Turns out it's a V8 with all-wheel drive. I asked him to pop the hood and show me the engine, since I'm a guy and I like looking at V8's because it's in my blood.
He popped the hood and here's what I saw:
Seriously? V8, I don't even know you any more. There was a little door for the windshield washer fluid, and a dipstick. That's it.
He popped the hood and here's what I saw:
Seriously? V8, I don't even know you any more. There was a little door for the windshield washer fluid, and a dipstick. That's it.
It might as well have a sticker on it that says:
Either that, or it should just have a mechanical arm that reaches out and grabs your wallet out of your back pocket and then punches you in the nuts with it.
I got a 2007 vehicle this spring. It's the first new (to me) vehicle I've had since 1997. When I consulted the owner's manual to simply see what kind of oil and filters to get for it, it did not say. It stated clearly the same sentiment that you expressed "Leave the oil change to the high-priced professionals, dummy." Actually, it said "It is recommended that oil and filter changes should only be done by a certified (blank) dealership." That's 120 miles away! And I've been changing my own oil and filters since the Reagan administration. A quick trip to Google then the auto parts store, and I was able to do it myself anyway. Screw you, dealership.
ReplyDeleteYep. Same experience if you look under the car, too. Makes a person that likes to change oil on a do-it-yerself basis a little nutty. They say these sheets of hard plastic covering the engine from above and below is for fuel economy but I call Bolshoi on that. This is the real reason for the internet: to disseminate valuable oil changing secrets after engineers run out of real things to engineer on cars...
ReplyDeleteAlso, word verification is "dernn" which is the same thing I said (I am from The South) the first time I saw the belly plate that had to be removed for me to drain the oil out of a 2009 model automobile!
Looks like someone forgot to unwrap the box that the engine comes in.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, I'm surprised they even bothered with a hood.
It's-the-end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it.
ReplyDeleteIt's more like lifting up its shirt and seeing an 8 pack... like they gave it abs.
ReplyDeleteSo what would the nuns in "Sound of Music" have done about that?!?
ReplyDelete"Crap, Sister! I guess we just have to let the Nazis run after the Von Trapp family after all."
Steve
Pay no attention to the engine behind the curtain.....errrr....I mean protective covering.
ReplyDeleteThat's quite the "caker", according to the WV today.
ReplyDeleteWhen I see something like that, I am immediately inspired to find out how to open it and foil the little money-grubbing big-boys...
I used to do all the work on my MG, now I pop the hood, say "yep there's an engine in there", and close it.
ReplyDelete22 MPG on a V8 is pretty good. What is it? (I love cars. Fast cars, powerful cars, pretty cars, old cars. I miss working on them, but after my tools were stolen it was too expensive to replace the lot.)
ReplyDeleteEven being a female I like looking at engines and the thought that there is a male out there that can park this under a tree and fix what I need fixed - just hand out the beer. My sweet departed husband wanted to be able to climb in the engine compartment and move around. Now they are like toner cartridges - just pop it out and replace. I had a '59 straight 8 Plymouth and even I could find stuff in it. Now I have an Avalon with a can in it that runs the car somehow and EVERYTHING costs more. Oh well - it is a nice drive. Good luck with you wallet.
ReplyDeleteMy car looks pretty much the same when you pop the hood, though it does have a couple of rows of shiny chrome bolts that give the illusion that you could get inside if you had a velvet-lined wrench. Actually, I find it liberating. I hate working on cars, but always felt like I should at least do the simple stuff myself.
ReplyDeleteWow....it's almost antiseptic looking. My first car was an 8 cylinder and all the wires had electrical tape or band-aids on them!
ReplyDeleteI want a Lexus.. and a Harley.
ReplyDeleteI love your work and have been reading your work since J.C. Penny's...
I can see the repair bill for when they change out the blinker fluid.
ReplyDelete1) remove fasteners for engine cover, $200
2) remove.....
BWAHAHAHA!! Thank you! I needed that laugh!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a LARGE CD player.
ReplyDeleteI told my brother about this who is almost a 30 year nissan mechanic. he said he doesn't understand why they put the covers over the motors and says it's stupid. Just another way to make people pay out unnecessary money to just change the oil. What a rip off!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a Power Wheels engine.
ReplyDeleteI can almost hear someone knocking in there and faintly screaming, "Let me out!"
ReplyDelete