Maintenance Pig

[AirgunSavant]

Words to live by.........
Every car pig I ever knew had a house to match......
Trust me I cleaned up a few rentals in my day and I no longer rent anything. Lesson learned!

Originally Posted By: MRtv
My wife and I used to own some rental properties. While we were showing a prospective renter the house one of us would go out and look at their car. If it was loaded up with junk and needed serious cleaning out and generally neglected we put them on the "NO" list for renting. If they do that to their vehicle it was pretty certain they don't clean house either.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: turtlevette
I've always tried to get the maximum out of my tires. I don't see a problem running bald tires if you don't drive in the rain.

Its not green to replace tires too early.



You should buy the hot tire regroover from JC Whitney. It puts new tread in bald tires if you believe the write-up.

 

[tomcat27]

I'm thinkin they could "road hazard" those tires under warranty!!

 

[eljefino]

If you told this guy off you wouldn't have him in your life. So you couldn't see his successes inexplicably breaking the rules we all know about car maintenance. Things would be boring. Then what?

I used to hook my brother in law up with beaters... $300 cars that I could get to pass inspection. Then I'd put some cheap spark plugs in and give them a cheap oil change and set him free. He got 70k out of a $250 saturn SL1 in about 15 months! Went from 145k to 215k. I got to pick over the carcass when it went kablooey.

Then when he got money he drove old cop cars and now has a 10 year old F150 king cab that's making funny VCT noises from the 5.4. Ahh, not my problem. But I'll still

 

[jeepman3071]

I used to not really care about tires, but a friend is an EMT. He has showed me pics of many accidents from tire blow outs. One of them the guy was driving his truck down the highway and his rear tire blew out. He lost control and went over the median hitting another car head on. There was more than one fatality. Tires are the only thing between your vehicle and the road. Don't be stupid, invest in good ones.

 

[gfh77665]

Originally Posted By: AirgunSavant
I said this dude does no maintenance unless his vehicle demands it. Well he does change the oil yearly with unknown oil and filter. Of course that year couldbe 30-40,000 miles...

He stopped by my house with 4 of the worst tires I have ever seen on a vehicle. I guess they were winter tires sans studs because the steel belts acted as such for traction.


Redneck vehicle maintenance program, LOL.

 

[gfh77665]

Originally Posted By: eljefino

I used to hook my brother in law up with beaters... $300 cars that I could get to pass inspection. Then I'd put some cheap spark plugs in and give them a cheap oil change and set him free.


"Set him free"

LOL

 

[fdcg27]

It's unfortunate that people spend good money for stuff and then treat it like trash.
Fluids should be changed in line with the rather liberal recommendations most manufacturers make these days and tires are something to keep an eye on.
Monitor pressure and put air in them as needed and replace them when they get too exciting in the rain, which typically happens around 4/32".
Working brake are always a nice thing to have.
Why anyone would turn a nice vehicle into a garbage pit is beyond me, but many seem to do this.
Another thing that gets my goat are those who have their cars decently detailed each month and yet drive on cheapo tires and can't tell you when they last had an oil change done or when one might be due.

 

[AirgunSavant]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
If you told this guy off you wouldn't have him in your life. So you couldn't see his successes inexplicably breaking the rules we all know about car maintenance. Things would be boring. Then what?

I used to hook my brother in law up with beaters... $300 cars that I could get to pass inspection. Then I'd put some cheap spark plugs in and give them a cheap oil change and set him free. He got 70k out of a $250 saturn SL1 in about 15 months! Went from 145k to 215k. I got to pick over the carcass when it went kablooey.

Then when he got money he drove old cop cars and now has a 10 year old F150 king cab that's making funny VCT noises from the 5.4. Ahh, not my problem. But I'll still

You know what.... I have cut off a bunch of drainers in my life. They usually are in perfect health and disgustingly lazy and bottom feeders who dream of the next score. Unfortunately this bozo is my older brother and sadly the best of the two I have. At this point I just deal...
But I do understand your point. He is a very hard worker but his wiring has been shorted somehow.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

Originally Posted By: AirgunSavant
I wrote here about some kin I have ( trying hard not to link myself to this nonsense)
You just did link yourself to that nonsense by bragging about it.
I'm sure just about everyone has a family member or acquaintance that chooses not to maintain things. Foolish, sure, but it's their stuff and they can choose to do with it whatever they please.

Originally Posted By: AirgunSavant

Sadly I take care of my stuff better than I do me.

Those are some seriously mixed up priorities.

 

[JustinH]

Sounds similar, when I was a young man in the early 80's, my Dad and Mom had virtually no money.

Drove a late 70's cougar, that dad had to put multiple 302 engines into because he ran them low on oil.

Dad knew very little about cars.

I could remember him spraying carb cleaner all over the carb and revving the engine loudly in the neighborhood.

My uncle was flush and left a set of 4 new tires on our doorstep one day because he didn't want his nephews to drive around on 4 bald tires in that death trap.

I have remembered this, and look at every car I own weekly, check fluids, whatever it needs. I may drive on no name tires, but they have safe tread, and everything is road worthy.

 

[Ducked]

Originally Posted By: MRtv
My wife and I used to own some rental properties. While we were showing a prospective renter the house one of us would go out and look at their car. If it was loaded up with junk and needed serious cleaning out and generally neglected we put them on the "NO" list for renting. If they do that to their vehicle it was pretty certain they don't clean house either.


Hmm...My car looks pretty scruffy (perhaps superlatively scruffy in Taiwan, Land of Face) but, apart from somewhat marginal tyres, it is, I think, fairly well maintained.

So appearances aren't necessarily everything, though I suppose they're the way to bet.

 

[SeaJay]

When I grew up we were rather poor. My father's very used car was road worthy, tires (retreads) had sufficient tread, the brakes & steering worked. The oil got changed, but not as often as most folks. Had to add oil as some of it burnt during driving. It had some dents, rust and some tears in the vinyl seats were present. Its what could be afforded.

Of course, this would not meet the strict standards here for minimum required maintenance. But it got us where we needed to go safely, and we managed to pay the other bills like food, lights and rent.

 

[CincyDavid]

I have a BIL who seemingly has horrible luck with cars. He buys late model used cars and within a short period of time they are breaking and falling apart. Like my FIL says, "anything Matt buys will be a POS in no time". In my heart I just know that he has no mechanical aptitude and if his car makes a funny sound he turns up the radio. He just unloaded a Chevy Traverse that needed an astounding number of items fixed, got his hat handed to him on the trade-in and is overpaying for a '15 Kia Optima to hide the negative equity from the trade. I'll be curious to see how quickly the Kia falls apart too.

What I won't do is step in and help...he's a grown man and he can maintain his stuff however he likes, as long as it doesn't affect me and members of my household.

 

[Astro14]

Originally Posted By: SeaJay
When I grew up we were rather poor. My father's very used car was road worthy, tires (retreads) had sufficient tread, the brakes & steering worked. The oil got changed, but not as often as most folks. Had to add oil as some of it burnt during driving. It had some dents, rust and some tears in the vinyl seats were present. Its what could be afforded.

Of course, this would not meet the strict standards here for minimum required maintenance. But it got us where we needed to go safely, and we managed to pay the other bills like food, lights and rent.


You should be proud of your father, who managed to prioritize, to separate want from need, and provided as best he could, without, it seems, entitlement, handouts, or the disaster of poor decisions that I see all the time.

He did it right.

 

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted By: Astro14

You should be proud of your father, who managed to prioritize, to separate want from need, and provided as best he could, without, it seems, entitlement, handouts, or the disaster of poor decisions that I see all the time.

He did it right.


+1

When I was little, my parents were pretty tight on cash. My dad planned their budget down to the penny. He didn't know much about cars, but he learned what he could to save himself money. He knew he had to check the oil, tires, etc to keep them in good operating shape. He taught my sisters and I how to check the oil and fluids in our cars. Since our first cars were older, keeping fluids in them would determine their lifespan.

I have a friend the same age as me who was never taught that. He never checks the oil or fluids in his cars, and it has costed him dearly. He has a young family, and always seems tight on cash despite a decent salary. He has had to put an engine in two of his cars due to them seizing with low/no oil. One of them was a few thousand miles outside warranty. I've had to do some significant repairs on his lawn mower due to lack of maintenance as well.

 

[CincyDavid]

jeepman, you raise an interesting point...my dad has always taken reasonable care of his cars; not a perfectionist by any stretch, but he stays on top of fluid changes and replaces tires with Dayton or Cooper, nice enough tires but not "brand name".

His lawn mowers and other tools are terribly neglected, he just uses whatever it is until it breaks, then gets a new one.

I have always found it odd that he maintains certain things and not others...

 

[Schmoe]

My dad wasn't too bad a slob, but vehicles and boats, he didn't take care of them at all. For some reason, I'm total opposite....I guess that's why I'm here on BITOG!! But, I did learn how to wrench because I'm the one that fixed the stuff. I'm glad I learned that skill. One thing that gets me that I see around here are some boat owners. They'll go out and drop 20-30K on a nice boat in the winter. Pull the boat home and not even cover it up. A couple of years later, the Oklahoma sun damage is just beating the kraph out of it and then they all say the same thing...."it's a [removed]."

 

[aquariuscsm]

I'm beyond compulsive about my cars (see my Accord threads haha). I never had a nice car handed to me growing up,so if I wanted one,I had to work hard to buy it. I feel blessed to have the opportunity to work and buy nice things,and never take anything for granted. I guess that's why I totally freak when I see a newish car that's not impeccably maintained.

 

[fdcg27]

You can take care of durable goods and enjoy many years and miles of use without having to spend a lot of coin.
You can also neglect these things and spend big money fixing or replacing them.
Poor people can't afford to take chances and the wiser ones take good care of what they have.
My parents taught me the habit of thrift and it has served me well over the years.
My mother has remaining net worth well into seven figures and she still drives an '03 Accord (Japanese built, if it matters) because it suits her.
Whatever your income, if you take care of the durable goods you buy, you'll end up financially comfortable.
Abuse and neglect your stuff and you'll never have any decent net worth because you spend your savings on fixing and replacing those things that you need rather than investing those savings.