Even more automotive pet peeves and quirks

[Sad, little man]

I'm not sure if I've posted this yet, but it irritates me when I see cars running around with white light bulbs in a turn signal/parking light housing that was meant to have an amber bulb in it. If you have enough knowledge to change your car's light bulbs, you should have enough knowledge to realize that you need an amber bulb when the lens itself is not amber. And I'm not talking about the people who intentionally do this to both sides, but the ones where one side has the proper amber bulb, and the other is white.

[thesameguy]

Sometimes the amber tint cracks and falls off the NA bulbs, leaving them white or at least whiter. Both signals on the back of my Volvo and one on the back of the Benz were failed in this way. I suspect most people would never notice. The only reason I have is because I always do a functional check of all the lights when buying a used car. I can't say I have ever checked to see if a car I've owned for a while has developed this problem.

[Leon]

I discovered an interesting side repeater light issue with my 2002 Corolla. The light has fallen out of the back of the guard / fender. So it is still flashing away happily, merely doing so inside the guard liner.

[speedpimp]

I finally got tired of the flat spotted tires(on the outside shoulder, both fronts) on my work truck that caused the front end to shake at speeds over 45 mph and pull harder to the right than Rush Limbaugh. A few weeks ago I wrote the problem up and turned it into the Ryder garage where we store our trucks. One of their mechanics drove the truck and said the shaking was due to bad roads and said nothing needed to be done. I guess he didn't bother to look at the tires. So after two more weeks I wrote it up and turned it in again and they finally fixed it with a brand new set of front tires. The shaking is gone and it doesn't pull hard to the right. Too bad they didn't do it right the first time.

[speedpimp]

I've heard of people painting their calipers but never their rotors. This was posted on a Suzuki SX4 FB group. I'm hoping somebody is taking the piss with this.
490

[thesameguy]

Those are just brake drums, so no harm in painting them. I've definitely see it done before, though IMHO even looking at drum brakes is a waste a time, much less applying paint,

[speedpimp]

Maybe he thinks it will help him stop faster.

[Kchrpm]

Yeah, red gives you +5 brake horsepower, so you'll definitely stop better.

[thesameguy]

:lol:

[Random]

Need more fins, a la Datsun:

http://www.gomog.com/allmorgan/zbrakedrums.jpg

[Sad, little man]

Actually, those I could actually see helping.

[Freude am Fahren]

Make sure to only paint one corner at a time though.

[Sad, little man]

People that outfit their cars with garish tow hooks that are impossible to miss and then also put a big arrow on their car pointing to it crack me up.

Yes, we see that you're trying to be a race car.

[Leon]

My actual race car has a tow strap tucked out of the way so that you can't see it :)

[Sad, little man]

Exactly.

[tigeraid]

It occurs to me I could put Parts Guy pet peeves here.

hmm...

#1 - Old people asking for wiper refills! WE DON’T HAVE THOSE ANYMORE. I can either special order you that $10 wiper refill, or I can sell you this $11 complete wiper blade! Wiper refills are pointless. If the wiper is old enough to be worn out, it’s old enough for the springs to have also worn out, so it still won’t clear your windshield worth a damn! Stop being so cheap!

#2 - Customers who tell me "they're all the same" instead of giving me specific model details. I'm not a moron, if I ask there's a reason. Whenever someone tells me that, I make the effort to find the most rare, least likely version of the part they want and give it to them. Then watch them start to rant and rave, then ask again for more details.

#3 - Customers asking me to mix them a pint of "Ford Blue" or "Honda Red"... or asking me to look up their paint by year/make/model. Give me the GODDAMN paint code, or a VIN number. No, I am NOT flipping through colour chip books. You feel free to.

#4 - Customers trying and then returning electrical components. I have a big sign behind me that says ALL sensors, switches, relays, fuses, pigtails and bulbs are FINAL SALE the moment you plug them in. We are not in the business of losing money because YOU can’t use a multi-meter to test a sensor before replacing it.

#5 - Old-fuck Countermen who only use books, and new-fuck Countermen who only use the computer. I’m 33 and been in the business 8 years. I’m equally comfortable using computer resources or the book. The only thing I hate more than counter men who only use the computer are countermen who only use the books. Everything they do takes four times as long. Being stuck in the past is just as stupid as being stuck in the future.

#6 - Batteries that come without handles. There's still a few numbers. Who the fuck designed that?


And some fun stories that definetely qualify as peeves:


- Had a guy walk in a while ago and ask if we sold gasoline. Uuuh, sure, right over there beside the brake fluid....

- Another guy came in after recently buying the cheapest, shittiest brake pads on the market (not from me, obv!) for about $15. He wanted a magical “anti-squeal” that he could spread on the FRICTION SURFACE of the pads to stop them making noise, and that he’d seen it on the Internet for about $15.

I hadn’t heard of such a thing so I sent him on his way… But why buy $15 brake pads, with no anti-rattle clips, install them poorly, complain about squealing and then drive around the city looking for a $15 tube of SOMETHING that you rub on the brake pad to (no doubt temporarily) stop noise…. Instead of just spending $30-35 on brake pads and new anti-rattle clips….


- And I'll end on a fun story about another pet peeve: customers arguing about wiper sizes because they had the WRONG ones on to begin with...

So a really old, old, squinty-looking guy with a giant beard comes in and asks for a driver’s side wiper blade for a 2002 Protege. Cheapest possible. I grab it, bill him out, he looks through a flyer for five minutes, then stares at the wiper blade for a solid 2 minutes, then declares that I’ve given him the wrong wiper, his is shorter. I pointed out that the catalogue says that’s the correct size, but we can certainly swap it if he likes. He can go out and compare the size.

He gets all grumbly, then wanders out to the parking lot and proceeds to try and match up this wiper blade with the driver’s side wiper blade on my 1996 Honda Civic, which is parked next to his car. The Protege is a Mazda, my Civic is a Honda. The Protege is a 4 door with a wing on the trunk, my Honda is a hatchback with 2 doors. The back seat of his Protege is filled to the brim with what looks like garbage and old clothing. My Civic has pretty dark tint, so he wouldn’t be able to see the back seat anyway. His car is 6 years newer than mine (though incredibly rotten, with the exhaust falling off.)

In fairness, they’re both silver, I guess.

He messes with it for a good three-four minutes then throws his hands in the air and walks back in, angrily approaching me and raving that the wiper blade is too damn big. I then point out that he was trying to change the wiper blade on my car, not his.

He looks dumbfounded, squints REALLY hard out the front door, perhaps in hopes that my car will morph into a Mazda Protege and prove me wrong. He then squints at me for a good solid minute without saying a word, then storms out. Then spends another 5 minutes messing with his car until finally breaking the old blade off of it, and putting his on. Shockingly, it’s the correct size.

Do you think perhaps if he can’t see how long his wiper blade is, or even which car is his, he maybe shouldn’t be driving on public roads?

[thesameguy]

Re #1: Can you please do something about this? My Falcon and Fleetwood can't do anything with new wiper blades. I need the refills. :P

Re #2: You are (clearly) the exception to this rule. I'm one of the "they're all the same" guys because I positively hate someone asking me for the year/make/model/trim/engine/drive wheels so they can sell me a light bulb or a wiper blade or a window switch. Most parts people I deal with are robots - friendly robots, but robots nonetheless. They push the buttons they were taught to, never once stopping to think it's unlikely Chevy changed light bulbs based on engine size.

Re Protege Guy: That kind of stuff would have me swinging like a pendulum - half hilarious, half maddening. I spend enough time in auto parts stores that I see a remarkable amount of that type of stuff - I can't imagine dealing with it all day. The worst thing I've ever seen is a guy at a parts counter not having a response to "What kind of car is it?" and just motioning "The silver one out there.":up:

[speedpimp]

When I go to get parts like wipers and filters I like to be able to read the catalog and find the stuff myself. Sometimes though that isn't possible because the old catalog has been torn all to hell and instead of putting a new catalog out the stores opt to use the computer only for parts look up. Oh well.

[speedpimp]

Re Protege Guy: That kind of stuff would have me swinging like a pendulum - half hilarious, half maddening. I spend enough time in auto parts stores that I see a remarkable amount of that type of stuff - I can't imagine dealing with it all day. The worst thing I've ever seen is a guy at a parts counter not having a response to "What kind of car is it?" and just motioning "The silver one out there.":up:

Sounds like some of my cusomters.
"Where is all my lettuce?"
"You only ordered one!"
"NO! I ordered two!"
"No, sir, the invoice says you only ordered one."
"But I ordered two! Can you bring me more?"
"You'll have to call and talk to a salesperson."
"Okay, but where are my water melons?"
"We only had three in stock."
"But I ordered ten!"
"Yes, sir, I know, but we didn't have any more!" as I point to the invoice.

[tigeraid]

Re #1: Can you please do something about this? My Falcon and Fleetwood can't do anything with new wiper blades. I need the refills. :P

We sell "Classic" wiper blades for those applications. Rarely have them in-store though. Can't speak for other parts stores.



Re #2: You are (clearly) the exception to this rule. I'm one of the "they're all the same" guys because I positively hate someone asking me for the year/make/model/trim/engine/drive wheels so they can sell me a light bulb or a wiper blade or a window switch. Most parts people I deal with are robots - friendly robots, but robots nonetheless. They push the buttons they were taught to, never once stopping to think it's unlikely Chevy changed light bulbs based on engine size.

I've been told this more and more outside of Canada. Up here, you actually have to know shit about shit to be a parts guy. We're also higher paid than anywhere else. And apparently it reflects this way. Up here the only parts places like that are Canadian Tire, which is just a glorified department store that has an auto parts section. NAPA, Carquest, Benson, APC, etc. hire knowledgeable counter staff and pay them properly. I pity Americans having to deal with $7/hr high school dropouts on the counter.

In fact, I read in an article a couple years ago that auto parts is the highest-paid industry in Canada that does NOT require post-secondary education.

[Godson]

Yeah, every time I go to the parts store I usually end up looking at the kid like he's a few synapses short.

Iwas looking for a gm HEI distributor cap cover ( the one that covers the coil and sits on top of the distributor cap ) and an HEI coil grounding strap. Kid proceeds to tell me that he has worked on cars for 3 years and has never heard of that stuff before.

I blinked, then walked out of the store to have never returned.

[Yw-slayer]

This isn't really about a car, but more about car reviews:

http://www.autoblog.com/2014/09/25/2015-toyota-sienna-review-quick-spin/

Talks about how Toyota mentioned that they'd sharpened up the handling, then the actual review (quick points below) doesn't say anything about the handling.

Is this is a case of Facepalm, or a more subtle case of I See What You Did There?

[thesameguy]

I've been told this more and more outside of Canada. Up here, you actually have to know shit about shit to be a parts guy.

I was reminded of this topic yesterday when I stopped in an Autozone to buy some fuel line. Guy looks at the window and says, "What year is that?" I tell him it's a '62 Falcon. "V8?" No, still the factory inline six with a 2-speed auto. "Oh, yeah, Powerglide." Yeah, that's it guy, Ford put a GM transmission in their cars.

[Mirage]

I had to go order another belt from oreilly's (oddly enough the 240sx with a VH45 with an SR20 PS pulley uses the same size belt as a Xterra with a Quest altnernator/pulley, so I swiped it off the car) I told the guy I need to order a gates belt, this part number. His response was what car, I told him there is no car, you don't have it in stock thats the belt I want just order it because i'm not driving an hour to spartanburg for it. He then proceeds to order it from greensboro and tells me it will be probably be a few days. When I ordered it the first time from another store, the girl running the counter had this whole thing handled in 20 seconds, it took this guy 8 minutes.

[thesameguy]

I love the "no car" -> mind blown scenario. I gave you a part number, get it.

[Godson]

I do that number quite often. But my parts guys are trained.

[thesameguy]

I was helping a friend with her Camry today, and ended up needing a 22mm crow's foot wrench - something I didn't have and have never even sorta needed. Napa was the only place that had one in stock in the entirety of Sacramento, so I went over to pick it up. They have a rack of tools right behind the counter, so I walked up to the guy and said "I need a 22mm crow's foot wrench. He turned around, half grasped at a big offset wrench, then half grasped at an adjustable wrench, then paused. All the while, I'm staring right at the crow's foot wrenches. He then starts pawing at box wrenches and I say, "I definitely need a crow's foot. A full wrench is not going to fit." He turns around and says, "I have no idea what that is. My dad would be ashamed of me. He got me this job. Why don't you just come back here and get what you need?"

NAPA KNOW HOW!

[Random]

At least he was self-aware enough to admit it.

[speedpimp]

So it's just a wrench head that fits on a socket? Never knew what those were called.

[thesameguy]

No ill will towards the guy - he was friendly and knew his limitations. But it's totally indicative of the people that parts stores around here hire. And this is Napa, too, which holds itself above the others. Well, at least their prices suggest they do. ;)

My dad had a set of crow's foot wrenches when I was a kid - but I never knew what they were for. It wasn't until maybe 3-4 years that lightning struck and I found an application for them. The Camry is probably the third or fourth time I've ever actually used one - although they are nice for properly torqueing tube fittings. Which I never do. I use German-spec most of the time.

[thesameguy]

Me: Do you have 3/4" emissions-rated hose? I need about 2'.

Dude: Do you have a part number?

Me: ?

[speedpimp]

Really?

[thesameguy]

Indeed.

I had to get out my phone and jump on their website to find the effing hose and show it to him. "Oh, that's with the hoses."

NO FUCKING WAY.

[Godson]

I would have just stared at him.

After he rung me up I would have asked "you sure you got the right thing?"

*stare*

[tigeraid]

I had a guy come in yesterday to ask for 1/4" low pressure fuel line, 3 feet. I spent about 45 seconds walking to the hose isle, cutting it and giving it to him.

"Man, I'm surprised you had it, the guy at Crappy Tire said he didn't know what that was!" :smh:

[thesameguy]

"Man, I'm surprised you had it, the guy at Crappy Tire said he didn't know what that was!" :smh:

Last time I needed to buy "big" emissions hose (5/8", IIRC) the guy came back with heater hose. I told him that would not work, it was for PCV. He said "It's okay, we use this all the time." Yeah, I'll bet he does. Probably sells a lot of heater hose, too.

[speedpimp]

TSG, instead of going to an auto parts store when you need hose, try going to either a Parker Store or other similar business that sells every kind of hose you can imagine. Pretty sure they would know CARB-compliant hose from their asshole.

[thesameguy]

All those places are just really far away - I can go by a dozen stores filled with idiots on my way home, but I have to spend 40 minutes in a car to get anywhere with people who know anything (Capitol Rubber, Grainger, Hose & Fittings, Parker, etc.). I just don't have that kind of time on the daily. That's why I buy pretty much everything online - saves time driving around - not to mention fuel and maybe sanity. Unfortunately, when it comes to hoses the only way to buy online is bulk... I can justify (and have) buying 25' or 250' of vacuum hose, but 25' of 3/4" fuel line is a little excessive. ;) It's also why I get excited about websites that sell oddball connectors or cables or tools, because it means there's one less conversation I have to have with parts store people, and that much less time I can spend driving around, not getting anything done.

[FaultyMario]

The real men use three pedals stickers. Fucking annoying.

[Sad, little man]

Pedal envy?

[FaultyMario]

Well some sports cars have non-pedal clutches and some of those require more delicate control than left foot clutching. Also, even with only two pedals, left foot braking is not something all 'true men' can do well.

There's also the whole no true scotsman fallacy which has no place in someone judging other people's enjoyment or bravery; You know those WRC drivers are such no true men, by driving clutch-less cars with their dog gear transmissions.

[Godson]

"left-foot braking" isn't really that useful.


I can show you plenty of extremely successful drivers that don't left-foot brake. It is a good practice to be able to do, but it doesn't make you faster. Just another tool in your arsenal.

[FaultyMario]

It was meant in the context of "only manual driver have teh skills".

[thesameguy]

Since most things I own that have only two pedals also happen to have poor braking (motorhome, Falcon, Fleetwood, Suburban) I usually drive with two feet. Those things need all the help stopping they can get, and taking dozens of feet out of a stop by having one foot always on the brakes is peace of mind for me. I'm actually kind of amazed at my ability to go from driving the Falcon with two feet to the Jag with only one. Maybe some day it will bite me in the ass, but I've been doing it for many many years without ill effect. What I can't seem to grasp, though, is left foot braking with a manual car. There are times I know it would make me quicker but I feel so clumsy at it I tend not to try for very long. I think my left foot feels weird on the small brake pedal and muscle memory kicks in and I use it like a clutch. I dunno. Whatevs.

[FaultyMario]

Just who buys a arkticsilber/polarsilber (http://www.elferclassic.de/technik/farben/plack_silber.php)991?

[thesameguy]

Average Lower Upper Class Guy.

:D

[CudaMan]

Here's one. My dad's '15 Forester won't let you adjust the date or minutes while driving, but will let you adjust the hour. You have to be parked or maybe even have the engine off to change minutes or the date. This is undocumented in the owner's manual to my knowledge. Poor dad (doesn't like menus and new complex things - can't blame him on this one) couldn't figure out how to get the correct time.

I think the idea is you can easily change hour when traveling through time zones, but when you think about it, in order to change the hour you have to do a long press of the SET/Info button, look at the little display while you scroll to the Time/Date option with more clicks of the up/down arrows, then go through another sub-menu to change the Date/Time, and then you can set the hour. What's one more little step to allow you to change the minutes? You've already gone so far just to get to the hour.

[neanderthal]

The video contained in the link (http://jalopnik.com/watch-this-road-raging-pickup-driver-ram-a-car-off-the-1780166027) is my pet peeve.

SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT.

[thesameguy]

I have a lot of conflicting feelings about that situation.

[retsmah]

People cruising slow in the fast lane is pretty frustrating, the dudes road raging and driving like maniacs piss me off a lot more though. A lot of them tailgate all over the place, regardless of how reasonable the car in front of them is driving... over the weekend I had one of those guys tailgating me, in the slow lane, because he had tried to pass a bunch of cars on the right and got stuck behind me.

[neanderthal]

I move into whichever is the slow lane if there are cars trying to pass if i'm driving slowly.

[Sad, little man]

If you buy a beautiful European car like a Bentley, the cost of the car should include lessons on how to fucking use a rear fog light. Hint, it's not just to look cool like the front ones.

[Freude am Fahren]

Don't a lot of cars with rear fogs turn them on with the fronts. One switch? Probably doesn't even know rear fogs exist.

[thesameguy]

I think anything made in the last 20 should have discrete switches. I think they are required in some European countries. The SPG and XR4Ti have one switch, but everything from my '95 850 onwards has had two.

[Alan P]

Seat Leon (Golf in Spanish drag) has a two stage pull switch with the main lights. First turn is sidelights, second is dipped main beam. You need to pull the dial to turn on the rear fog light then pull it again for front fog lights.

[dodint]

Only thing I've ever owned with rear fog lights was my Land Rover DII.

[Sad, little man]

I did not realize some vehicles tied the front and rears together on one switch. Not a great design, IMO, since the rear one(s) serves such a specific purpose and is just annoying to everyone behind you otherwise.

[Freude am Fahren]

Right, the rear acts more like your brights. Having your (OEM anyway) front fog lights on shouldn't bother any other drivers. Rear fogs will.