Attention What are you doing at the moment? 2024-25

[lckmyass]

Getting my cock sucked

 

[Rickrock]

Just finished lunch.

I want to grumble and complain. Some lights came on, on the dashboard of my car yesterday so I took my car to a mechanic this morning. He called and said that I need a new catalytic converter and it would be about $2300. He said that I had replaced the other two catalytic converters before and now I need to replace this one. I thought cars had only one catalytic converter, but I found out that some cars have more and mine has three. In March I paid $2884 for repairs on my car. Even though my car is 17 years old, it is a Toyota with about 144,000 miles on it and should last longer and is much cheaper than buying a new car, but this is adding up. I could have had $5100 toward a down payment for a new car now.

 

[M1000]

Watching a guy go for $1 million dollars on 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire'

The $1,000,000 question was . . .

What is Carol Brady's maiden name?

A. Martin B. Tyler C. Nelson D. Franklin

His phone a friend didnt have the answer so he walked with $500,000.

Answer: Tyler

(Martin = Carol's first husband
Nelson = Alice's last name
butcher Sam's last name)

 

[me203]

^Ah, the "joys" of older cars...

I remember my father going through regular repairs on one of his cars once it hit 200,000 miles. Although I think each repair was pretty cheap, although I'm sure they did add up. As he commented at the time, he liked gambling that $500 would put off car payments a few months.

 

[me203]

I just gave up on a customer survey for a financial institution. I simply can't answer some questions, because I have no experience with what the question asks. The survey requires an answer for each question, and there was no way of answering "Not applicable." This seems like a bad way to construct a survey if you want meaningful information from a wide range of customers.

 

[rareboy]

Just finished lunch.

I want to grumble and complain. Some lights came on, on the dashboard of my car yesterday so I took my car to a mechanic this morning. He called and said that I need a new catalytic converter and it would be about $2300. He said that I had replaced the other two catalytic converters before and now I need to replace this one. I thought cars had only one catalytic converter, but I found out that some cars have more and mine has three. In March I paid $2884 for repairs on my car. Even though my car is 17 years old, it is a Toyota with about 144,000 miles on it and should last longer and is much cheaper than buying a new car, but this is adding up. I could have had $5100 toward a down payment for a new car now.

It is always about sunk costs ahen a car is older.

We like our Honda Pilot so much that we always carefully weigh the investment.

I figure that if we get the number of months of extra wear that equal the payments for a new vehicle, we come out even and we get to keep the dependable vehicle we like driving.

But we only take it to the original dealer and mechanics so we rely on them to give us an honest assessment of extended life. And they know we will be buying our next vehicle from them as well.

 

[NotHardUp1]

Just finished lunch.

I want to grumble and complain. Some lights came on, on the dashboard of my car yesterday so I took my car to a mechanic this morning. He called and said that I need a new catalytic converter and it would be about $2300. He said that I had replaced the other two catalytic converters before and now I need to replace this one. I thought cars had only one catalytic converter, but I found out that some cars have more and mine has three. In March I paid $2884 for repairs on my car. Even though my car is 17 years old, it is a Toyota with about 144,000 miles on it and should last longer and is much cheaper than buying a new car, but this is adding up. I could have had $5100 toward a down payment for a new car now.

Consider getting a 2nd opinion, unless you absolutely trust your mechanic. They could even be harvesting your converters plus selling you new ones.

 

[unloadonme]

Joking aside, I am often in a nearby small city where there are plenty of BMWs and similarly priced cars. (The city is a bedroom community, where people move to flee crime ridden larger cities.) I walk a lot while doing my errand loop, and--despite the reputation of BMW drivers--I have never had any real problem caused by one (like nearly getting run over, like happened with a Lexus SUV or actually getting subjected to a low speed impact, which happened with a Tesla). I know some have even had right of way, but yielded to me, anyway.

Of course, this is all based on limited experience in one place... It could be that BMW drivers are arrogant assholes some other places I've never been.

Q: What's the difference between hedgehogs and BMWs?

A: Hedgehogs have the pricks on the outside.

 

[cumlover91]

Got home from work just to continue working from home. This is going to be a long night.

 

[me203]

Consider getting a 2nd opinion, unless you absolutely trust your mechanic. They could even be harvesting your converters plus selling you new ones.

Past this, prices for the same job can vary from shop to shop, even with good mechanics.

Another thing I've noted, too, is that different mechanics have a different view of what actually needs to be done and when. This is probably not the case here, but I sure have had experience with some mechanics pushing a more aggressive level of work for older, high mileage cars, while others say this is what is actually needed now.

 

[fredroy]

A 17 years old Toyota with about 144,000 miles seems to me a bit low mileage to need new cats. I'm thinking since lights came on on the dash that the computer threw a code for the oxygen sensor. But I don't know, maybe with a Toyota replacing the cat is how you replace the sensor. Shrug. $2300 seems expensive.

 

[unloadonme]

A 17 years old Toyota with about 144,000 miles seems to me a bit low mileage to need new cats. I'm thinking since lights came on on the dash that the computer threw a code for the oxygen sensor. But I don't know, maybe with a Toyota replacing the cat is how you replace the sensor. Shrug. $2300 seems expensive.

Surely $2,300 is more than the car's worth. I think I'd put that money towards the cost of a new car.

 

[Dargelos]

I had a cat replaced twelve years ago at a cost of £177. That seemed a lot at the time. Cat prices keep rising, like all prices, but not that much. $2300 sounds like fleecing for a job that should take an hour and a half.

 

[me203]

A couple of more car repair thoughts... First, I seem to recall hearing that codes can come up indicating a specific part isn't working, but it's actually something else that is not working that impacts the first part. A good mechanic should rule this out. But there are a lot of not very good mechanics out there...

Secondly, if the catalytic convertor has failed, then the good mechanic should also make sure there isn't a reason it failed. Putting in a new part to replace one that has failed because of another problem will mean that the job will most likely need to be done sooner rather than later.

 

[me203]

Surely $2,300 is more than the car's worth. I think I'd put that money towards the cost of a new car.

This is probably varies by region, but in many areas of the US, I'd guess it would be impossible to find that car for sale for $2,300, unless it had huge problems.

I've seen YouTube mechanics talking about how a car in their shop needs a lot of expensive repair that wouldn't have been worth seriously considering ten years ago. Today it's worth considering.

 

[Alistair]

I had a cat replaced twelve years ago at a cost of £177. That seemed a lot at the time. Cat prices keep rising, like all prices, but not that much. $2300 sounds like fleecing for a job that should take an hour and a half.

Did a search for Toyota genuine parts. They range from $700 to $2900 without the service charge and that was only page 1 of 11. They might have been even higher.

I had a recalled cat replaced once on a car, the guy told me if I was paying to have it done it would be over 2k. That was 30 years ago.

 

[Dargelos]

So it's not just healthcare that is a nightmare expense over there.
For an old car, why would you pay for original manafacturers parts when generics are so much cheaper. It is worth it to preserve the warranty where that applies but I have never had a car remotely young enough to still have a warranty.

 

[rareboy]

And I have just put a Guinness and the glass in the freezer and in 18 minutes will crack open an end to workday cold one.

So it's not just healthcare that is a nightmare expense over there.
For an old car, why would you pay for original manafacturers parts when generics are so much cheaper. It is worth it to preserve the warranty where that applies but I have never had a car remotely young enough to still have a warranty.

I am not sure there are such things as generics for many parts.

Wouldn't that have been a gift to car owners? making universal replacement parts?

hahahahaah

Anyhow...I have worked on 1,2,3....wait....10 different projects for clients today including travel and meetings and a bad lunch on the fly and I am FUCKING done.

I already know I am going to fall asleep in front of the television this evening as soon as I have finished eating.

I am desperate for all this to end. I am thinking I won't get out of this next 3 years alive.

 

[Dargelos]

There are some makes that do try to make it difficult to find cheap substitute parts, Mercedes are notoriously mean about that, but it's not as though I will ever own a Merc. As long as there are still scrap yards, there will still be a source of car parts at beer money prices, provided you dont mind getting your hands dirty.

Dear rareboy, you are usualy right about most things. I hope you are not right in your final sentence.
If you slow down, the clients will have to wait longer, but if you dont slow down you wont be able to help them at all. Men are terrible for pretending that everything is alright when it is anything but. That you are not pretending is a good start. Not many jobs are worth making yourself ill over.

 

[me203]

why would you pay for original manafacturers parts when generics are so much cheaper.

One YouTube mechanic has urged using original parts for some applications. Too much of a risk of cheaper parts not working properly.

There are some makes that do try to make it difficult to find cheap substitute parts, Mercedes are notoriously mean about that, but it's not as though I will ever own a Merc.

I don't know about Mercedes in the US, but I could imagine a scenario of a $$$$ car company wanting only $$$$ parts to help keep an image of premium brand, only owned by the rich. And, by the accounts I've heard, you do have to be rich to own a German luxury car these days.

As long as there are still scrap yards, there will still be a source of car parts at beer money prices, provided you dont mind getting your hands dirty.

The availability of such fine establishments might--I gather--be a problem...

I certainly knew someone into older cars who commented about the difficulty all around of getting parts.