[speaker001:] have you had any uh major uh car repairs done recently
[speaker002:] well as a matter of fact I just got rid of a car because of the requirement to do some major repairs
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] um I had a Ford Escort with about ninety five thousand miles on it and the engine was shot um I I think the problem was uh the head gasket needed to be replaced and um but nobody would do just the head gasket everybody wanted to overhaul the engine entirely
[speaker001:] so you're saying that the repairs would have cost more than the car was worth
[speaker002:] right and um um I did get the water pump was shot at the same time so I got the water pump fixed just to carry me over until I could sell the car um which I which surprisingly the car was in great demand um in fact I had a bunch of people come to look at it and they were fighting over how much they were going to pay me for this piece of junk I was amazed
[speaker001:] I think any car that runs right now is in demand
[speaker002:] I guess so um but I ended up buying a um a used car to replace it I got a uh eighty five Dodge Aries which only had thirty four thousand miles on it and uh speaking of repair problems um this car has a has an interesting problem that nobody seems to be able to fix do do you fix cars
[speaker001:] uh I work on my own I've got an nineteen eighty Trans Am that I've had uh since it was new
[speaker002:] wow
[speaker001:] and I've had very good luck with it uh haven't had many repairs done at all the alternator went out four years ago and uh the I had to replace the water pump back in nineteen eighty three but uh other than a few transmission leaks that I got repaired uh I really haven't had anything but uh regular maintenance
[speaker002:] yeah but do you do anything yourself I mean
[speaker001:] yeah I change the oil and I do the lubrication
[speaker002:] yeah okay
[speaker001:] but if any major problems say like uh transmission leaks I took it in for that
[speaker002:] right
[speaker001:] and I had to have an alignment done last year so I had that done
[speaker002:] yeah yeah I don't think that's the kind of thing you can do yourself is it unless you had the equipment
[speaker001:] uh not really it's not too easy I had past uh state inspection uh just last month so and I had a turn signal out so I had to take it in to get the turn signal fixed but uh other than that for passing inspection uh they gave me a shopping list of things I needed to get done
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] namely uh replacing putting the catalytic converter back on the car
[speaker002:] oh
[speaker001:] and fixing the emergency brake
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] so those things I could do myself it wasn't a problem
[speaker002:] yeah what now what state are you in
[speaker001:] Texas
[speaker002:] Texas you're in Texas so am I um yeah the the problem I have with this Dodge uh this Dodge Aries is that if I drive the car for reasonable period of time enough to get the car heated up and then I run to run out to do a quick errand and jump back into the car it won't start
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] and it won't start until the car is cooled off I've learned that and as soon as it cools cools off it'll start right up
[speaker001:] I had that problem with a nineteen sixty eight Camaro
[speaker002:] what was the problem
[speaker001:] I never did get it fixed
[speaker002:] oh
[speaker001:] it it could be the starter that it just gets too hot
[speaker002:] yeah yeah somebody said that um that uh there must there's probably some kind of short in the starter and that when the car heats up it uh the metal expands to create the short and then it it it isn't until the car cools down that the metal you know these two pieces aren't touching any more and and uh and your you you know then it'll start because you don't have the short
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] but I've taken it to a mechanic and and he started to look at it in fact I drove it out there and I said I bet you anything if you go try start the car right now you won't be able to start it sure enough he couldn't and they had to push it into the garage but they started uh tracing the wires back to see if they could find any shorts or anything and after they fiddled with the wires the problem didn't uh didn't recur recur they couldn't get it to fail
[speaker001:] hm
[speaker002:] and sure enough after I'd taken it home for you know a couple of weeks after that I didn't have the problem but now it's starting to recur again
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] so it's just one of those weird things I mean he was willing he said well I think it's in the ignition switch it'll only cost you eighty five dollars but I won't guarantee that's the problem
[speaker001:] right they never do
[speaker002:] uh yeah and I'm going well well I don't want to gamble so I just let the car cool off until I get a hard failure
[speaker001:] uh-huh I've heard of that problem with many other different cars doesn't seem to be prevalent with just one manufacturer
[speaker002:] and then uh yeah well that's that's that's reassuring I've never had a Dodge before and I mean it seems like a nice little car it's a great deal it only had thirty four thousand miles on it and otherwise it doesn't give me any problems at all
[speaker001:] I won't buy a Dodge
[speaker002:] you won't oh yeah
[speaker001:] my dad had one he had a Dodge
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] six hundred and after thirty thousand miles the head gasket went out
[speaker002:] oh really Holy mackerel
[speaker001:] nothing but problems with it so he finally traded it in and actually bought a Ford Escort
[speaker002:] oh jeez I've you know I've actually had a lot of luck with Fords um um I'm not gonna I'm not gonna sit here and claim that they're the best cars in the world but
[speaker001:] oh a lot of people do like Fords yeah
[speaker002:] yeah I mean this this Escort even when the head gasket went I mean it would start first time every time
[speaker001:] sure
[speaker002:] and uh uh so I've I've just been real pleased and my step father happens to work at a Ford dealership and that makes things a little easier come car time but
[speaker001:] yep I'm ready for a new car myself but I've had this car for eleven years and it's given me such little trouble that I I I don't think I could get an adequate replacement that would uh cause me to let huh
[speaker002:] yeah yeah I just uh I was just talking to somebody who'd had a some kind of I think he had a Cutlass and he had a hundred and ninety five thousand miles on it and finally the thing finally went so he goes out and he buys a Lexus
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] and I'm going whoa he he moved up
[speaker001:] I guess that's what about thirty forty thousand dollars
[speaker002:] yeah I mean you know he's single he's approaching fifty years old
[speaker001:] right
[speaker002:] he doesn't really have anything else to spend his money on
[speaker001:] I guess not
[speaker002:] so but uh I can't I just can't imagine I mean are those cars worth thirty or forty thousand dollars
[speaker001:] I have no idea I know they're they're engineered very well but I would have a hard time justifying spending that kind of money on any car
[speaker002:] really well it's funny because talk about car repairs I was getting my oil changed and I was sitting in the little lobby it's one of these you know five minute change places and this guy comes storming into the lobby there and he says um you know you guys advertise a twenty dollar oil change and you charged me thirty dollars and the guy says well yeah but you got a Mercedes Benz and it takes a special oil filter
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] and the guy was oh yeah he's almost proud that he had to pay an extra ten bucks to get his oil changed I'm going
[speaker001:] right
[speaker002:] I don't think that's worth it I don't think spending an extra you know twenty thousand dollars for a car is worth it you know I don't know
[speaker001:] no dealers will get get you on the oil changes anyway I took my car in one time many years ago for an oil change at the dealer and they charged me thirty dollars for it
[speaker002:] yeah oh yeah oh jeez
[speaker001:] they they gave me this cock and bull story that because there was a turbo charger on the car they had to prime the turbine with the oil
[speaker002:] what
[speaker001:] and it's it's it's a bunch of hog wash I I've changed the oil myself I've put a filter on you know put the oil in and all it's no problem at all
[speaker002:] yeah yeah yeah I couldn't I tried to do that with my Escort but there's no way to change to get that oil filter out without that I could figure out without getting underneath the car
[speaker001:] no I have to get under my car to get the oil filter out but yeah you change it four times a year it's not that big a deal filter you can buy that on sale for two dollars uh the oil um less than a dollar dollar less than a dollar a dollar a quart it's really not that
[speaker002:] ooh yeah yeah oh yeah I'd prefer to do it but the Escort was very difficult for me to get under and I didn't want to put it up on ramps or anything it just made me nervous
[speaker001:] uh-huh right
[speaker002:] I mean can you crawl underneath there or is it
[speaker001:] well I can get the filter off just by laying down underneath the car I can't crawl under it the clearance isn't enough but enough to reach under and get the filter off it's not a problem
[speaker002:] hum yeah I just couldn't yeah yeah I think this uh the the Dodge would be pretty easy to change the oil on I think
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] at least I'm going to give it a try cause you can see I mean the oil filters I mean you can touch it it's right there
[speaker001:] uh-huh for anything else I'll put the car up on jack stands
[speaker002:] you've got jacks it makes me nervous
[speaker001:] oh yeah when putting the catalytic converter back on I had to put the right side of the car up on jack stands
[speaker002:] whoa whoa
[speaker001:] but it wasn't a real problem
[speaker002:] yeah yeah hm well I I you know it's just a that's the biggest hassle I think that if I had been nicer to my Escort and been more diligent about getting the oil changes and doing that kind of stuff I could have probably gotten another ten thousand miles out of it
[speaker001:] yeah every three thousand miles I'll change the oil I've got about ninety four thousand miles on the car right now
[speaker002:] yeah wow wow
[speaker001:] and uh its working just fine I don't have any problems at all so I'm going to keep it uh I get offers every now and then from
[speaker002:] gee yeah
[speaker001:] from grocery store baggers that want to buy my car because it's a Trans Am they're high school seniors seventeen years old and they got to impress their girl friend
[speaker002:] yeah all right
[speaker001:] the trouble is they think they can buy it for a thousand dollars or less
[speaker002:] right right well I bet you I bet I mean if it's in good condition and stuff you could probably get a pretty good blue book price
[speaker001:] yeah it's in great shape uh body is in excellent shape it just needs paint I need to look up some place to uh to get the car painted
[speaker002:] well the paint paint job yeah if you're going to look a new car what would you look at
[speaker001:] a new car
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] oh I'm not I don't think I'm in the new car market a new car that really hard pick
[speaker002:] well what what what brand I mean what model would you look