket warranty. You see,
when you sit down and you're watching TV, how many times do you see an aftermarket warranty company
advertising on the, on the, on the TV? I mean, I, I can't tell you, I can't watch any show
on TV without seeing an aftermarket warranty company. That should tell you something. Same as
when you sit down, how many, how many, you know, and I won't, I don't want to get
delve into it or get into it too much, but how many times you sit down and you see,
you know, you need this drug, you need this drug, you need this drug. That usually is a red flag
that probably, you know, they're making a tremendous amount of money by selling product that,
you know, you don't need, in my opinion, and you don't need an aftermarket warranty.
They are a nightmare. And just like Opie said, his mother-in-law or his mother bought one,
can't fight it, got money back to, for, for purchasing it, but now she still has a car
that needs an engine. She just wasted all that money, all those resources, not to mention the
attorney's fees. I'm sure that wasn't free. You know, they, there's a, there's a story here,
and it's just, it's lies. It is making sure that you just check your oil, be aware of your vehicle,
and what's going on with it. It doesn't cost a tremendous amount of money. It really doesn't.
I'm here to tell you, it's very inexpensive to upkeep your car. And the number one thing to,
the two number one, or I'm sorry, the number one and number two thing to do is
make sure that you're checking your oil and that it's full into when you buy a used vehicle.
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available at public.com slash disclosures. You get it inspected by a professional so you don't
buy somebody else's problems because it's expensive, right? Those are the two best things that you
could do to have a vehicle last you 200, 300,000 miles. And so, all right, I'm off my soapbox.
I'm off my rant. So coming up, we have Andy. You're listening to the car show on 55KRC,
the talk station. Way back in 1958, my grandfather opened Donovan's Auto Entire Center right here
in Cincinnati. A lot has changed since then, but our commitment to honest auto repair hasn't.
We believe in making sure your vehicle gets everything it needs and nothing it doesn't,
because as a family owned business with our name on the wall, integrity matters. From 1958 to today,
Donovan's Auto Entire Center is still Cincinnati's honest choice for auto repair and we're proud to
keep this city moving. Three area locations. Find yours at DonovanTire.com. This is 55KRC,
an iHeart radio station. Taking your car questions. You're listening to the car show on 55KRC,
the talk station. And let's go to the phones. We're going to go right to the phones. Andy.
Hey, Andy, welcome to the car show. How can I help? Thank you for holding.
No problem, Dr. Donovan. Good to talk to you. So I had to get on my soapbox. You know, sometimes I
get amped up in that stuff because I just feel like people are lied to. And then I have to have
these conversations with people. And it's part of the job, but man, I hate ruining and
raining on people's parades. And I feel like I've got this platform. I need to be out there and
be a cheerleader for everybody. Like, hey, listen, don't make these mistakes because I see it day in
and day out. So, but I apologize. Go ahead. How can I help you? Let's see. I've got a 2010 town in
country. It's got the 3.8 liter Hemmy. And, uh, no, it's not a Hemmy. I figured you'd appreciate
the joke. Anyways, about four or five years ago, had a coolant leak, local shop, zeroed in. That was
the, uh, I think maybe a lower intake gasket. I think is what they swapped out. That could be wrong.
But anyways, they just said, hey, while we're in there, do you want us to swap out the thermostat?
I'm like, yeah, if you recommend it, that's fine. They swapped it out, put it all back together.
Soon after, there was pretty cold out like zero degrees. We're driving. And notice that the
engine would not warm up. So I called the mechanic and he said, yeah, it must be the,
just a bad thermostat, swapped it out, did it again, took a third time. He said,
he just called Christ and got a thermostat from them. And ever since then, the engine warms up
like it's supposed to. But ever since then, I've noticed that when it is cold, maybe less than 20
degrees outside and we're driving, you know, the windows naturally will start to frost up
because it's so cold. But we've noticed that the, the defrost is never completely can get the frost
off the windshield, the side windows. And I don't know if that's related. I've just never had that
with any of our other cars not being able to fully defrost the windows when it's cold out.
So I thought I'd call the good doctor. Absolutely. So let me ask you something. So the heat,
if it's blowing out of the vents, you've got great heat, correct?
We do. And I don't, I don't smell any coolant. I don't smell any leaks. So I know what they did
work. But basically when you turn on the defrost, it's not, it's not, it's not getting rid of the,
the dew on the, or the, you know, the frost on the, on the windows, correct?
That's right. Yeah. Like the condensation on the inside, it'll do enough to look out the windshield,
but it's, sometimes it gets, it's a little dicey drive in it. Sure. All right. So let me ask you
something. Do you, in the summer, during the summer, did the air conditioning work?
It does work. Although I know there must be a leak because we'll have to
get it recharged periodically, maybe once a year. Okay. All right.
So probably back in November, I had it recharged just because I thought, well,
maybe that's it. Maybe because it doesn't have any, you know, free on it, that it's not actually
defrosting. But that didn't seem to work either. Okay. So, you know, typically, you know,
when you turn on the, on all vehicles, when you turn on the defrost, the compressor will kick on
because that dries out the air, right? So there is a possibility that even though you had it done
in November, it could be, you know, the problem is as cold as it is, they really can't, the only
thing they can do is hook it up to a machine, find out, fill it up. And, and, but if you're
telling me the defrost is not working, first and foremost, we need to find out if the one,
the compressor is kicking on. So you can do that at home, right? So you get in there. If you could,
you get in there, pop the hood, locate the compressor, have your wife turn the defrost on.
If you see the compressor kick on, it's starting to move. Great. Compressors working. Compressor,
it might be full of freon, but the compressor is not working. Maybe the compressor is bad.
So we need to find out first if the compressor is kicking on. If it's kicking on, great. But
still could be below on freon. Even though you had it done in November, it still could have leaked
out. Does it have rear air? Do you know if like, okay. I do remember over the summer, we had the
rear air. I know one of the parts went out. We had it replaced. I know they probably recharged
the system then on the rear air. All right. So here's the game plan. If you can't friend,
neighbor, wife, kids, whatever, start the car, turn the defrost off, and then you pop the hood,
you locate the compressor, you'll see it at the bottom, and you ask them just to turn the defrost
on and see if that clutch activates. Just see if it activates, right? And you'll see it like,
you'll see the belt moving all of a sudden as soon as you hit it, the clutch, it turns on a magnet.
It comes together and boom, it kicks. If it's doing that, great. Okay. Next step is probably to
see if it's low on freon. Now, they can, even though it's cold, it may have leaked out just
enough to where it's not drying out that air enough in order to defrost it. So, you know,
and they're going to tell you, hey, Andy, it's too cold out, you don't need to charge your AC.
I get that, but your defrost isn't working, right? If they say, hey, Andy, it's full of freon,
the other thing that you can do is just make sure that you get some Windex,
and you, with a, you know, that has ammonia in it, and you absolutely do your, your best
at cleaning those, getting all the dirt, the grime, the grease, getting that all off of there.
That's going to help as well. It still continued to do it, but, you know, far too often, yeah,
we can see out of it, but, you know, kids touch it, they're breathing, you know, my kids,
they get in my car, in my truck, and, you know, they're blowing on the glass, and they're writing
their name, and you got all that dirt and that grease, and that's going to, that's going to
play a part too. So, make sure the compressor's kicking on, make sure it's full of freon, and then
do, you know, there's, there's other companies, there's other products out there,
but make sure that that windshield, all those windows are, are clean with ammonia,
and get all the dirt, grime, and grease off of it. And then if it still doesn't do it,
I need you to call me back because I, I don't know, those are pretty much the three things that you
can do in order to, to make sure the defrost works, make sure your kids aren't touching the glass.
That's why I don't let mine do it. All right. Hey, thanks for the call. Have a great weekend.
Hey, listen, thank you so much everybody for calling. I apologize to the other vehicles,
the other, the other listeners I couldn't, I couldn't get to, I do apologize. I will be out
next week. Unfortunately, I'll be out of town, but the following week I'll be back.
Thank you so much everybody. Have a great weekend. You're listening to Car Show on 55KRC,
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About this episode
Dane Donovan dives deep into the importance of due diligence when purchasing used vehicles, emphasizing the necessity of thorough inspections to avoid costly mistakes. He shares personal anecdotes and advice on how to spot potential issues, particularly with rust and previous damage. The episode also touches on the significance of regular maintenance, including oil checks, and the pitfalls of aftermarket warranties. Listeners are encouraged to be proactive in vehicle care to ensure longevity and safety on the road.
In this episode of the car show, host Dane Donovan dives into the importance of inspecting a used vehicle before purchasing. He shares a personal story about a friend who bought a pre-owned Lexus with a clean Carfax report but still had significant front-end damage. Dane emphasizes the need to go beyond just checking the Carfax report and to have a professional inspection done. He also discusses the risks of buying a vehicle with a turbocharged engine, citing issues with oil consumption and the importance of regular oil checks.
