More Plain Old Ignorance.

[Derision]

This isn't a G-Body tale, specifically, but it was just something so amazingly... I don't even have words to describe it.

A guy I work with came in before. He was late, and he said that he was late because he didn't have a car. I asked him what had happened to his, a Ford Explorer that couldn't have been more than five years old.

"I think someone put something in the gas tank," he replied.

Huh? I asked him to explain this, and he gave me a very detailed conspiracy theory about some girl he had been seeing and then another girl finding out, and bla bla bla... in short, he believed that someone had deliberately sabotaged his car by putting something in the gas tank.

"Well what," I asked after listening to his complex, 20-minute theory, "exactly what happened to the car?"

"Well, my mechanic says that I probably need a new engine."

"Okay," I continued. "But what symptoms did it display while you were driving it?"

"Oh," he said, "it just seized up on me."

I asked the first question that came to mind. "You had oil in there, right?"

"Well," he replied, "the OIL light was on, but that isn't enough to just seize it up while I'm driving it."

Hrmm. "How long was it on before the engine died?" I asked.

"Oh, about three weeks."

Hand. Forehead.

"You were running the thing with the OIL light on for three weeks," I confirmed.

"Yeah, but... even with no oil in there, that isn't enough to just seize the engine up."

"Um... yeah, it kind of is..."

"But no, you don't understand. I was driving it. You can't just seize up an engine while it's being driven!"

There was no convincing him. Somehow, he believed that someone placed water into his gas tank which caused his engine to suddenly seize up. Which had nothing to do with the fact that he'd been running it without oil for about a month. In his mind... once you start the car up, it is impossible to stop. Even without oil.

Again... I think we should set up classes or something for these people.

 

[Tony_SS]

DENIAL - its not just a river in Egypt!

 

[pontiacgp]

if a guy that dumb can have two women interested in him then there's still some hope for me....lol

 

[megaladon6]

i think people should be able to pass a very basic common sense test on this stuff before they are allowed to drive. people like that aren't just stupid, they're dangerous. the worst is being a mechanic and dealing with them. they always think that you're ripping them off, then when there's a problem it must be my fault.
i had one where the tow driver brings in a nissan sentra and tells me that we did an alternator a few weeks ago and that we can just throw a jumper box on it to drive it around. unfortunately he did not try this, he just assumed. he also told the customer this fairy tale. i did the original repair so i go out to check it. turn the key and "clunk". hmm that's not good. check it some more, put it on the lift and put a breaker bar on the crank and get.... nothing. great, now we have to explain to the customer that it's not an alternator and it's a $2k+ repair on a $1k car. all she kept saying was "the tow driver said..." you should have seen the look on her face when we told her that you need to do oil changes every 3k mi. "is oil really that important?" no, not at all. that's why you see a commercial for it every 10 minutes.

 

[Silent viewer]

at least it was a ford!!!!!

 

[1980Gbody]

ahahahahahahah you should have played along wiht it been like yea well that rarley happens when your driving it tend to happen when your car isnt running for a couple hours


the idiots that work at the autozone by my house i walk in there and ask for a detent cable and first thing he says is we dont carry them here i was like just type it in your computer and what do u kno a bunch of them pop up then when he goes to get the part i hear him almost yell across the store "MOM WHERES THE HOOK AT"

sad because i aplied there over the summer but i guess u gotta have connections to get a job there it dont matter how much u know about cars or how smart you are


my 305 in my monte has about 6000 miles on its last oil change

 

[Derision]

the idiots that work at the autozone by my house i walk in there and ask for a detent cable and first thing he says is we dont carry them here i was like just type it in your computer and what do u kno a bunch of them pop up

Don't even get me started on the Autozone guys. I went there for an alternator and a distributor cap and rotor a few days ago, and the guy is trying to tell me that they don't have these parts in stock. For a Chevy 305. One of the most common engines on the face of the planet. And I'm telling him, "Look it up," and he's insisting that nothing made before 1990 is in the store, despite my informing him that the 305 was made well after 1990. His only reasoning was, "but you told me the car was an '85!"

Eventually, the manager came over and heard this insanity and, without even looking anything up, got the correct parts for me.

my 305 in my monte has about 6000 miles on its last oil change

Yeah, I tend to go by seasons rather than miles... I change it at the start of each season. I guess, since the average is about 10,000 miles per year, that it approximates 3,000 miles between changes... but I'm far, far too lazy to pay attention to my odometer.

 

[megaladon6]

i have fun with them when they ask what engine is in the car. i tell them i swapped the engine and they insist that they have to know, 'ourse i'm only looking for a price on drums. ok it's a 73 350 block, 96 5.7l heads, 400 crank...

 

[jerrycad472]

Its great when they insist on knowing engine size to tell you what light bulb or windshield wipers to buy. You just know your in the wrong place. I am so happy I found a couple of good old fashion auto parts stores near work. I just tell them I am doing an engine swap and need this part from this car and that part from that car and they just give them to me. Last time I went to Autozone for some lug nuts, the lady acted like I was really putting her out to make her get the little box out from under the counter.

 

[chevy94ss]

i have fun with them when they ask what engine is in the car. i tell them i swapped the engine and they insist that they have to know, 'ourse i'm only looking for a price on drums. ok it's a 73 350 block, 96 5.7l heads, 400 crank...

i do the same but i just have a lil old stock rebuilt 350 but it's still fun getting them all confused though.