December 5, 2023 • 41 mins
Do you know how often you should rotate the tires on your car? What about when it comes to checking your oil? And do you know what it means when your “check engine” light appears? Not only does it feel grown-up to know how to maintain your car, but with winter coming (and winter IS coming), car maintenance is a very real necessity when it comes to keeping it running smoothly.
In this episode of “Grown-Up Stuff: How to Adult,” Matt and Molly are joined once again by CarTalk’s Jamie Page Deaton as they discuss the dos and dont’s of car maintenance. Learn how and how often you should wash your car in the winter, what type of gas your car actually needs, and the one thing about electric vehicle maintenance that dealerships don’t want you to know.
Sources Cited:
- 2021 US Census Data
- U.S. Department of Transportation: Bureau of Transportation Statistics "Automobile Profile,"
- “How Much Routine Car Mainten ance Costs” - Nerd Wallet
- “Can You Wash Your Car in Winter?” - AAA
- “Here’s How Much the Average Car Repair Costs Now” - Kelly Blue Book
- National Average Gas Prices - AAA
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Adults love their cars.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
According to twenty twenty one census data, nearly forty two
million households in the US had access to one vehicle,
while forty seven million had access to two vehicles, and
nearly twenty eight million households claimed to have access to
three or more vehicles. That's a whole lot of cars.
But aside from the actual purchase price of a car,
(00:31):
we're also spending a lot of money maintaining those cars.
Based on data from the US Department of Transportation Bureau
of Transportation Statistics Automobile Profile, Americans spent more than two
hundred and twenty eight billion dollars in twenty twenty just
on gas and oil for their cars, and nerd wallet
recommends budgeting about one hundred and twenty seven to one
(00:53):
hundred and seventy four dollars for twelve months of car maintenance.
But what are all these things that add to this
total cost? Are there things that we can do on
our own to keep the cost down? And how often
do I actually need to get my oil change? Start
taking notes? Because this is grown up Stuff. Welcome back
(01:20):
to another episode of Grown Up Stuff. How Do Adult
The podcast dedicated to helping you learn about the world
of adulting while also teaching you how to check the
oil in your car. I am your car list but
licensed driver Molly, and I am joined by my wonderful
co host, the Weekend Motorcyclist, Matt Stillo. On this episode
of the podcast, we're driving with our hands at ten
(01:41):
and two as we learn all about how to properly
care for and maintain our cars. Matt, you look wind swept.
Were you out working on the old motorcycle?
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Not today?
Speaker 4 (01:51):
No, yesterday, I did take it to the DMV and
Coney Island, which was a chilly ride as we get
here into late November in New York City. But yeah,
not today. This is just how the hair looks when
I'm out of get out of bed.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Ah, it's beautiful, it's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
But I do actually feel like you do a lot
of work on your bike yourself to keep it like
in proper working order. What are some of the things
that you well, I think listen, I hear you. You're like, oh,
I had to work on the bike this week. I
was just like tinkering on the bike this weekend. You're
doing things, But what are some of the things that
you're doing yourself to maintain it. And also do you
(02:28):
know how to check the oil in a motorized vehicle?
Speaker 4 (02:31):
I do, but that is low hanging fruit when it
comes to vehicle, it absolutely is. There's so many things
that I do not know how to do, but the
things that I do know how to do include like
bare minimum, like I know how to patch a tire,
like it's something that's that motorcycles that are especially susceptible
to is like getting a nail. Checking the oil is
not as big of a deal as it seems. The
color is really important, so you want it to be
(02:52):
like kind of like shiny and sort of like a
clear like if it's if it becomes cloudy translucent translucent, Yes,
if it becomes a cloudy darker, that can be one
indicator that you might need to change it soon. And
also like the biggest thing really is like if you
have a car, no matter what it is, like there's
a manual that tells you, like, oh, at thirty thousand miles,
rotate your tires or so as long as you're like
(03:13):
paying attention to those milestones and you're keeping trying, Like
I have a little like journal that tells me, like
I took it to the shop. I did this, I
changed the tires and so because I forget everything and
you know this, So it's good to have a little
like reference to the look back and be like when
was the last time that I did that? And how
many and all like kee, like I changed the tires
of this odometer so that, like you know, I can
(03:33):
see how many miles I have had the tires or
that had the chain.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Fixed or or whatever. But I do. Yeah, I take
it too. I have a guy, so yeah, you gotta
have a guy. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
Guy, If you have a car, do you have like
any like experience with maintaining cars?
Speaker 3 (03:47):
I don't think. I don't think so, right, you don't
have a car.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
I mean I had a car when I lived in Chicago.
I think I figured out once how to add more
wash or fluid, which is important. Yeah it's a bare minimum, Yeah,
but I figured that out. I also love to clean
my car, like vacuuming it out. It feels like you're
getting a brand new car each time.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
Oh absolutely, and that's huge.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
Like I even notice a big difference when I like
wash the bike that I just run smoother, Like the
gears aren't necessarily grinding together or anything like that, and
that can be a huge part of maintenance.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
People off and overlook.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Well, I am so glad that we are talking about
this right now because we've asked Jamie Paige Deton to
return for a third time and to share all of
her infinite car maintenance wisdom with.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
Us, the triple crown of being a grown up. If
anyone deserves it, it's Jamie.
Speaker 5 (04:34):
I'm Jamie Paige Deeton, and I'm the editor in chief
of Car Talk. I've been helping people buy and maintain
their cars for almost fifteen years now.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
And as you may recall, Jamie also served as the
executive editor for the US News and World Reports Best
Cars Team and as a member of the jury for
the North American Car, Truck and Utility of the Year Award.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Jamie, thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
So let's start with the very very basics here, because
that's what I'm all about. Why should we even care
about car maintenance?
Speaker 6 (05:05):
Well, because your car is like your teeth.
Speaker 5 (05:08):
If you don't go to the dentist and you don't
frush them, they're going to fall out of your head
and you're going to have a much bigger bill in
the end. And it is exactly the same with car maintenance.
Like if you aren't taking care of your car, it
is going to come back and bite you in the
end because when something goes wrong, and it will go wrong,
if you're not maintaining it, it's going to be that
much more expensive.
Speaker 6 (05:29):
So even though it's like.
Speaker 5 (05:30):
I don't want to spend you know, thirty or forty
dollars on an oil change, that's better than spending four
thousand dollars on a new engine that does not include labor,
that does not include towing it. And so it's just
you got to take care of your car, especially, I
mean people will try and stretch out oil changes, but
oil is the most important part of your car because
(05:51):
I mean it's a lubricant. Your car has so many
moving points that you really, really really need to keep
them lubricated. Otherwise what happens is everything just seizes up,
you know, worse than your uncle's back and you get
left on the side of the road.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
So we're talking about like lubrication and oil and engines.
What about it's something like as simple as like washing
your car. Could you consider like washing your car could
be a clean a form of maintenance.
Speaker 5 (06:15):
I consider it maintenance because I like to take care
of my paint and I like my car will look
nice where it really comes into and like bleeds over into. Definitely,
this as maintenance is if you live in an area
where they put salt or they treat the roads or
it snows at all, what they're treating the roads with
is super corrosive. And so running your car, you know,
through a car wash sometimes in the winter, not to
get it clean so that it looks good, but to
(06:37):
get the underside and make sure you spring for the
undercarriage wash that'll get all that corrosive material off the
bottom of your car. But I mean when it comes
back to just washing it and waxing it for paint,
it will help your paint, you know, lasts a little
bit longer where you really do kind of want to
wash it and be proactive about it. And apologies for
this being graphic. Is but like you know, when a
bird poops on it or when leaves stick to it,
(06:59):
because is that if you don't wash it off right away,
it could literally stain the paint, and so you just
don't want to deal with it. But overall, if you
don't mind having a dirty car, just keep the undercarriage clean.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
For the winter months.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Many experts recommend that you wash your car somewhere between every.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Two weeks to once a month.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
The Roadside Assistance Program Triple A also encourages drivers to
wash their car after a big snowstorm or at other
times when exposure to salts or other corrosive materials is higher.
If you are someone who prefers to wash your car
yourself rather than take it to a car wash service,
Triple A suggests making sure you try to wash it
on a milder day if possible, and to warm the
(07:45):
car up prior to washing it. These things can help
you avoid freezing your car door shut. They also caution
against using hot water over warm water, as the hot
water on cold glass can cause your windshield to crack.
Aside from the regular car wash, emissions checks are another
important part of maintenance that most states require by law
(08:06):
in order to update your registration. Since most cars today
already emit sixty to eighty percent less air pollution than
earlier cars, a failed emissions check could also imply there
may be something wrong with your car.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
So based on the state that you live in, you
could have like regularly scheduled like inspection requirements or emissions checks.
Can we consider that maintenance?
Speaker 5 (08:32):
You can consider it maintenance, but just keep in mind
they're not going to fix anything. They're just going to
tell you that something is wrong, and so then you
have to take the next step and actually get it fixed. Now,
what you do need to do and be a little
bit careful of, is you know, if you take it
to a mechanic for you know, state inspection, they have
a little bit of an incentive to be like, ooh,
you can't pass unless you get this taken care of,
(08:55):
and that's a little bit of a way that they
can get some extra money out of you. So when
you're in a situation like that, there are a couple
of things you can do. One is know your owner's
manual backwards and forwards, because if they're saying like, oh,
I can't pass you because you know your brake pads
are too thin, look at the recommended replacement intervals for
your brake pads, and if it's not near the interval,
you can be like, I'm going to go and take
(09:17):
it to the dealer and see what's going on there
and see if maybe there's a recall or something like that.
You'll still have to go get your car inspected, and
maybe you do need your brake pads replaced, but at
least you'll know for sure that it wasn't somebody just
trying to kind of, you know, get an extra couple
hundred bucks out of you. But I will say, like,
I've lived in states where they don't have safety inspections,
and you see some really messed up cars on the road.
(09:40):
So even if you live in a state where a
yearly safety inspection isn't required, still take your car to
a mechanic once a year and be like, hey, can
you just like inspect everything just to make sure that
the brakes will work when I press on them, and
like the car will turn when I move the wheel,
things like that.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Those inspections are separate from like the emissions check, right.
Speaker 5 (09:59):
Yeah, emissions check can vary not only by state but
by county, and emissions they're not really a safety thing,
but you know, we all live on the planet and
we'd like to keep it relatively clean, and so basically
it's checking to make sure that your car isn't polluting
too much. And if you have a car, a lot
of states do this where if your car is over
a certain age, it's exempt from the emissions testing. But
(10:20):
what the emissions testing can do is it can really
show up that something is wrong with the emission systems.
And so like the most common cause of like a
check engine light is something going on with the emission system,
and so getting that inspected if it's failing, that can
be your first clue that maybe it's time to have
it looked at and maybe get fixed.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Got it.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
What do you think is the amount that we should
really set aside or budget for our annual car maintenance.
Speaker 5 (10:47):
That's a really good question, and I hate to give
the answer of it depends, but it totally depends. Fair
So it depends on how expensive is your car. Is
it like a specialized brand? You know, if you drive
a BMW, expect to pay more in maintenance than somebody who.
Speaker 6 (10:59):
Drives like that's just a fact. The other thing to
think about is how old your car is.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
Older cars do need to stay on top of them
because things can break and start to go downhill quickly.
Your belts could dry out and snap and things like that.
So it's just one of those things where it's like
just kind of keep in mind the cost of labor
and parts for your car, as well as how old
it is, how many miles are on it. And then
the other thing I would add too is where you
live and how you drive it. So if you live
(11:25):
in the middle of nowhere on like beautiful smooth roads,
I'm going to say you live in like Sonoma, Leah,
you probably have less car maintenance to worry about than
somebody who lives in Detroit. Because Detroit has snow, they
have terrible roads that are going to be hitting a
lot of potholes and things like that. And so you
should budget more for maintenance if you live in an
area or you're driving in a lot of traffic all
the time, just because your car is going to get
(11:47):
more wear and tear if there's you know, major potholes
on the road and you know, lots of stopping and starting.
But in terms of like what actually to budget, I
mean I kind of budget it, and this is weird.
I budget for car maintenance alongside the budget that I
do for my pets at the vet. Oh okay, so
like roughly, I mean we'll budget like roughly five hundred
(12:07):
bucks a year for car maintenance.
Speaker 6 (12:09):
Now, the thing to remember.
Speaker 5 (12:10):
Is though, like we actually budget it out, so at
the end of the year, if we haven't spent five
hundred bucks, we don't go out and blow it on something.
We roll it over to next year because those expenses
are only going to increase.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
So now this is really interesting. You mentioned having its
parallel with what you budget for your pets, and I
was going to say, you know, pet insurance also kind
of is something that people use to help take care
of that cost for their monthly or their annual vet
bill for their pets. Now does car insurance work it
all the same way? Does car insurance ever cover any
(12:42):
of our repairs?
Speaker 5 (12:44):
That doesn't cover any repairs that come from normal wear
and tear. If you drive into a wall, yeah, car
insurance is going to help you out, provided you have
the right coverage. The closest thing to health insurance for
your car is extended warranty. The way that those work
is it's basically an insurance policy where you know, like
any other kind of insurance, you're betting against the company
and they're betting against you. So they're betting that you know,
(13:06):
they're going to pay out less in maintenance than you
pay in your premiums, and then you're saying, I'm going
to put these premiums away, and then when they have
a really big bill, it's going to be more than
the cost of these premiums. The thing remember, though, is
these extended warranty companies, it's really really interesting. They grab
a massive amount of data on repairs based on year, make,
(13:26):
model mileage. They basically have like actuarial tables for cars,
just like a health insurance company would, and so they
know exactly what's likely to go wrong with your car,
and they've got a little bit more information than you
do when you're making that bet. So if you just
don't want to worry about it, then absolutely go ahead,
get a new car with a really good warranty. Go
and get an extended warranty for your car. But just overall,
(13:48):
if you can just budget and have like a standalone
car account, a couple of things you know work in
your favorite One, you'll have money when repairs need to
be made. And then two, when it's time to replace
your car if you haven't spent all the money on repair,
putting in your down payment, and you'll have a ton
of money like already saved up for that.
Speaker 4 (14:04):
When you hear about like extended warranties, and of course
we think about the robo calls that we get, but
are there any like scams that we need to be
aware of when dealing with extended warranties.
Speaker 5 (14:14):
Where we see issues with people and extended warranties is
they don't read the warranty carefully enough and then something
goes wrong and it's not covered. So it's not just
that you have to get an extended warranty. You have
to get an extended warranty that covers what is going
to actually go.
Speaker 6 (14:29):
Wrong with your car.
Speaker 5 (14:30):
The other thing that people do is they don't read
and see that like they might have a really high
deductible on these extended warranties, and so that's I don't
want to say scammy, but that's just where people kind
of make mistakes because extended warranties, like anything else, it's capitalism.
Speaker 6 (14:44):
They're there to make.
Speaker 5 (14:45):
A problem, right, So you've got to look at them
a little bit, you know, give them a little bit
of side eye and make sure that you're looking out
for yourself because they're definitely not.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
It's true, it's like most things in life, you have
to read the fine print and really acknowledge is the
reward that you get. And I want to get back
to you said we should read the manuals, and I
know a lot of people are going to be upset
that they have to read something.
Speaker 6 (15:06):
Curious for your.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
But I kind of want to get more general, you know,
like when and how often would you recommend you know,
outside of reading our manual and finding those milestones, would
you recommend that we get maintenance done?
Speaker 6 (15:21):
Well, I mean just the basic stuff.
Speaker 5 (15:22):
So I would say, you know, the general rule of
thumb for oil changes, you know, three thousand miles or
three months. Now there are new synthetic oil mixes on
the market, so you can push that to like five
months and five thousand miles. Dealers, by the way, hate
those because because like they make a lot of money
from oil changes. Now, I know you don't want to
(15:43):
read your manual, but if your car is under any
sort of warranty, you need to follow the maintenance schedule
that's in there, otherwise you might void it. Right, So
let's say you don't ever get your oil change and
your engenecies is up and you're like, haha, it's still
under warranty. They're going to be like, show us receipts,
show us that you got the oil change and you
did it at regular intervals. Beyond just kind of the
oil changes, the maintenance that you should really never ever,
(16:06):
ever ever ever skip on is your tires. Different types
of tires have different longevities, but between thirty and forty
thousand miles on a set of tires is what you
should expect to get out of them. And there's a
little test that you can do to see if you
need new tires. You take a penny and you shove
it in the tread with abe'shead upside down, and if
you start to see abe'shead, you need to get new tires.
(16:29):
And the other thing with tires is do not ever, ever,
ever ever buy used tires because you do not know
how those tires have been maintained, and you are just
setting yourself up for a major headache and possibly you know,
killing yourself and other people on the road. So stay
on tops of these issues and make sure that you
are at least reading the terms of your warranty so
(16:51):
you don't end up voiding that by not doing the
basic maintenance that you need to do.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
So I'm super curious we're talking about tires.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Rotating your tires, is that also a required maintenance and
what is the purpose of it?
Speaker 5 (17:05):
So, the purpose of it is to keep the wear
on your tires even because if your tires are like
even just different heights, like even if the heights aren't
off by all that much, and you're never gonna be
able to perceive how off your tires are unless like
you routinely transport like a cow in your passenger seat,
and you know, you'll see the springs going down and
(17:27):
you'll see the tires have different wears. But it keeps
your tires wearing evenly, and you want your tires to
wear evenly because that impacts how your car is going
to handle and how it's balanced. So you really do
want to rotate your tires. Usually it's based on you know,
manufacturer recommendation about once a year every ten thousand miles
or so is a good basic interval to follow with it.
(17:49):
One other thing about tires is if you have an
all wheel drive car, anytime you're buying tires, even if
you just had one flat, you got to buy four tires.
Wait what, yeah, come again, If you have an all
wheel drive car, you need to buy all your tires
at the same time so that the wear will be even.
And if you have a two wheel drive car, so
(18:11):
either front wheel drive or rear wheel drive, you need
to buy tires in pairs. So let's say you get
your back passenger side tire blows out. Congratulations, You've got
to get a new tire on the other side as well.
So tires that are on the same axle need to
be replaced together. And when you've got all wheel drive, congratulations,
you're buying four tires at a.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Pop replacing every tire. Okay, okay, So clearly car maintenance
can be a pricey thing. Even replacing the tire pressure
monitoring sensors can cost between three hundred and thirteen to
three hundred and sixty eight dollars based on data from
(18:54):
Kelly Blue Book. They also estimate that the average cost
to repair a car can set an owner back five
hundred and forty eight dollars.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
That's a lot of money.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
So how can we keep the cost of maintenance and
repairs to a minimum? I mean, I know how to
check the oil in a car, but what else makes
sense for us to do on our own And what's
better left to the professionals.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
So as we've been talking about maintenance, I'm sure our
audience is like, cool. So every so often I've got
to take my car to a place and someone else
is going.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
To do the work. Is it possible for the average
person to maintain their car themselves.
Speaker 5 (19:33):
Yeah. Absolutely, Now you might not want to maintain it yourself,
just because in a lot of areas there's a huge
fee for the disposal of oil. So if you're thinking
I'm going to do my oil changes myself, like, don't
just dump the oil on the ground, you terrible polluter.
But know that, like sometimes the fee for disposing of
the oil is more than the cost of getting somebody
else to do the oil change for you, So check
(19:54):
that out before you're like, I'm gonna do that. But
there are things that you can do on your own,
Like you can go and you can check the fluid
levels on your own and replace fluids. You just need
to look at the level, get a funnel, go down
to you know, an autopart store, buy whatever fluid it.
Speaker 6 (20:07):
Is you need.
Speaker 5 (20:08):
Maybe it's ant to freeze whatever it is. That's not
that hard. It's also really easy to change your windshield
wipers yourself. You know, what you can do depending on
two things. One is how old your car is. Today's
cars are very computerized, so it's not like it used
to be where you could just wrench on it, you know,
in your driveway and everything was very mechanical and analog.
(20:30):
That just doesn't exist anymore, and it hasn't for about,
you know, fifteen, almost twenty years. But you can still,
you know, hop on YouTube and learn how to replace
your brake pads. You can learn all this stuff. It's
not that that hard, but just know that. Let's say,
you know, you fail your emissions inspection. That's computer controlled.
You're not fixing that on your own. If you haven't
(20:51):
changed your oil and your enginecy's is up, you're not
fixing that on your own.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
So one of the biggest things that we see frequently
is like the check engine light. What does the check
engine light mean? And can I drive a little further
on it or will the car implode immediately as soon
as it goes on.
Speaker 5 (21:09):
It's just something is wrong in your emissions is basically
what check engine means. Something is wrong kind of in
the system between where the engine is working and.
Speaker 6 (21:18):
The output of the car.
Speaker 5 (21:19):
Basically, most of the time, the most common cause of
a check engine light is you did not tighten your
gas cap enough. So like what I would do in
that case is, yeah, finish your drive and then when
you stop, check that your gas tank is tightened, and
then the next couple of times that you start and
stop your car, that should clear the code if that
was indeed the issue. If it doesn't work well, then
(21:40):
you need to take your car in. But you can
finish you know, your driver, or you can let it
wait until the weekend or two weeks out until you
get you know, an appointment with a mechanic or something
like that, but you do want to have it looked at.
Speaker 6 (21:50):
Now. There is kind of a secret.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Hack play it on me.
Speaker 5 (21:53):
And this is not the hack of putting a piece
of electrical tape over the check engine lights so it doesn't.
Speaker 6 (21:58):
I can't see it.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
It's not that side out of mind.
Speaker 6 (22:01):
But basically you can buy a code reader.
Speaker 5 (22:04):
And so a code reader is this tool that you're
a mechanic is going to plug in to your car
to see exactly what's wrong in causing the check engine light.
So you can buy these. They're not expensive, they're less
than fifty bucks. Just go to like AutoZone and get one,
and trust me, like everybody who works in an autopart store,
they are so nice. They will happily come out and
(22:24):
show you how to plug it in. In a lot
of cases, autopart stores will run the code for you
so you can just see what's wrong, and so you
don't even need to buy the code reader. But what
I absolutely love about the code reader is you can
see a little code will pop up. You just need
to look up the code. I mean, there'll be some
googling and stuff, and you know you'll have to find
out exactly what the code means. But you can look
(22:44):
at it and be like, no, okay, well that's not
that bad. I'm you know, maybe it's just a blown sensor.
Other times you're going to.
Speaker 6 (22:50):
Be like, we should get that fixed right away.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
That seems like a really great tool, before taking it
to a mechanic to make sure that they're not telling
you it's something else.
Speaker 5 (23:00):
Yeah. Now, I will say they likely have a better
code reader than you do. Okay, so just because it's
not showing up on yours, there might be other issues
going on, but it does help you kind of take
what they say, like with a grain of salt. So
like if they're coming out and saying you need ABC
and your code reader is only showing D, I would
ask them why you say, I've got this code reader,
it showed this. Why isn't it showing up on yours?
(23:22):
Why is your showing totally different things? And you know,
a good mechanic will be totally fine with explaining that
to you. Okay, somebody who's shady might get a little
bit like defensive or mad at you, and then you're like,
all right, no, I'll go someplace else.
Speaker 4 (23:34):
Mollie and I have found out that my new favorite
word to say in relation to the show is prudent.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
And so my.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
Next question is is it prudent to comparison shop when
we're trying to find a mechanic?
Speaker 6 (23:47):
Yes? Absolutely.
Speaker 5 (23:49):
I mean, if your car is still under warranty, take
it to the dealership. It's free, you know, and you'll
know that they'll be doing the work that honors the warranty,
and you'll have really good receipts and a service record
that will be easily accessed if you ever need to
make a warranty claim, Like even if you throw out
the paperwork. The dealer is still going to have it,
but once you're kind of out of warranty, it's.
Speaker 6 (24:07):
A little bit of the wild wild West.
Speaker 5 (24:08):
But that's kind of good because you do have to
shop around a little bit. You can go I mean,
there's websites. One of the ones I like is car
md dot com. There's also repair Pal. You know, you
can plug in your ear, make model and what you
think is wrong, and they will recommend, you know, mechanic
shops in the area, and they also can track prices
for the work that you need to have done. But
(24:29):
just you know, spending a little bit of time on
the phone and calling around. If it can save you
a couple hundred bucks, then absolutely go for it.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Now, can you just drop in and say, hey, I
need my car fix. I'm going to leave it here,
or do you need to make an appointment with a mechanic.
Speaker 5 (24:43):
You usually need to make an appointment with a mechanic.
Most mechanics, especially kind of the larger shops, will have
a service writer, and the service writer is the person
that you deal with you go in. They're the person
where you you know, might make the funny noise that
your car is making, but pro tip if your car
is making a funny noise or doing something fun, take
a video of it because sometimes they'll be able.
Speaker 6 (25:02):
To diagnose it, you know, from a video.
Speaker 5 (25:04):
But when you're working with the service writer, what they're
going to do is they're going to give you an
estimated bill ahead of time, and you know that bill
can change because they might find something that they weren't anticipating,
you know, when they open things up, the initial diagnosis
could have been incorrect. But a reputable shop and most
states have laws about this is they can't go beyond
(25:24):
what you initially agreed to without getting your permission.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
You had mentioned a service record, and so I'm curious
what exactly is that and why might it be important
to keep one.
Speaker 5 (25:35):
So your service record is basically your car's like health record,
and like when a car is new and getting most
of its maintenance done under warranty at the dealership, the
dealer is going to keep a running file on that
car based on the VIN, which is the vehicle identification number.
And the reason that they're going to do that is
they're sharing that information with the manufacturer so the manufacturer
(25:56):
can figure out, like, ooh, we really messed up that engine,
it breaks a lot. We should change like that helps
them build, you know, better cars. Once you kind of
move out of the dealer ecosystem, it's a little bit
on you to maintain your car service record, and so
you can do the super high tech method that I do,
which is, anytime I get my car fixed, I just
shove the bill in my glove car and then like,
(26:20):
I've always got it if something goes wrong, because the
bill will lay out exactly what was done. And so
if you're like, man, I thought I just had this done,
you can go back and pull it out and see
what the data of it is, and you'll have a
full record of your car's history, and when it comes time,
you know, to sell the car, you'll be able to say, like, hey,
look I took care of this, pay me more for it.
And at the same time, you know, you'll also be
(26:40):
able to make better warranty claims if you've been maintaining
your car appropriately.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
We'll be right back with more grown up stuff how
to adult. After a quick break.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
And we're back with more grown up stuff how to adults.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
We've talked about oil changes and how important those are
and the quality or type of oil you're putting in
your car can be just as important as how often
you're changing it. But can the same be said for
the type of gas we put.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
In our cars?
Speaker 2 (27:19):
Now, I'm a regular fuel kind of human, and most
of the cars that I've driven haven't required more than
that basic level. But every once in a while I'll
find myself borrowing a car and the owner.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
Will tell me it takes premium. But here's my question,
does it really need premium?
Speaker 2 (27:39):
With national gas prices at roughly three dollars and twenty
four cents a gallon according to tripa, a who wants
to spend extra on something that's going to do the
same thing? So I have to ask, can we potentially
fuel up with any type of gasoline?
Speaker 5 (27:56):
So first the basic thing is there's gas, and then
there's diesel. Use diesel if you have a diesel engine,
use gas. If you have a gas engine, you'll know,
like it'll be all over your car, like the kind
of gas to use. And so when you're looking at
like gas, you know there's usually like the cheap stuff,
the mid grade, the super premium stuff. Right, there's a
(28:16):
key word that you need to look at either in
your owner's manual, or when you open the gas flap,
there's a sticker on a little door right, and it'll
say either ninety three octane recommend it or ninety three
octane required.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
Oh interesting.
Speaker 5 (28:32):
Yeah, now this is where it gets a little bit gray.
You can go ahead and use you know, cheaper gas,
just know that, like over time, it might make that
your engine not runs so well. This will only really
be noticeable if you're like a super passionate high end
sports car driver and you're gonna be like, I'm not
(28:53):
quite getting all four hundred horsepower, this only feels like
three seventy five. But if you're just like driving around
in a Toyota Camri, go for the cheap stuff, right,
And then you know, even if you're like me, I
have a Volvo, it says that it wants ninety one octane,
which I do well, yes all the time, and then
other times I'm like eighty.
Speaker 6 (29:09):
Nine is fine for you today. So it's just kind
of like, what do.
Speaker 5 (29:13):
You want for your car? Do you really want to
baby it or are you fine with it taking you know,
some knocks.
Speaker 6 (29:17):
Now.
Speaker 5 (29:18):
The one thing, and this is where it gets a
little bit hinky, is if you're making a warranty claim
and it's said required, and they can prove that you
weren't filling it up with the really good stuff one
hundred percent of the time, then that claim might be denied.
So I'm not recommending that everybody keep every single one
of their gas receipts, but definitely, like, if you're taking
(29:40):
your car in, that tank better be full of ninety
three octane to make sure that you know you don't
get caught.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
We mentioned earlier the importance of washing your car if
you live in areas with snow where roads are treated
with things like salt, But winterizing your car is about
more than just a bi weekly undercarriage wash. For some,
it means switching out your all season tires for winter tires.
If you're my dad, it means adding sandbags to the
trunk of your minivan. But what's the best way to
(30:10):
keep our cars healthy through the winter, especially if winter
rising means storing it somewhere?
Speaker 4 (30:17):
Every year in New York, I always put my bike
to sleep for the winter. So if we are going
to like put our vehicle into cold storage, what are
some things that we need to think about right.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
Before we put it away for a while.
Speaker 5 (30:31):
First, I would reconsider it, like if you can leave
it with somebody to just drive like ten miles a week,
that's going to be better for the car, because again,
like there's so.
Speaker 6 (30:39):
Many moving parts, the worst thing that.
Speaker 5 (30:42):
You can really do for a car is let it
sit there, and so keeping those parts moving will keep
it lubricated and all that good stuff. But if you
can't do that and you're putting it in storage, a
couple of things. One is you'll want to use some
fuel stabilizer because your gasoline can go bad if it's
sitting in your tank for a long long time. The
other thing is you're going to want to hook up
what's known as a battery mine, and it's just basically
a thing that'll keep your battery from dying. And then
(31:03):
the last thing, and this is the thing that a
lot of people skip, is put it up on jacks.
Don't let it sit on its tires because the tires
sitting in the same place all the time, that's going
to create just basically a flat section of that tire,
and those tires aren't going to work quite as well
if they've just been sitting still and have gotten a
plateau from that. So just put it up on jacks.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
Now we're talking about storage, what about winter rizing. What
are some of the things we need to do to
winterize our cars, whether we're keeping them in storage or
driving My dad in one of our cars, he would
put sand bags in the back of the car.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
Is that a thing.
Speaker 5 (31:39):
It's totally a thing, But it doesn't maintain your car.
It just helps you get out of stuck positions. So okay, yeah,
there are a number of things that you can do
to winterize your car. One is, if you live in
an area that gets a lot of snow, get some
winter tires. Because the all season tires that your car
probably came with they're not going to help.
Speaker 6 (31:57):
You stop in a snowstorm. So get those winter tires.
Speaker 5 (32:00):
And you know a lot of people will think, oh,
you know, I live in Boston, I need all wheel drive,
when really like a front wheel drive car with winter
tires will perform pretty close to an all wheel drive
car in terms of not getting stuck. So that's number one.
Number two, put those emergency supplies in your car, blanket, water, food,
just in case you get stuck in a giant snowbank somewhere.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Is it overkilled to have a shovel.
Speaker 5 (32:21):
It is definitely not overkilled to have a shovel, because
if you get stuck in the snow, you can you know,
dig some of the snow out. But when you're talking
about like your dad putting sandbags in the back, that
is likely the car that he's had was a rear
wheel drive car. The problem with rear wheel drive cars,
all of the power is going to the wheels in
the back. The problem with that is all of the
(32:41):
weight of the car, like the engine, is in the front,
and so it's really hard to get traction in the snow,
and so you want to put some weight in the
back of your car. The other thing that you can do,
just for winterizing, make sure your windshield wiper fluid is
full up because you're going to be you know, cleaning
your windshield a lot because there's roadspread and things, and
so you might even just want to go at the
(33:01):
start of winter and buy a couple of bottles of
it so you are always have it on hand. The
other thing that you can do, and I've never done this,
but I've heard of it, if you want to add
something to your sandbags, and we know that like in wintertime,
the inside of the car can fog up really easily. Yeah,
just carry an open container of kitty litter, like a
pan of kitty litter, like you have a cat living
(33:22):
in your car, and that will absorb a lot of
the moisture and help keep your.
Speaker 6 (33:26):
Windows from fogging up.
Speaker 5 (33:27):
What and added benefit you can have extra weight in
the back of your car.
Speaker 6 (33:31):
The other thing that I like to use kitty.
Speaker 5 (33:32):
Litter for if you do get stuck, spread some around
your tires that have power. So if it's a real
wheel drive car, put kitty litter all around the rear wheels,
it's front wheel drive car, put it all around the
front wheels, not all around.
Speaker 6 (33:44):
You don't have to put it behind.
Speaker 5 (33:45):
The wheels, and so it'll give you enough traction to
kind of get out of that, you know, whatever you're
stuck in.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
That's great advice. So you're not supposed to be driving
winter tires in any other season.
Speaker 5 (33:55):
Why is that, Well, because the barber that they're made
out of is a lot stiffer, and so they're specifically
made for like gripping snow, and when there's no snow
on the ground, they're not doing what they're supposed to
be doing. It's like, you know, cleaning your dishes with
a vacuum cleaner, it's just not going to do as
good a job. Yeah, and also too, like you might
notice this if you have winter tires on your car,
(34:16):
they don't handle all that great. They're there to help
your car stop in the snow, but for other situations
they're really not that good and not that fun to
drive on. So just make sure that around the last snowstorm,
a little bit after the last snowstorm, just go get
them popped off and put your regular tires back on.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
Excellent, Jamie. I know you're also an expert in electric vehicles.
What are some of the things that are different with
electric vehicles that we need to consider in terms of
car maintenance?
Speaker 5 (34:42):
Oh my gosh, they have so much less maintenance really,
Oh yes, car dealers hate electric cars. And the reason
for this is where do they make a lot of
their money oil changes. Guess what doesn't have oil? An
electric car? And so like, they have so many feurent
moving parts simply because they don't have an engine. They
(35:03):
have an electric motor, and so there's a lot less
maintenance involved. You still have to worry about your tires,
You still have to worry about, you know, your brakes.
But electric vehicles are a lot more set and forget
than gas powered vehicles. And that's one of the reasons why, like,
if they fit your lifestyle, highly highly recommend an electric
car because it just saves you money on gas, it
saves you money on maintenance. It's just all around a
(35:26):
better experience. The other thing too, is they are wicked fast,
like faster off the line than most gasoline cars. So
you can be driving like a I hesitate to say
cheap because electric vehicles are still not that cheap. But
you can be driving, you know, an electric Kia and
smoke of BMW off the line.
Speaker 6 (35:42):
It's hilarious.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
Wow, didn't I know any of that? That is awesome.
Speaker 6 (35:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:46):
Also saving the environment in a.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
Way, saving the planet, Jamie, this is amazing.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
But I want to ask you, is there anything you
think that people should know about car maintenance that they're
often neglecting or forgetting about.
Speaker 5 (36:02):
Yes, and that is recalls. It's not exactly maintenance, but
you know sometimes you get like a letter from your
car company and it's like, oh, we have a recall,
like you need to take your car in, and people
don't do it. It's just so crazy that they don't
because I think they don't understand that if your car
is subject to a recall, the repair is free.
Speaker 6 (36:22):
You're not going to have to pay for anything.
Speaker 5 (36:24):
And then a lot of times too, especially if you
drive a car where you're not the original owner. And
I mean even if you are the original owner, you
should go to safercar dot gov and enter your car's VIN.
It's going to be kind of under your windshield on
the driver's side. Enter it in, register it there, and
then whenever there is a recall, the government will email
you and so you'll be able to go in and
(36:45):
you don't have to wait for Ford to find you.
You'll know about it. Yeah, and you know, recalls, they
can be a little bit scary. Sometimes it's just like
they've put the wrong sticker on the door jam and
that triggers a recall. Other times they're like metal shards
in your air bag and you need to get that
taken care of right away.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
I wish people could see my face right now, because
that's terrifying.
Speaker 6 (37:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (37:07):
I mean, but the reason that you enter the VIN
is you might hear like, oh, there is a massive
recall on you know, the twenty eighteen Toyota Prius that
recall is likely only for certain cars that came off
like the assembly line at about the same time, so
you can run your vin through there and your car
may not even be subject to it. But always pay
attention to recalls because again, it might be something minor,
(37:29):
like hey, we just got to replace the sticker, but
it could also be something that kills you and burns
your house down. So better safe than sorry.
Speaker 4 (37:35):
No big Cata, big wow, Jamie. This has been amazing.
I've just learned a lot as a novice maintenance person.
Speaker 1 (37:43):
Incredible, Jamie.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
Where can people find more of your great helpful tips
and insights on car maintenance, on car care and all
things cars.
Speaker 6 (37:53):
Car talk dot Com right there? Perfect.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
Thank you so much, Jamie.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
Well, I can promise you this, Registering my car with
the government to know about recalls is going to be
one of the first things I do if I ever
actually acquire a vehicle of my own. There will be
no spontaneous combustions or glass filled airbags on my watch.
Here's what else I've learned about car care from our
conversation with Jamie. Washing your car can be an important
(38:26):
part of its maintenance, and during the winter, it's going
to be especially important to keep the undercarriage clean. Extended
warranties can be like health insurance for your car. Your
regular auto insurance won't cover general wear and tear repairs,
but an extended warranty might. Remember to review the paperwork carefully, though,
to make sure it actually makes sense for what you
(38:48):
may need. Ugh, I guess it's super important to read
your owner's manual for your car or whatever. It's not
the most exciting reading, but it will definitely help you
take the best care of your car and avoid potentially
overpaying on certain services. Never buy used tires. Purchasing a
code reader can help inform what's going on in your
(39:11):
car when you have a check engine light. If your
car is making a funny noise or doing something out
of character, take a video with your phone so that
you can share it with your mechanic ahead of time
to help them better diagnose the problem. It's never a
bad idea to hold on to all of your bills
from your mechanic so that you have a record of
what you've had fixed and when. This will come in
handy if it's still under warranty, or if you're trying
(39:33):
to sell it later. It's always a good idea to
have some emergency supplies in your car during the winter months.
Include things like a flashlight, blanket, water snacks, a shovel,
and maybe even some kitty litter to keep things from
fogging up and to help get unstuck in snowy situations.
And finally, the secret no one wants you to know.
Electric vehicles require far less regular maintenance. That's all for
(39:57):
today's episode. Thank you again to the very informative and
wonderful Jbie Page Deaton. Sadly, I now have something new
to feed my anxiety with. And I don't even own
a car yet, but forewarned is forearmed, and I do
feel more prepared now for that step of adulthood.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
Matt, what's next on grown up stuff?
Speaker 4 (40:17):
Goodness, gracious, are we here already. We'll be back in
two weeks for our season one finale, where we will
teach you how to navigate the grocery store like a
grown up with purpose, how to avoid classic pitfalls, what
to buy, and how to save money.
Speaker 2 (40:32):
I've got some strategies for this, like I try not
to go grocery shopping hungry.
Speaker 1 (40:37):
It's always a mistake.
Speaker 2 (40:39):
But hopefully I can also learn how to leave a
Trader Joe's during the fall and winter without buying everything
pumpkin apple or peppermint flavored, because I fucking love a
seasonal item and I just cannot help myself.
Speaker 3 (40:52):
Matt, I mean the JoJo's, the dark chocolate shows. Don't
get me started.
Speaker 1 (40:55):
Don't get me started.
Speaker 3 (40:56):
I have a quick question. That are you saying groceureies grocer?
Speaker 1 (41:01):
Yes, I say grocery. How do you say it?
Speaker 3 (41:03):
I say gross? Gross?
Speaker 4 (41:05):
Okay, Now I don't know gross. I'm going to the
grocery store. Grocery, I think, I say grocery.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
Do you say it the same way?
Speaker 3 (41:11):
I don't.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
Okay, Well, we'll find out.
Speaker 4 (41:13):
The point is, yes, we will find out for sure
in two weeks on the next episode of Grown Up Stuff,
How to Adult.
Speaker 2 (41:19):
And remember you might not be graded in life, but
it never hurts to do your homework.
Speaker 4 (41:23):
This is a production from Ruby Studio from My Heart Media.
Our executive producers are Molly.
Speaker 2 (41:28):
Soshia and Matt Stillo. This episode was engineered by Matt Stillo.
Speaker 4 (41:33):
And written by Molly Soosha. This episode was edited by
Sierra Spreen.
Speaker 2 (41:37):
We want to thank our teammates at Ruby's Studio, including
Ethan Pixel, Rachel Swan, krasnof Amber Smith, Deborah Garrett, and
Andy Kelly.
Adults love their cars.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
According to twenty twenty one census data, nearly forty two
million households in the US had access to one vehicle,
while forty seven million had access to two vehicles, and
nearly twenty eight million households claimed to have access to
three or more vehicles. That's a whole lot of cars.
But aside from the actual purchase price of a car,
(00:31):
we're also spending a lot of money maintaining those cars.
Based on data from the US Department of Transportation Bureau
of Transportation Statistics Automobile Profile, Americans spent more than two
hundred and twenty eight billion dollars in twenty twenty just
on gas and oil for their cars, and nerd wallet
recommends budgeting about one hundred and twenty seven to one
(00:53):
hundred and seventy four dollars for twelve months of car maintenance.
But what are all these things that add to this
total cost? Are there things that we can do on
our own to keep the cost down? And how often
do I actually need to get my oil change? Start
taking notes? Because this is grown up Stuff. Welcome back
(01:20):
to another episode of Grown Up Stuff. How Do Adult
The podcast dedicated to helping you learn about the world
of adulting while also teaching you how to check the
oil in your car. I am your car list but
licensed driver Molly, and I am joined by my wonderful
co host, the Weekend Motorcyclist, Matt Stillo. On this episode
of the podcast, we're driving with our hands at ten
(01:41):
and two as we learn all about how to properly
care for and maintain our cars. Matt, you look wind swept.
Were you out working on the old motorcycle?
Speaker 3 (01:51):
Not today?
Speaker 4 (01:51):
No, yesterday, I did take it to the DMV and
Coney Island, which was a chilly ride as we get
here into late November in New York City. But yeah,
not today. This is just how the hair looks when
I'm out of get out of bed.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Ah, it's beautiful, it's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
But I do actually feel like you do a lot
of work on your bike yourself to keep it like
in proper working order. What are some of the things
that you well, I think listen, I hear you. You're like, oh,
I had to work on the bike this week. I
was just like tinkering on the bike this weekend. You're
doing things, But what are some of the things that
you're doing yourself to maintain it. And also do you
(02:28):
know how to check the oil in a motorized vehicle?
Speaker 4 (02:31):
I do, but that is low hanging fruit when it
comes to vehicle, it absolutely is. There's so many things
that I do not know how to do, but the
things that I do know how to do include like
bare minimum, like I know how to patch a tire,
like it's something that's that motorcycles that are especially susceptible
to is like getting a nail. Checking the oil is
not as big of a deal as it seems. The
color is really important, so you want it to be
(02:52):
like kind of like shiny and sort of like a
clear like if it's if it becomes cloudy translucent translucent, Yes,
if it becomes a cloudy darker, that can be one
indicator that you might need to change it soon. And
also like the biggest thing really is like if you
have a car, no matter what it is, like there's
a manual that tells you, like, oh, at thirty thousand miles,
rotate your tires or so as long as you're like
(03:13):
paying attention to those milestones and you're keeping trying, Like
I have a little like journal that tells me, like
I took it to the shop. I did this, I
changed the tires and so because I forget everything and
you know this, So it's good to have a little
like reference to the look back and be like when
was the last time that I did that? And how
many and all like kee, like I changed the tires
of this odometer so that, like you know, I can
(03:33):
see how many miles I have had the tires or
that had the chain.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Fixed or or whatever. But I do. Yeah, I take
it too. I have a guy, so yeah, you gotta
have a guy. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
Guy, If you have a car, do you have like
any like experience with maintaining cars?
Speaker 3 (03:47):
I don't think. I don't think so, right, you don't
have a car.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
I mean I had a car when I lived in Chicago.
I think I figured out once how to add more
wash or fluid, which is important. Yeah it's a bare minimum, Yeah,
but I figured that out. I also love to clean
my car, like vacuuming it out. It feels like you're
getting a brand new car each time.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
Oh absolutely, and that's huge.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
Like I even notice a big difference when I like
wash the bike that I just run smoother, Like the
gears aren't necessarily grinding together or anything like that, and
that can be a huge part of maintenance.
Speaker 3 (04:15):
People off and overlook.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
Well, I am so glad that we are talking about
this right now because we've asked Jamie Paige Deton to
return for a third time and to share all of
her infinite car maintenance wisdom with.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
Us, the triple crown of being a grown up. If
anyone deserves it, it's Jamie.
Speaker 5 (04:34):
I'm Jamie Paige Deeton, and I'm the editor in chief
of Car Talk. I've been helping people buy and maintain
their cars for almost fifteen years now.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
And as you may recall, Jamie also served as the
executive editor for the US News and World Reports Best
Cars Team and as a member of the jury for
the North American Car, Truck and Utility of the Year Award.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Jamie, thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
So let's start with the very very basics here, because
that's what I'm all about. Why should we even care
about car maintenance?
Speaker 6 (05:05):
Well, because your car is like your teeth.
Speaker 5 (05:08):
If you don't go to the dentist and you don't
frush them, they're going to fall out of your head
and you're going to have a much bigger bill in
the end. And it is exactly the same with car maintenance.
Like if you aren't taking care of your car, it
is going to come back and bite you in the
end because when something goes wrong, and it will go wrong,
if you're not maintaining it, it's going to be that
much more expensive.
Speaker 6 (05:29):
So even though it's like.
Speaker 5 (05:30):
I don't want to spend you know, thirty or forty
dollars on an oil change, that's better than spending four
thousand dollars on a new engine that does not include labor,
that does not include towing it. And so it's just
you got to take care of your car, especially, I
mean people will try and stretch out oil changes, but
oil is the most important part of your car because
(05:51):
I mean it's a lubricant. Your car has so many
moving points that you really, really really need to keep
them lubricated. Otherwise what happens is everything just seizes up,
you know, worse than your uncle's back and you get
left on the side of the road.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
So we're talking about like lubrication and oil and engines.
What about it's something like as simple as like washing
your car. Could you consider like washing your car could
be a clean a form of maintenance.
Speaker 5 (06:15):
I consider it maintenance because I like to take care
of my paint and I like my car will look
nice where it really comes into and like bleeds over into. Definitely,
this as maintenance is if you live in an area
where they put salt or they treat the roads or
it snows at all, what they're treating the roads with
is super corrosive. And so running your car, you know,
through a car wash sometimes in the winter, not to
get it clean so that it looks good, but to
(06:37):
get the underside and make sure you spring for the
undercarriage wash that'll get all that corrosive material off the
bottom of your car. But I mean when it comes
back to just washing it and waxing it for paint,
it will help your paint, you know, lasts a little
bit longer where you really do kind of want to
wash it and be proactive about it. And apologies for
this being graphic. Is but like you know, when a
bird poops on it or when leaves stick to it,
(06:59):
because is that if you don't wash it off right away,
it could literally stain the paint, and so you just
don't want to deal with it. But overall, if you
don't mind having a dirty car, just keep the undercarriage clean.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
For the winter months.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Many experts recommend that you wash your car somewhere between every.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Two weeks to once a month.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
The Roadside Assistance Program Triple A also encourages drivers to
wash their car after a big snowstorm or at other
times when exposure to salts or other corrosive materials is higher.
If you are someone who prefers to wash your car
yourself rather than take it to a car wash service,
Triple A suggests making sure you try to wash it
on a milder day if possible, and to warm the
(07:45):
car up prior to washing it. These things can help
you avoid freezing your car door shut. They also caution
against using hot water over warm water, as the hot
water on cold glass can cause your windshield to crack.
Aside from the regular car wash, emissions checks are another
important part of maintenance that most states require by law
(08:06):
in order to update your registration. Since most cars today
already emit sixty to eighty percent less air pollution than
earlier cars, a failed emissions check could also imply there
may be something wrong with your car.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
So based on the state that you live in, you
could have like regularly scheduled like inspection requirements or emissions checks.
Can we consider that maintenance?
Speaker 5 (08:32):
You can consider it maintenance, but just keep in mind
they're not going to fix anything. They're just going to
tell you that something is wrong, and so then you
have to take the next step and actually get it fixed. Now,
what you do need to do and be a little
bit careful of, is you know, if you take it
to a mechanic for you know, state inspection, they have
a little bit of an incentive to be like, ooh,
you can't pass unless you get this taken care of,
(08:55):
and that's a little bit of a way that they
can get some extra money out of you. So when
you're in a situation like that, there are a couple
of things you can do. One is know your owner's
manual backwards and forwards, because if they're saying like, oh,
I can't pass you because you know your brake pads
are too thin, look at the recommended replacement intervals for
your brake pads, and if it's not near the interval,
you can be like, I'm going to go and take
(09:17):
it to the dealer and see what's going on there
and see if maybe there's a recall or something like that.
You'll still have to go get your car inspected, and
maybe you do need your brake pads replaced, but at
least you'll know for sure that it wasn't somebody just
trying to kind of, you know, get an extra couple
hundred bucks out of you. But I will say, like,
I've lived in states where they don't have safety inspections,
and you see some really messed up cars on the road.
(09:40):
So even if you live in a state where a
yearly safety inspection isn't required, still take your car to
a mechanic once a year and be like, hey, can
you just like inspect everything just to make sure that
the brakes will work when I press on them, and
like the car will turn when I move the wheel,
things like that.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Those inspections are separate from like the emissions check, right.
Speaker 5 (09:59):
Yeah, emissions check can vary not only by state but
by county, and emissions they're not really a safety thing,
but you know, we all live on the planet and
we'd like to keep it relatively clean, and so basically
it's checking to make sure that your car isn't polluting
too much. And if you have a car, a lot
of states do this where if your car is over
a certain age, it's exempt from the emissions testing. But
(10:20):
what the emissions testing can do is it can really
show up that something is wrong with the emission systems.
And so like the most common cause of like a
check engine light is something going on with the emission system,
and so getting that inspected if it's failing, that can
be your first clue that maybe it's time to have
it looked at and maybe get fixed.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
Got it.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
What do you think is the amount that we should
really set aside or budget for our annual car maintenance.
Speaker 5 (10:47):
That's a really good question, and I hate to give
the answer of it depends, but it totally depends. Fair
So it depends on how expensive is your car. Is
it like a specialized brand? You know, if you drive
a BMW, expect to pay more in maintenance than somebody who.
Speaker 6 (10:59):
Drives like that's just a fact. The other thing to
think about is how old your car is.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
Older cars do need to stay on top of them
because things can break and start to go downhill quickly.
Your belts could dry out and snap and things like that.
So it's just one of those things where it's like
just kind of keep in mind the cost of labor
and parts for your car, as well as how old
it is, how many miles are on it. And then
the other thing I would add too is where you
live and how you drive it. So if you live
(11:25):
in the middle of nowhere on like beautiful smooth roads,
I'm going to say you live in like Sonoma, Leah,
you probably have less car maintenance to worry about than
somebody who lives in Detroit. Because Detroit has snow, they
have terrible roads that are going to be hitting a
lot of potholes and things like that. And so you
should budget more for maintenance if you live in an
area or you're driving in a lot of traffic all
the time, just because your car is going to get
(11:47):
more wear and tear if there's you know, major potholes
on the road and you know, lots of stopping and starting.
But in terms of like what actually to budget, I
mean I kind of budget it, and this is weird.
I budget for car maintenance alongside the budget that I
do for my pets at the vet. Oh okay, so
like roughly, I mean we'll budget like roughly five hundred
(12:07):
bucks a year for car maintenance.
Speaker 6 (12:09):
Now, the thing to remember.
Speaker 5 (12:10):
Is though, like we actually budget it out, so at
the end of the year, if we haven't spent five
hundred bucks, we don't go out and blow it on something.
We roll it over to next year because those expenses
are only going to increase.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
So now this is really interesting. You mentioned having its
parallel with what you budget for your pets, and I
was going to say, you know, pet insurance also kind
of is something that people use to help take care
of that cost for their monthly or their annual vet
bill for their pets. Now does car insurance work it
all the same way? Does car insurance ever cover any
(12:42):
of our repairs?
Speaker 5 (12:44):
That doesn't cover any repairs that come from normal wear
and tear. If you drive into a wall, yeah, car
insurance is going to help you out, provided you have
the right coverage. The closest thing to health insurance for
your car is extended warranty. The way that those work
is it's basically an insurance policy where you know, like
any other kind of insurance, you're betting against the company
and they're betting against you. So they're betting that you know,
(13:06):
they're going to pay out less in maintenance than you
pay in your premiums, and then you're saying, I'm going
to put these premiums away, and then when they have
a really big bill, it's going to be more than
the cost of these premiums. The thing remember, though, is
these extended warranty companies, it's really really interesting. They grab
a massive amount of data on repairs based on year, make,
(13:26):
model mileage. They basically have like actuarial tables for cars,
just like a health insurance company would, and so they
know exactly what's likely to go wrong with your car,
and they've got a little bit more information than you
do when you're making that bet. So if you just
don't want to worry about it, then absolutely go ahead,
get a new car with a really good warranty. Go
and get an extended warranty for your car. But just overall,
(13:48):
if you can just budget and have like a standalone
car account, a couple of things you know work in
your favorite One, you'll have money when repairs need to
be made. And then two, when it's time to replace
your car if you haven't spent all the money on repair,
putting in your down payment, and you'll have a ton
of money like already saved up for that.
Speaker 4 (14:04):
When you hear about like extended warranties, and of course
we think about the robo calls that we get, but
are there any like scams that we need to be
aware of when dealing with extended warranties.
Speaker 5 (14:14):
Where we see issues with people and extended warranties is
they don't read the warranty carefully enough and then something
goes wrong and it's not covered. So it's not just
that you have to get an extended warranty. You have
to get an extended warranty that covers what is going
to actually go.
Speaker 6 (14:29):
Wrong with your car.
Speaker 5 (14:30):
The other thing that people do is they don't read
and see that like they might have a really high
deductible on these extended warranties, and so that's I don't
want to say scammy, but that's just where people kind
of make mistakes because extended warranties, like anything else, it's capitalism.
Speaker 6 (14:44):
They're there to make.
Speaker 5 (14:45):
A problem, right, So you've got to look at them
a little bit, you know, give them a little bit
of side eye and make sure that you're looking out
for yourself because they're definitely not.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
It's true, it's like most things in life, you have
to read the fine print and really acknowledge is the
reward that you get. And I want to get back
to you said we should read the manuals, and I
know a lot of people are going to be upset
that they have to read something.
Speaker 6 (15:06):
Curious for your.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
But I kind of want to get more general, you know,
like when and how often would you recommend you know,
outside of reading our manual and finding those milestones, would
you recommend that we get maintenance done?
Speaker 6 (15:21):
Well, I mean just the basic stuff.
Speaker 5 (15:22):
So I would say, you know, the general rule of
thumb for oil changes, you know, three thousand miles or
three months. Now there are new synthetic oil mixes on
the market, so you can push that to like five
months and five thousand miles. Dealers, by the way, hate
those because because like they make a lot of money
from oil changes. Now, I know you don't want to
(15:43):
read your manual, but if your car is under any
sort of warranty, you need to follow the maintenance schedule
that's in there, otherwise you might void it. Right, So
let's say you don't ever get your oil change and
your engenecies is up and you're like, haha, it's still
under warranty. They're going to be like, show us receipts,
show us that you got the oil change and you
did it at regular intervals. Beyond just kind of the
oil changes, the maintenance that you should really never ever,
(16:06):
ever ever ever skip on is your tires. Different types
of tires have different longevities, but between thirty and forty
thousand miles on a set of tires is what you
should expect to get out of them. And there's a
little test that you can do to see if you
need new tires. You take a penny and you shove
it in the tread with abe'shead upside down, and if
you start to see abe'shead, you need to get new tires.
(16:29):
And the other thing with tires is do not ever, ever,
ever ever buy used tires because you do not know
how those tires have been maintained, and you are just
setting yourself up for a major headache and possibly you know,
killing yourself and other people on the road. So stay
on tops of these issues and make sure that you
are at least reading the terms of your warranty so
(16:51):
you don't end up voiding that by not doing the
basic maintenance that you need to do.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
So I'm super curious we're talking about tires.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Rotating your tires, is that also a required maintenance and
what is the purpose of it?
Speaker 5 (17:05):
So, the purpose of it is to keep the wear
on your tires even because if your tires are like
even just different heights, like even if the heights aren't
off by all that much, and you're never gonna be
able to perceive how off your tires are unless like
you routinely transport like a cow in your passenger seat,
and you know, you'll see the springs going down and
(17:27):
you'll see the tires have different wears. But it keeps
your tires wearing evenly, and you want your tires to
wear evenly because that impacts how your car is going
to handle and how it's balanced. So you really do
want to rotate your tires. Usually it's based on you know,
manufacturer recommendation about once a year every ten thousand miles
or so is a good basic interval to follow with it.
(17:49):
One other thing about tires is if you have an
all wheel drive car, anytime you're buying tires, even if
you just had one flat, you got to buy four tires.
Wait what, yeah, come again, If you have an all
wheel drive car, you need to buy all your tires
at the same time so that the wear will be even.
And if you have a two wheel drive car, so
(18:11):
either front wheel drive or rear wheel drive, you need
to buy tires in pairs. So let's say you get
your back passenger side tire blows out. Congratulations, You've got
to get a new tire on the other side as well.
So tires that are on the same axle need to
be replaced together. And when you've got all wheel drive, congratulations,
you're buying four tires at a.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
Pop replacing every tire. Okay, okay, So clearly car maintenance
can be a pricey thing. Even replacing the tire pressure
monitoring sensors can cost between three hundred and thirteen to
three hundred and sixty eight dollars based on data from
(18:54):
Kelly Blue Book. They also estimate that the average cost
to repair a car can set an owner back five
hundred and forty eight dollars.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
That's a lot of money.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
So how can we keep the cost of maintenance and
repairs to a minimum? I mean, I know how to
check the oil in a car, but what else makes
sense for us to do on our own And what's
better left to the professionals.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
So as we've been talking about maintenance, I'm sure our
audience is like, cool. So every so often I've got
to take my car to a place and someone else
is going.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
To do the work. Is it possible for the average
person to maintain their car themselves.
Speaker 5 (19:33):
Yeah. Absolutely, Now you might not want to maintain it yourself,
just because in a lot of areas there's a huge
fee for the disposal of oil. So if you're thinking
I'm going to do my oil changes myself, like, don't
just dump the oil on the ground, you terrible polluter.
But know that, like sometimes the fee for disposing of
the oil is more than the cost of getting somebody
else to do the oil change for you, So check
(19:54):
that out before you're like, I'm gonna do that. But
there are things that you can do on your own,
Like you can go and you can check the fluid
levels on your own and replace fluids. You just need
to look at the level, get a funnel, go down
to you know, an autopart store, buy whatever fluid it.
Speaker 6 (20:07):
Is you need.
Speaker 5 (20:08):
Maybe it's ant to freeze whatever it is. That's not
that hard. It's also really easy to change your windshield
wipers yourself. You know, what you can do depending on
two things. One is how old your car is. Today's
cars are very computerized, so it's not like it used
to be where you could just wrench on it, you know,
in your driveway and everything was very mechanical and analog.
(20:30):
That just doesn't exist anymore, and it hasn't for about,
you know, fifteen, almost twenty years. But you can still,
you know, hop on YouTube and learn how to replace
your brake pads. You can learn all this stuff. It's
not that that hard, but just know that. Let's say,
you know, you fail your emissions inspection. That's computer controlled.
You're not fixing that on your own. If you haven't
(20:51):
changed your oil and your enginecy's is up, you're not
fixing that on your own.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
So one of the biggest things that we see frequently
is like the check engine light. What does the check
engine light mean? And can I drive a little further
on it or will the car implode immediately as soon
as it goes on.
Speaker 5 (21:09):
It's just something is wrong in your emissions is basically
what check engine means. Something is wrong kind of in
the system between where the engine is working and.
Speaker 6 (21:18):
The output of the car.
Speaker 5 (21:19):
Basically, most of the time, the most common cause of
a check engine light is you did not tighten your
gas cap enough. So like what I would do in
that case is, yeah, finish your drive and then when
you stop, check that your gas tank is tightened, and
then the next couple of times that you start and
stop your car, that should clear the code if that
was indeed the issue. If it doesn't work well, then
(21:40):
you need to take your car in. But you can
finish you know, your driver, or you can let it
wait until the weekend or two weeks out until you
get you know, an appointment with a mechanic or something
like that, but you do want to have it looked at.
Speaker 6 (21:50):
Now. There is kind of a secret.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Hack play it on me.
Speaker 5 (21:53):
And this is not the hack of putting a piece
of electrical tape over the check engine lights so it doesn't.
Speaker 6 (21:58):
I can't see it.
Speaker 3 (21:59):
It's not that side out of mind.
Speaker 6 (22:01):
But basically you can buy a code reader.
Speaker 5 (22:04):
And so a code reader is this tool that you're
a mechanic is going to plug in to your car
to see exactly what's wrong in causing the check engine light.
So you can buy these. They're not expensive, they're less
than fifty bucks. Just go to like AutoZone and get one,
and trust me, like everybody who works in an autopart store,
they are so nice. They will happily come out and
(22:24):
show you how to plug it in. In a lot
of cases, autopart stores will run the code for you
so you can just see what's wrong, and so you
don't even need to buy the code reader. But what
I absolutely love about the code reader is you can
see a little code will pop up. You just need
to look up the code. I mean, there'll be some
googling and stuff, and you know you'll have to find
out exactly what the code means. But you can look
(22:44):
at it and be like, no, okay, well that's not
that bad. I'm you know, maybe it's just a blown sensor.
Other times you're going to.
Speaker 6 (22:50):
Be like, we should get that fixed right away.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
That seems like a really great tool, before taking it
to a mechanic to make sure that they're not telling
you it's something else.
Speaker 5 (23:00):
Yeah. Now, I will say they likely have a better
code reader than you do. Okay, so just because it's
not showing up on yours, there might be other issues
going on, but it does help you kind of take
what they say, like with a grain of salt. So
like if they're coming out and saying you need ABC
and your code reader is only showing D, I would
ask them why you say, I've got this code reader,
it showed this. Why isn't it showing up on yours?
(23:22):
Why is your showing totally different things? And you know,
a good mechanic will be totally fine with explaining that
to you. Okay, somebody who's shady might get a little
bit like defensive or mad at you, and then you're like,
all right, no, I'll go someplace else.
Speaker 4 (23:34):
Mollie and I have found out that my new favorite
word to say in relation to the show is prudent.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
And so my.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
Next question is is it prudent to comparison shop when
we're trying to find a mechanic?
Speaker 6 (23:47):
Yes? Absolutely.
Speaker 5 (23:49):
I mean, if your car is still under warranty, take
it to the dealership. It's free, you know, and you'll
know that they'll be doing the work that honors the warranty,
and you'll have really good receipts and a service record
that will be easily accessed if you ever need to
make a warranty claim, Like even if you throw out
the paperwork. The dealer is still going to have it,
but once you're kind of out of warranty, it's.
Speaker 6 (24:07):
A little bit of the wild wild West.
Speaker 5 (24:08):
But that's kind of good because you do have to
shop around a little bit. You can go I mean,
there's websites. One of the ones I like is car
md dot com. There's also repair Pal. You know, you
can plug in your ear, make model and what you
think is wrong, and they will recommend, you know, mechanic
shops in the area, and they also can track prices
for the work that you need to have done. But
(24:29):
just you know, spending a little bit of time on
the phone and calling around. If it can save you
a couple hundred bucks, then absolutely go for it.
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Now, can you just drop in and say, hey, I
need my car fix. I'm going to leave it here,
or do you need to make an appointment with a mechanic.
Speaker 5 (24:43):
You usually need to make an appointment with a mechanic.
Most mechanics, especially kind of the larger shops, will have
a service writer, and the service writer is the person
that you deal with you go in. They're the person
where you you know, might make the funny noise that
your car is making, but pro tip if your car
is making a funny noise or doing something fun, take
a video of it because sometimes they'll be able.
Speaker 6 (25:02):
To diagnose it, you know, from a video.
Speaker 5 (25:04):
But when you're working with the service writer, what they're
going to do is they're going to give you an
estimated bill ahead of time, and you know that bill
can change because they might find something that they weren't anticipating,
you know, when they open things up, the initial diagnosis
could have been incorrect. But a reputable shop and most
states have laws about this is they can't go beyond
(25:24):
what you initially agreed to without getting your permission.
Speaker 3 (25:28):
You had mentioned a service record, and so I'm curious
what exactly is that and why might it be important
to keep one.
Speaker 5 (25:35):
So your service record is basically your car's like health record,
and like when a car is new and getting most
of its maintenance done under warranty at the dealership, the
dealer is going to keep a running file on that
car based on the VIN, which is the vehicle identification number.
And the reason that they're going to do that is
they're sharing that information with the manufacturer so the manufacturer
(25:56):
can figure out, like, ooh, we really messed up that engine,
it breaks a lot. We should change like that helps
them build, you know, better cars. Once you kind of
move out of the dealer ecosystem, it's a little bit
on you to maintain your car service record, and so
you can do the super high tech method that I do,
which is, anytime I get my car fixed, I just
shove the bill in my glove car and then like,
(26:20):
I've always got it if something goes wrong, because the
bill will lay out exactly what was done. And so
if you're like, man, I thought I just had this done,
you can go back and pull it out and see
what the data of it is, and you'll have a
full record of your car's history, and when it comes time,
you know, to sell the car, you'll be able to say, like, hey,
look I took care of this, pay me more for it.
And at the same time, you know, you'll also be
(26:40):
able to make better warranty claims if you've been maintaining
your car appropriately.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
We'll be right back with more grown up stuff how
to adult. After a quick break.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
And we're back with more grown up stuff how to adults.
Speaker 2 (27:05):
We've talked about oil changes and how important those are
and the quality or type of oil you're putting in
your car can be just as important as how often
you're changing it. But can the same be said for
the type of gas we put.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
In our cars?
Speaker 2 (27:19):
Now, I'm a regular fuel kind of human, and most
of the cars that I've driven haven't required more than
that basic level. But every once in a while I'll
find myself borrowing a car and the owner.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
Will tell me it takes premium. But here's my question,
does it really need premium?
Speaker 2 (27:39):
With national gas prices at roughly three dollars and twenty
four cents a gallon according to tripa, a who wants
to spend extra on something that's going to do the
same thing? So I have to ask, can we potentially
fuel up with any type of gasoline?
Speaker 5 (27:56):
So first the basic thing is there's gas, and then
there's diesel. Use diesel if you have a diesel engine,
use gas. If you have a gas engine, you'll know,
like it'll be all over your car, like the kind
of gas to use. And so when you're looking at
like gas, you know there's usually like the cheap stuff,
the mid grade, the super premium stuff. Right, there's a
(28:16):
key word that you need to look at either in
your owner's manual, or when you open the gas flap,
there's a sticker on a little door right, and it'll
say either ninety three octane recommend it or ninety three
octane required.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
Oh interesting.
Speaker 5 (28:32):
Yeah, now this is where it gets a little bit gray.
You can go ahead and use you know, cheaper gas,
just know that, like over time, it might make that
your engine not runs so well. This will only really
be noticeable if you're like a super passionate high end
sports car driver and you're gonna be like, I'm not
(28:53):
quite getting all four hundred horsepower, this only feels like
three seventy five. But if you're just like driving around
in a Toyota Camri, go for the cheap stuff, right,
And then you know, even if you're like me, I
have a Volvo, it says that it wants ninety one octane,
which I do well, yes all the time, and then
other times I'm like eighty.
Speaker 6 (29:09):
Nine is fine for you today. So it's just kind
of like, what do.
Speaker 5 (29:13):
You want for your car? Do you really want to
baby it or are you fine with it taking you know,
some knocks.
Speaker 6 (29:17):
Now.
Speaker 5 (29:18):
The one thing, and this is where it gets a
little bit hinky, is if you're making a warranty claim
and it's said required, and they can prove that you
weren't filling it up with the really good stuff one
hundred percent of the time, then that claim might be denied.
So I'm not recommending that everybody keep every single one
of their gas receipts, but definitely, like, if you're taking
(29:40):
your car in, that tank better be full of ninety
three octane to make sure that you know you don't
get caught.
Speaker 2 (29:47):
We mentioned earlier the importance of washing your car if
you live in areas with snow where roads are treated
with things like salt, But winterizing your car is about
more than just a bi weekly undercarriage wash. For some,
it means switching out your all season tires for winter tires.
If you're my dad, it means adding sandbags to the
trunk of your minivan. But what's the best way to
(30:10):
keep our cars healthy through the winter, especially if winter
rising means storing it somewhere?
Speaker 4 (30:17):
Every year in New York, I always put my bike
to sleep for the winter. So if we are going
to like put our vehicle into cold storage, what are
some things that we need to think about right.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
Before we put it away for a while.
Speaker 5 (30:31):
First, I would reconsider it, like if you can leave
it with somebody to just drive like ten miles a week,
that's going to be better for the car, because again,
like there's so.
Speaker 6 (30:39):
Many moving parts, the worst thing that.
Speaker 5 (30:42):
You can really do for a car is let it
sit there, and so keeping those parts moving will keep
it lubricated and all that good stuff. But if you
can't do that and you're putting it in storage, a
couple of things. One is you'll want to use some
fuel stabilizer because your gasoline can go bad if it's
sitting in your tank for a long long time. The
other thing is you're going to want to hook up
what's known as a battery mine, and it's just basically
a thing that'll keep your battery from dying. And then
(31:03):
the last thing, and this is the thing that a
lot of people skip, is put it up on jacks.
Don't let it sit on its tires because the tires
sitting in the same place all the time, that's going
to create just basically a flat section of that tire,
and those tires aren't going to work quite as well
if they've just been sitting still and have gotten a
plateau from that. So just put it up on jacks.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
Now we're talking about storage, what about winter rizing. What
are some of the things we need to do to
winterize our cars, whether we're keeping them in storage or
driving My dad in one of our cars, he would
put sand bags in the back of the car.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
Is that a thing.
Speaker 5 (31:39):
It's totally a thing, But it doesn't maintain your car.
It just helps you get out of stuck positions. So okay, yeah,
there are a number of things that you can do
to winterize your car. One is, if you live in
an area that gets a lot of snow, get some
winter tires. Because the all season tires that your car
probably came with they're not going to help.
Speaker 6 (31:57):
You stop in a snowstorm. So get those winter tires.
Speaker 5 (32:00):
And you know a lot of people will think, oh,
you know, I live in Boston, I need all wheel drive,
when really like a front wheel drive car with winter
tires will perform pretty close to an all wheel drive
car in terms of not getting stuck. So that's number one.
Number two, put those emergency supplies in your car, blanket, water, food,
just in case you get stuck in a giant snowbank somewhere.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Is it overkilled to have a shovel.
Speaker 5 (32:21):
It is definitely not overkilled to have a shovel, because
if you get stuck in the snow, you can you know,
dig some of the snow out. But when you're talking
about like your dad putting sandbags in the back, that
is likely the car that he's had was a rear
wheel drive car. The problem with rear wheel drive cars,
all of the power is going to the wheels in
the back. The problem with that is all of the
(32:41):
weight of the car, like the engine, is in the front,
and so it's really hard to get traction in the snow,
and so you want to put some weight in the
back of your car. The other thing that you can do,
just for winterizing, make sure your windshield wiper fluid is
full up because you're going to be you know, cleaning
your windshield a lot because there's roadspread and things, and
so you might even just want to go at the
(33:01):
start of winter and buy a couple of bottles of
it so you are always have it on hand. The
other thing that you can do, and I've never done this,
but I've heard of it, if you want to add
something to your sandbags, and we know that like in wintertime,
the inside of the car can fog up really easily. Yeah,
just carry an open container of kitty litter, like a
pan of kitty litter, like you have a cat living
(33:22):
in your car, and that will absorb a lot of
the moisture and help keep your.
Speaker 6 (33:26):
Windows from fogging up.
Speaker 5 (33:27):
What and added benefit you can have extra weight in
the back of your car.
Speaker 6 (33:31):
The other thing that I like to use kitty.
Speaker 5 (33:32):
Litter for if you do get stuck, spread some around
your tires that have power. So if it's a real
wheel drive car, put kitty litter all around the rear wheels,
it's front wheel drive car, put it all around the
front wheels, not all around.
Speaker 6 (33:44):
You don't have to put it behind.
Speaker 5 (33:45):
The wheels, and so it'll give you enough traction to
kind of get out of that, you know, whatever you're
stuck in.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
That's great advice. So you're not supposed to be driving
winter tires in any other season.
Speaker 5 (33:55):
Why is that, Well, because the barber that they're made
out of is a lot stiffer, and so they're specifically
made for like gripping snow, and when there's no snow
on the ground, they're not doing what they're supposed to
be doing. It's like, you know, cleaning your dishes with
a vacuum cleaner, it's just not going to do as
good a job. Yeah, and also too, like you might
notice this if you have winter tires on your car,
(34:16):
they don't handle all that great. They're there to help
your car stop in the snow, but for other situations
they're really not that good and not that fun to
drive on. So just make sure that around the last snowstorm,
a little bit after the last snowstorm, just go get
them popped off and put your regular tires back on.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
Excellent, Jamie. I know you're also an expert in electric vehicles.
What are some of the things that are different with
electric vehicles that we need to consider in terms of
car maintenance?
Speaker 5 (34:42):
Oh my gosh, they have so much less maintenance really,
Oh yes, car dealers hate electric cars. And the reason
for this is where do they make a lot of
their money oil changes. Guess what doesn't have oil? An
electric car? And so like, they have so many feurent
moving parts simply because they don't have an engine. They
(35:03):
have an electric motor, and so there's a lot less
maintenance involved. You still have to worry about your tires,
You still have to worry about, you know, your brakes.
But electric vehicles are a lot more set and forget
than gas powered vehicles. And that's one of the reasons why, like,
if they fit your lifestyle, highly highly recommend an electric
car because it just saves you money on gas, it
saves you money on maintenance. It's just all around a
(35:26):
better experience. The other thing too, is they are wicked fast,
like faster off the line than most gasoline cars. So
you can be driving like a I hesitate to say
cheap because electric vehicles are still not that cheap. But
you can be driving, you know, an electric Kia and
smoke of BMW off the line.
Speaker 6 (35:42):
It's hilarious.
Speaker 3 (35:43):
Wow, didn't I know any of that? That is awesome.
Speaker 6 (35:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:46):
Also saving the environment in a.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
Way, saving the planet, Jamie, this is amazing.
Speaker 2 (35:53):
But I want to ask you, is there anything you
think that people should know about car maintenance that they're
often neglecting or forgetting about.
Speaker 5 (36:02):
Yes, and that is recalls. It's not exactly maintenance, but
you know sometimes you get like a letter from your
car company and it's like, oh, we have a recall,
like you need to take your car in, and people
don't do it. It's just so crazy that they don't
because I think they don't understand that if your car
is subject to a recall, the repair is free.
Speaker 6 (36:22):
You're not going to have to pay for anything.
Speaker 5 (36:24):
And then a lot of times too, especially if you
drive a car where you're not the original owner. And
I mean even if you are the original owner, you
should go to safercar dot gov and enter your car's VIN.
It's going to be kind of under your windshield on
the driver's side. Enter it in, register it there, and
then whenever there is a recall, the government will email
you and so you'll be able to go in and
(36:45):
you don't have to wait for Ford to find you.
You'll know about it. Yeah, and you know, recalls, they
can be a little bit scary. Sometimes it's just like
they've put the wrong sticker on the door jam and
that triggers a recall. Other times they're like metal shards
in your air bag and you need to get that
taken care of right away.
Speaker 1 (37:03):
I wish people could see my face right now, because
that's terrifying.
Speaker 6 (37:06):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (37:07):
I mean, but the reason that you enter the VIN
is you might hear like, oh, there is a massive
recall on you know, the twenty eighteen Toyota Prius that
recall is likely only for certain cars that came off
like the assembly line at about the same time, so
you can run your vin through there and your car
may not even be subject to it. But always pay
attention to recalls because again, it might be something minor,
(37:29):
like hey, we just got to replace the sticker, but
it could also be something that kills you and burns
your house down. So better safe than sorry.
Speaker 4 (37:35):
No big Cata, big wow, Jamie. This has been amazing.
I've just learned a lot as a novice maintenance person.
Speaker 1 (37:43):
Incredible, Jamie.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
Where can people find more of your great helpful tips
and insights on car maintenance, on car care and all
things cars.
Speaker 6 (37:53):
Car talk dot Com right there? Perfect.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
Thank you so much, Jamie.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
Well, I can promise you this, Registering my car with
the government to know about recalls is going to be
one of the first things I do if I ever
actually acquire a vehicle of my own. There will be
no spontaneous combustions or glass filled airbags on my watch.
Here's what else I've learned about car care from our
conversation with Jamie. Washing your car can be an important
(38:26):
part of its maintenance, and during the winter, it's going
to be especially important to keep the undercarriage clean. Extended
warranties can be like health insurance for your car. Your
regular auto insurance won't cover general wear and tear repairs,
but an extended warranty might. Remember to review the paperwork carefully, though,
to make sure it actually makes sense for what you
(38:48):
may need. Ugh, I guess it's super important to read
your owner's manual for your car or whatever. It's not
the most exciting reading, but it will definitely help you
take the best care of your car and avoid potentially
overpaying on certain services. Never buy used tires. Purchasing a
code reader can help inform what's going on in your
(39:11):
car when you have a check engine light. If your
car is making a funny noise or doing something out
of character, take a video with your phone so that
you can share it with your mechanic ahead of time
to help them better diagnose the problem. It's never a
bad idea to hold on to all of your bills
from your mechanic so that you have a record of
what you've had fixed and when. This will come in
handy if it's still under warranty, or if you're trying
(39:33):
to sell it later. It's always a good idea to
have some emergency supplies in your car during the winter months.
Include things like a flashlight, blanket, water snacks, a shovel,
and maybe even some kitty litter to keep things from
fogging up and to help get unstuck in snowy situations.
And finally, the secret no one wants you to know.
Electric vehicles require far less regular maintenance. That's all for
(39:57):
today's episode. Thank you again to the very informative and
wonderful Jbie Page Deaton. Sadly, I now have something new
to feed my anxiety with. And I don't even own
a car yet, but forewarned is forearmed, and I do
feel more prepared now for that step of adulthood.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
Matt, what's next on grown up stuff?
Speaker 4 (40:17):
Goodness, gracious, are we here already. We'll be back in
two weeks for our season one finale, where we will
teach you how to navigate the grocery store like a
grown up with purpose, how to avoid classic pitfalls, what
to buy, and how to save money.
Speaker 2 (40:32):
I've got some strategies for this, like I try not
to go grocery shopping hungry.
Speaker 1 (40:37):
It's always a mistake.
Speaker 2 (40:39):
But hopefully I can also learn how to leave a
Trader Joe's during the fall and winter without buying everything
pumpkin apple or peppermint flavored, because I fucking love a
seasonal item and I just cannot help myself.
Speaker 3 (40:52):
Matt, I mean the JoJo's, the dark chocolate shows. Don't
get me started.
Speaker 1 (40:55):
Don't get me started.
Speaker 3 (40:56):
I have a quick question. That are you saying groceureies grocer?
Speaker 1 (41:01):
Yes, I say grocery. How do you say it?
Speaker 3 (41:03):
I say gross? Gross?
Speaker 4 (41:05):
Okay, Now I don't know gross. I'm going to the
grocery store. Grocery, I think, I say grocery.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
Do you say it the same way?
Speaker 3 (41:11):
I don't.
Speaker 1 (41:12):
Okay, Well, we'll find out.
Speaker 4 (41:13):
The point is, yes, we will find out for sure
in two weeks on the next episode of Grown Up Stuff,
How to Adult.
Speaker 2 (41:19):
And remember you might not be graded in life, but
it never hurts to do your homework.
Speaker 4 (41:23):
This is a production from Ruby Studio from My Heart Media.
Our executive producers are Molly.
Speaker 2 (41:28):
Soshia and Matt Stillo. This episode was engineered by Matt Stillo.
Speaker 4 (41:33):
And written by Molly Soosha. This episode was edited by
Sierra Spreen.
Speaker 2 (41:37):
We want to thank our teammates at Ruby's Studio, including
Ethan Pixel, Rachel Swan, krasnof Amber Smith, Deborah Garrett, and
Andy Kelly.
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