Why is it?

There is a Walmart employee that has some sort of wrap on his car that he can write stuff on....I haven't seen it there for a while but it used to have all sorts of foul language and anti government messages on it....the entire car was covered in this stuff.....
 
Bumblebee said:
I knew a guy that had a rear bumper made out of wood on his old Ford...he painted it black and drove it like that for years and years....
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One of my best friends 'builds' trucks, usually Chevys, Jeeps, and Nissans.
He usually starts with 3, ends up with one good one, another that can be repaired, and one for scrap.
He does good work too.
A few years back he had a really nice mid 90's Nissan 2wd truck(made from 3, lol).
Everything was good, except one bad place in the frame.
It wasn't to the point of being structural problem, but was near the gas tank, and more trouble to weld at the time(which he later fixed correctly), and he needed to get it inspected.
I came back a couple days later, glanced down through the rear fender well, and looked at what appeared to be a beautiful repair, as it never had rusted, and no suprise really either.
He laughed, and told me to look closer, which I did.
I said, "Did you swap the frame, I don't see any welds?"
Nope, I used metal hvac tape to cover the hole, and then undercoated the frame, lmao!
I had to crawl under and look at the inside of the frame to see the hole.
He told me he was kind of disapointed too, as the inspector never even looked at it, lol, he just checked the lights and put the sticker on it.
 
sixpack577 said:
One of my best friends 'builds' trucks, usually Chevys, Jeeps, and Nissans.
He usually starts with 3, ends up with one good one, another that can be repaired, and one for scrap.
He does good work too.
A few years back he had a really nice mid 90's Nissan 2wd truck(made from 3, lol).
Everything was good, except one bad place in the frame.
It wasn't to the point of being structural problem, but was near the gas tank, and more trouble to weld at the time(which he later fixed correctly), and he needed to get it inspected.
I came back a couple days later, glanced down through the rear fender well, and looked at what appeared to be a beautiful repair, as it never had rusted, and no suprise really either.
He laughed, and told me to look closer, which I did.
I said, "Did you swap the frame, I don't see any welds?"
Nope, I used metal hvac tape to cover the hole, and then undercoated the frame, lmao!
I had to crawl under and look at the inside of the frame to see the hole.
He told me he was kind of disapointed too, as the inspector never even looked at it, lol, he just checked the lights and put the sticker on it.
Click to expand...
Door and window foam used to be the "go to" repair for a long time.....especially with rocker panels..

Fill it, trim it when it dries, rocker guard, undercoat and voila, brand new...

My older brother just discovered one of them when he went to fix something on his step daughter's car she just bought used......
 
Bumblebee said:
Door and window foam used to be the "go to" repair for a long time.....especially with rocker panels..

Fill it, trim it when it dries, rocker guard, undercoat and voila, brand new...

My older brother just discovered one of them when he went to fix something on his step daughter's car she just bought used......
Click to expand...

Yeah, that sucks, I've seen alot of bad body repairs over the years.
 
sixpack577 said:
Yeah, that sucks, I've seen alot of bad body repairs over the years.
Click to expand...
My dad was test driving a beautiful '60s Pontiac rag top in the '70s, he went over a set of rough rail tracks at a crossing and a great big chunk of bondo and news papers fell out of the rear quarter...

Needless to say he didn't buy it nor did he buy anything from that fly by night used car lot....

And as dad knew a lot of people, nobody else did either, the guy went out of business yet popped up a few months later in another location and different name......but same bad practices....
 
Last evening the wife and I went to the waterfront and on our way home we were following a dark Toyota Matrix that had no tail lights, the only thing that worked was the little "tri-light", no signal lights, tail lights, license plate light or brake lights....

The crazy thing is I wrote about this exact same car on here months and months ago and yet it's still running around even after I told the driver about this back then....and nothing..I should have had the wife take a picture and send it to the cops....hindsight....always hindsight....
 
This is not meant to be a defense to it. But perhaps some consideration. We don't know anything about the drivers situation. This could be a simple fuse. Or it could be more. We don't know. But here in the U.S. even for a simple fuse fix you will pay a minimum shop rate just for rolling up.

I recently had a ramp issue on one of my vans. You have to take it to an authorized service center. I was given 3 choices. I called all 3. The cheapest "evaluation" cost I got was $175. The high was $425.

They collect before they even touch it.

So if I'm struggling to pay bills, and I have a taillight out, it could simply be, I'll take my chances I don't get a ticket. If they do, throw yourself at the mercy of the courts I guess.

There are a LOT of people struggling in this economy!
 
TallTom said:
This is not meant to be a defense to it. But perhaps some consideration. We don't know anything about the drivers situation. This could be a simple fuse. Or it could be more. We don't know. But here in the U.S. even for a simple fuse fix you will pay a minimum shop rate just for rolling up.

I recently had a ramp issue on one of my vans. You have to take it to an authorized service center. I was given 3 choices. I called all 3. The cheapest "evaluation" cost I got was $175. The high was $425.

They collect before they even touch it.

So if I'm struggling to pay bills, and I have a taillight out, it could simply be, I'll take my chances I don't get a ticket. If they do, throw yourself at the mercy of the courts I guess.

There are a LOT of people struggling in this economy!
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I got that, this car has been running around for a long time like this.....and it's some sort of miracle it hasn't been rear-ended....this is beyond a ticket, it could be a life.

When I talked to the guy the first time he had a cigarette in his lips....if he can afford those, he can afford to fix his car in my opinion...
 
Just now I was returning from running an errand in the truck and was following an F-150...(a very loud obnoxious F-150) that had tail pipes coming straight out under the bumper.....one of them was flapping around like it wasn't attached to anything...when he hit a bump (and there are lots to hit around here) I could see it impacting the bumper.....moving up and down probably 4-5 inches....

Why is it that drivers who seemingly are proud enough of their vehicle to put on very expensive mods like this never check them afterwards?
 
Bumblebee said:
Just now I was returning from running an errand in the truck and was following an F-150...(a very loud obnoxious F-150) that had tail pipes coming straight out under the bumper.....one of them was flapping around like it wasn't attached to anything...when he hit a bump (and there are lots to hit around here) I could see it impacting the bumper.....moving up and down probably 4-5 inches....

Why is it that drivers who seemingly are proud enough of their vehicle to put on very expensive mods like this never check them afterwards?
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I used to see that kind of thing quite a bit at the dealership. It's common for people to feel their vehicle is an extension of who they are, but some of them aren't mechanical enough to realize when something is wrong. You'd think there would be a stronger connection there. I've always done my own maintenence and even washing the vehicle by hand will clue a person in to problems, say with the body of the vehicle, if they are paying attention. Maybe the rest of us take our interest and aptitude for things mechanical for granted, because not everyone is that way.
 
Red05 said:
I used to see that kind of thing quite a bit at the dealership. It's common for people to feel their vehicle is an extension of who they are, but some of them aren't mechanical enough to realize when something is wrong. You'd think there would be a stronger connection there. I've always done my own maintenence and even washing the vehicle by hand will clue a person in to problems, say with the body of the vehicle, if they are paying attention. Maybe the rest of us take our interest and aptitude for things mechanical for granted, because not everyone is that way.
Click to expand...
Everyday I do a walk around of my vehicles and check things out...including my lights....

Maybe it's something I was taught as a young man.....or being farm kid where we had to check our equipment before using it...if it broke in the field and the old man found out that it was from a pre-existing fault....a size 10 was heading for your arse....

When I went to get my driver's license, a walk around of the vehicle including going under the hood and checking fluids....my driver examiner was there with a clip board and check list....I don't think they do this any longer....

Even my wife will go under her hood to check things once in a while.......

.........although she'll have a TPMS fault and not mention it to me sometimes until later in the evening when it's dark out and I have to go check her tires.....but that's a wife thing....
 
Bumblebee said:
Everyday I do a walk around of my vehicles and check things out...including my lights....

Maybe it's something I was taught as a young man.....or being farm kid where we had to check our equipment before using it...if it broke in the field and the old man found out that it was from a pre-existing fault....a size 10 was heading for your arse....

When I went to get my driver's license, a walk around of the vehicle including going under the hood and checking fluids....my driver examiner was there with a clip board and check list....I don't think they do this any longer....

Even my wife will go under her hood to check things once in a while.......

.........although she'll have a TPMS fault and not mention it to me sometimes until later in the evening when it's dark out and I have to go check her tires.....but that's a wife thing....
Click to expand...
I think you have sort of answered it yourself. Cars as a rule need much less attention. For instance, oil consumption was once normal. Now you only lose it if something is wrong. But/And most cars put up a level warning light for water/oil/true pressure, bulbs out etc.

Because of this, 100,000 miles is nothing for an engine now. Back in the day, 100,000 miles was a noteworthy milestone.

So yeah.... Ya dang dinosaur. :-)
 
Not really a "Why is it?" but it is a point of note.....

While doing some work around the house the wife had the country video channel on....I noted it sounded more like a rock channel than a country channel....they seem to throw in a steel guitar or a little twang on their voice and that's all they need to think they are country...
 
People around here sure don't know how to drive....

Stuck behind a car at a light making a left turn with a turn arrow, no on-coming traffic but an on-coming car in a right turning lane making a right at the lights and the donkey ahead of me waited until this person made their right turn leaving us both in the middle of the intersection with the light changing....

I should have followed them to where they were going and advised them of traffic laws but had better things to do....all I did was give them a blast of the horn which prompted them to get moving....
 
Bumblebee said:
People around here sure don't know how to drive....

Stuck behind a car at a light making a left turn with a turn arrow, no on-coming traffic but an on-coming car in a right turning lane making a right at the lights and the donkey ahead of me waited until this person made their right turn leaving us both in the middle of the intersection with the light changing....

I should have followed them to where they were going and advised them of traffic laws but had better things to do....all I did was give them a blast of the horn which prompted them to get moving....
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When I moved to Abilene Texas with in 2 weeks I put air horns on my truck lol. I know how you feel !

Just like the Air Force we need AFTO 244's on all vehicles LOL.

From TO 00-20-1 Operator Inspection. This inspection is accomplished to ensure serviceability and safety of the equipment prior to use. It consists of a review of the forms (paper or electronic) for current status, and a visual inspection of the equipment for defects and adequate servicing. The operator inspection is the responsibility of the user. The operator inspection may be documented in Part II of the AFTO Form 244 a.
 
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Bumblebee said:
I knew a guy that had a rear bumper made out of wood on his old Ford...he painted it black and drove it like that for years and years....
Click to expand...
Oh man that sounds like me LOL. One of my Pinto builds at Luke AFB in the 80's I had a 3" PVC pipe painted black as a rear bumper. I even cut the front end off and mounted lights on PVC front bumper. Nothing but a radiator and a 302 with a tunnel ram and dual carbs showing. Looked a little weird and one night at Taco Bell the Cop's just shake their heads and walked away. Finally gutted the car for another Pinto swap and left it in my dorm parking lot and watch a forklift picked it up and put it on a flatbed trailer with another abandon vehicle. The best part is they ran a strap just around the back of the car's and when the driver pull forward there was a gap and when he stopped my Pinto would gore that other car with it's frame rails over and over again LOL. Those were the days.
 
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