Warmer weather is coming, but the host keeps the “out-of-town breakdown” focus front and center—especially around the May 24 long weekend. The show argues that tracking maintenance and doing a pre-trip “critical v review” reduces panic and prevents small issues from turning into big, safety-critical problems. Using a 2007 FJ Cruiser example, they connect minor symptoms to later braking concerns and warn about misdiagnosis and shop incentives. When trouble hits, loop in your home mechanic first to keep control.
Heading out for the Victoria Day Long Weekend or planning a summer road trip?Before you hit the highway, there are four things every driver should know to avoid turning a vacation into a roadside nightmare.
In today's episode, Motormouth breaks down how to reduce your chances of a break down before it happens, why a critical vehicle review matters, and how the Car Connection Fleet maintenance System helps drivers stay ahead of repairs all year long.
Then we tackle the worst-case scenario-your vehicle breaks down far from home. What do you do next? Don't panic. Your trusted mechanic back home can become your biggest ally when your car lands at an unfamiliar repair shop. Learn how to protect yourself from unnecessary repairs. poor diagnostics, and expensive parts-cannon guessing while getting safely back on the road.
Smart preparation. real-world advice. Less panic.More Control.
#CarCare. #RoadTripReady #AutomotiveAdvice
Help us to Grow our Friends: ChannelLike, Subscribe, Leave your comment, ring the Bell, so you don't miss the next rescue project, maintenance tips, and real world car ownership advice. Thank You So Much, Skippy & Motormouth❤️
Motormouth Merch available online at (ccbusnet.com) store, all proceeds go to Total Freedom Addiction Campuses Canada & USA helping those ready to say good by to t heir addiction for good! Your Support is Very Much Appreciated❤️ Skippy & Motormouth
More episodes and..... project Links are 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 on their logo to meet them. Thank You For giving them your support friends👍 Nile Motormouth Jenkins
We'll see you in the next one❤️ Skippy & Motormouth
"it's a great way for you to educate yourself and grab some more automotive advice maintenance tips that will keep you out of hot water"
Here, “maintenance tips” just means advice on how to take care of your car so small problems don’t turn into big, costly ones.
In this context, “maintenance tips” refers to practical guidance for keeping a vehicle in good working order—especially things that prevent breakdowns or expensive repairs. The host frames it as staying “out of hot water,” meaning avoiding avoidable failures through timely service.
"The series continues this week with the 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser in doing the last bit of service on the FJ Cruiser changing the summies over from the winters has revealed some very disturbing things"
The Toyota FJ Cruiser is a rugged, off-road–friendly SUV with a classic “retro” design. This episode mentions a 2007 one, which matters because older cars can reveal wear problems during normal maintenance.
The Toyota FJ Cruiser is a retro-styled SUV built on Toyota’s truck-based platform, known for its rugged, off-road look and simple, durable mechanicals. A 2007 example is specifically relevant because older FJ Cruisers often surface wear items during routine service—like suspension/brake-related components—once seasonal driving changes.
Term
out of town breakdown
"we want to prevent you having an out of town breakdown and that usually comes along with two things first the car and then your nerves at the same time"
An out-of-town breakdown is when your car stops working while you’re away from home. It’s stressful because help and familiar shops aren’t nearby, so planning ahead matters.
An out-of-town breakdown is when a vehicle fails while you’re away from your usual area, which increases risk because you may lack local knowledge, support, or quick access to the right parts and service. The hosts emphasize preparation to avoid being stranded in an unfamiliar place.
"tracking your own vehicle maintenance all year round you know what happens you don't have this humongous panic because you're going away for the weekend"
Vehicle maintenance just means doing the regular checkups and services your car needs. The idea is to prevent small problems from turning into a breakdown when you’re far from home.
Vehicle maintenance is the scheduled upkeep that keeps wear items (like fluids and filters) within normal operating condition. The hosts frame it as a way to reduce the odds of an out-of-town breakdown by catching problems before a trip.
"and you got to watch the videos to see well what was that it turned into a bunch of maintenance [1958.0s] that needed to be done and now it's all that's all done but now we got an issue in the braking system
[1965.7s] on the front and brakes I've always said if you can't stop it or steer it nothing else really"
Your braking system is what helps the car slow down and stop. If something’s wrong with it, the car might not stop as well or as quickly as it should.
The braking system is the set of components that slow and stop the car, including the brake pads/rotors and the hydraulic or electronic control parts. If there’s an issue here, the car may not stop reliably, which is why it’s treated as a top safety priority.
"I redid the car connection fleet maintenance schedule so that you have it and you can track
[2000.6s] yourself and if you want to scoot for a weekend with the vehicle you don't need to panic to get it"
A fleet maintenance schedule is a planned routine for keeping vehicles in good shape. Instead of waiting for problems, it helps you check and service things on time.
A fleet maintenance schedule is a planned checklist of service intervals and inspections for multiple vehicles (often used for business or shared use). The goal is to catch wear items early and keep vehicles from breaking down unexpectedly.
"so you
[2060.7s] haven't missed anything that's what's going to make the difference number two so if you're not
[2067.4s] doing that then you're going to be that person hey we're going to honey we're going away for the may
[2072.8s] 24 weekend"
They’re talking about checking your car before a trip so you don’t get stuck with problems on the road.
This segment focuses on the practical habit of following a maintenance plan and doing a critical review before leaving town. It’s framed as the way to avoid surprises during a trip.
"and if you haven't had the vehicle checked over
[2093.5s] then the increase of the percentile that you're going to have a roadside breakdown increases
[2101.2s] and there's a very good chance something is going to rear its ugly head"
A roadside breakdown is when your car has a serious problem while you’re on the road and can’t keep going normally. The point is that checking the car before a trip helps prevent that.
A roadside breakdown is when a vehicle stops running or becomes unsafe to drive while you’re away from home, often requiring towing or roadside assistance. The segment argues that regular pre-trip checks reduce the odds of this happening during travel.
"and I don't need to have brake failure on the side of the road with that trailer on the back loaded with heavy wood it's going to push me right into the roadway I won't be able to get it stopped"
Brake failure means the brakes don’t work properly, so the car can’t slow down or stop like it should. If you’re towing a heavy trailer, that can be especially dangerous because you need more stopping power.
Brake failure means the braking system can’t slow or stop the vehicle as intended. With a trailer loaded heavily, reduced braking ability can make it much harder to avoid traffic and can increase stopping distance.
"it's not good it needs to be looked at so we need a critical vehicle review to get started that means someone you trust to look the vehicle over for you"
A critical vehicle review is basically a careful check before you leave. The idea is to catch safety problems early and make sure you’re prepared so you’re not stuck later.
A critical vehicle review is a structured, pre-trip inspection focused on identifying safety-related issues before you drive. Here, it’s framed as having a trusted person inspect the vehicle, then turning that findings list into an organized plan for what to check and carry.
"that means someone you trust to look the vehicle over for you and make a list then you transpose that list onto your fleet maintenance vehicle kit there you go the kit and now you're on your way"
A fleet maintenance vehicle kit is a prepared set of tools and supplies for keeping vehicles running. The host’s point is to plan ahead—use the inspection results to decide what you should have with you.
A fleet maintenance vehicle kit is a set of tools, supplies, and documentation used to support vehicle upkeep and quick troubleshooting across multiple vehicles. In this segment, the host describes using an inspection list to build/organize that kit so the driver can handle common issues and reduce downtime.
"now you're going to have to deal with repair shops fellas that don't know you from Adam don't know anything about the history of your automobile what's been serviced last with what's not"
The segment highlights a common real-world issue: when a vehicle breaks down away from home, you may end up at a repair shop that doesn’t know your car’s service history. Without that context, it can be harder to verify what’s actually needed versus what’s being sold.
"...it turned out it didn't need a new engine it needed a fuel injector... it was misfiring and running poorly and really sounding horrendously bad and it all turned out to be just an injector..."
A fuel injector is a small component that delivers fuel to the engine. If it’s not working right, the engine can run badly and sound rough—even if it doesn’t actually need a whole new engine.
A fuel injector is the part that sprays pressurized fuel into the engine so it can burn efficiently. If an injector is faulty, the engine can misfire, run roughly, and feel like it has “lost power” even though the underlying issue isn’t always major engine damage.
"...it just turned out to be a bad fuel injector was misfiring and running poorly and really sounding horrendously bad..."
Misfiring is when the engine doesn’t burn fuel in a cylinder the way it should. It can make the car shake, run rough, and sound terrible.
Misfiring means one or more cylinders aren’t igniting properly during combustion. That can cause rough running, vibration, and loud or unpleasant engine noises, and it can be triggered by issues like a bad fuel injector.
"...make sure that you have your car connection fleet maintenance service all set up for you so that anytime you need to get away you don't have to panic to get the vehicle into the shop..."
Car Connection is mentioned as a company that helps you plan vehicle service so you’re not stranded when you’re traveling.
Car Connection is referenced as a service provider for keeping a vehicle maintained and ready when you’re traveling. In this segment, it’s positioned as a way to avoid being stuck waiting at a shop while you’re away.
Select text to request an explanation
good morning friends you're tuned into car connection where the coffee's hot
the tools are ready and the talk is always tuned up I'm your host Nile
motormouth 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 saving you money and giving you the confidence to understand what's
under that hood so from the classics to the commuters the weird noises to those
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 a few good laughs and I'm Nile motormouth
Jenkins and we are shifting in to drive here on a Monday morning we've got your
daily weather coming up in just a few moments and our morning swiggy so if
you're joining us for the very first time welcome aboard don't forget your pack
of 16 Crayola crayons my favorite they don't taste too bad don't know why I
said that and the leaf bag a freshly pressed car connection leaf bag that's
our laptop you never have to take a hammer to it and it never goes dark
screen you're in good shape so hand that over to your sidekick if you've got a
co-pilot this morning if not and you're scrambling to get through the drive
through keep in mind it's Monday morning the switch may not be fully on quite
yet so I would flub dipple ripple check your order this morning no disrespect but
this is what we know I spent a lot of years and a lot of hours on the road and
many disappointments going I don't drink black tea good golly so just check that
out so our swiggy here's how it works if you're brand new to us no problem we'll
get you up to speed in a hurry so you have your morning beverage ready whatever
that flavor is for you it's okay with us in the shop here it's 99.5 percent
octane boost not a penny less but I have my herbals in the morning to get my
battery charge then it's coffee time yeah because I'm dealing with those
cortisol things that make you shape like a pear or the stay puff marshmallow man
so no coffee for one hour after you wake up it works that's all I'm gonna say we
are still on the cusp of running our 30-day fuel savings challenge but we
need the weather to cooperate but it looks like it's not going to happen this
week the weather change is looking more like next week is going to be bringing
us some 70s so hang on to your hats I've got everything ready to fly get
yourself prepared to jump on board and take on the 30-day fuel savings challenge
which will put at very minimum a hundred bucks back in your pocket every month
I'll coach you but you have to do the work that's kind of the way it is so
thanks for joining us this morning and this Monday morning we'll have the
daily weather brought to us by City Auto Sales and Leasing Earl Louise Grant
husband and wife team been in the pre-owned auto business for almost 25
years providing low mileage quality vehicles at fair prices you don't need
to go anywhere else folks because you will be treated very very well there and
be able to buy with confidence and be treated with nothing less than honesty
and integrity that's how they've earned the moniker greater Toronto area's
premier pre-owned auto store they carry a decent inventory under roof and outside
but if you don't see the vehicle that you're looking for don't panic babies
just get in touch with Earl Louise Grant tell him what you're looking for if
there's anything decent out there through the resources they've created over 25
years they'll find it but if it's not if it's junk Earl's not gonna bring it home
for you and if they're wanting way too much money for it he's gonna leave it
right where it is so they'll do all that legwork for you they have in-house
financing and leasing as well so check in with City Auto Sales and leasing and
thank them for bringing today's podcast to you here on all podcast platforms
Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Podbean and the like so wherever you're pulling your
podcast from type in car connection workshop you'll find us because we are
giving you more ways to watch listen and engage and remember this cars don't
break when it's convenient they break when it hurts so let's jump into our
morning weather and find out what we're gonna be dealing with today today's
topic by the by is out of town breakdown we're gonna talk about that I have four
points to share with you and remember spend some time and read the description
not only for our YouTube videos but also for the podcast videos because I
purposely put more information there that I don't even talk about so it's a
great way for you to educate yourself and grab some more automotive advice
maintenance tips that will keep you out of hot water and the series continues
this week with the 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser in doing the last bit of service
on the FJ Cruiser changing the summies over from the winters has revealed some
very disturbing things so you're gonna have to stay tuned for that we're gonna
video that today skip you'll be here in a couple of hours we'll be shooting some
more videos today I have something there to share with you that many of you will
experience so I'm utilizing our situation to show you how you can stay out of
that situation ahead of schedule so you don't have these things happening to you
so bringing some stuff into the light so don't forget to like share subscribe
follow and ring the notification bell so that you don't miss a single edition and
thank you to a bunch of you have made sure that you are subscribed to our
YouTube channel so it doesn't matter what age group you are male female single
married divorced widowed living under a rock in a box with a fox you will learn
five things from every single video that we shoot what it is where it is how it
works how it breaks and how you could just grab hold of a bunch of nuggets on
the basic fundamentals of looking after your automobile on your own and it
doesn't have to be difficult because it's not if you can make a grocery list you
can track your vehicles maintenance and we have it completely put together for
you now we've revamped our car connection maintenance schedule kit after all these
years we've given a facelift we've put it together on a profile page on our
website so that you can look at it thoroughly before you make a decision
to what take charge your vehicle maintenance keep that older vehicle as
long as you want because mileage doesn't matter period it doesn't mileage does
not matter what matters is you're tracking the maintenance and staying
ahead of the curve and then you don't have to do the car game and deal with the
manufacturers selling junk that you have to pay for when you go out of warranty
because all those repairs come come on top of you afterwards so all the short
comings of the vehicle that were covered under warranty once you step over
that threshold it's your dime and that's what they hope for their hope is they
know what the shortfalls are on their vehicles they've been doing it for years
since like 1992 from what I can remember nothing has changed it's only gotten
worse you don't want one of those things in your driveway because once you go to
60000 and one kilometer and the engine poops out or the transmission
let's go or anything else major it's your dime and that's what they hope for so
don't play the car game learn stuff learn as much as you can and I'm giving
away the nuggets so bring your picks and shovels this morning I've got a bunch
more for you to to take down and we've got three more videos that have gone up
for this week they're already there ready to fly two for Tuesday one every
Friday we'll be shooting more videos today we have a new series coming it was
gonna start today but on the weekend and we're getting some more work done on
07 FJ cruiser just short of 400,000 K I discovered something that I suspected
all along but people were not telling me the truth mm-hmm so I'm gonna blow them
in there's gonna be a conversation at some point this afternoon very
delicately but it's gonna be brought to the table and the the thing that I
brought to their attention twice and got told well you know that's that's it is
what it is motor mouth that's the best we can do not good enough so stick around
thank you again to those who have helped us with our 97% non-subscribers but
you're loving the videos thing so we need some more we're almost at 500
subscribers and then we got 500 to go to get monetized so help us out if you're
loving the videos and you want to learn a lot more and be able to sit and watch
and we're very conscious of your time so we keep our videos around 15 to 22
minutes and we'll do a series instead of just killing you crushing you with like
a 90-minute segment or 52-minute segment I'd rather you watch for 15-20 minutes
and come back and watch part 2 part 3 so ultimately we got to finish out our
spring evaluation on the 07 FJ cruiser and show you what's going on there now
so we can deal with that and not be dealing with that on the road this
summer not good you want to take care of all that stuff right now so again make
sure you're subscribed if you're loving the videos do us a favor skip you and I
we do work very very hard bringing you content always and we appreciate you so
much help us to get to the thousand subscribers and then things start to
really go from in park into first gear and that I appreciate that and for all
the influencers out there that you enjoy on YouTube I'll speak up for them too is
if you're loving their videos be kind enough to do the little things like
share follow put a comment down it only takes a split second to do that even I
can do that and I generally put a pinned comment in there to get the
conversation going so I know I can do it and you can do it subscribe ring the
notification bell these things don't cost you anything and you're getting all
that information on your favorite YouTube channels for free no one's
sending you a bill but we're putting the time in so that we can get the
algorithms to spread us out there and then we can get some Google money and
that helps to definitely pay there's costs there's costs to everything and
there's costs to being an online influencer if it weren't for the program
partners that have come over for us to come at least cover our basic expenses
there's no money left for coffee even so we're going to put up some time this
week the that you'll be able to buy Skippy and I a coffee alright so stay
tuned for that and again we thank those who have stepped up because I see the
analytics and we pushed up we're just shy of 500 so if we could do a big
squeeze this week and make sure that you are subscribed we can hit that 500 by
Wednesday and that'll be exciting because then the second 500 shouldn't
take too long well here's what we got for weekend weather again thank you to
earn Louise Grant at City auto sales and leasing they can find all our
program partners their logos and recommended businesses that you don't
hear about because they are on our car connection business network website we
have completely revamped everything and rebuilding it after the the wonderful
COVID campaign you know you just can't fix stupid we've tried there's no
tooling for it so thank you and your prayers are welcome just want to let
you know that thank you just pray for us would you lift this up we got a lot of
we got a lot of irons in the fire and a lot of tools in the drawer and trying
to utilize them as much as possible to bring you the best of the possible best
that we can 40 degrees right now I did stick my head out the gopher hole it's
not too shabby but the wind is making it feel colder about 38 degrees cloudy
conditions from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. today with partly cloudy conditions expected
around 1 p.m. so today's temperature range here it is 40 degrees to 53 degrees
gonna feel more like 37 to 49 we've got a zero on the precipitation meter so well
like I said I've looked at the 10-day forecast things aren't going to head
towards betterment till next week but you never know once in a while a blind
hog can find an acorn all right let's enjoy our morning swiggy and get into
our topic this morning thank you to the team at Niagara Block for building
Canada since 1931 located at 5,000 Montrose Road in Niagara Falls but a
building supplies so if you're building a workshop or a building you need blocks
you need angle irons you need rebar they have all that there they make
everything on site except for the metal but they make all the custom stuff that
you need to put your building together if you're looking to create a wonderful
backyard landscape you know that oasis that outdoor living space they can help
you from start to finish to create that project and finish the project and you
enjoy it along with your family your friends and your peeps so hardscape
landscaping materials they can make you an English walkway they have all the
fancy pebbles and stones and stuff as well as all the materials that you need
to create that gorgeous landscaping for you to hang out just and be
it I'll tell you it is worth it it's absolutely worth it if you need a
contractor you check in with Kathy Greenwell at the front office and let her
know because they have contractors that they know that they can refer you to that
will get the jobs estimated design started finished and then you sit back
and enjoy how cool is that so thank you to Dave and Kathy Greenwell and Dan David's
brother they've been doing this since 1931 helping Canada be built I think that
is so cool so thank you to the Greenwell family for doing that and let's have our
morning swiggy get your cup ready you got it on 321 it's time to have
a swiggy together thank you to Niagara block 321 what was that oh put
a couple of slices of ginger in there that works all righty then we're ready
to go how about you all right let's dive in this morning so don't forget the car
connection I'm just chewing on this piece of whoa that's really hot that's some
ginger from Peru that's smoking hot that'll clear you out there goes the sign
it says we've built and a laminated reusing reusable car connection fleet
maintenance system that makes it simple for you to follow along and track your
vehicles own maintenance true very true I've been using it for years and then
back in the early 2000s I converted it to work with any type of automobile
whatsoever and I use that in my own shop to help keep my customers vehicles on
track with their maintenance so just like you ladies before you get out of the
the hair salon you do what you book another appointment and that's what I would do with my
clients on the Hamilton mountain is we book a meeting from a meeting to stay on top of their
vehicle maintenance because the last thing I would want is one of my customers coming in on the
flatbed when I knew that if we could keep these vehicles well maintained we could certainly
reduce that opportunity of that happening so we worked hard on that so in 07 was when I released
the car connection maintenance system to our car connection listeners and we went on the air in
1996 with car connection our radio broadcasts our live call-in automotive program and it went berserk
and then I had to pull it because I couldn't keep up so now we've redone it and set it all up for
you so no no excuses are going to count here because if you can make a grocery list and make a
check mark you've pretty much got this thing down pat because I've made the grocery list
you make the check mark when the service has been done you go done check and then on to the next
so I've created the list of services and maintenance that need to be done in order to keep your vehicle
long term and as I said earlier in the pro this morning's program mileage does not matter folks
you got to not listen to the the talking heads because that's how you lose the car game I'm
teaching you how to play the car game which I have done for decades now and you'll win you don't
need to go and get a piece of their junk and pay interest and principal on it keep that older vehicle
going and especially in this economy that's like putting money back in your pocket it doesn't matter
whether you've got a vehicle two years old three years old five years old it's out of warranty it's
your dime it's called vehicle ownership it's going to need maintenance it's going to need parts
the old the beauty of the older vehicles is you don't have to go to the dealership for parts
there's lots of aftermarket parts available to keep that older vehicle running and save money at
the same time so all we have to do is change our mindset if every day you had to climb into your
bulldozer and break up the earth it's crust with it to get paid how important you own the bulldozer
how important would that bulldozer be to you to make sure that that thing you can hop in and
fire it up and work all day so if the bulldozer isn't working you don't get any money how important
would that bulldozer be to you when you know if it doesn't move I don't eat it'd be pretty important
wouldn't it all of a sudden it would be crazy important to take care of your bulldozer because
if it isn't working you're not eating that's simple and that's how you've got to change the mindset
about your automobile I don't need to go replacing them all the time and you don't either I'm teaching
you exactly what I do to make it a winner in the car game because you can absolutely so let's jump
in to our topic this morning so go into our website at carconnectionbusinessnetwork.com
there's a full page on our car connection fleet maintenance system folks and it isn't going to
tag I've put on it because I'm selling you my knowledge and I've made it affordable special
pricing for those who are subscribed to our youtube channel if you're not you can fix that and get
the special pricing so check that out and if you want to win in the car game you're going to need
that tool to help you because it will help you a lot because you'll be working just like I am
following along my maintenance system chart and knowing what needs to be done now near future
in distant future also on the home page all the all the logos are there for our program partners
and recommended businesses just click in it opens a profile page on our website and all the pages
are set up the same so there's no confusion and you know just last week I had did you get the census
thing in here in Ontario oh my goodness I think I would rather have stabbed myself in the kneecap
with a sharp pencil yeah I got 53% of the census done and I needed to bail out I didn't have enough
time to to finish it so you click on the button that says leave and save so I did but apparently
you have to wait for another box to pop up somewhere that says create a password so you
don't lose what you just saved so guess what happened I lost it all when did I find out about the
other button that says create a password so you don't lose what you saved after 45 minutes of my
phone on speaker while I'm working in editing videos waiting to hear from somebody I'm working on two
computers I'm doing the census and I'm editing and I was already at 49% again on the census by
the time somebody got on the phone and and then said oh did you make a password before you left
the screen no I did not how would I know to do that I clicked on the box that said save return later
well there's a another box there somewhere that's what he said there's another box there's
somewhere that says create password oh I said well thank you for your time but I'm just about done now
yeah our website's not like that click on the logo it opens for any business you select and
thank you for supporting them top right hand corner all the platforms are there for you to connect
with us YouTube Instagram Facebook we put reels and bloopers up there Skippy does a great job at
doing that she also takes care of the Stevensville on the web dot ca website that she created bringing
business and community together in the Stevensville and surrounding area we are posted on there as
experts in our field and I know she posts some things there too that I haven't seen yet so you
might want to check that out we also have our I heart radio link there and our online merch store
anything you purchase in our merch store all proceeds go to total freedom addiction campuses
Canada and US helping those that have made that decision to beat their addiction and say goodbye
to it forever we want to help them get there so anything you purchase on our merchandise site
you pick it you pick the color you pick your size or whatever item you want you pay for it
they ship it directly to your door and that's handled by freedom expressions which is also a
part of total freedom addiction campuses so that's pretty cool I think that's really really cool
all right let's jump in deep this morning well eventually we are going to get to the
summer heat and summer will arrive and we're going to need to be prepared for that
I mean at the end of this month I don't know where you live let me know in an email
where you're listening from or where you're watching from in the comments on our youtube
channel let me know where you're from you don't have to give us all the details well you can if
you like we might come to your house for breakfast or something or coffee in a snack
and just kind of show up and go tada we're here does anybody do that to you used to happen to me a
lot anyhow knowing that the weather is going to turn at some point we're going to go from this
up and down temperatures here in in Ontario anyway in the Niagara region and it's going to level out
and it's going to warm up and it's looking like next week is going to be
that week because I see low 70s to mid 70s on the weather report so we need to be prepared for
May 24th weekend May 24th the first long weekend of the summer season so if you don't want to be
out of town and enjoy a breakdown I've got four components that will really really really reduce
that from happening so reduce what we want to do is we you know I don't have a magic wand or a crystal
ball so I can't see the future but I say that but not but we can reduce
the percentile of the vehicle breaking down on the road how do we do that and if it does happen
I'm going to share with you what you're going to do there as well to protect yourself because I'll
you right now some of the fellas that I follow on youtube that are fantastic automotive techs
they're seeing a lot of misdiagnosis and I mean and it's nasty it's not just they sold you breaks
or shocks when you didn't even need them we're talking big ticket items all you need an engine
all you need all the injectors all you need all the the coils just milking you while your
vehicle's in the shop and especially if you're out of town yeah so we're going to help you
here this morning with that first of all we want to prevent you having an out of town breakdown
and that usually comes along with two things first the car and then your nerves at the same time
because you don't want to be left in a compromised position number one you're in a town
nobody knows your vehicle you don't know them they don't know you and that's when being taken
advantage of that door is wide open for that to happen so we want to make sure that we are prepared
in advance to protect that from happening so number one we want to eliminate the opportunity
for that out of town breakdown how do we do that well I just talked about one way
tracking your own vehicle maintenance all year round you know what happens you don't have this
humongous panic because you're going away for the weekend like I just mentioned you know
May 2-4 weekend that's the big open the cottage let's go cramping glamping or whatever you call it
these days I was told 200 to 250 bucks a night for cramping
e-gads man that backyard space is looking a whole lot brighter if you know what I'm saying
I I used to camp all the time every weekend all summer I'd be cramping and uh yeah tenting
and then I converted the back of my little pickup truck into like a sleeper and a miniature camper
and then I just have to put up a ginormous uh dining tent which was no big deal and we're all set
all set for the weekend but that's many times that's long ago in Bethlehem if you know what I'm
saying and uh it was only like six or eight bucks a night over 200 bucks e-gads man are you taking
that property with you when you go so what we want to do is we want to eliminate the opportunity
for the vehicle to break down and if you watch the videos on the 07 fj cruiser it's the last one
out of four vehicles that are on the road all week that's having its spring evaluation and you're
getting to see what can happen in six months just like that in real time you're getting to see it
in real time these are real issues that have crept up that needed to be dealt with that I had no
idea until we got into it and we're checking it it all began with a little squeak under the hood
and you got to watch the videos to see well what was that it turned into a bunch of maintenance
that needed to be done and now it's all that's all done but now we got an issue in the braking system
on the front and brakes I've always said if you can't stop it or steer it nothing else really
matters turning up the radio is just going to drown out the amount of screaming you're going to do
as you leave the road and head for the rhubarb patch so how are we going to eliminate that
opportunity well we need to be following a plan you need to be following a plan and that's why
I redid the car connection fleet maintenance schedule so that you have it and you can track
yourself and if you want to scoot for a weekend with the vehicle you don't need to panic to get it
into the shop to head down the road because you know it's taken care of so when the when the fj
backs out of the service bay and everything's done it's done and it's ready to face the summer
no surprises I've looked at everything by the time that backs out of the door everything has looked at
everything's updated that's needed to be updated and I always say if you can't say yes it's okay to
remain in service and that means it's a no it needs to be replaced either needs to be
serviced replaced or maintained one way or the other so we eliminate the opportunity by making
sure that we're covering all systems from top to bottom on the maintenance schedule so you
haven't missed anything that's what's going to make the difference number two so if you're not
doing that then you're going to be that person hey we're going to honey we're going away for the may
24 weekend how's the vehicle doing because that's where you're going to a be loading up the
vehicle with kids and gear maybe a boat maybe a tent trailer I don't know but you're going to be
loading that vehicle up and heading out of dodge and if you haven't had the vehicle checked over
then the increase of the percentile that you're going to have a roadside breakdown increases
and there's a very good chance something is going to rear its ugly head while you're trying to get
to that favorite vacationing spot to crack open summer 2026 on the may 24 weekend
number two a critical vehicle review is what will get you started so that you can fill out
your fleet maintenance system so we need to know and again I'm the example the 2007
toyot fj cruiser got a complete is getting a complete evaluation no stone on turn because
I'm just like you I don't want to be broken down on the side of the road I don't need to be broken
down on the side of the road and more than likely I'm hauling hauling hauling yes hauling a whole
whack of hard oak firewood with our trailer on the back and I don't need to be broken down on
the side of the road and I don't need to have brake failure on the side of the road with that
trailer on the back loaded with heavy wood it's going to push me right into the roadway I won't
be able to get it stopped that's a lot of weight so I can't take the chance that there's something
well you know the brake pedal does feel it feels not bad not bad is not good if it's not spot on
it's not good it needs to be looked at so we need a critical vehicle review to get started
that means someone you trust to look the vehicle over for you and make a list then you transpose
that list onto your fleet maintenance vehicle kit there you go the kit and now you're on your way
now you can track every vehicle maintenance yourself number three the worst happens your
heading off wherever 10 buck two your favorite spot and the car breaks down the worst happens
you're broken down you're not even a third of the way or halfway to your destination
now you're going to have to deal with repair shops fellas that don't know you from Adam don't know
anything about the history of your automobile what's been serviced last with what's not and
the big question comes up in your mind are they going to take advantage of me there's probably
you know I'm not saying there's a lot of bad shops out there but they're out there that's the point
the point is they're out there there's some great guys out there and then there's the
shysters that have no moral compass whatsoever you're just a paycheck for them and they're
going to sell you anything and everything they possibly can and if you don't know any better
you're going to lose a bunch of money and some downtime and you're just interested in getting
to your destination and you're just going to go what the heck just do it and then the
ripping off big time and this is what's going on this is reality out there so the worst happens
what do you do now what that's number four now what don't panic here's what you're going to do
now write this down as Mr. Wong would say in my computer class and that's when he'd be when he'd
say that you knew that was going to be a question on the next exam he'd say now write this down
getting it it's going to be on the exam it's going to be on the motormouth exam
you're going to call your home mechanic you're going to let him know what's going on that you've
broken down okay now tow truck dudes probably going to pick you up and take you to Joe Schmoes
garage here's how it works folks I'm going to tell you the way it is 44 years there's not much I haven't
seen and if I do then I'll say wow that's new that's an interesting thing tow truck driver's
going to pick you up he's going to drop it off at Billy Bob's garage because Billy Bob gives him a
spiff if he brings them a victim and that would be you so you're going to Billy Bob's
garage no matter who you are if you're in that territory and the local tow truck driver picks
you up so Billy Bob and the tow truck driver have a little thingy going on where if he brings
somebody in there he gets a spiff for taking you to their shop okay and that's where they're
going to take advantage of you but we're going to head that off so as soon as that happens
you're going to call your mechanic back home let them know what's happened what's going on
and the name of the shop that you're at and the phone number and the fella that you're dealing with
because you're going to tell the fella you're now dealing without a town that your mechanic
is going to be calling them to get an update on how your vehicle is doing so if you say to Billy
Bob oh you're going to call my tech he won't he won't so you got to do it in reverse order
your tech back home is going to call Billy Bob at Billy Bob's automotive repair and say hey Billy
Bob what's up with Mrs Smith's car oh yeah well here's what we found so this is where you tell
Billy Bob I want my mechanic to call the shots on fixing it he's going to call and find out what's
what's going on with it and you're going to tell him what you found and then he's going to tell you
how he wants that car fixed on my behalf got it Billy Bob I was going to look at you like to
give you the deer in the headlights look but that doesn't care at this point feelings don't matter
what matters is you're out of town you're in an unknown shop you're in a compromised position
and you're in a position where you could absolutely 110 percent be taken advantage of
so that's why getting your home tech into the repair whether Billy Bob likes it or not
he knows he's going to have to be talking to your guy back home before anything gets fixed on that car
so that will reduce a ton of issues of happening ahead of time it's going to cut it off pretty
quick because Billy Bob's going to be like oh so yeah I talked to your your mechanic back home there
yeah he's he's in the loop now so then what you do is to make sure that that conversation happens
is you let your tech back home keep you in the loop okay so now there's a three-way conversation
going on and you don't need to let Billy Bob know that you're talking to your mechanic back home and
that he's spoken to Billy Bob got in the skinny and then now your tech back home is telling you
what he's told him to do on your vehicle so you're in the loop Billy Bob doesn't know that
and that's where you're protecting yourself so it's just a matter of communicating in order to
prevent panic from setting in and your wallet being ravaged by another shop because this is
happening out there North America wide I just watched a couple of uh as I mentioned some texts
that I keep an eye on because these guys are sharp and a vehicle ends up in their shop and that was
told they needed a new engine and it turned out it didn't need a new engine it needed a fuel injector
big difference huh huge so imagine if the fella left it at that other shop guess what he was going
to get a new engine when it just turned out to be a bad fuel injector was misfiring and running
poorly and really sounding horrendously bad and it all turned out to be just an injector but this
is the thing folks it's going on out there the summer months are coming the vacationing time
is going to be there the getting away for the weekend with the kids and having some fun the
last thing you need is to end up out of town breakdown horrendous and the emotions can begin
to fly and when emotions are high intelligence is low so write those forward things down and make
sure that you have your car connection fleet maintenance service all set up for you so that
anytime you need to get away you don't have to panic to get the vehicle into the shop and they
tell you can't get you in for a week and a half while we're leaving this weekend because we all
leave things to the last minute don't we it's true it's absolutely true we're never proactive it's
not that we plan to fail it's always that we fail to plan that's what happens big time so number one
we want to do everything we can to eliminate the opportunity for the vehicle to create an
out of town breakdown number two we need a critical v review vehicle review performed
so that we know everything that could possibly be a potential roadside failure number three
the worst happens number four kicks in right away now what we call our mechanic at home
back at home get them into the conversation and most of all don't panic take control
of the circumstance get your back home mechanic involved in the conversation along with billy
bob at billy bob's garage because that's where it ended up and then that way you can relax and know
that your guy back at home that knows your vehicle and knows who you are is deeply rooted in the
conversation and the diagnostic right from the get go so then gigs up for billy bob because he
knows that now like we've got another tech back home involved in the repair work that will prevent
you and i've had that happen when i have my shop on the Hamilton mountain
a lady broke down with her kids heading to her parents grandparents out of town
and i talked to the mechanic there i said what seems to be the issue well here's the parts we
want to have put on you have a local napper store we want this this and this put on there
and then fault please follow up with me if i don't hear from you i'll call you back
and i stayed on track with that repair it was like i was right there with them at that shop
helping to get them back on the road and letting the shop owner know i'm involved in this
and i'm calling the shots and it works it works very very well
so this and a whole lot more information is readily available for you in more ways
for you to be able to engage with us by watching and listening so join us on our instagram facebook
community stevensvilleontheweb.ca get signed in for our youtube channel there's a well over
400 pieces of information there for you to to sift through and it's all basic maintenance
in the series that we have put off for a couple more days here i'll be coming up and that will
also be repairs and maintenance upgrades things that need to be checked over to get this vehicle
back out on the road after being hidden away for quite a number of years so we're going to get this
one out it runs and drives but it needs updates it needs some maintenance that was never done
by the previous owners so you're going to get an opportunity to see a number of different
maintenance items get taken care of and why walking you through the why like i said the five
things what it is where it is how it works how it breaks and how you could have avoided
those things from happening by just getting a better understanding on how your automobile
works how it thinks how it functions and not get blindsided by its older it has mileage you know
i wish i had a nickel for every time i've heard that because i even get my neighbors that my
names pretty much don't know what i do here which is great for me because i can fly under the radar
i get they give me advice on everything mechanical advice the whole nine yards
but that's okay i'm good i'm good with that but here's the thing you've got to know what's going
on with your automobile in order to keep it longer and then mileage does not matter the parts are
readily available you don't have to go to the dealer for parts there's a lot of aftermarket
resources with really good products that will keep that older vehicle going as long as you want to
keep it first and foremost we need to make sure that the structural integrity is not compromised
by rust because if it is then you're going to need to go car shopping find an older vehicle that
is more reliable put some money into it and keep that vehicle going so till tomorrow have yourself
a fantastic monday kicking off a brand new week and be careful out there mondays is when a lot of
accidents happen because people's light switch is not always fully on if you know what i'm saying
so drive safe keep it under 100 and put that coffee on because we just might come to your place
and show up and say tada here we are if not we'll see you right here for another motor mouth
morning drive brought to you by our certified financial planning professionals tony mealy
and larry teetro with 50 years experience as fiduciaries they are my own personal financial
planners for over 20 plus years these guys are two of the best in and all of canada connect with
them they don't need any more clients they just want to help you if you need help they want to
help you they're with one of the major corporations that looks after trillions of dollars around the
world ig wealth management doesn't matter whether you have a dollar or a 100000 dollars if
you have questions this is where you can get the answers and i would highly recommend just like we
talked about getting the answers on your vehicle if you have questions with an investment portfolio
dealing with debt estate planning making sure you have all those things in place you need to
arrange a mortgage you need life insurance critical illness insurance and a whole lot more services
available book yourself in for that checkup that we call the hour and a coffee leave your wallet
leave your purse at home but book yourself in for that evaluation and get your questions
answered tony mealy larry teetro my brothers from other mothers you are in great hands
with them so we'll see you tomorrow morning for another edition of the monorail morning drive
at 8 am sharp peace patience and kindness always we'll see you tomorrow bye for now
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