Im a technician, but my cars are like my textbooks, i’ve learnt how to do things and repair bits on my cars. I used to have brand new cars at my old place but it wasn’t as fun, plus it costs a lot like you said with tools etc.
Everyone thinks my rodeo is a bucket when ever i see a friend after not seeing them for a few months they ask how the f@*k is that thing still running. Funny thing is its pretty well maintained (not very well maintained) runs like a dream, always has oil doent leak or burn it and i know what it uses i have to top up the coolent weekly and i have no idea where it goes but the car has never realy let me down
I seek out Mechanics that own the particular car that i own.
I figure this way they have a intimate relationship with the car/truck and are more knowledgeable i repairing and maintaining mine.
Not only does the shop gain a loyal customer this way but the Mechanic/s become your friends
Daily driving a vr6 is no easy feat when it comes to constant misfires and coolant leaks..but repairing it for it last for about another 3 or 4 months is well worth it to hear that amazing sound
Vr6 ftw! I miss mine but timing chain slippage killed it 💔
Why do mechanics drive junk?
It was cheap
It’s reliable
It’s simple to fix/parts are cheap
See number one.
It reminds me my local tire shop has an old E90 Corolla, the shop owns it since the beginning of time. It is one of the best example I have ever seen.
I feel as a technician overtime you see these great cars go from caring hands of a owner that takes it to their dealer to trading it in and goes to someone else to die. I look at the potential a car has to offer. I had a 2002 Sunfire 2.2 ohv engine with 317989 miles on it before it was wrecked. Than I upgraded to a 2004 cavalier with 254975 on the odometer. It has the ecotec but I’m gonna put both chain s with updated main chain tensioner. Basically I want to give cars a chance to be taken care of before they die.
So basically the same reasons programmers usually have a couple broken computers lying around
Yeah because its cheap and you can seap parts to fix it. I agree
For me it is all about perception. “Mechanics drive junk cars” comes from general public and general public has very different idea of what “junk car” is. For the majority of the people defining cars as “junk”, “bad”, “falling a part” etc. do it solely on what they see on the outside: 1.”This car looks old it must be “junk” - by the way for most of them old car=junk car. 2.”It has scratches and dents, it must be junk” 3.”What a dirty car, it must be junk” They don’t understand what mechanically solid car is, they are only interested in the shell. So if we drive a mechanically solid 80s car with bad paint we’ll be classified as “mechanic that drives a junk car”, but in our world that car is not junk at all. It works the other way round too. It is about what matters most - for us it is to have mechanically solid car, for the general public it is all about the looks.
Agreed 100%
Enjoyed your video and you touched on some ideas that I found to be true in my life as well. The newest car we have is a 2005 Honda Odyssey. My clunker is a 1995 Subaru Legacy that just keeps on going. Having spent nearly 18 yrs turning wrenches it is definitely a different set of eyes. Example; Just recently the harmonic balancer bolt ejected on the highway in NJ. I called a tow to just get me to civilzation. Inquired as to the allowance of the car being in the parking lot for a couple of days (positive response) and just went about getting together the necessary items to fix the vehicle. Called a friend close by for a pick-up and drop off at a car rental place. She asked how the heck I wasn’t frazzled by the event. Too many of these events under my belt to be frazzled at all. The next day it took a total of 2 hours to repair at a cost of $24 for a tap I didn’t have and a new bolt, washer and lock washer. So $35. It’s just a car and it isn’t my ‘67 Camaro so…………….. ;-) Other aspects are property tax and insurance costs. Being from a state where you pay property tax on your car(s) every year, it is certainly way more manageable to drive older cars. Minus collision coverage, I can insure 3 cars for the year for $1200. Keep up the videos, you have a good screen presence. ;-)
Comments
Im a technician, but my cars are like my textbooks, i’ve learnt how to do things and repair bits on my cars. I used to have brand new cars at my old place but it wasn’t as fun, plus it costs a lot like you said with tools etc.
Everyone thinks my rodeo is a bucket when ever i see a friend after not seeing them for a few months they ask how the f@*k is that thing still running. Funny thing is its pretty well maintained (not very well maintained) runs like a dream, always has oil doent leak or burn it and i know what it uses i have to top up the coolent weekly and i have no idea where it goes but the car has never realy let me down
I seek out Mechanics that own the particular car that i own.
I figure this way they have a intimate relationship with the car/truck and are more knowledgeable i repairing and maintaining mine.
Not only does the shop gain a loyal customer this way but the Mechanic/s become your friends
Daily driving a vr6 is no easy feat when it comes to constant misfires and coolant leaks..but repairing it for it last for about another 3 or 4 months is well worth it to hear that amazing sound
Vr6 ftw! I miss mine but timing chain slippage killed it 💔
Why do mechanics drive junk?
It reminds me my local tire shop has an old E90 Corolla, the shop owns it since the beginning of time. It is one of the best example I have ever seen.
I feel as a technician overtime you see these great cars go from caring hands of a owner that takes it to their dealer to trading it in and goes to someone else to die. I look at the potential a car has to offer. I had a 2002 Sunfire 2.2 ohv engine with 317989 miles on it before it was wrecked. Than I upgraded to a 2004 cavalier with 254975 on the odometer. It has the ecotec but I’m gonna put both chain s with updated main chain tensioner. Basically I want to give cars a chance to be taken care of before they die.
So basically the same reasons programmers usually have a couple broken computers lying around
Yeah because its cheap and you can seap parts to fix it. I agree
For me it is all about perception. “Mechanics drive junk cars” comes from general public and general public has very different idea of what “junk car” is. For the majority of the people defining cars as “junk”, “bad”, “falling a part” etc. do it solely on what they see on the outside:
1.”This car looks old it must be “junk” - by the way for most of them old car=junk car.
2.”It has scratches and dents, it must be junk”
3.”What a dirty car, it must be junk”
They don’t understand what mechanically solid car is, they are only interested in the shell.
So if we drive a mechanically solid 80s car with bad paint we’ll be classified as “mechanic that drives a junk car”, but in our world that car is not junk at all. It works the other way round too.
It is about what matters most - for us it is to have mechanically solid car, for the general public it is all about the looks.
Agreed 100%
Enjoyed your video and you touched on some ideas that I found to be true in my life as well. The newest car we have is a 2005 Honda Odyssey. My clunker is a 1995 Subaru Legacy that just keeps on going. Having spent nearly 18 yrs turning wrenches it is definitely a different set of eyes. Example; Just recently the harmonic balancer bolt ejected on the highway in NJ. I called a tow to just get me to civilzation. Inquired as to the allowance of the car being in the parking lot for a couple of days (positive response) and just went about getting together the necessary items to fix the vehicle. Called a friend close by for a pick-up and drop off at a car rental place. She asked how the heck I wasn’t frazzled by the event. Too many of these events under my belt to be frazzled at all. The next day it took a total of 2 hours to repair at a cost of $24 for a tap I didn’t have and a new bolt, washer and lock washer. So $35. It’s just a car and it isn’t my ‘67 Camaro so…………….. ;-)
Other aspects are property tax and insurance costs. Being from a state where you pay property tax on your car(s) every year, it is certainly way more manageable to drive older cars. Minus collision coverage, I can insure 3 cars for the year for $1200.
Keep up the videos, you have a good screen presence. ;-)
Thank you for that and for sharing your story.