October 30, 2025 • 43 mins
Your heart shouldn’t race every time a warning light blinks. We sat down to unpack the fear, confusion, and real costs behind car repair and share a playbook anyone can use to protect their wallet and their safety—no jargon, just clear steps that work. As women owners of an auto repair and collision center, we’ve seen both the best and worst of the industry. We talk openly about bias, transparency, and the simple practices that build trust: asking to see old parts, requesting photos and videos, and choosing shops that are licensed, insured, and equipped with modern diagnostics. You’ll learn why code readers don’t equal diagnoses, how live data and bidirectional tests reveal the real problem, and what questions to ask a service advisor—especially if they’re on commission.
We break down the lights and symptoms that cause the most stress. A flashing check engine light often signals misfire risk, temperature warnings mean stop now, and a brake pedal sinking to the floor is a non-negotiable tow. From grinding brakes and AC failures to motor mounts, misfires, and transmission slip, we explain the likely causes so you can talk to a shop with confidence. We also share the process that saves time and money: make an appointment, drop the car off, give a detailed symptom history, and ask for repair priorities—what’s critical today, what’s next, and what can wait. Maintenance matters too: use the correct oil weight and approved specs, stick to realistic intervals, and know when brand-specific fluids protect sensitive systems.
Then we tackle extended warranties with receipts. Some providers deliver peace of mind and real coverage; others sell big promises and deliver denials, delays, and used parts. Call your preferred shop before you buy, confirm they work with the company, and keep service records to avoid technicalities. Along the way, we tell two unforgettable stories—a no-start truck sidelined by a passenger window module blocking the CAN bus and a literal bomb discovered through a fuel-tank access panel—to show why careful diagnosis and complete context matter in modern vehicles.
If you’ve ever felt talked down to at a counter or worried you’ll overpay, this conversation gives you the language, the checklist, and the confidence to own the process. Subscribe, share with a friend who dreads the shop visit, and leave a review with your biggest car-care question—we’ll tackle it in a future episode.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_02 (00:11):
Here we go again.
Welcome back to Miles BetweenUs.
I'm Misty.
I'm Melissa.
And we are excited to bring youa new episode.
We're on a roll for you guys.
SPEAKER_00 (00:23):
Oh, it's exciting.
SPEAKER_02 (00:24):
I just think there's so much to share and talk about.
SPEAKER_00 (00:28):
Yeah, I think this one's Misty's domain.
I mean, I've learned a lot overthe last 10 years, but this is
kind of your bread and butter.
We're going to get into themechanical stuff today.
SPEAKER_02 (00:38):
Yeah, this is a passion for me.
It's absolutely a big deal.
Everybody deals with it.
There's so much uncertainty andfear and uh quite honestly,
expense involved in maintaininga vehicle that I really want to
kind of go over some lies thatare in the industry and
hopefully give people someinsight into what to look for
(01:00):
and how to best take care of oneof their largest investments.
SPEAKER_00 (01:03):
Yeah, I think for today's episode, I hope everyone
leaves it watching or listening,feeling more empowered, a little
bit entertained, but honestlymore at ease that whenever you
go to get your car fixed,whether it's here where we are
or anywhere, whether it's adealership, a mom and pop, just
wherever it is, you'll have theknowledge to know the right
(01:26):
things to ask, and hopefullyyou'll make better decisions and
feel better about yourinvestment.
SPEAKER_02 (01:31):
Yeah, I mean, it's still to this day, I think
people are running into, we runinto women all the time that
come in and there's some guythat at another shop that
doesn't talk to them or talksdown to them or thinks they
don't know anything.
People just kind of bully them.
And so we're here to just breakthat cycle because this industry
has had a really black eye for along time.
(01:53):
And it doesn't have to.
There's some really great shopsand great people in this
industry, and it's time to callthe ones out that aren't.
SPEAKER_00 (02:00):
Well, and it's funny because we're two female owners
in a male-dominated industry.
unknown (02:05):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (02:06):
And it's so frustrating with the ones that
aren't ethical, they're rude,they just don't make you feel
comfortable.
We have to work that much harderjust to gain the trust.
And I I think it's well earned.
I mean, we have no problemworking really hard to gain
people's trust.
It's just frustrating that theindustry still we're in 2025.
(02:27):
Okay.
And it's still not, I don'tknow.
How would you describe it?
SPEAKER_02 (02:32):
No, it needs to be transparent.
I mean, if I see one more ofthose signs that says my
insurance company doesn't allowmy customers in the shop, but
that's bullshit.
Nobody's insurance has ever saidthat.
SPEAKER_00 (02:44):
I mean, you can't park and sit there all day, but
you can go out there.
SPEAKER_02 (02:48):
So in our shop, we've got a uh glass window that
you can look at and see what'sgoing on.
And I would encourage people toto ask to see their old parts,
or we've got the ability to sendyou pictures and videos of
what's going on with your car asyou build that trusting
relationship.
Now, when you've been with ashop for 30 years, you know that
they're gonna treat you rightand do the right things.
(03:10):
And but as you're building thatrelationship, if you've moved to
a new city or you know, you'reexperiencing maybe your car's
out of warranty for the firsttime ever.
SPEAKER_00 (03:18):
Yeah, because I've never had to deal with it.
I have never ever in my life hadto go to another shop.
And now my Kia Carnival, coupleyears old, has some leaks, it's
about to be out of its warranty,I think, next year.
It's really intimidating becauseagain, I live it, I breathe it,
and then going somewhere else,you don't want to get taken
advantage of, you don't want tosound dumb.
It's just it's a lot.
(03:39):
So we're here to lighten theload for everybody.
SPEAKER_02 (03:42):
I I'm really excited because I I think that everybody
can be empowered with thissituation.
I tell people all the time ifsomebody tells you, you know,
you need a ball joint, insteadof going, well, what the hell's
a ball joint?
Just Google it on your phonewhile they're talking to you.
SPEAKER_00 (03:57):
Yeah.
That's different now.
You could not do that before.
No, I mean, so you can look upanything.
SPEAKER_02 (04:03):
Yeah, you've got a ton of resources available.
And, you know, we tell peopleall the time, if you've got a
question, whether you're at ourshop or someplace else, call us.
I've been doing this for 24years.
I've been around, yeah, it's along time.
I've been around all thesevehicles and the changes and we
do all makes and models.
(04:23):
So that makes us all years.
That makes us really unique.
And I think it makes ourtechnicians all the more
talented.
SPEAKER_00 (04:30):
Well, it's funny what you just said, how you're
like, hey, call, we'll we'lltalk to whoever.
It doesn't matter if you're acustomer.
This just happened two days ago.
I called Buddy Septic.
I call them because it's myfirst Google search, and she's
like, Where are you?
I was like, I'm in Tallahassee.
What do you mean?
She's like, I'm in Virginia.
But then she proceeded to talkto me for like 10 minutes,
educating me because I she wassuper nice.
(04:52):
At no point was she trending offthe she knew she would never
have my business.
But she cared.
Yeah, she wanted to educate you.
Yeah.
So I think it makes adifference.
SPEAKER_02 (05:00):
Again, I've preached this over and over again.
It's just time for people to bekind to each other, share your
knowledge, share the informationthat you've obtained through
your experiences.
And that's why we do this, isreally about educating,
inspiring, you know, and we'veall got horror stories.
So I mean, so let's talk aboutmechanical breakdown.
First thing, lights on the dash.
(05:22):
Now, listen, we own a shop.
We've been doing this a reallylong time.
When that check engine lightstarts flashing at you, no
matter where you are or who youare, your heart starts racing.
It's spooky season, and that isspooky.
I remember a really good friendof mine, Deanna, would call and
uh, is my car gonna blow up?
(05:43):
I mean, she honestly had no ideawhat was going on.
So let's talk about some of thecommon lights on the dash and
why everybody panics.
SPEAKER_00 (05:51):
Yeah.
Rundown of, let's see, you'vegot ABS, which quite literally
is ABS, which is your brakes.
SPEAKER_02 (05:58):
We've got traction, squiggly lines, check engine
light, overheating.
So this one big.
Yeah, this is a really big deal.
And sometimes you've got engineoverheating, sometimes you just
have a temperature gauge.
Like you need to know your car.
SPEAKER_00 (06:12):
Well, and what's cool is you have, I think Google
does it, where you can take apicture and then it tells you
what it is.
But some of the other commonones are your power steering, it
looks like a steering wheel,washer fluid, cruise, security,
the fuel light.
SPEAKER_02 (06:28):
So let's talk about that.
I think most people do knowthis, but if you don't, and you
get into a rental car and you'retrying to figure out which side
of the car to put gas on, ittells you.
SPEAKER_00 (06:38):
Yeah.
It's a tiny little arrow andit'll point on whichever side,
driver's side or passenger side.
I learned that not that longago, truly.
Well, because again, who'stelling you?
Now us.
We're telling you.
We're the ones.
Now you never have to wonderagain.
SPEAKER_02 (06:53):
Let's talk about some of the common symptoms that
we see on vehicles, what we'reseeing more and more, and then
we're gonna walk you through theactual process of getting to a
shop, questions to ask, thingsthat are important.
SPEAKER_00 (07:06):
Yeah, so let's start at when you should or shouldn't
drive your car.
So certain symptoms like that.
SPEAKER_02 (07:11):
Yeah, so if it's overheating, stop.
Do not drive.
SPEAKER_00 (07:17):
You can blow that engine up in a block and you do
not want that bill.
SPEAKER_02 (07:21):
No, I mean, so a lot of people don't understand that
it could be a blown hose, awater pump, a radiator.
I mean, there's a ton of thingsthat go into this, right?
But if you drive such a shortdistance and the coolant isn't
getting to the systems, youactually could cause engine
damage, catastrophic enginedamage.
And how do you feel about whatis it called?
(07:42):
Stop leak.
Oh, please.
Stop leak is meant to stopthings up, including passages
that were engineered to work.
SPEAKER_00 (07:49):
Yes.
What did Dean use that one time?
So this was a mechanic thatworked for us for probably 10
years, and he was on the side ofa highway, knew all the tricks
of the trade.
I want to say he used blackpepper.
Why he had that in his car, I donot know, but I remember that
where I'm like, oh, just incase.
SPEAKER_02 (08:06):
Yeah.
So and again, it's alsodangerous.
Like if you get out and yourcar's overheating and you know,
you see some smoke and steam andyou pop the hood, that that
radiator cap or the coolantreservoir is under pressure.
It's supposed to maintain acertain amount of pressure.
So it's very likely that youwill get burned with a very hot
(08:27):
liquid.
It can blow radiator caps off.
So even the steam itself.
Yeah, it's dangerous.
Just don't.
It's not worth it.
We recommend that every singleperson build a relationship with
your tow company.
Again, I get it.
It's expensive, nobody wants topay that, but you also don't
want to go to the ER.
Yeah, so we're not gonna we'renot gonna drive if it's
overheating.
We are not gonna drive if ourbrake pedal is going to the
(08:49):
floor.
SPEAKER_00 (08:50):
We've had a lot of people drive to our shop saying
the pedal goes all the way down,and I just kind of coasted here.
SPEAKER_02 (08:56):
I'm like wipers that don't work when it's pouring
rain.
I've seen people driving withtheir head out the window.
This is a bad idea.
No power steering.
Like, listen, back in the daybefore all of us, there was cars
without power steering, and youhad a workout in driving that
around.
SPEAKER_00 (09:13):
My escape, my first escape, it went out right there
at the roundabout on gains.
And I remember so vividly onthat first turn, and I'm like,
what is happening?
I'm putting my whole body intoit.
SPEAKER_02 (09:24):
All right, so some common symptoms that we've
probably all experienced (09:27):
the grinding when breaking.
SPEAKER_00 (09:32):
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_02 (09:32):
There could be a squeak.
There used to be a squeak.
It was called a squealindicator.
And you've got some vehicles,Mercedes BMWs, that have a brake
wear indicator, which will tellyou how low the pad is.
But now you hear us say thisover and over again that things
aren't made the way they used tobe, but they're not.
We used to be able to turn yourrotors and get them back into a
(09:56):
spec so that they would breakevenly.
And that's not a thing anymore.
They're kind of disposableparts.
SPEAKER_00 (10:02):
Everything's gone replacement.
SPEAKER_02 (10:04):
Yeah.
Don't let somebody just slapsome pads on your vehicle
because you're gonna get apulsation in the pedal, you're
gonna get a shake in thesteering wheel.
But that grinding or a squealwhen you're braking, take it to
a shop.
SPEAKER_00 (10:15):
So that'll be pads or rotors.
SPEAKER_02 (10:17):
Yes.
AC stops blowing cold.
We're in Florida.
This is a huge problem.
It is 90 degrees and it isOctober or something.
So with an AC system, you've gota compressor, you've got a
condenser, expansion valve, thefans, evaporator core, you've
got blend doors.
I mean, there's a lot that gointo these systems.
When your AC stops blowing cold,it could be multiple things.
(10:41):
We could have a car that'soverheating.
We could have a vehicle that'sgone into lamp mode.
So lamp mode is the vehicletrying to protect its brain and
heart function.
So it starts cutting off thingsthat aren't absolutely
necessary.
SPEAKER_00 (10:55):
Which is good, but bad if you ignore it.
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (10:58):
So yeah, don't drive the car in lump mode.
A lot of times people will comein and say, Well, it's not
blowing at all.
Well, then we're probablylooking at a blower motor or a
resistor.
Now we're getting into modules.
SPEAKER_00 (11:07):
And then depending on where it's blowing out of, if
it's not blowing out of the mainvents, but it's blowing out of
defrost or on your feet, thenthat's one of the blend doors.
SPEAKER_02 (11:16):
Correct.
SPEAKER_00 (11:17):
Which you hope is not the main one, because that's
the labor-intensive one.
SPEAKER_02 (11:21):
Yeah, that usually involves the entire dash coming
out of your car.
Come to a stoplight, you go totake off, and you feel this
absolute thud and lurch.
SPEAKER_00 (11:29):
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_02 (11:30):
Motor mounts.
SPEAKER_00 (11:31):
Yeah, that one's fun to see.
If it's really, really bad, youcan pop the hood open and
someone will have it where they,you know, safely push the gas,
and you can see the whole thingjust like it's about to jump out
of your car.
Yes, the engine rocks.
SPEAKER_02 (11:45):
Let's talk about the trouble accelerating.
So you're you're driving downthe street and you kind of feel
this hesitation.
We call it a skip most of thetime.
You just feel like it's notcompletely running the way it's
supposed to.
A little bit of shakingsometimes.
Check engine light may or maynot come on.
If you're a Ford, it's not gonnacome on.
But again, you have no ideawhat's going on, right?
(12:07):
The car's just shaking.
It's it's probably a misfire.
We were looking at plugs orcoils or something along those
lines.
It could be an injector, butmore likely plugs and coils.
SPEAKER_00 (12:17):
Yeah.
But then if it gets more likeyour RPMs are revving, it
doesn't feel like it wants togo, it almost feels like it's
more so slipping.
SPEAKER_02 (12:26):
You're looking at potential transmission.
We're giving you some of themost common things that we know
we see.
But I want to talk about thischeck engine light and getting a
car diagnosed.
SPEAKER_00 (12:37):
So scanning it versus diagnosing it.
Yeah, there's a big difference,people.
Scanning it is good for justneeding to know quickly and you
can do your own research if ashop's closed, if you can't get
in right away, something likethat.
SPEAKER_02 (12:50):
Again, we've got auto parts stores that offer
this free engine diagnosticscan.
And so you go there and theyplug in a$200 code reader and
they come back with a code andtell you you need a part.
They're a parts store.
They're gonna tell you you needa part.
That may not be the situation atall.
It is a diagnostic tool for atrained and licensed technician
(13:14):
to start looking in thedirection that he needs to go.
I mean, just because we've got aP0301, which is a cylinder one
misfire, doesn't mean I need aspark plug.
It doesn't mean I need a coil.
I need to look at the wiring.
I mean, I need to look ateverything.
SPEAKER_00 (13:31):
I want to say the P0420s are a big one.
Isn't that like the oxygensensor and the evap, yeah.
Because that can be so manydifferent things.
SPEAKER_02 (13:38):
Yeah.
So again, it is well, can't youjust hook it on the computer and
tell me what's wrong with it?
No.
No, we can't.
We could lie to you.
So there's a difference betweena code reader and a scanner.
So we can watch live data.
I can turn your car on and offwith my computer.
I can turn on differentcylinders, I can reprogram
stuff, I can roll windows up anddown, I can watch injectors.
(14:01):
I mean, uh there's so much datainvolved in this process.
SPEAKER_00 (14:05):
And we don't believe in just throwing parts at it.
Absolutely not.
Nobody wants to pay forsomething they don't need.
SPEAKER_02 (14:11):
It's already expensive.
Right.
Yeah.
I mean, we we get it, guys.
Like, I was shocked today when Idid a battery.
I mean, I I'm not that old.
And batteries honestly were$69,$79, and$89 for the best.
And the average battery now isover$300.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (14:29):
On the cheap end.
SPEAKER_02 (14:30):
And then you got the AGMs and whatnot.
Yeah.
And again, that has to do withelectronics and computers.
I mean, we're putting computersin these cars.
We're putting a lot of them.
So let's go back to the processof getting your vehicle
diagnosed and fixed.
SPEAKER_00 (14:42):
So yeah, now we're going to take you through, walk
you through the process.
You have a symptom, you callyour shop of choice.
This is essentially what you canexpect.
SPEAKER_02 (14:50):
So we're going to talk about the process of
getting the vehicle looked atand diagnosed, but I want to
talk about the process ofpicking a shop.
So a lot of you are familiarwith the dealer.
The dealer is basically themanufacturer of your car.
And they're supposed to have thelatest and greatest technology
and the information.
And that is not always the case.
SPEAKER_00 (15:10):
I think it's associated with people's minds
that they have to know.
SPEAKER_02 (15:14):
Yes.
But they don't.
SPEAKER_00 (15:16):
They are a business that hires technicians just like
any other shop.
Yeah.
They may have some additionalresources, but at the end of the
day.
SPEAKER_02 (15:24):
You're going to pay more going to a dealership.
I mean, you just are.
You're paying for the city.
SPEAKER_00 (15:28):
The rates are usually higher alone.
SPEAKER_02 (15:30):
Yeah, you're paying for the big building.
They are notorious for sellingyou stuff you don't need.
SPEAKER_00 (15:34):
Yeah, I think most are still on commission.
SPEAKER_02 (15:36):
I don't know if all of them are, but yeah, so that's
something that that our ourlisteners and our viewers need
to know.
You need to ask your shop, is myservice rider?
So that's the person who's goingto be calling you and telling
you what's wrong with your carand giving you an estimate.
Is my service rider oncommission?
(15:56):
Because if they're oncommission, they want to sell
you more stuff.
SPEAKER_00 (16:01):
Yeah, they're incentivized to make more money.
Correct.
SPEAKER_02 (16:04):
And and your technicians are the same way.
So are your technicians oncommission?
Or is it based on how manythings they sell you?
We've seen shops that create aquota of we need to sell 50
batteries this week.
SPEAKER_00 (16:16):
Yeah, it's probably more like your super lubes and
smells.
SPEAKER_02 (16:18):
Right.
How do you?
I mean, that makes no sense,right?
So they get fixated onsomething.
We recommend, and there are somegood dealers, it is all about
kind of word of mouth, honestly.
I think you need to look at arethey licensed?
Very important.
Are they insured?
If something happens while yourvehicle's there, is it going to
(16:39):
be covered by their insurance?
How well equipped is the shop?
Do they have the rightequipment, the right tools?
Are they trained?
And how do they treat you?
You know, ask relatives, askyour neighbors.
I'm gonna tell you, I'm not ahuge fan of Google reviews.
SPEAKER_00 (16:55):
You don't have to have been a customer to leave a
Google review.
SPEAKER_02 (16:58):
No, I mean it's insane.
Anybody can go to anything.
SPEAKER_00 (17:02):
Verified reviews.
Like there's places called umSure Critic.
Right.
It's a big one.
They're all verified customers.
Yeah.
I mean, before you bring yourcar, if there's if it's not an
emergency and you need to shopASAP, I mean, go see it in
person.
Go see is it clean?
Are they nice?
SPEAKER_02 (17:17):
Yeah, we we recommend that to parents
bringing their kids up tocollege here is don't wait until
your kid calls you and you're athousand miles away and they're
broke down.
Build that relationship whileyou come up and bring them to
school.
And then let's talk about theprocess.
So typically you're gonna calland you're gonna make an
appointment.
That's really important, and Iwant to stress that to our
listeners and our viewers.
(17:38):
Auto repair is an extremelycomplicated process.
It takes highly skilled people.
It is not a drive-thru.
You need to be prepared to makean appointment.
You would make an appointmentwith your doctor, your dentist,
your lawyer, your plumber, yourAC guy.
(18:01):
This is no different.
And drop your vehicle offbecause a diagnosis now is not
five or ten minutes.
They're they're so complicated,so many computers.
SPEAKER_00 (18:12):
And you want the technicians to be thorough.
You don't want them to rushthrough it.
And then one, they couldmisdiagnose because they could
get sent down the wrong rabbithole.
They're like, oh, I only have 20minutes to do this.
Yeah.
You want them to be thorough andto really figure out what's
wrong with your car.
SPEAKER_02 (18:25):
Well, and that's something cool about us.
And I want to encourage moreshops to do this.
So people thought we were crazywhen we did it, and some days we
still think we're crazy that wedid it.
But our technicians are all onsalary.
So they are not trying to beat aclock.
They're not, oh, this calls for1.2 hours to replace a starter.
They're gonna do the job rightand thoroughly and take their
(18:48):
time.
They're gonna take their timediagnosing it.
Where you've got somebody who'son commission and they're only
paid a half hour to diagnoseyour car, they're not spending
any extra time.
SPEAKER_00 (18:57):
Yeah, it's worth a thought because if they're bound
by that clock, the stress alsodictates the kind of work they
do.
SPEAKER_02 (19:04):
So be patient, right?
No shop wants your car justsitting there.
I assure you.
No money not fixing your car.
So let the shop look at it,diagnose it, let the shop call
you, give you your diagnosis andyour estimate, see if they can
send you pictures of whatthey're saying is wrong.
You know, I think that's a greatidea.
(19:25):
We text customers a lot.
And then ask the question isthis absolutely necessary?
SPEAKER_00 (19:31):
Yeah, if there's multiple things you're given and
quoted, ask to have it put inpriority because right now I
think most of us can't afford a$3,000 bill.
Correct.
And if you have older vehicles,you very well may have
maintenance things that just addup in cost.
So if you can say, hey, what doI absolutely have to do versus
what can I watch?
(19:51):
Can I check my oil levels?
Can I check my tire wear?
Things like that.
SPEAKER_02 (19:55):
Yeah, and can for I plan for them later, right?
So I'm gonna tell you one of thethings that I absolutely ignore
on my own vehicle, and I tell alot of my customers to ignore.
SPEAKER_00 (20:04):
I know.
SPEAKER_02 (20:04):
The tire pressure sensor light.
Okay, I'm out, people.
I can look at my tire and tellif it's low.
I still know how to use a manualair gauge.
And I do not need a tirepressure sensor that's over a
hundred dollars a piece to flashat me.
SPEAKER_00 (20:21):
They add up quick.
Right.
So that's where I think we havethe transparency and certain
things where we will 1000% makesure you and your vehicle are
safe.
We will never be negligent onsafety.
Right.
But if there's certain thingsthat we absolutely know you can
get by with forever, or youknow, however long you need to,
we're really big on that.
SPEAKER_02 (20:43):
Yeah, again, I think you said it right in
prioritizing what it is thatneeds to be done.
Yeah, so I caught somebody onetime.
I think I might have told thisstory, but I was in an emergency
and I needed to go out of town.
I was across town from where wewere, so I went to a they're not
here anymore, so I'm just gonnasay a super lube.
And I needed to get an oilchange, and they sat in the
lobby and they're doing my oilchange, and this young man, I'm
(21:05):
gonna say he was 18 or 19 yearsold, came out, and he had this
very serious look on his face,and he said, Ma'am, ma'am, we
have a very serious problem.
I said, Oh, do we?
Please tell me what our seriousproblem is.
You really need this air filter.
I said, Cool, why don't you showit to me?
This young man proceeded to tellme that it was very difficult to
(21:27):
get out.
I said, Young man, I drive anF-150.
Undo the clip on the airbox andshow me my air filter.
It was new.
Just so we're clear, it had beenreplaced.
SPEAKER_00 (21:38):
He tried to play the wrong girl.
SPEAKER_02 (21:40):
Wrong girl.
No, just say no.
Double check.
SPEAKER_00 (21:45):
Yep.
Say show me.
SPEAKER_02 (21:46):
Yes.
SPEAKER_00 (21:47):
Nothing should be a secret on your car.
It is your car at the end of theday.
SPEAKER_02 (21:52):
Yeah, I mean, listen, it does not offend me.
If you want to see your oldparts, please.
I will be happy to show them toyou and give them to you.
I want customers to recognizethat the technicians and the
shop owners, like Melissa and I,we care about your safety.
You're driving these vehiclesnext to us.
You're driving them next to ourchildren and our grandchildren.
(22:14):
That's what's important to us isthat you're safe, that you're
able to have reliabletransportation.
I don't know where all of ourlisteners or our viewers are,
but in Tallahassee, publictransportation sucks.
SPEAKER_00 (22:25):
Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (22:26):
Yeah, no, it's not convenient to not have your car.
SPEAKER_00 (22:29):
And it's a lot easier to stay up on your
maintenance, your oil changes,just even your routine checkups.
Anytime, and again, maybe it'sjust because I've been raised
around a shop, but anytime I goon a trip, no matter what, I do
a trip check.
So that's where they're eitherdoing an oil change if it's
needed or checking all thebelts, tires, all that kind of
stuff.
Fluids.
Because it's a lot easier toplan for the future, knowing,
(22:51):
oh, hey, you need a CBX in thefuture, whatever, rather than
all of us getting shocked andthen you're stressed, and then
you gotta figure it out.
So it's always better if you canstay ahead of it and be
preventative and plan ratherthan the emergencies and then
yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (23:07):
So I want to talk about the oil changes, right?
Because listen to me, this isthe life of your vehicle, right?
This is the actual heart of yourvehicle.
These vehicles are engineeredfor a specific weight oil,
sometimes a specific brand ofoil.
They've got to be Dexisapproved, like all of these
(23:29):
different things.
Don't go over on your mileagefor an oil change.
I don't care who is telling youa vehicle can go 10,000 miles
for an oil change.
The answer's no.
SPEAKER_00 (23:41):
Can we talk about the what is it, the year?
SPEAKER_02 (23:43):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (23:44):
Which one did we see?
SPEAKER_02 (23:45):
Yeah, I mean, this makes the sense.
Find out what your engineer ofyour vehicle called for the
maintenance to be.
Don't wait for the light to comeon because it is not always
going to come on.
But make sure they're using theright oil.
So we carry over 30 differentweights and types of oil here at
our shop.
SPEAKER_00 (24:04):
Well, and not just the oil, how you mentioned it's
the specific brand or whatnot.
That's really big with powersteering fluid.
SPEAKER_02 (24:10):
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00 (24:11):
We have had that with Hondas and Acura's, where
if you do not use that specificfluid, it's gonna whine and it's
gonna take out your partsprematurely.
SPEAKER_02 (24:20):
Let us help you get educated, let us show you where
to find this information, butknow it.
So to summarize, make anappointment, drop your car off,
let the professionals look atit, diagnose it, call you with
an estimate, and then decidewhat you want to fix, right?
Get it repaired, get a warranty,make sure you know what the
(24:41):
warranty is on your repairs, andgo from there.
So it really should just be thatsimple.
SPEAKER_00 (24:46):
Yeah, I agree.
SPEAKER_02 (24:48):
Yeah.
Crazy symptoms and fixes.
Y'all, it's getting wild in theautomotive world.
All because of these dangmodules.
Modules, computers, engineers.
We're gonna blame the engineers.
SPEAKER_00 (25:02):
Blame somebody.
SPEAKER_02 (25:02):
Yeah.
We had an F-150.
Now, this F-150 was a newerF-150.
SPEAKER_00 (25:07):
I have told this story so many times.
SPEAKER_02 (25:08):
Right.
So this F-150 was at the Forddealership.
They had spent over two and ahalf weeks.
It was there for a no-start.
Vehicle would not start.
They spent over two weekstracing it.
So typically, vehicle is ano-start.
We're gonna check battery, we'regonna check alternator, we're
gonna check fuel pump.
Like there's just certain commonthings you're gonna check,
(25:31):
right?
Two weeks, Ford can't figure itout.
Customer says, uh, take it toBob's, right?
So it comes into us.
We start looking at it, we starttracing everything.
We are pretty familiar with whatthey call a CAN bus system now.
So imagine that as wirelessinternet in an internet network
within your car.
So every single module has totalk to each module.
SPEAKER_00 (25:54):
And it's gotta complete a cycle or something.
SPEAKER_02 (25:56):
Yeah, it's gotta complete a whole circuit going
on here.
Do you want to tell them what itwas?
SPEAKER_00 (26:00):
Oh no, go for it.
SPEAKER_02 (26:01):
So the passenger window regulator module for the
motor would not work.
Passenger's window wasinoperable.
SPEAKER_00 (26:13):
And I think it created an open circuit.
SPEAKER_02 (26:15):
It can prove it absolutely prevented this
vehicle from starting.
SPEAKER_00 (26:18):
That is the wildest one I've heard in so long.
SPEAKER_02 (26:20):
Never in my life.
Y'all, people used to drivearound broken windows all the
time.
Yeah, I mean, you had crankroll-up windows, and now you
can't carry.
You gotta make sure even thepassenger's window is working or
your car was not gonna start.
So yeah, that was wild.
We had to replace that module assoon as we replaced the module,
completed the circuit, vehiclestarted up every time.
SPEAKER_00 (26:38):
Oh, yeah.
This one I wouldn't say iscrazy, but it's very common that
burning smell.
Smells like plastic burning.
There's a lot of debris alwaysin the road.
You'll see the plastic bag justfloating about.
So I always, I don't know if Idon't think I ever had it happen
to me, but I go over it and I'malways looking in my rear view.
Almost like when you drive pasta cop.
(26:58):
Yeah, to see if my car sucked itup and it got attached to my
exhaust and it'll melt to it andit smells horrible.
It takes a while to burn off.
So that's usually the number onething.
SPEAKER_02 (27:10):
Yes, try to avoid the plastic bags in the road.
SPEAKER_00 (27:12):
Debris in general, safely.
Again, if there's cars aroundyou, don't swerve for a plastic
bag.
We did not tell you to do that.
Just be mindful.
SPEAKER_02 (27:22):
Let's talk about some of the things we find in
vehicles when at the shop.
We've had some wild ones, y'all.
SPEAKER_00 (27:28):
Okay.
Listen, if you know your car isgoing into a shop, I'm not
talking about the people thatgot it towed here.
They broke down.
You can't help that.
I feel you.
Yeah.
The ones that have scheduled anappointment, please just take
out your paraphernalia.
I mean, come on.
SPEAKER_02 (27:46):
We are seeing a lot of different things in the
vehicle.
Drugs.
We we've definitely seen drugsin the vehicle.
Our technicians, quite honestly,they need a clean environment to
work in.
So we've had cars with food,we've had cars with books,
roaches, galore.
Not coming in my shop.
SPEAKER_00 (28:04):
Just be mindful.
It's kind of like when you havecompany coming over to your
house.
I think most of us, you know,panic clean.
Do the same with your car, bro.
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (28:12):
I mean, I have tons of mail in my car and water
bottles.
I mean, it's just part of life.
SPEAKER_00 (28:15):
But yeah, just put it in an area that is in the
backseat out of the way,something like that.
Because I just feel bad for thetechs when they get in and
there's old food here, and thenthere's stuff where they need to
be, and they don't want tonecessarily move all your stuff
and get it discombobulated evenmore than it probably already
is.
SPEAKER_02 (28:33):
Right.
I want to talk about theweirdest thing we've ever had in
a car.
SPEAKER_00 (28:36):
Yeah, tell that one.
I think I know what it is.
SPEAKER_02 (28:38):
It was it was really crazy.
So this was in our old location,and we had a vehicle towed in
from Famue University.
So it was over on campus.
And the young lady had a vehicletowed in and said that it
wouldn't start, and she hadnoticed a little bit of residue
around the gas cap area.
(28:58):
So the car got towed in, andbecause it wasn't drivable, the
tow truck actually towed it intothe shop.
And so it was in the building.
Now it was about four daysbefore the mechanic could get to
it because we were looking atother ones.
And I was at my desk, and mytechnician came in with a very
serious look on his face, and hesaid, Misty, we have a bomb in a
car.
Y'all, I thought he was kidding.
(29:20):
I said, Shut the hell up.
We do not have a bomb in a car.
What are you talking about?
A bomb in a car.
He said, Oh no, it's this wholething that's been going around,
how to do this homemade bomb,and basically put it in the gas,
and then stuff disintegrates andand there's a reaction and
things blow up, right?
I'm like, you have got to bekidding me.
This car's been sitting in myshop.
People all over the place.
(29:40):
It was towed here, meaning itwas jostling around.
So immediately I call 911.
Shout out to the Tallacy FireDepartment and the bomb squad
for TPD.
We had to evacuate the building.
Luckily, this particular car hadan access under the rear seat to
get to the actual fuel tank.
So the technician had alreadytaken the rear seat out and was
(30:03):
looking in the actual fuel tankto see this particular bomb.
And so we all evacuated.
Buildings next to us evacuated.
They used the robot from thebomb squad to go up into the
shop and see this bomb and takepictures of it.
Everything was handled,diffused, nobody got hurt.
Did they say why it didn'tactivate?
(30:25):
I mean, we were within hours ofit activating.
They could see the actualprocess that was happening.
And so, y'all, how do you call acustomer and tell them they have
a bomb in their car?
You know what this girl said tome?
SPEAKER_00 (30:40):
She probably knew exactly who it was.
SPEAKER_02 (30:41):
She said, I've had a stalker.
Girl, if you got a stalker, youneed to tell your shop.
SPEAKER_00 (30:48):
That's terrifying.
SPEAKER_02 (30:48):
Oh, it was it was absolutely terrifying.
SPEAKER_00 (30:51):
We've seen less.
SPEAKER_02 (30:52):
It was terrifying.
SPEAKER_00 (30:53):
It's just giving me Gray's anatomy vibes.
Honestly.
SPEAKER_02 (30:55):
Oh my gosh.
It was insane.
SPEAKER_00 (30:57):
It was insane.
Oh, we forgot to say, so I'mtaking it back just a second.
When you take your vehicle to ashop, this is really, really,
really important.
You don't realize how muchinformation lies within the
customer.
You are as pertinent to theserepairs as anything else.
So how you describe what iswrong with your vehicle at the
(31:20):
time really matters.
And I'll I'll get down and dirtywith it.
I will ask you so many specificquestions.
You probably think I'm beingannoying or I'm going into
detective mode, but it onlyhelps your technicians not go
down the wrong rabbit hole.
So it matters.
I'll even ask my customers, I'llsay, sing the song.
What does it say?
Is it like what is it doing?
(31:40):
I need to know.
And we've thought aboutrecording customers.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (31:44):
I mean, when does it happen?
How often does it happen?
I mean, it's probably happenedto some of our listeners and
viewers, but your car acts up,acts up, and then you get it in
the shop and it acts perfectlyfine.
It's best behavior.
Best behavior when it gets here.
So you're not crazy.
You're not crazy.
The car did not fix itself.
It's gonna happen again.
But you know, when does ithappen?
How often does it happen?
What were the conditions whileyou were driving and it
(32:07):
happened?
Where you can get it, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (32:09):
Yeah, incline, bumpy road, turning left, turning
right.
Is your car fully loaded?
Is there someone in thepassenger seat?
Is the passenger the person thatheard the noise?
Just everything you can imagine.
SPEAKER_02 (32:20):
Yeah, it's it is really important.
And that's a great point foragain.
You mentioned that we're ondetective mode, but we are on
detective mode.
SPEAKER_00 (32:28):
Our technicians a lot of things that could be
wrong with your car, especiallywith certain symptoms.
Like we said.
So we can always sift throughthe information you give us and
pick out key information.
We can never create that storyfor you.
So just make sure that you giveevery single possible detail you
can imagine.
SPEAKER_02 (32:46):
And guys, if you've got some that we can't fix, we
are gonna look at you likeyou're crazy.
What?
Those diagnosis that we've hadlately.
The shaking only when it goesover 95 miles an hour.
SPEAKER_00 (33:01):
Are you paying for that speeding ticket when we
have to go test drive it?
Why are you going 95 in thefirst place?
Low down.
SPEAKER_02 (33:08):
Only happens after I've been driving 250 miles
straight.
Really?
No, we really have a customerwho drives that much.
And the vehicle only acts upafter they've been driving 250
miles straight.
SPEAKER_00 (33:22):
I would love to.
Is Destin that far?
Tell me where to go.
I will go, I will spend thenight, I will come back.
I will wind up in your car.
SPEAKER_02 (33:34):
So again, patience.
Patience with us trying torecreate what some of these
issues are.
SPEAKER_00 (33:41):
Yeah, and sometimes we'll admit it too when we've
been stumped.
I don't think there's any faultin that because we also won't be
one that keeps your car for amonth and can't figure it out.
If we can't figure it out, we'veexhausted all possible
resources.
We will humbly tell you, hey, wedid everything we could, take it
to XYZ.
SPEAKER_02 (33:58):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (33:59):
Our next recommended shop.
SPEAKER_02 (34:01):
So we had a woman whose vehicle had an extended
warranty and she had gone to thedealer for all of her services.
This was a Ford, all of herservices, all of her oil
changes.
Every time she went there, yes,Mr.
You know, service rider, pleasejust do everything that's
required of it.
I'll pay whatever it is becauseI want to keep my car in tip top
(34:21):
shape.
And so she did that, and thenher transmission went out on her
vehicle.
And she went back to thedealership and they said, I'm
sorry, it's not going to becovered under your extended
warranty.
You didn't do all yourrecommended services.
She says, What are you talkingabout?
I didn't do all my recommendedservices.
I came here for everything anddid every single thing you
(34:44):
recommended.
Well, you didn't rotate yourtires this one time.
You didn't recommend me rotatingthe tires.
But it was up to her to knowwhat was required of her, and
they would not budge.
They did not cover hertransmission.
She spent thousands andthousands of dollars with us.
Super frustrating.
(35:05):
So they look for reasons to denystuff.
They look for reasons to notcover things.
So don't give them a reason.
SPEAKER_00 (35:10):
Yeah, and I think that's a good segue into
extended warranties.
The one you have seen over andover and over on the
commercials, Car Shield, isbeing sued in almost every
state.
You can't even, we're inTallahassee within 250 miles,
there's not a shop.
So tell me how you're being soldsomething that you can't even
utilize.
SPEAKER_02 (35:30):
Right.
Yeah, I mean, it's listen, wetried to help consumers out who
the idea of an extended warrantyis that once your original
manufacturer's warranty is runout, you pay to have warranty
coverage on your motor andtransmission.
Cars are expensive to fix.
And there are some extendedwarranties I am absolutely
(35:51):
behind.
Route 66.
Route 66, Silver Rock.
But you have these warrantycompanies that your shop can't
get a hold of.
They're on hold for two andthree hours waiting for somebody
to pick up the phone.
They deny everything.
They want to send a used partthat's not covered because of
this.
They'll tell you thateverything's covered.
SPEAKER_00 (36:11):
Let's talk about the one.
So on the it's not just CarShield.
There's many others that willtell the consumer.
SPEAKER_02 (36:17):
Car Shield is the worst.
Come after me.
SPEAKER_00 (36:19):
I know.
Everything's covered.
Everything's covered.
Because that's always what ourcustomers tell us.
And it's so frustrating becauseit's just these salespeople that
don't actually look at yourpolicy.
They sell you whatever.
But my favorite one that gotdenied was an engine that was
needed.
The water pump took out theengine and they said, Well, your
engine's not covered becauseyour water pump took it out.
(36:40):
Y'all, your engine does not justspontaneously combust.
Like unless it's got 300,000miles and it comes apart
internally.
Well, they're not getting thathigh.
But you know what I mean?
That was wild to me.
So they will sell you thingsthat you think you have this
security and you don't.
So you're spending, I don't evenknow how much they are monthly
now.
SPEAKER_02 (36:59):
Yeah, I mean, they can be a couple thousand dollars
to purchase one of these things.
So what I would say is call theshop that you want to work with
and say, hey, what do you thinkof this extended warranty
company?
Is it worth me getting?
I'm gonna tell you it is worth.
Our mom bought an explorer thatwe recommended and we made her
buy an extended warranty becausethey have a timing chain and a
water pump issue.
And that's an expensive bill.
(37:19):
I mean, it's 15 hours of laborand was over three grand.
And that extended warranty paidevery single bit of it except
for her hundred dollardeductible.
So it's a peace of mind to havesome of that, but do not get
taken advantage of by these onesthat are spending millions and
millions and millions of dollarsadvertising.
SPEAKER_00 (37:38):
I firmly believe this is my hot take, that if
this entity is spending buckooson advertising, they're stealing
that money from somewhere elseto be able to afford all of this
advertising.
SPEAKER_02 (37:51):
Yeah, they're customers, they're stealing it
from them.
That's just how often.
Yes, it's true.
So yeah, talk to the shop, askthem what they think.
But I will tell you, repairs arevery expensive now.
And I don't want to scare you.
I want you to be prepared.
SPEAKER_00 (38:05):
Yeah, we want to educate and make you aware and
prevent some of them.
Yeah.
I mean, prevent some of them.
You can prevent a lot of them,truly.
If you stay up on yourmaintenance and you are in the
shop regularly, it's kind oflike dentist, you know, you go
every six months, they catch itearly, it's not as expensive,
it's not as scary.
I think it's the same withmechanics.
(38:26):
I mean, as long as you can plan,everything's a lot more
manageable.
SPEAKER_02 (38:30):
Yeah.
And again, it's all about beingeducated, right?
So you've got questions anddon't feel, listen to me, y'all.
I had a man come in here earlierthis week.
Was I here?
You were not here yet.
I always miss the good ones.
She is the late sister.
I am the early sister, accordingto us.
I had a man walk in here, lookat me, and said, Honey, I need
(38:53):
to talk to somebody who knowsabout cars.
SPEAKER_00 (38:56):
We're in 2025.
May I stress this again?
SPEAKER_02 (39:00):
I seriously?
I looked at him and said, I amthe best you're going to get.
He looked shocked.
This man was not old.
This was not an old school,like, women weren't in this
industry.
SPEAKER_00 (39:16):
That's what I was picturing.
Maybe the picture of like 30s.
SPEAKER_02 (39:20):
I wanted to say, do you even know how to open your
hood?
Because I'm gonna guess youdon't.
So don't judge a book by itscover.
There are a lot of women in thisindustry, and we are rocking it.
We are very detail-oriented.
Yeah, so I mean, again, we'regonna keep bringing you guys
tips and ideas and things thatwe're seeing on a regular basis.
We love this industry and and wehope that you're enjoying
(39:42):
listening to us.
We're gonna bring you somesilly, funny, not automotive
related stories, and then we'regonna bring you some automotive
related stories that hopefullyjust bring you a little bit of
peace.
SPEAKER_00 (39:52):
I think we're gonna get into a little groove because
we do have so much informationthat I think is important that
we want to get out to ourcommunity.
So we're just gonna do kind oflike every other.
We'll do you know, veryinformative, but then also fun,
get to know.
SPEAKER_02 (40:07):
Yeah, get to know us.
We want to get to know you.
So if you, you know, like ourcontent, or if you're listening
on Spotify or um, you know,Apple, or if you're watching us
on YouTube, follow us.
I mean, go to our website, sendus comments and questions or
topics that you'd like us totalk about.
I mean, we're women CEOs, we ownan auto-repair and collision
(40:29):
center, mom, grandma, likecollege graduates.
We've yeah, I mean, we've done alot of stuff.
We've done some really coolstuff.
SPEAKER_00 (40:36):
And we just want to engage with everybody.
We want, yeah, we think everyonecan learn something from
everybody.
And I just think it's fun ifwe're all connected.
SPEAKER_02 (40:44):
Yeah, I mean, that's really what this life is about.
Like, let's enjoy the connectionwith each other, let's share our
knowledge.
I mean, we don't have to gothrough all of this a lot.
SPEAKER_00 (40:52):
Oh, I have to give a shout out.
Maybe there's multiple of you.
If there are, I love it.
But I have to say shout out toJim because he has listened to
every single one of ourepisodes.
SPEAKER_02 (41:01):
Oh, thank you, Jim.
Oh, we do really, reallyappreciate that.
Yeah, it's fun to get to spendtime with my sister doing this
and and also feel like we'regiving back something, you know.
We've been blessed.
So follow us on Instagram andFacebook and YouTube, visit our
website, leave us a review.
That's really important.
(41:22):
Yeah, five stars.
Yes.
And then on our next episode,what can they expect to hear,
Melissa?
Oh, I don't know.
SPEAKER_00 (41:30):
It's still in the works.
So what's funny is I'll I'lljust say a little bit.
We are obviously doing all ourown stuff, as we've said before.
We're learning.
But what I love is if there'sany OGs that stay with us on the
very first episode, you'll getto see how we grow and how much
better we get.
Yeah, I'm excited to see howit's gonna evolve and grow.
SPEAKER_02 (41:51):
So I mean, you're just doing an incredible job.
I've I just get to come and talkand you know, share some
knowledge.
And Melissa's doing all thisediting and she's really doing
an amazing job.
SPEAKER_00 (42:02):
So it's fun.
And all that to say is webatched our first four episodes
because I was panicked.
I was panicked when Misty kepttelling everyone and their
mother that we were starting apodcast.
SPEAKER_02 (42:14):
I'm like it worked.
SPEAKER_00 (42:16):
I'm like, I gotta figure out how to do this.
Yes.
So we had all ours batchedbefore, and now we're getting
more on a kind of bi-weeklybasis.
SPEAKER_02 (42:23):
I'm really thinking that our next one, maybe we're
gonna talk about some fallthings and some activities and
stuff going on.
SPEAKER_00 (42:28):
Maybe in Tallahassee and the surrounding areas.
SPEAKER_02 (42:30):
Yeah, I mean, let's get out, let's mingle and let's
get to meet people and do somefun stuff.
So that'll be a good one.
If you've got events that youwant us to share, send them to
us.
SPEAKER_00 (42:39):
Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02 (42:40):
We'd love to get that information out there.
SPEAKER_00 (42:41):
Because I'd also like to know what's going on
too.
She's way better about that.
She's good at looking onFacebook events.
SPEAKER_02 (42:46):
Yes.
I'd I try to pay up with what'sgoing on.
SPEAKER_00 (42:48):
Yeah.
You're better than me at that.
And you're the elder.
You got the brain.
SPEAKER_02 (42:52):
Thank you guys for joining us.
SPEAKER_00 (42:54):
Yes, we are.
SPEAKER_02 (42:55):
Wait.
SPEAKER_00 (42:57):
Oh.
Did I scare you?
I saw fear in your eyes.
Okay, I'm ready.
No, you go first.
We haven't done this part tentimes.
I'm ready.
SPEAKER_02 (43:12):
Unscripted.
SPEAKER_00 (43:13):
Unedited.
Realize.
SPEAKER_02 (43:17):
Yay!
Here we go again.
Welcome back to Miles BetweenUs.
I'm Misty.
I'm Melissa.
And we are excited to bring youa new episode.
We're on a roll for you guys.
SPEAKER_00 (00:23):
Oh, it's exciting.
SPEAKER_02 (00:24):
I just think there's so much to share and talk about.
SPEAKER_00 (00:28):
Yeah, I think this one's Misty's domain.
I mean, I've learned a lot overthe last 10 years, but this is
kind of your bread and butter.
We're going to get into themechanical stuff today.
SPEAKER_02 (00:38):
Yeah, this is a passion for me.
It's absolutely a big deal.
Everybody deals with it.
There's so much uncertainty andfear and uh quite honestly,
expense involved in maintaininga vehicle that I really want to
kind of go over some lies thatare in the industry and
hopefully give people someinsight into what to look for
(01:00):
and how to best take care of oneof their largest investments.
SPEAKER_00 (01:03):
Yeah, I think for today's episode, I hope everyone
leaves it watching or listening,feeling more empowered, a little
bit entertained, but honestlymore at ease that whenever you
go to get your car fixed,whether it's here where we are
or anywhere, whether it's adealership, a mom and pop, just
wherever it is, you'll have theknowledge to know the right
(01:26):
things to ask, and hopefullyyou'll make better decisions and
feel better about yourinvestment.
SPEAKER_02 (01:31):
Yeah, I mean, it's still to this day, I think
people are running into, we runinto women all the time that
come in and there's some guythat at another shop that
doesn't talk to them or talksdown to them or thinks they
don't know anything.
People just kind of bully them.
And so we're here to just breakthat cycle because this industry
has had a really black eye for along time.
(01:53):
And it doesn't have to.
There's some really great shopsand great people in this
industry, and it's time to callthe ones out that aren't.
SPEAKER_00 (02:00):
Well, and it's funny because we're two female owners
in a male-dominated industry.
unknown (02:05):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (02:06):
And it's so frustrating with the ones that
aren't ethical, they're rude,they just don't make you feel
comfortable.
We have to work that much harderjust to gain the trust.
And I I think it's well earned.
I mean, we have no problemworking really hard to gain
people's trust.
It's just frustrating that theindustry still we're in 2025.
(02:27):
Okay.
And it's still not, I don'tknow.
How would you describe it?
SPEAKER_02 (02:32):
No, it needs to be transparent.
I mean, if I see one more ofthose signs that says my
insurance company doesn't allowmy customers in the shop, but
that's bullshit.
Nobody's insurance has ever saidthat.
SPEAKER_00 (02:44):
I mean, you can't park and sit there all day, but
you can go out there.
SPEAKER_02 (02:48):
So in our shop, we've got a uh glass window that
you can look at and see what'sgoing on.
And I would encourage people toto ask to see their old parts,
or we've got the ability to sendyou pictures and videos of
what's going on with your car asyou build that trusting
relationship.
Now, when you've been with ashop for 30 years, you know that
they're gonna treat you rightand do the right things.
(03:10):
And but as you're building thatrelationship, if you've moved to
a new city or you know, you'reexperiencing maybe your car's
out of warranty for the firsttime ever.
SPEAKER_00 (03:18):
Yeah, because I've never had to deal with it.
I have never ever in my life hadto go to another shop.
And now my Kia Carnival, coupleyears old, has some leaks, it's
about to be out of its warranty,I think, next year.
It's really intimidating becauseagain, I live it, I breathe it,
and then going somewhere else,you don't want to get taken
advantage of, you don't want tosound dumb.
It's just it's a lot.
(03:39):
So we're here to lighten theload for everybody.
SPEAKER_02 (03:42):
I I'm really excited because I I think that everybody
can be empowered with thissituation.
I tell people all the time ifsomebody tells you, you know,
you need a ball joint, insteadof going, well, what the hell's
a ball joint?
Just Google it on your phonewhile they're talking to you.
SPEAKER_00 (03:57):
Yeah.
That's different now.
You could not do that before.
No, I mean, so you can look upanything.
SPEAKER_02 (04:03):
Yeah, you've got a ton of resources available.
And, you know, we tell peopleall the time, if you've got a
question, whether you're at ourshop or someplace else, call us.
I've been doing this for 24years.
I've been around, yeah, it's along time.
I've been around all thesevehicles and the changes and we
do all makes and models.
(04:23):
So that makes us all years.
That makes us really unique.
And I think it makes ourtechnicians all the more
talented.
SPEAKER_00 (04:30):
Well, it's funny what you just said, how you're
like, hey, call, we'll we'lltalk to whoever.
It doesn't matter if you're acustomer.
This just happened two days ago.
I called Buddy Septic.
I call them because it's myfirst Google search, and she's
like, Where are you?
I was like, I'm in Tallahassee.
What do you mean?
She's like, I'm in Virginia.
But then she proceeded to talkto me for like 10 minutes,
educating me because I she wassuper nice.
(04:52):
At no point was she trending offthe she knew she would never
have my business.
But she cared.
Yeah, she wanted to educate you.
Yeah.
So I think it makes adifference.
SPEAKER_02 (05:00):
Again, I've preached this over and over again.
It's just time for people to bekind to each other, share your
knowledge, share the informationthat you've obtained through
your experiences.
And that's why we do this, isreally about educating,
inspiring, you know, and we'veall got horror stories.
So I mean, so let's talk aboutmechanical breakdown.
First thing, lights on the dash.
(05:22):
Now, listen, we own a shop.
We've been doing this a reallylong time.
When that check engine lightstarts flashing at you, no
matter where you are or who youare, your heart starts racing.
It's spooky season, and that isspooky.
I remember a really good friendof mine, Deanna, would call and
uh, is my car gonna blow up?
(05:43):
I mean, she honestly had no ideawhat was going on.
So let's talk about some of thecommon lights on the dash and
why everybody panics.
SPEAKER_00 (05:51):
Yeah.
Rundown of, let's see, you'vegot ABS, which quite literally
is ABS, which is your brakes.
SPEAKER_02 (05:58):
We've got traction, squiggly lines, check engine
light, overheating.
So this one big.
Yeah, this is a really big deal.
And sometimes you've got engineoverheating, sometimes you just
have a temperature gauge.
Like you need to know your car.
SPEAKER_00 (06:12):
Well, and what's cool is you have, I think Google
does it, where you can take apicture and then it tells you
what it is.
But some of the other commonones are your power steering, it
looks like a steering wheel,washer fluid, cruise, security,
the fuel light.
SPEAKER_02 (06:28):
So let's talk about that.
I think most people do knowthis, but if you don't, and you
get into a rental car and you'retrying to figure out which side
of the car to put gas on, ittells you.
SPEAKER_00 (06:38):
Yeah.
It's a tiny little arrow andit'll point on whichever side,
driver's side or passenger side.
I learned that not that longago, truly.
Well, because again, who'stelling you?
Now us.
We're telling you.
We're the ones.
Now you never have to wonderagain.
SPEAKER_02 (06:53):
Let's talk about some of the common symptoms that
we see on vehicles, what we'reseeing more and more, and then
we're gonna walk you through theactual process of getting to a
shop, questions to ask, thingsthat are important.
SPEAKER_00 (07:06):
Yeah, so let's start at when you should or shouldn't
drive your car.
So certain symptoms like that.
SPEAKER_02 (07:11):
Yeah, so if it's overheating, stop.
Do not drive.
SPEAKER_00 (07:17):
You can blow that engine up in a block and you do
not want that bill.
SPEAKER_02 (07:21):
No, I mean, so a lot of people don't understand that
it could be a blown hose, awater pump, a radiator.
I mean, there's a ton of thingsthat go into this, right?
But if you drive such a shortdistance and the coolant isn't
getting to the systems, youactually could cause engine
damage, catastrophic enginedamage.
And how do you feel about whatis it called?
(07:42):
Stop leak.
Oh, please.
Stop leak is meant to stopthings up, including passages
that were engineered to work.
SPEAKER_00 (07:49):
Yes.
What did Dean use that one time?
So this was a mechanic thatworked for us for probably 10
years, and he was on the side ofa highway, knew all the tricks
of the trade.
I want to say he used blackpepper.
Why he had that in his car, I donot know, but I remember that
where I'm like, oh, just incase.
SPEAKER_02 (08:06):
Yeah.
So and again, it's alsodangerous.
Like if you get out and yourcar's overheating and you know,
you see some smoke and steam andyou pop the hood, that that
radiator cap or the coolantreservoir is under pressure.
It's supposed to maintain acertain amount of pressure.
So it's very likely that youwill get burned with a very hot
(08:27):
liquid.
It can blow radiator caps off.
So even the steam itself.
Yeah, it's dangerous.
Just don't.
It's not worth it.
We recommend that every singleperson build a relationship with
your tow company.
Again, I get it.
It's expensive, nobody wants topay that, but you also don't
want to go to the ER.
Yeah, so we're not gonna we'renot gonna drive if it's
overheating.
We are not gonna drive if ourbrake pedal is going to the
(08:49):
floor.
SPEAKER_00 (08:50):
We've had a lot of people drive to our shop saying
the pedal goes all the way down,and I just kind of coasted here.
SPEAKER_02 (08:56):
I'm like wipers that don't work when it's pouring
rain.
I've seen people driving withtheir head out the window.
This is a bad idea.
No power steering.
Like, listen, back in the daybefore all of us, there was cars
without power steering, and youhad a workout in driving that
around.
SPEAKER_00 (09:13):
My escape, my first escape, it went out right there
at the roundabout on gains.
And I remember so vividly onthat first turn, and I'm like,
what is happening?
I'm putting my whole body intoit.
SPEAKER_02 (09:24):
All right, so some common symptoms that we've
probably all experienced (09:27):
the grinding when breaking.
SPEAKER_00 (09:32):
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_02 (09:32):
There could be a squeak.
There used to be a squeak.
It was called a squealindicator.
And you've got some vehicles,Mercedes BMWs, that have a brake
wear indicator, which will tellyou how low the pad is.
But now you hear us say thisover and over again that things
aren't made the way they used tobe, but they're not.
We used to be able to turn yourrotors and get them back into a
(09:56):
spec so that they would breakevenly.
And that's not a thing anymore.
They're kind of disposableparts.
SPEAKER_00 (10:02):
Everything's gone replacement.
SPEAKER_02 (10:04):
Yeah.
Don't let somebody just slapsome pads on your vehicle
because you're gonna get apulsation in the pedal, you're
gonna get a shake in thesteering wheel.
But that grinding or a squealwhen you're braking, take it to
a shop.
SPEAKER_00 (10:15):
So that'll be pads or rotors.
SPEAKER_02 (10:17):
Yes.
AC stops blowing cold.
We're in Florida.
This is a huge problem.
It is 90 degrees and it isOctober or something.
So with an AC system, you've gota compressor, you've got a
condenser, expansion valve, thefans, evaporator core, you've
got blend doors.
I mean, there's a lot that gointo these systems.
When your AC stops blowing cold,it could be multiple things.
(10:41):
We could have a car that'soverheating.
We could have a vehicle that'sgone into lamp mode.
So lamp mode is the vehicletrying to protect its brain and
heart function.
So it starts cutting off thingsthat aren't absolutely
necessary.
SPEAKER_00 (10:55):
Which is good, but bad if you ignore it.
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (10:58):
So yeah, don't drive the car in lump mode.
A lot of times people will comein and say, Well, it's not
blowing at all.
Well, then we're probablylooking at a blower motor or a
resistor.
Now we're getting into modules.
SPEAKER_00 (11:07):
And then depending on where it's blowing out of, if
it's not blowing out of the mainvents, but it's blowing out of
defrost or on your feet, thenthat's one of the blend doors.
SPEAKER_02 (11:16):
Correct.
SPEAKER_00 (11:17):
Which you hope is not the main one, because that's
the labor-intensive one.
SPEAKER_02 (11:21):
Yeah, that usually involves the entire dash coming
out of your car.
Come to a stoplight, you go totake off, and you feel this
absolute thud and lurch.
SPEAKER_00 (11:29):
Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_02 (11:30):
Motor mounts.
SPEAKER_00 (11:31):
Yeah, that one's fun to see.
If it's really, really bad, youcan pop the hood open and
someone will have it where they,you know, safely push the gas,
and you can see the whole thingjust like it's about to jump out
of your car.
Yes, the engine rocks.
SPEAKER_02 (11:45):
Let's talk about the trouble accelerating.
So you're you're driving downthe street and you kind of feel
this hesitation.
We call it a skip most of thetime.
You just feel like it's notcompletely running the way it's
supposed to.
A little bit of shakingsometimes.
Check engine light may or maynot come on.
If you're a Ford, it's not gonnacome on.
But again, you have no ideawhat's going on, right?
(12:07):
The car's just shaking.
It's it's probably a misfire.
We were looking at plugs orcoils or something along those
lines.
It could be an injector, butmore likely plugs and coils.
SPEAKER_00 (12:17):
Yeah.
But then if it gets more likeyour RPMs are revving, it
doesn't feel like it wants togo, it almost feels like it's
more so slipping.
SPEAKER_02 (12:26):
You're looking at potential transmission.
We're giving you some of themost common things that we know
we see.
But I want to talk about thischeck engine light and getting a
car diagnosed.
SPEAKER_00 (12:37):
So scanning it versus diagnosing it.
Yeah, there's a big difference,people.
Scanning it is good for justneeding to know quickly and you
can do your own research if ashop's closed, if you can't get
in right away, something likethat.
SPEAKER_02 (12:50):
Again, we've got auto parts stores that offer
this free engine diagnosticscan.
And so you go there and theyplug in a$200 code reader and
they come back with a code andtell you you need a part.
They're a parts store.
They're gonna tell you you needa part.
That may not be the situation atall.
It is a diagnostic tool for atrained and licensed technician
(13:14):
to start looking in thedirection that he needs to go.
I mean, just because we've got aP0301, which is a cylinder one
misfire, doesn't mean I need aspark plug.
It doesn't mean I need a coil.
I need to look at the wiring.
I mean, I need to look ateverything.
SPEAKER_00 (13:31):
I want to say the P0420s are a big one.
Isn't that like the oxygensensor and the evap, yeah.
Because that can be so manydifferent things.
SPEAKER_02 (13:38):
Yeah.
So again, it is well, can't youjust hook it on the computer and
tell me what's wrong with it?
No.
No, we can't.
We could lie to you.
So there's a difference betweena code reader and a scanner.
So we can watch live data.
I can turn your car on and offwith my computer.
I can turn on differentcylinders, I can reprogram
stuff, I can roll windows up anddown, I can watch injectors.
(14:01):
I mean, uh there's so much datainvolved in this process.
SPEAKER_00 (14:05):
And we don't believe in just throwing parts at it.
Absolutely not.
Nobody wants to pay forsomething they don't need.
SPEAKER_02 (14:11):
It's already expensive.
Right.
Yeah.
I mean, we we get it, guys.
Like, I was shocked today when Idid a battery.
I mean, I I'm not that old.
And batteries honestly were$69,$79, and$89 for the best.
And the average battery now isover$300.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (14:29):
On the cheap end.
SPEAKER_02 (14:30):
And then you got the AGMs and whatnot.
Yeah.
And again, that has to do withelectronics and computers.
I mean, we're putting computersin these cars.
We're putting a lot of them.
So let's go back to the processof getting your vehicle
diagnosed and fixed.
SPEAKER_00 (14:42):
So yeah, now we're going to take you through, walk
you through the process.
You have a symptom, you callyour shop of choice.
This is essentially what you canexpect.
SPEAKER_02 (14:50):
So we're going to talk about the process of
getting the vehicle looked atand diagnosed, but I want to
talk about the process ofpicking a shop.
So a lot of you are familiarwith the dealer.
The dealer is basically themanufacturer of your car.
And they're supposed to have thelatest and greatest technology
and the information.
And that is not always the case.
SPEAKER_00 (15:10):
I think it's associated with people's minds
that they have to know.
SPEAKER_02 (15:14):
Yes.
But they don't.
SPEAKER_00 (15:16):
They are a business that hires technicians just like
any other shop.
Yeah.
They may have some additionalresources, but at the end of the
day.
SPEAKER_02 (15:24):
You're going to pay more going to a dealership.
I mean, you just are.
You're paying for the city.
SPEAKER_00 (15:28):
The rates are usually higher alone.
SPEAKER_02 (15:30):
Yeah, you're paying for the big building.
They are notorious for sellingyou stuff you don't need.
SPEAKER_00 (15:34):
Yeah, I think most are still on commission.
SPEAKER_02 (15:36):
I don't know if all of them are, but yeah, so that's
something that that our ourlisteners and our viewers need
to know.
You need to ask your shop, is myservice rider?
So that's the person who's goingto be calling you and telling
you what's wrong with your carand giving you an estimate.
Is my service rider oncommission?
(15:56):
Because if they're oncommission, they want to sell
you more stuff.
SPEAKER_00 (16:01):
Yeah, they're incentivized to make more money.
Correct.
SPEAKER_02 (16:04):
And and your technicians are the same way.
So are your technicians oncommission?
Or is it based on how manythings they sell you?
We've seen shops that create aquota of we need to sell 50
batteries this week.
SPEAKER_00 (16:16):
Yeah, it's probably more like your super lubes and
smells.
SPEAKER_02 (16:18):
Right.
How do you?
I mean, that makes no sense,right?
So they get fixated onsomething.
We recommend, and there are somegood dealers, it is all about
kind of word of mouth, honestly.
I think you need to look at arethey licensed?
Very important.
Are they insured?
If something happens while yourvehicle's there, is it going to
(16:39):
be covered by their insurance?
How well equipped is the shop?
Do they have the rightequipment, the right tools?
Are they trained?
And how do they treat you?
You know, ask relatives, askyour neighbors.
I'm gonna tell you, I'm not ahuge fan of Google reviews.
SPEAKER_00 (16:55):
You don't have to have been a customer to leave a
Google review.
SPEAKER_02 (16:58):
No, I mean it's insane.
Anybody can go to anything.
SPEAKER_00 (17:02):
Verified reviews.
Like there's places called umSure Critic.
Right.
It's a big one.
They're all verified customers.
Yeah.
I mean, before you bring yourcar, if there's if it's not an
emergency and you need to shopASAP, I mean, go see it in
person.
Go see is it clean?
Are they nice?
SPEAKER_02 (17:17):
Yeah, we we recommend that to parents
bringing their kids up tocollege here is don't wait until
your kid calls you and you're athousand miles away and they're
broke down.
Build that relationship whileyou come up and bring them to
school.
And then let's talk about theprocess.
So typically you're gonna calland you're gonna make an
appointment.
That's really important, and Iwant to stress that to our
listeners and our viewers.
(17:38):
Auto repair is an extremelycomplicated process.
It takes highly skilled people.
It is not a drive-thru.
You need to be prepared to makean appointment.
You would make an appointmentwith your doctor, your dentist,
your lawyer, your plumber, yourAC guy.
(18:01):
This is no different.
And drop your vehicle offbecause a diagnosis now is not
five or ten minutes.
They're they're so complicated,so many computers.
SPEAKER_00 (18:12):
And you want the technicians to be thorough.
You don't want them to rushthrough it.
And then one, they couldmisdiagnose because they could
get sent down the wrong rabbithole.
They're like, oh, I only have 20minutes to do this.
Yeah.
You want them to be thorough andto really figure out what's
wrong with your car.
SPEAKER_02 (18:25):
Well, and that's something cool about us.
And I want to encourage moreshops to do this.
So people thought we were crazywhen we did it, and some days we
still think we're crazy that wedid it.
But our technicians are all onsalary.
So they are not trying to beat aclock.
They're not, oh, this calls for1.2 hours to replace a starter.
They're gonna do the job rightand thoroughly and take their
(18:48):
time.
They're gonna take their timediagnosing it.
Where you've got somebody who'son commission and they're only
paid a half hour to diagnoseyour car, they're not spending
any extra time.
SPEAKER_00 (18:57):
Yeah, it's worth a thought because if they're bound
by that clock, the stress alsodictates the kind of work they
do.
SPEAKER_02 (19:04):
So be patient, right?
No shop wants your car justsitting there.
I assure you.
No money not fixing your car.
So let the shop look at it,diagnose it, let the shop call
you, give you your diagnosis andyour estimate, see if they can
send you pictures of whatthey're saying is wrong.
You know, I think that's a greatidea.
(19:25):
We text customers a lot.
And then ask the question isthis absolutely necessary?
SPEAKER_00 (19:31):
Yeah, if there's multiple things you're given and
quoted, ask to have it put inpriority because right now I
think most of us can't afford a$3,000 bill.
Correct.
And if you have older vehicles,you very well may have
maintenance things that just addup in cost.
So if you can say, hey, what doI absolutely have to do versus
what can I watch?
(19:51):
Can I check my oil levels?
Can I check my tire wear?
Things like that.
SPEAKER_02 (19:55):
Yeah, and can for I plan for them later, right?
So I'm gonna tell you one of thethings that I absolutely ignore
on my own vehicle, and I tell alot of my customers to ignore.
SPEAKER_00 (20:04):
I know.
SPEAKER_02 (20:04):
The tire pressure sensor light.
Okay, I'm out, people.
I can look at my tire and tellif it's low.
I still know how to use a manualair gauge.
And I do not need a tirepressure sensor that's over a
hundred dollars a piece to flashat me.
SPEAKER_00 (20:21):
They add up quick.
Right.
So that's where I think we havethe transparency and certain
things where we will 1000% makesure you and your vehicle are
safe.
We will never be negligent onsafety.
Right.
But if there's certain thingsthat we absolutely know you can
get by with forever, or youknow, however long you need to,
we're really big on that.
SPEAKER_02 (20:43):
Yeah, again, I think you said it right in
prioritizing what it is thatneeds to be done.
Yeah, so I caught somebody onetime.
I think I might have told thisstory, but I was in an emergency
and I needed to go out of town.
I was across town from where wewere, so I went to a they're not
here anymore, so I'm just gonnasay a super lube.
And I needed to get an oilchange, and they sat in the
lobby and they're doing my oilchange, and this young man, I'm
(21:05):
gonna say he was 18 or 19 yearsold, came out, and he had this
very serious look on his face,and he said, Ma'am, ma'am, we
have a very serious problem.
I said, Oh, do we?
Please tell me what our seriousproblem is.
You really need this air filter.
I said, Cool, why don't you showit to me?
This young man proceeded to tellme that it was very difficult to
(21:27):
get out.
I said, Young man, I drive anF-150.
Undo the clip on the airbox andshow me my air filter.
It was new.
Just so we're clear, it had beenreplaced.
SPEAKER_00 (21:38):
He tried to play the wrong girl.
SPEAKER_02 (21:40):
Wrong girl.
No, just say no.
Double check.
SPEAKER_00 (21:45):
Yep.
Say show me.
SPEAKER_02 (21:46):
Yes.
SPEAKER_00 (21:47):
Nothing should be a secret on your car.
It is your car at the end of theday.
SPEAKER_02 (21:52):
Yeah, I mean, listen, it does not offend me.
If you want to see your oldparts, please.
I will be happy to show them toyou and give them to you.
I want customers to recognizethat the technicians and the
shop owners, like Melissa and I,we care about your safety.
You're driving these vehiclesnext to us.
You're driving them next to ourchildren and our grandchildren.
(22:14):
That's what's important to us isthat you're safe, that you're
able to have reliabletransportation.
I don't know where all of ourlisteners or our viewers are,
but in Tallahassee, publictransportation sucks.
SPEAKER_00 (22:25):
Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (22:26):
Yeah, no, it's not convenient to not have your car.
SPEAKER_00 (22:29):
And it's a lot easier to stay up on your
maintenance, your oil changes,just even your routine checkups.
Anytime, and again, maybe it'sjust because I've been raised
around a shop, but anytime I goon a trip, no matter what, I do
a trip check.
So that's where they're eitherdoing an oil change if it's
needed or checking all thebelts, tires, all that kind of
stuff.
Fluids.
Because it's a lot easier toplan for the future, knowing,
(22:51):
oh, hey, you need a CBX in thefuture, whatever, rather than
all of us getting shocked andthen you're stressed, and then
you gotta figure it out.
So it's always better if you canstay ahead of it and be
preventative and plan ratherthan the emergencies and then
yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (23:07):
So I want to talk about the oil changes, right?
Because listen to me, this isthe life of your vehicle, right?
This is the actual heart of yourvehicle.
These vehicles are engineeredfor a specific weight oil,
sometimes a specific brand ofoil.
They've got to be Dexisapproved, like all of these
(23:29):
different things.
Don't go over on your mileagefor an oil change.
I don't care who is telling youa vehicle can go 10,000 miles
for an oil change.
The answer's no.
SPEAKER_00 (23:41):
Can we talk about the what is it, the year?
SPEAKER_02 (23:43):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (23:44):
Which one did we see?
SPEAKER_02 (23:45):
Yeah, I mean, this makes the sense.
Find out what your engineer ofyour vehicle called for the
maintenance to be.
Don't wait for the light to comeon because it is not always
going to come on.
But make sure they're using theright oil.
So we carry over 30 differentweights and types of oil here at
our shop.
SPEAKER_00 (24:04):
Well, and not just the oil, how you mentioned it's
the specific brand or whatnot.
That's really big with powersteering fluid.
SPEAKER_02 (24:10):
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00 (24:11):
We have had that with Hondas and Acura's, where
if you do not use that specificfluid, it's gonna whine and it's
gonna take out your partsprematurely.
SPEAKER_02 (24:20):
Let us help you get educated, let us show you where
to find this information, butknow it.
So to summarize, make anappointment, drop your car off,
let the professionals look atit, diagnose it, call you with
an estimate, and then decidewhat you want to fix, right?
Get it repaired, get a warranty,make sure you know what the
(24:41):
warranty is on your repairs, andgo from there.
So it really should just be thatsimple.
SPEAKER_00 (24:46):
Yeah, I agree.
SPEAKER_02 (24:48):
Yeah.
Crazy symptoms and fixes.
Y'all, it's getting wild in theautomotive world.
All because of these dangmodules.
Modules, computers, engineers.
We're gonna blame the engineers.
SPEAKER_00 (25:02):
Blame somebody.
SPEAKER_02 (25:02):
Yeah.
We had an F-150.
Now, this F-150 was a newerF-150.
SPEAKER_00 (25:07):
I have told this story so many times.
SPEAKER_02 (25:08):
Right.
So this F-150 was at the Forddealership.
They had spent over two and ahalf weeks.
It was there for a no-start.
Vehicle would not start.
They spent over two weekstracing it.
So typically, vehicle is ano-start.
We're gonna check battery, we'regonna check alternator, we're
gonna check fuel pump.
Like there's just certain commonthings you're gonna check,
(25:31):
right?
Two weeks, Ford can't figure itout.
Customer says, uh, take it toBob's, right?
So it comes into us.
We start looking at it, we starttracing everything.
We are pretty familiar with whatthey call a CAN bus system now.
So imagine that as wirelessinternet in an internet network
within your car.
So every single module has totalk to each module.
SPEAKER_00 (25:54):
And it's gotta complete a cycle or something.
SPEAKER_02 (25:56):
Yeah, it's gotta complete a whole circuit going
on here.
Do you want to tell them what itwas?
SPEAKER_00 (26:00):
Oh no, go for it.
SPEAKER_02 (26:01):
So the passenger window regulator module for the
motor would not work.
Passenger's window wasinoperable.
SPEAKER_00 (26:13):
And I think it created an open circuit.
SPEAKER_02 (26:15):
It can prove it absolutely prevented this
vehicle from starting.
SPEAKER_00 (26:18):
That is the wildest one I've heard in so long.
SPEAKER_02 (26:20):
Never in my life.
Y'all, people used to drivearound broken windows all the
time.
Yeah, I mean, you had crankroll-up windows, and now you
can't carry.
You gotta make sure even thepassenger's window is working or
your car was not gonna start.
So yeah, that was wild.
We had to replace that module assoon as we replaced the module,
completed the circuit, vehiclestarted up every time.
SPEAKER_00 (26:38):
Oh, yeah.
This one I wouldn't say iscrazy, but it's very common that
burning smell.
Smells like plastic burning.
There's a lot of debris alwaysin the road.
You'll see the plastic bag justfloating about.
So I always, I don't know if Idon't think I ever had it happen
to me, but I go over it and I'malways looking in my rear view.
Almost like when you drive pasta cop.
(26:58):
Yeah, to see if my car sucked itup and it got attached to my
exhaust and it'll melt to it andit smells horrible.
It takes a while to burn off.
So that's usually the number onething.
SPEAKER_02 (27:10):
Yes, try to avoid the plastic bags in the road.
SPEAKER_00 (27:12):
Debris in general, safely.
Again, if there's cars aroundyou, don't swerve for a plastic
bag.
We did not tell you to do that.
Just be mindful.
SPEAKER_02 (27:22):
Let's talk about some of the things we find in
vehicles when at the shop.
We've had some wild ones, y'all.
SPEAKER_00 (27:28):
Okay.
Listen, if you know your car isgoing into a shop, I'm not
talking about the people thatgot it towed here.
They broke down.
You can't help that.
I feel you.
Yeah.
The ones that have scheduled anappointment, please just take
out your paraphernalia.
I mean, come on.
SPEAKER_02 (27:46):
We are seeing a lot of different things in the
vehicle.
Drugs.
We we've definitely seen drugsin the vehicle.
Our technicians, quite honestly,they need a clean environment to
work in.
So we've had cars with food,we've had cars with books,
roaches, galore.
Not coming in my shop.
SPEAKER_00 (28:04):
Just be mindful.
It's kind of like when you havecompany coming over to your
house.
I think most of us, you know,panic clean.
Do the same with your car, bro.
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (28:12):
I mean, I have tons of mail in my car and water
bottles.
I mean, it's just part of life.
SPEAKER_00 (28:15):
But yeah, just put it in an area that is in the
backseat out of the way,something like that.
Because I just feel bad for thetechs when they get in and
there's old food here, and thenthere's stuff where they need to
be, and they don't want tonecessarily move all your stuff
and get it discombobulated evenmore than it probably already
is.
SPEAKER_02 (28:33):
Right.
I want to talk about theweirdest thing we've ever had in
a car.
SPEAKER_00 (28:36):
Yeah, tell that one.
I think I know what it is.
SPEAKER_02 (28:38):
It was it was really crazy.
So this was in our old location,and we had a vehicle towed in
from Famue University.
So it was over on campus.
And the young lady had a vehicletowed in and said that it
wouldn't start, and she hadnoticed a little bit of residue
around the gas cap area.
(28:58):
So the car got towed in, andbecause it wasn't drivable, the
tow truck actually towed it intothe shop.
And so it was in the building.
Now it was about four daysbefore the mechanic could get to
it because we were looking atother ones.
And I was at my desk, and mytechnician came in with a very
serious look on his face, and hesaid, Misty, we have a bomb in a
car.
Y'all, I thought he was kidding.
(29:20):
I said, Shut the hell up.
We do not have a bomb in a car.
What are you talking about?
A bomb in a car.
He said, Oh no, it's this wholething that's been going around,
how to do this homemade bomb,and basically put it in the gas,
and then stuff disintegrates andand there's a reaction and
things blow up, right?
I'm like, you have got to bekidding me.
This car's been sitting in myshop.
People all over the place.
(29:40):
It was towed here, meaning itwas jostling around.
So immediately I call 911.
Shout out to the Tallacy FireDepartment and the bomb squad
for TPD.
We had to evacuate the building.
Luckily, this particular car hadan access under the rear seat to
get to the actual fuel tank.
So the technician had alreadytaken the rear seat out and was
(30:03):
looking in the actual fuel tankto see this particular bomb.
And so we all evacuated.
Buildings next to us evacuated.
They used the robot from thebomb squad to go up into the
shop and see this bomb and takepictures of it.
Everything was handled,diffused, nobody got hurt.
Did they say why it didn'tactivate?
(30:25):
I mean, we were within hours ofit activating.
They could see the actualprocess that was happening.
And so, y'all, how do you call acustomer and tell them they have
a bomb in their car?
You know what this girl said tome?
SPEAKER_00 (30:40):
She probably knew exactly who it was.
SPEAKER_02 (30:41):
She said, I've had a stalker.
Girl, if you got a stalker, youneed to tell your shop.
SPEAKER_00 (30:48):
That's terrifying.
SPEAKER_02 (30:48):
Oh, it was it was absolutely terrifying.
SPEAKER_00 (30:51):
We've seen less.
SPEAKER_02 (30:52):
It was terrifying.
SPEAKER_00 (30:53):
It's just giving me Gray's anatomy vibes.
Honestly.
SPEAKER_02 (30:55):
Oh my gosh.
It was insane.
SPEAKER_00 (30:57):
It was insane.
Oh, we forgot to say, so I'mtaking it back just a second.
When you take your vehicle to ashop, this is really, really,
really important.
You don't realize how muchinformation lies within the
customer.
You are as pertinent to theserepairs as anything else.
So how you describe what iswrong with your vehicle at the
(31:20):
time really matters.
And I'll I'll get down and dirtywith it.
I will ask you so many specificquestions.
You probably think I'm beingannoying or I'm going into
detective mode, but it onlyhelps your technicians not go
down the wrong rabbit hole.
So it matters.
I'll even ask my customers, I'llsay, sing the song.
What does it say?
Is it like what is it doing?
(31:40):
I need to know.
And we've thought aboutrecording customers.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (31:44):
I mean, when does it happen?
How often does it happen?
I mean, it's probably happenedto some of our listeners and
viewers, but your car acts up,acts up, and then you get it in
the shop and it acts perfectlyfine.
It's best behavior.
Best behavior when it gets here.
So you're not crazy.
You're not crazy.
The car did not fix itself.
It's gonna happen again.
But you know, when does ithappen?
How often does it happen?
What were the conditions whileyou were driving and it
(32:07):
happened?
Where you can get it, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (32:09):
Yeah, incline, bumpy road, turning left, turning
right.
Is your car fully loaded?
Is there someone in thepassenger seat?
Is the passenger the person thatheard the noise?
Just everything you can imagine.
SPEAKER_02 (32:20):
Yeah, it's it is really important.
And that's a great point foragain.
You mentioned that we're ondetective mode, but we are on
detective mode.
SPEAKER_00 (32:28):
Our technicians a lot of things that could be
wrong with your car, especiallywith certain symptoms.
Like we said.
So we can always sift throughthe information you give us and
pick out key information.
We can never create that storyfor you.
So just make sure that you giveevery single possible detail you
can imagine.
SPEAKER_02 (32:46):
And guys, if you've got some that we can't fix, we
are gonna look at you likeyou're crazy.
What?
Those diagnosis that we've hadlately.
The shaking only when it goesover 95 miles an hour.
SPEAKER_00 (33:01):
Are you paying for that speeding ticket when we
have to go test drive it?
Why are you going 95 in thefirst place?
Low down.
SPEAKER_02 (33:08):
Only happens after I've been driving 250 miles
straight.
Really?
No, we really have a customerwho drives that much.
And the vehicle only acts upafter they've been driving 250
miles straight.
SPEAKER_00 (33:22):
I would love to.
Is Destin that far?
Tell me where to go.
I will go, I will spend thenight, I will come back.
I will wind up in your car.
SPEAKER_02 (33:34):
So again, patience.
Patience with us trying torecreate what some of these
issues are.
SPEAKER_00 (33:41):
Yeah, and sometimes we'll admit it too when we've
been stumped.
I don't think there's any faultin that because we also won't be
one that keeps your car for amonth and can't figure it out.
If we can't figure it out, we'veexhausted all possible
resources.
We will humbly tell you, hey, wedid everything we could, take it
to XYZ.
SPEAKER_02 (33:58):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (33:59):
Our next recommended shop.
SPEAKER_02 (34:01):
So we had a woman whose vehicle had an extended
warranty and she had gone to thedealer for all of her services.
This was a Ford, all of herservices, all of her oil
changes.
Every time she went there, yes,Mr.
You know, service rider, pleasejust do everything that's
required of it.
I'll pay whatever it is becauseI want to keep my car in tip top
(34:21):
shape.
And so she did that, and thenher transmission went out on her
vehicle.
And she went back to thedealership and they said, I'm
sorry, it's not going to becovered under your extended
warranty.
You didn't do all yourrecommended services.
She says, What are you talkingabout?
I didn't do all my recommendedservices.
I came here for everything anddid every single thing you
(34:44):
recommended.
Well, you didn't rotate yourtires this one time.
You didn't recommend me rotatingthe tires.
But it was up to her to knowwhat was required of her, and
they would not budge.
They did not cover hertransmission.
She spent thousands andthousands of dollars with us.
Super frustrating.
(35:05):
So they look for reasons to denystuff.
They look for reasons to notcover things.
So don't give them a reason.
SPEAKER_00 (35:10):
Yeah, and I think that's a good segue into
extended warranties.
The one you have seen over andover and over on the
commercials, Car Shield, isbeing sued in almost every
state.
You can't even, we're inTallahassee within 250 miles,
there's not a shop.
So tell me how you're being soldsomething that you can't even
utilize.
SPEAKER_02 (35:30):
Right.
Yeah, I mean, it's listen, wetried to help consumers out who
the idea of an extended warrantyis that once your original
manufacturer's warranty is runout, you pay to have warranty
coverage on your motor andtransmission.
Cars are expensive to fix.
And there are some extendedwarranties I am absolutely
(35:51):
behind.
Route 66.
Route 66, Silver Rock.
But you have these warrantycompanies that your shop can't
get a hold of.
They're on hold for two andthree hours waiting for somebody
to pick up the phone.
They deny everything.
They want to send a used partthat's not covered because of
this.
They'll tell you thateverything's covered.
SPEAKER_00 (36:11):
Let's talk about the one.
So on the it's not just CarShield.
There's many others that willtell the consumer.
SPEAKER_02 (36:17):
Car Shield is the worst.
Come after me.
SPEAKER_00 (36:19):
I know.
Everything's covered.
Everything's covered.
Because that's always what ourcustomers tell us.
And it's so frustrating becauseit's just these salespeople that
don't actually look at yourpolicy.
They sell you whatever.
But my favorite one that gotdenied was an engine that was
needed.
The water pump took out theengine and they said, Well, your
engine's not covered becauseyour water pump took it out.
(36:40):
Y'all, your engine does not justspontaneously combust.
Like unless it's got 300,000miles and it comes apart
internally.
Well, they're not getting thathigh.
But you know what I mean?
That was wild to me.
So they will sell you thingsthat you think you have this
security and you don't.
So you're spending, I don't evenknow how much they are monthly
now.
SPEAKER_02 (36:59):
Yeah, I mean, they can be a couple thousand dollars
to purchase one of these things.
So what I would say is call theshop that you want to work with
and say, hey, what do you thinkof this extended warranty
company?
Is it worth me getting?
I'm gonna tell you it is worth.
Our mom bought an explorer thatwe recommended and we made her
buy an extended warranty becausethey have a timing chain and a
water pump issue.
And that's an expensive bill.
(37:19):
I mean, it's 15 hours of laborand was over three grand.
And that extended warranty paidevery single bit of it except
for her hundred dollardeductible.
So it's a peace of mind to havesome of that, but do not get
taken advantage of by these onesthat are spending millions and
millions and millions of dollarsadvertising.
SPEAKER_00 (37:38):
I firmly believe this is my hot take, that if
this entity is spending buckooson advertising, they're stealing
that money from somewhere elseto be able to afford all of this
advertising.
SPEAKER_02 (37:51):
Yeah, they're customers, they're stealing it
from them.
That's just how often.
Yes, it's true.
So yeah, talk to the shop, askthem what they think.
But I will tell you, repairs arevery expensive now.
And I don't want to scare you.
I want you to be prepared.
SPEAKER_00 (38:05):
Yeah, we want to educate and make you aware and
prevent some of them.
Yeah.
I mean, prevent some of them.
You can prevent a lot of them,truly.
If you stay up on yourmaintenance and you are in the
shop regularly, it's kind oflike dentist, you know, you go
every six months, they catch itearly, it's not as expensive,
it's not as scary.
I think it's the same withmechanics.
(38:26):
I mean, as long as you can plan,everything's a lot more
manageable.
SPEAKER_02 (38:30):
Yeah.
And again, it's all about beingeducated, right?
So you've got questions anddon't feel, listen to me, y'all.
I had a man come in here earlierthis week.
Was I here?
You were not here yet.
I always miss the good ones.
She is the late sister.
I am the early sister, accordingto us.
I had a man walk in here, lookat me, and said, Honey, I need
(38:53):
to talk to somebody who knowsabout cars.
SPEAKER_00 (38:56):
We're in 2025.
May I stress this again?
SPEAKER_02 (39:00):
I seriously?
I looked at him and said, I amthe best you're going to get.
He looked shocked.
This man was not old.
This was not an old school,like, women weren't in this
industry.
SPEAKER_00 (39:16):
That's what I was picturing.
Maybe the picture of like 30s.
SPEAKER_02 (39:20):
I wanted to say, do you even know how to open your
hood?
Because I'm gonna guess youdon't.
So don't judge a book by itscover.
There are a lot of women in thisindustry, and we are rocking it.
We are very detail-oriented.
Yeah, so I mean, again, we'regonna keep bringing you guys
tips and ideas and things thatwe're seeing on a regular basis.
We love this industry and and wehope that you're enjoying
(39:42):
listening to us.
We're gonna bring you somesilly, funny, not automotive
related stories, and then we'regonna bring you some automotive
related stories that hopefullyjust bring you a little bit of
peace.
SPEAKER_00 (39:52):
I think we're gonna get into a little groove because
we do have so much informationthat I think is important that
we want to get out to ourcommunity.
So we're just gonna do kind oflike every other.
We'll do you know, veryinformative, but then also fun,
get to know.
SPEAKER_02 (40:07):
Yeah, get to know us.
We want to get to know you.
So if you, you know, like ourcontent, or if you're listening
on Spotify or um, you know,Apple, or if you're watching us
on YouTube, follow us.
I mean, go to our website, sendus comments and questions or
topics that you'd like us totalk about.
I mean, we're women CEOs, we ownan auto-repair and collision
(40:29):
center, mom, grandma, likecollege graduates.
We've yeah, I mean, we've done alot of stuff.
We've done some really coolstuff.
SPEAKER_00 (40:36):
And we just want to engage with everybody.
We want, yeah, we think everyonecan learn something from
everybody.
And I just think it's fun ifwe're all connected.
SPEAKER_02 (40:44):
Yeah, I mean, that's really what this life is about.
Like, let's enjoy the connectionwith each other, let's share our
knowledge.
I mean, we don't have to gothrough all of this a lot.
SPEAKER_00 (40:52):
Oh, I have to give a shout out.
Maybe there's multiple of you.
If there are, I love it.
But I have to say shout out toJim because he has listened to
every single one of ourepisodes.
SPEAKER_02 (41:01):
Oh, thank you, Jim.
Oh, we do really, reallyappreciate that.
Yeah, it's fun to get to spendtime with my sister doing this
and and also feel like we'regiving back something, you know.
We've been blessed.
So follow us on Instagram andFacebook and YouTube, visit our
website, leave us a review.
That's really important.
(41:22):
Yeah, five stars.
Yes.
And then on our next episode,what can they expect to hear,
Melissa?
Oh, I don't know.
SPEAKER_00 (41:30):
It's still in the works.
So what's funny is I'll I'lljust say a little bit.
We are obviously doing all ourown stuff, as we've said before.
We're learning.
But what I love is if there'sany OGs that stay with us on the
very first episode, you'll getto see how we grow and how much
better we get.
Yeah, I'm excited to see howit's gonna evolve and grow.
SPEAKER_02 (41:51):
So I mean, you're just doing an incredible job.
I've I just get to come and talkand you know, share some
knowledge.
And Melissa's doing all thisediting and she's really doing
an amazing job.
SPEAKER_00 (42:02):
So it's fun.
And all that to say is webatched our first four episodes
because I was panicked.
I was panicked when Misty kepttelling everyone and their
mother that we were starting apodcast.
SPEAKER_02 (42:14):
I'm like it worked.
SPEAKER_00 (42:16):
I'm like, I gotta figure out how to do this.
Yes.
So we had all ours batchedbefore, and now we're getting
more on a kind of bi-weeklybasis.
SPEAKER_02 (42:23):
I'm really thinking that our next one, maybe we're
gonna talk about some fallthings and some activities and
stuff going on.
SPEAKER_00 (42:28):
Maybe in Tallahassee and the surrounding areas.
SPEAKER_02 (42:30):
Yeah, I mean, let's get out, let's mingle and let's
get to meet people and do somefun stuff.
So that'll be a good one.
If you've got events that youwant us to share, send them to
us.
SPEAKER_00 (42:39):
Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02 (42:40):
We'd love to get that information out there.
SPEAKER_00 (42:41):
Because I'd also like to know what's going on
too.
She's way better about that.
She's good at looking onFacebook events.
SPEAKER_02 (42:46):
Yes.
I'd I try to pay up with what'sgoing on.
SPEAKER_00 (42:48):
Yeah.
You're better than me at that.
And you're the elder.
You got the brain.
SPEAKER_02 (42:52):
Thank you guys for joining us.
SPEAKER_00 (42:54):
Yes, we are.
SPEAKER_02 (42:55):
Wait.
SPEAKER_00 (42:57):
Oh.
Did I scare you?
I saw fear in your eyes.
Okay, I'm ready.
No, you go first.
We haven't done this part tentimes.
I'm ready.
SPEAKER_02 (43:12):
Unscripted.
SPEAKER_00 (43:13):
Unedited.
Realize.
SPEAKER_02 (43:17):
Yay!
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.