[speaker002:] okay we're talking about uh car repair the last car repair I had done on mine was last February it was uh uh my car was inspected and then they said that the brakes weren't adjusted properly and I had to go have it uh adjusted and it turned out that they needed repair and it cost like three hundred dollars
[speaker001:] the brakes
[speaker002:] to have that yeah for the brakes
[speaker001:] what uh what did you have to have done to the with the brakes
[speaker002:] oh I don't know they had they had a whole list of things you know you need to have this turned and that you know refinished I don't know I don't understand the whole process my personally which is one reason why I don't trust the auto repairmen I guess uh these car repair places but uh I hate to take it anytime because I know they're going you know say oh you need this you need that and everything else in the book uh so I don't know I haven't had a terribly good experience a lot of times with car repair places uh years ago when I was living in California I went to my my my clutch cable had popped on my car the clutch had broken or something I don't know what was wrong so I took it to uh a transmission shop uh nationally recognized name and uh they had said uh well they he called me back that afternoon and they said oh yeah you need this you need that your transmission's faulty and all this and it was like you know six hundred dollars
[speaker001:] jeez
[speaker002:] and I said wait the car's not worth that much it's it's uh an eight year old car and it's not worth that much uh I'll just have to do later I said I don't don't do anything with it because I'm I'm not worth that much money on it and I went there after work my wife and I went there after work and uh they had the whole thing down and taken apart
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] so I told the guy I said you know I didn't authorize this I said you put it back together I'm taking it home and the guy said well it will have to be another day before we get it put back together I started to go get a lawyer
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] you know because I didn't authorize anything and so he went and got his manager and the manager came out and says I'll give you the parts at cost I'll give you the labor for a hundred dollars and so for two hundred fifty dollars we'll do it all for you
[speaker001:] oh really
[speaker002:] yeah so I thought well he'll meet me halfway I'll meet him halfway so it all this work done for like two hundred and fifty dollars but still you know the the element of trust was gone at that point
[speaker001:] yeah that's their way of capturing your pocketbook I guess for those who are least suspecting in a lot of regards I mean uh actually you probably had a better deal that way
[speaker002:] yeah it was I'm sure it was so I got my uh transmission fixed with all my clutch um just the other day my clutch cable had had popped again and uh last year I I took it my car to a friend of mine to have the oil changed he worked at a at a car lube place and uh I asked him if he could adjust the clutch any because it was kind of loose and he looked at it and said sure he pulled the clutch cable out from inside the engine area and pulled the clip out that was attached attached to it and put it back further on on the cable well it was fine so I watched real carefully and and then my clutch cable broke uh I went and uh I got a new uh clip that I had with me I bought an extra one and I just went there and and replaced it and was back moving again within three minutes and
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] there I was stuck on the road right in the middle of traffic but I managed to get it going again relatively quickly because I knew I watched what he did and was able to do it really fast and you know I just figured that if I'd taken it someplace they would have said oh you need a new clutch cable and this and that and you know two hundred fifty dollars later there it is you know
[speaker001:] gee
[speaker002:] I don't know I don't have much trust in those people but how about your experiences
[speaker001:] well I generally try to find my own personal car mechanics
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] uh rather than taking it to a shop I'm kind of like you it's uh I kind of equate them with some bad dentists
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] who try to find problems in your teeth which I have had that experience
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] and that's a different subject so I better stay on cars but the last problem I had with my vehicle was a uh fuel pump that needed replacing and that's all the major problems I've had for a vehicle that's got eighty nine thousand miles
[speaker002:] what kind of car you got
[speaker001:] it's a Nissan
[speaker002:] okay that that explains it yeah I've got an American made car
[speaker001:] yeah yeah it's it's been very good to me I I'm going to uh I I would eventually like to get into an American car but right now this one's doing fine for me
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] but then the other problem too is just a fuel filter and the fuel pump and I've had to replace a set of tires a couple times but that was due to quirks uh if you ever have a flat tire
[speaker002:] uh-huh
[speaker001:] don't ever have it plugged have a patch put on it
[speaker002:] okay
[speaker001:] because those plugs wear eventually will wear out all four of your tires
[speaker002:] oh is that right
[speaker001:] yeah because it causes an unevenness in the rubber and uh that happened to me twice before I caught on well enough to what what happened
[speaker002:] hum
[speaker001:] I had uh one tire uh plugged after a flat and somehow the unevenness of the plug just caused all all the other three tires to wear out
[speaker002:] huh that's odd
[speaker001:] so always have a patch put on
[speaker002:] that's good to know though
[speaker001:] it's it's happened to me twice and that's enough
[speaker002:] yeah it is that's more than enough well
[speaker001:] other than that that's the major problems I've had I used to change my own oil and filter but I got tired of that so I let somebody else do it
[speaker002:] yeah I do that myself I mean I I take it for places so because I figure for for eighteen dollars they'll mess with the oil and they'll mess with getting the things off and all that you know and it's just it probably costs me at least six seven eight dollars to do it myself I figure for an extra ten dollars let them take care of it
[speaker001:] yeah you're you're saving about uh ten bucks by doing it yourself but what the heck if you can afford it
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] um I'd rather change it myself myself but I don't have the facilities well enough all the time
[speaker002:] yeah that's right
[speaker001:] uh so that's the only major problems you've had then
[speaker002:] who me
[speaker001:] yeah
[speaker002:] oh my clutch has gotten out a couple times and uh
[speaker001:] what kind of vehicle
[speaker002:] a Chevette
[speaker001:] Chevette yeah
[speaker002:] yeah let's see what else have I had done uh one day I was driving with my dad and the uh he was driving in fact and the uh uh stick shift came out in his hand he driving down the road
[speaker001:] um gee whiz
[speaker002:] it just totally disengaged itself and you know of course then we had no way of of doing anything at that point we had to tow it home and uh and all that and it was like good grief and the car was new at that point it was only like a year or so old
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] uh and uh other things were going out on it you know and these repair people say oh you need need your your your your this and your that's gone out and it's like good grief I don't even know what they do
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] so how am I supposed to trust them I don't know
[speaker001:] yeah the only thing you can do is somehow through your own network and the friends find a mechanic through them
[speaker002:] yeah that's all you can do
[speaker001:] that they trust and and then I'm sure that that mechanic's not going to do you in through their recommendation
[speaker002:] yeah I was uh I had my car taken in uh to have the oil changed at the the place across from the the TI plant in Lewisville and uh they told me he says oh your your belts are all worn out and they need to be redone uh it'd be like sixty dollars so I thought is that right I don't remember that having seen that they're that bad so I took it to a friend of mine's house and he looked at them he took the belts off and looked at them and he says no they're not cracked or anything they're they're they're in pretty good condition all I had to do is tighten them a little bit they need little bit of tightening
[speaker001:] now what was it
[speaker002:] there's was some belts that needed to be tightened
[speaker001:] the belts um-hum
[speaker002:] they you know they were kind of loose and so but these people were telling me that they needed to be replaced
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] so
[speaker001:] yeah I I know this guy that's a car mechanic and he told me I told him my belts are slipping a little bit and he said they'll last forever all you got to do is just tighten them
[speaker002:] yeah yeah uh every time my dad had taken his car in to be worked on and they did something with the belts and they when they took the old belt off they cut it
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] and looks like it's a standard deal easiest way to get it off and uh they just let it hang where it was basically instead of just taking it off and throwing it away and when he got home he noticed some strange sounds so he opened it up and looked in there and there was the old belt wrapped around one of the uh axle things in there
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum
[speaker002:] totally took him a half-hour to cut it off and it totally engaged itself around the thing and boy was he he boy was he irate
[speaker001:] hum
[speaker002:] which I don't blame him you know he'll I think he went back and showed it to them and really chewed them out for it there's no excuse for that you know if your going to cut it off just grab it take it throw it away it's simple
[speaker001:] um-hum um-hum
[speaker002:] oh well that's all I got to say
[speaker001:] yeah I don't have that much problems so with my vehicle knock on wood
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] excuse me I just remember a seventy nine Chevy Nova that I once had never again
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] that was a definite lemon
[speaker002:] yeah that's what year mine is so that's the problems problem I guess
[speaker001:] well I got rid of that one after it cost me megabucks
[speaker002:] mine mine's still running it's twelve years old and it's got uh seventy two thousand miles on it now so
[speaker001:] that's not bad
[speaker002:] no not that much