SWG – Keep an eye out for a cheap flux core welder. The new machines have high tech features and as folks are finding them much better for lots of welding, they are selling off their older more manual machines which are perfect for the occasional weld. I found a cheap used flux core machine with an almost full roll of wire ($30) for $65. I gave it to my grandkid for xmas as an aspiring welder who showed excellent skills as a rank beginner.
Member
Ppnw
1 month ago
Up to you to decide whether the $750 is worth the hassle to go after this guy or not, Mercedes, but I do find it highly dishonest on his part. A nonrefundable deposit for a used car is already sus, but refusing a refund after a major misrepresentation leans into fraudulent behavior.
I’m surprised how many sellers/dealers request this deposit business. I’ve run into it twice, for my Macan and my M2. I understand they want you to prove that you’re serious, but I hope I can communicate that without money exchanging hands.
Both times I declined the deposit, under heavy threats that the car could be sold from under me. That’s fine. I only sent money after each car was independently inspected and I was 100% sure I wanted them.
If it makes you feel any better, I once lost nearly as much by taking a dip in the ocean with rental car keys in my pocket.
Last edited 1 month ago by Ppnw
Member
Dodsworth
1 month ago
When I saw “Stephen Bolts!” I went into a momentary funk. I surely didn’t want to see a goodbye message. Whew!
Don’t beat yourself up, Mercedes. Everybody gets snookered sometime or the other, they just don’t admit it. $750 is a good chunk of change but I don’t think it’s worth any further aggravation. You’ve got better, happier things to spend your time on. Just leave an honest review for the business and wash your hands. I’m glad I’m a coward, I have never bought a used car I haven’t laid hands on or driven and I never will. I would pay a third party to check one out for me though. Eager to see what the new bike is!
Thanks for the kind words Dodsworth. Hoping to have another piece here soon.
Member
It's Pronounced Porch-ah
1 month ago
That is an unfortunate story Mercedes, I have always been too anxious to buy something sight unseen, or offer a deposit for just that reason! Glad you were mostly made whole on the fiasco, although I would have enjoyed some A-class material.
Good guy SWG, back at it again. Tipping can be such a polarizing issue, it would be great if we lived in a world where people were paid a living wage and not dependent on the goodwill of others, until then I guess we have tipping. I noticed that some of the hardware on my wife’s Hyundai also seems to be made with very low quality metal, the car is still very clean underneath despite 10yrs of driving on MN roads, but I have had to bust out the torch a few times for bolts that seemed clean.
Member
Jdoubledub
1 month ago
That sucks Mercedes. As I was preparing to move across the country I decided I needed to buy a car over the phone for whatever dumb 20-year-old reason and I gave my credit card as a show of good faith for a deposit on a 2005 Focus ST with the street appearance package.
I ended up backing out when I found a 2004 Focus SVT with the European appearance package and the lot I gave my credit card to immediately tried to charge the entire cost of the car to my credit card. Thankfully fraud protection had my back and immediately called to verify.
Member
Stephen (aka Belyle)
1 month ago
I think, if I was scammed out of 750 bucks, that I’d be pissed. more pissed off at myself than the seller. I also think that if I were married to a lawyer that I would sic my spouse on the scammer. But I’m much too confrontation-averse to do it myself.
Member
Jmfecon
1 month ago
Mercedes, if you REALLY want a rust free A Class, buy it from Brazil. No snow, no salt, and nowadays they are cheap.
Not necessarily well maintained, but rust free and cheap.
Here 2 almost running for ~USD1.400, you could build one out of these 2, probably.
There better ones, you can find one in a really decent shape and with a reasonable mileage for around USD 3.200.
See, this whole experience went so poorly that I don’t even want an A-Class anymore. I had this idea of owning an A-Class before getting an Audi A2, but now I’m just going to skip the MB entirely.
I’ve had a diecast A-Class since I was a kid. It’s one of the only larger diecast models I’ve had from childhood that has survived today. But nope, sorry kid me, the curiosity was killed in its entirety.
Member
S13 Sedan
1 month ago
As much as I love old Nissans, they really are just kind of thrown together. When I lowered my Laurel more and put different wheels and tires on, I noticed that the top of the tire on the driver’s side was closer to the fender than the one on the passenger side but my alignment was good and camber was equal on both sides.
This sent me into a frenzy. Did the subframe shift? Was my car previously crashed and I wasn’t aware of it? Eventually after doing some research I found many posts on Australian Skyline forums of people having the same issue on various Nissans of the era.
Turns out the answer was that’s just how it is sometimes. Nissan just cranked those cars out fast and the tolerances aren’t good. You’d never notice it at stock height and with stock wheels anyway.
Member
Cerberus
1 month ago
Over 20 years ago, I drove from north of Boston to Detroit to look at a Legacy turbo that was in “great shape for its age with almost no rust at all”. Got there and the paint was holding much of it together among a lot of other issues that showed the car had been beat to hell its whole life. After some less than cordial interacting, he admitted it was pretty bad and offered to drop the price a little. I drove home without engaging in violence and was proud of myself for that.
If the dental procedure is gum grafts, I found the worst part to be the later stage of healing, a few days before the stitches are removed, as the wound pulls at the threads. Getting them removed, every cut was an immediate relief.
The procedure is implants, a whole lot of them! Half of my adult teeth never came in and I’ve been rocking baby teeth in those spots for my whole life.
I didn’t know it was possible to retain baby teeth. I imagine that’s not a pleasant procedure to remedy. I’ve had wisdom teeth pulled (which I guess is why I’m a dumbass) and 4 or 5 grafts thanks to some genetics and overzealous brushing. What hurt the most, though, was the bills.
I hope they don’t aggravate the nerves with that drill!
Yeah! I had an ex that had one baby tooth just kinda hanging out up front. It was just the one and didn’t impact her like in Mercedes’ situation but it’s a thing!
Apparently, if there are no adult teeth under baby teeth, they’ll just sit where they are until they wear out. In my case, half of the baby teeth were healthy, just, you know, small. The other half of the baby teeth were in danger of falling out because they had eroded away so much. So, we removed them all, put in grafts, and now it’s time to get implants.
Whoa, so you needed grafts, too? I guess it makes sense to be able to not have adult teeth as I knew of someone who had extra teeth like a shark, so why not the opposite?
Bone graft is powered bone from human cadavers. It is put in the open socket more to keep it from closing up to give the jawbone time to grow into the socket hole with actual bone. The powered bone is more or less absorbed by the growth of the jaw bone. This is what I was told while having the titanium stud screwed into my jaw. They even had a small dental torque wrench device that the assistant set per the endodontist order.
It must have been a relief to see the torque wrench come out, much better than seeing the impact wrench and hearing “I’ll give them a couple of ugga-duggas”
😉
Took more than year to have a tooth pulled, bone graft, implant/stud, and finally the crown put on. Expensive even with insurance, my out of pocket was over 5k. But I learned to not go the discount chain route when doing anything more than a cleaning or filling. It is expensive and time consuming, but worth it.
Wow, first Yanmars, now baby teeth! I’ve had some of each (1 Yanmar, 2 adult baby-teeth). All are now replaced. I hope your surgery goes well, but in my case implants were super-east! I have literally had dental cleanings that were more intense, and I hope you have the same success!
p.s. The replacement for the Yanmar also went smoothly, thanks (replaced it with a Beta–aka Kubota–diesel)
If the adult teeth don’t push them out, they can sit there a while.
Member
TheDrunkenWrench
1 month ago
I remember someone asking for a service right as I was about to take lunch (semi truck, a service is billed at 2.5hrs, and takes at least 2). In those days I had a high metabolism, and I’d get SUPREMELY hangry.
I did the service, cursing and swearing my way through. In the end, the driver tipped me $20. and I managed to time taking my “lunch” break so that it lined up with our afternoon coffee break.
So I worked through lunch, but got a 45 minute break and an extra $20. That money got reinvested in Cold Snacks after work.
Absolutely! I miss that shop. We used to have the friday night “church meetings” when we’d close down for the week. Cold snacks, wrenching on personal projects, and just generally decompressing with co-workers.
This was just a dealership. Which, even when we’re hourly, was a meat grinder.
I was there for 3 years and we saw a turnover of at least 30 people. We only had 35 employees.
I went back to visit and only recognised 2 people.
Yep, training was a week of OSHA and electrical. Then follow an old timer around for a week or two to make sure you don’t fall in a hole and kill yourself. All the hourly were my dad’s age or so. I had to prove myself, no one handed me anything.
You can have any beer you like, so long as it’s a Corona.
Member
Angry Bob
1 month ago
Tipping the welder is nice. In my years as an auto mechanic, I think got a tip from a customer like three times. That was a lunch that I otherwise wasn’t going to get!
That welder uses a hell of a lot more skill than the barista that gets the same tip for pouring an iced coffee.
I truly feel that small acts of appreciation go a long way when it comes to the person that is working on what is usually your second-most valuable possession (after a house).
This. It grates being asked for a tip on some simple point of sale transaction requiring minimal effort. Pay your people. I’ll happily tip a waitress, barber, barista, etc… Yet we never tip a mechanic. I think it’s because so many feel they are being ripped off right from the start.
I agree that most people go into a shop with the expectation they are going to get bent over.
I generally go in with my guard up as well, but I try to do my best to be appreciative of them going a little further than required.
Getting a free rotation when going in for an inspection (“we’ll have it on the lift and need to take 2 wheels off anyway”) or installing new tires on the rims that are in my trunk, but then taking the snows off my car, bagging them, and putting the new ones on the car – I know that was annoying for the tech and well worth a $5 tip so I didn’t have to do it.
I have a few private shops I trust for my tires, inspections, and work I just don’t want to do anymore. I avoid dealers like the plague unless it’s a recall.
Thing is, as soon as my car is back from inspection or any tire off service, I’m in the driveway loosening and hand torquing all the lug nuts anyway. I always put a light coat of anti-sieze on the back side of my wheel mounting faces. My lug studs are lightly lubricated, I put a drop of oil on the Toyota lug nut washer before installing. I hand troque my wheels with a torque wrench, not an impact. When I replace rotors, I anti-seize the hub face. I always pull, clean and regrease the caliper slide pins on any brake job. I have seen too many shops not do work to my own personal standards.
My first experience driving wreckers was during a blizzard, when the towing shop I wrenched for had a shortage of drivers. My first call was for a couple of smoking hot college girls who’s car was stuck in a snow bank. I didn’t have a shovel or even gloves so I dug it out with my bare hands.
A few days later, a package arrived at the shop, addressed to me. Inside was a very nice pair of fleece lined leather gloves. That warmed my heart and my hands.
Oh Stephen, don’t be silly, no one owes a house, they’re created from the ether and given to entities called Land Lords. Kind of like Sea Lords, but with a scythe instead of a trident.
I used to know a barista who was training to become a welder – this was the kind of barista who could make a swan or a rose or whathaveyou in the foam, and she said it was the same hand-eye coordination that she applied to welding. Very cool person and I imagine she became an exquisite welder.
In a similar vein, I’ve always felt sewing and soldering have similar hand/eye requirements.
I have a similar lack of skill in both; it’ll hold together, but it ain’t pretty.
I got a tip for doing an alignment once. That felt pretty cool, not gonna lie.
Member
Tbird
1 month ago
Agree with Stephen, Nissan’s seem unnecessarily difficult to work on compared to Toyota/Honda. I did work on a friend’s Murano years ago, and every job had some frustratingly difficult to access bolt or fitting. Also agree about the cheap hardware. I snapped a valve cover bolt or two changing leaking spark plug tube gaskets (which requires new valve covers as they are captive .. Seriously?!) I was using an inch/lb 1/4″ drive torque wrench!! The same job on my MDX took less than half the time with no broken/stripped fasteners. And the gaskets are replaceable for a few bucks.
They were like taffy, maybe M6 on the threads with big washered pan-heads.
Love to see the response from you and the Autopian team. I’m heading to Florida next week to help settle an estate, but likely won’t be dropping by Wilmington on this trip. Going inland I’m afraid as it is on the Gulf coast.
Admittedly, the Discord people sometimes get a sneak peek into what’s going on in my life/fleet, but that’s because it takes 30 seconds to fire off a post on Discord and hours to publish something on this site. But I always eventually post about the shenanigans on the site! 🙂
Discord is one of those watershed moments for me where I realize I’m old and getting behind on trends. It makes me understand how older people skipped most of the Internet to this day.
I also can’t for the life of me really understand GIT, but I’m forced to due to work.
Oh now I have to go open this Discord thing for the first time…
Member
Aaronaut
1 month ago
Try not to beat yourself up about this stuff, Mercedes! I learn the hard way too.
Example: Years ago I lost $2k on the (apparently very common) CraigsList larceny tactic where the buyer sends a cashier’s check for way too much money, then asks if I could send the excess back. A week later, the bank rejects the cashier’s check, the buyer ghosts you, and you’re out of luck (and money). Yaaaayyyyyyyy
Ouch! Apparently, my parents lost $6k to a Craigslist scam in about 2016 or so. Guy pretending to be a contractor took their $6k for a mild remodeling job. He plopped the cheapest possible vinyl down onto the floor, not even securing it in place or making sure the pieces fit. Then he didn’t do anything else before disappearing with the rest of the money. Cops didn’t really do a whole lot about it. IIRC, he was one of two guys who scammed them during the rehab of that house. My parents learned the hard way not to hire the cheapest contractors from Craigslist.
Sleeping with your lawyer does come with benefits…
Member
NC Miata NA
1 month ago
As someone who has experienced Wilmington mid-day traffic, I can only assume extracting snapped bolts was the more enjoyable part of the project.
Member
The Sparkalator Connects To The Whirligig
1 month ago
I live in the PNW, so most of my dealing with rusty things have been on vehicles that did not spend their lives here. Given that there are so many rust-free vehicles available locally, that has generally been because I was a cheap bastard. The rustiest vehicles I’ve owned were both Hondas. One was a ‘Passport’ (Super Cub). I got a pair of them (runner and parts vehicle) from Idaho for $500 plus $200 to have the guy drive them out to Seattle for me. The second was a Honda Acty when I was going through a divorce and I decided I needed a vehicle my ex would not agree to in a million years, but I was on a budget. Bought the worst one on the lot. I think it was a lot van in a coastal town, given the rusting from the top down. Came with a full ashtray. But it ran, mostly. Hilarious machine. But, now in Oregon, I couldn’t register it. Broke several bolts working on that one. I’ve never owned a Nissan. At least the bolts weren’t that hard to get to on the Hondas.
In other news, I got a welder for Christmas this year. It was, I think, something like $200. It’s surprisingly capable for the money, especially on 240V power. I was just welding up some 1/8″ tubing and plate last night and the thing didn’t even sweat. A buddy of mine who used to weld for a living suggested the even the cheapest Harbor Freight special will do fine for automotive work. I think those are, somehow, in the year of hell that is 2026, still $100. 3 broken bolts would pay for the thing at those rates.
A long time (10 years?) ago I bought one of the entry-level HF welders when it was on sale for $80. Yep, their cheapest special. 🙂 I had never welded before and wanted something basic.
The most common opinion I remember reading was to avoid using the wire that HF included and instead get a spool of something good from a reputable brand. It may sound odd to recommend good wire in a crap welder but so far it has worked pretty well.
I’m glad Mercedes at least got something back. Also totally get the kicking oneself. Had a tool I bought on eBay that never arrived, despite tracking saying it had. Was so distraught I accidentally left bad feedback for the wrong thing by mistake, which made me feel more bad when that seller contacted me with “What the hell, man?!”
750 is still a lot of money, and I’d be freaking out a bit too. But I am glad you found your dream bike! Even if it’s a bagger with an exhaust that’d wake the dead. ;3
Also. Screw Rust. Iron Oxide holes killed my Sentra, and I cannot tell you just how many bolts I’ve broken…
Member
Zipn Zipn
1 month ago
Sorry to hear about the lost deposit.
I try to avoid buying things sight-unseen and un-tested, but sometimes a too-good-to-be-true deal pops up that’s legit and worth the risk.
That said, any money I send is either credit card, PayPal or maybe Venmo as long as it qualifies for buyer protection. Seems like the guy who held back the money is just being a dick.
In the scheme of things, the money you spent isn’t worth worrying about. Just go out for a ride on your new bike and enjoy it.
Member
Dogpatch
1 month ago
Every simple one hour project is one rusted broken bolt away from from being a few hundred dollars more and 2 days extra days work.
Ran into this last night – Oh, I’ll fix that leaking hose bib. Shut off all water to the house, pull the stem, see the bad rubber flat washer. Put screwdriver on the screw – it falls apart. F****. Cut old washer off with razor blade, try vice grips on screw stub. No dice. Of course it’s a 50 yr old stem not stocked by the local (privately owned and good) hardware store. The good local plumbing supply shop closed 2 hours ago. Stuffed an oversized rubber washer in the hole, cranked down the stem and prayed.
And I get asked why I don’t want to start stuff like this after dinner?
I keep a stock of toilet parts, flat washers and faucet/shower cartridges in my plumbing box. Murphy’s Law ALWAYS applies.
One year, Thanksgiving morning, a shower cartridge blew out. Thank God it was the hot side. I was able to shut the valve at the water heater only. Now I stock a spare hot and cold valve for that shower, spare seals and seats for the other. I always have a spare kitchen faucet cartridge on hand.
Once bitten, twice shy.
Last edited 1 month ago by Tbird
Rick Cavaretti
1 month ago
How familiar do those little fatigued aluminum chunks look! That is what happens when you buy and use cheaply made aluminum wheel spacers. Luckily, I wasn’t on the track yet when one failed. There’s a reason they were sold to me so cheaply by the original owner.
SWG – Keep an eye out for a cheap flux core welder. The new machines have high tech features and as folks are finding them much better for lots of welding, they are selling off their older more manual machines which are perfect for the occasional weld. I found a cheap used flux core machine with an almost full roll of wire ($30) for $65. I gave it to my grandkid for xmas as an aspiring welder who showed excellent skills as a rank beginner.
Up to you to decide whether the $750 is worth the hassle to go after this guy or not, Mercedes, but I do find it highly dishonest on his part. A nonrefundable deposit for a used car is already sus, but refusing a refund after a major misrepresentation leans into fraudulent behavior.
I’m surprised how many sellers/dealers request this deposit business. I’ve run into it twice, for my Macan and my M2. I understand they want you to prove that you’re serious, but I hope I can communicate that without money exchanging hands.
Both times I declined the deposit, under heavy threats that the car could be sold from under me. That’s fine. I only sent money after each car was independently inspected and I was 100% sure I wanted them.
If it makes you feel any better, I once lost nearly as much by taking a dip in the ocean with rental car keys in my pocket.
When I saw “Stephen Bolts!” I went into a momentary funk. I surely didn’t want to see a goodbye message. Whew!
Don’t beat yourself up, Mercedes. Everybody gets snookered sometime or the other, they just don’t admit it. $750 is a good chunk of change but I don’t think it’s worth any further aggravation. You’ve got better, happier things to spend your time on. Just leave an honest review for the business and wash your hands. I’m glad I’m a coward, I have never bought a used car I haven’t laid hands on or driven and I never will. I would pay a third party to check one out for me though. Eager to see what the new bike is!
I’m still here!
Thanks for the kind words Dodsworth. Hoping to have another piece here soon.
That is an unfortunate story Mercedes, I have always been too anxious to buy something sight unseen, or offer a deposit for just that reason! Glad you were mostly made whole on the fiasco, although I would have enjoyed some A-class material.
Good guy SWG, back at it again. Tipping can be such a polarizing issue, it would be great if we lived in a world where people were paid a living wage and not dependent on the goodwill of others, until then I guess we have tipping. I noticed that some of the hardware on my wife’s Hyundai also seems to be made with very low quality metal, the car is still very clean underneath despite 10yrs of driving on MN roads, but I have had to bust out the torch a few times for bolts that seemed clean.
That sucks Mercedes. As I was preparing to move across the country I decided I needed to buy a car over the phone for whatever dumb 20-year-old reason and I gave my credit card as a show of good faith for a deposit on a 2005 Focus ST with the street appearance package.
I ended up backing out when I found a 2004 Focus SVT with the European appearance package and the lot I gave my credit card to immediately tried to charge the entire cost of the car to my credit card. Thankfully fraud protection had my back and immediately called to verify.
I think, if I was scammed out of 750 bucks, that I’d be pissed. more pissed off at myself than the seller. I also think that if I were married to a lawyer that I would sic my spouse on the scammer. But I’m much too confrontation-averse to do it myself.
Mercedes, if you REALLY want a rust free A Class, buy it from Brazil. No snow, no salt, and nowadays they are cheap.
Not necessarily well maintained, but rust free and cheap.
Here 2 almost running for ~USD1.400, you could build one out of these 2, probably.
There better ones, you can find one in a really decent shape and with a reasonable mileage for around USD 3.200.
See, this whole experience went so poorly that I don’t even want an A-Class anymore. I had this idea of owning an A-Class before getting an Audi A2, but now I’m just going to skip the MB entirely.
Probably the wisest decision that you ever shared with us on this website…
Do what I did when I wanted one back when they were current. Get the Revell-Germany 1:24 model kit.
I’ve had a diecast A-Class since I was a kid. It’s one of the only larger diecast models I’ve had from childhood that has survived today. But nope, sorry kid me, the curiosity was killed in its entirety.
As much as I love old Nissans, they really are just kind of thrown together. When I lowered my Laurel more and put different wheels and tires on, I noticed that the top of the tire on the driver’s side was closer to the fender than the one on the passenger side but my alignment was good and camber was equal on both sides.
This sent me into a frenzy. Did the subframe shift? Was my car previously crashed and I wasn’t aware of it? Eventually after doing some research I found many posts on Australian Skyline forums of people having the same issue on various Nissans of the era.
Turns out the answer was that’s just how it is sometimes. Nissan just cranked those cars out fast and the tolerances aren’t good. You’d never notice it at stock height and with stock wheels anyway.
Over 20 years ago, I drove from north of Boston to Detroit to look at a Legacy turbo that was in “great shape for its age with almost no rust at all”. Got there and the paint was holding much of it together among a lot of other issues that showed the car had been beat to hell its whole life. After some less than cordial interacting, he admitted it was pretty bad and offered to drop the price a little. I drove home without engaging in violence and was proud of myself for that.
If the dental procedure is gum grafts, I found the worst part to be the later stage of healing, a few days before the stitches are removed, as the wound pulls at the threads. Getting them removed, every cut was an immediate relief.
The procedure is implants, a whole lot of them! Half of my adult teeth never came in and I’ve been rocking baby teeth in those spots for my whole life.
I didn’t know it was possible to retain baby teeth. I imagine that’s not a pleasant procedure to remedy. I’ve had wisdom teeth pulled (which I guess is why I’m a dumbass) and 4 or 5 grafts thanks to some genetics and overzealous brushing. What hurt the most, though, was the bills.
I hope they don’t aggravate the nerves with that drill!
Yeah! I had an ex that had one baby tooth just kinda hanging out up front. It was just the one and didn’t impact her like in Mercedes’ situation but it’s a thing!
Apparently, if there are no adult teeth under baby teeth, they’ll just sit where they are until they wear out. In my case, half of the baby teeth were healthy, just, you know, small. The other half of the baby teeth were in danger of falling out because they had eroded away so much. So, we removed them all, put in grafts, and now it’s time to get implants.
Whoa, so you needed grafts, too? I guess it makes sense to be able to not have adult teeth as I knew of someone who had extra teeth like a shark, so why not the opposite?
Yeah, the grafts filled in the sockets from the extracted teeth. Now there’s a nice and strong bone to anchor the implants into.
Oh, bone grafts? Yikes, where do they take them from? The gums are from the roof of your mouth (or cadavers, but I’m good with using my own parts).
Bone graft is powered bone from human cadavers. It is put in the open socket more to keep it from closing up to give the jawbone time to grow into the socket hole with actual bone. The powered bone is more or less absorbed by the growth of the jaw bone. This is what I was told while having the titanium stud screwed into my jaw. They even had a small dental torque wrench device that the assistant set per the endodontist order.
It must have been a relief to see the torque wrench come out, much better than seeing the impact wrench and hearing “I’ll give them a couple of ugga-duggas”
😉
LOL
Took more than year to have a tooth pulled, bone graft, implant/stud, and finally the crown put on. Expensive even with insurance, my out of pocket was over 5k. But I learned to not go the discount chain route when doing anything more than a cleaning or filling. It is expensive and time consuming, but worth it.
Wow, first Yanmars, now baby teeth! I’ve had some of each (1 Yanmar, 2 adult baby-teeth). All are now replaced. I hope your surgery goes well, but in my case implants were super-east! I have literally had dental cleanings that were more intense, and I hope you have the same success!
p.s. The replacement for the Yanmar also went smoothly, thanks (replaced it with a Beta–aka Kubota–diesel)
If the adult teeth don’t push them out, they can sit there a while.
I remember someone asking for a service right as I was about to take lunch (semi truck, a service is billed at 2.5hrs, and takes at least 2). In those days I had a high metabolism, and I’d get SUPREMELY hangry.
I did the service, cursing and swearing my way through. In the end, the driver tipped me $20. and I managed to time taking my “lunch” break so that it lined up with our afternoon coffee break.
So I worked through lunch, but got a 45 minute break and an extra $20. That money got reinvested in Cold Snacks after work.
Kindness and Cold Snacks for the win!
Absolutely! I miss that shop. We used to have the friday night “church meetings” when we’d close down for the week. Cold snacks, wrenching on personal projects, and just generally decompressing with co-workers.
Sounds like a bit of heaven.
It was a highlight of my 20s. The workplace was rough, but the people working there made it great.
In my 20’s I was a brand new MTC supervisor with an enigneering degree in a steel mill. Sink or swim baby.
This was just a dealership. Which, even when we’re hourly, was a meat grinder.
I was there for 3 years and we saw a turnover of at least 30 people. We only had 35 employees.
I went back to visit and only recognised 2 people.
Yep, training was a week of OSHA and electrical. Then follow an old timer around for a week or two to make sure you don’t fall in a hole and kill yourself. All the hourly were my dad’s age or so. I had to prove myself, no one handed me anything.
Montucky?
You can have any beer you like, so long as it’s a Corona.
Tipping the welder is nice. In my years as an auto mechanic, I think got a tip from a customer like three times. That was a lunch that I otherwise wasn’t going to get!
That welder uses a hell of a lot more skill than the barista that gets the same tip for pouring an iced coffee.
I truly feel that small acts of appreciation go a long way when it comes to the person that is working on what is usually your second-most valuable possession (after a house).
This. It grates being asked for a tip on some simple point of sale transaction requiring minimal effort. Pay your people. I’ll happily tip a waitress, barber, barista, etc… Yet we never tip a mechanic. I think it’s because so many feel they are being ripped off right from the start.
I agree that most people go into a shop with the expectation they are going to get bent over.
I generally go in with my guard up as well, but I try to do my best to be appreciative of them going a little further than required.
Getting a free rotation when going in for an inspection (“we’ll have it on the lift and need to take 2 wheels off anyway”) or installing new tires on the rims that are in my trunk, but then taking the snows off my car, bagging them, and putting the new ones on the car – I know that was annoying for the tech and well worth a $5 tip so I didn’t have to do it.
I have a few private shops I trust for my tires, inspections, and work I just don’t want to do anymore. I avoid dealers like the plague unless it’s a recall.
Thing is, as soon as my car is back from inspection or any tire off service, I’m in the driveway loosening and hand torquing all the lug nuts anyway. I always put a light coat of anti-sieze on the back side of my wheel mounting faces. My lug studs are lightly lubricated, I put a drop of oil on the Toyota lug nut washer before installing. I hand troque my wheels with a torque wrench, not an impact. When I replace rotors, I anti-seize the hub face. I always pull, clean and regrease the caliper slide pins on any brake job. I have seen too many shops not do work to my own personal standards.
My first experience driving wreckers was during a blizzard, when the towing shop I wrenched for had a shortage of drivers. My first call was for a couple of smoking hot college girls who’s car was stuck in a snow bank. I didn’t have a shovel or even gloves so I dug it out with my bare hands.
A few days later, a package arrived at the shop, addressed to me. Inside was a very nice pair of fleece lined leather gloves. That warmed my heart and my hands.
Oh Stephen, don’t be silly, no one owes a house, they’re created from the ether and given to entities called Land Lords. Kind of like Sea Lords, but with a scythe instead of a trident.
I used to know a barista who was training to become a welder – this was the kind of barista who could make a swan or a rose or whathaveyou in the foam, and she said it was the same hand-eye coordination that she applied to welding. Very cool person and I imagine she became an exquisite welder.
In a similar vein, I’ve always felt sewing and soldering have similar hand/eye requirements.
I have a similar lack of skill in both; it’ll hold together, but it ain’t pretty.
I got a tip for doing an alignment once. That felt pretty cool, not gonna lie.
Agree with Stephen, Nissan’s seem unnecessarily difficult to work on compared to Toyota/Honda. I did work on a friend’s Murano years ago, and every job had some frustratingly difficult to access bolt or fitting. Also agree about the cheap hardware. I snapped a valve cover bolt or two changing leaking spark plug tube gaskets (which requires new valve covers as they are captive .. Seriously?!) I was using an inch/lb 1/4″ drive torque wrench!! The same job on my MDX took less than half the time with no broken/stripped fasteners. And the gaskets are replaceable for a few bucks.
Snapping bolts with a 1/4″ ratchet is wild! Thanks for reading and for the Comment, Tbird.
It’s always a pleasure to see your name pop up. Cheers bud!
They were like taffy, maybe M6 on the threads with big washered pan-heads.
Love to see the response from you and the Autopian team. I’m heading to Florida next week to help settle an estate, but likely won’t be dropping by Wilmington on this trip. Going inland I’m afraid as it is on the Gulf coast.
Upvoted for sympathetic ugh
But you’ve already told us what you got 🙂
Shhhhhhhh not everyone is on the Discord. 🙂
Exactly. And I never will be, so thanks for thinking of us!
Admittedly, the Discord people sometimes get a sneak peek into what’s going on in my life/fleet, but that’s because it takes 30 seconds to fire off a post on Discord and hours to publish something on this site. But I always eventually post about the shenanigans on the site! 🙂
Discord is one of those watershed moments for me where I realize I’m old and getting behind on trends. It makes me understand how older people skipped most of the Internet to this day.
I also can’t for the life of me really understand GIT, but I’m forced to due to work.
Oh now I have to go open this Discord thing for the first time…
Try not to beat yourself up about this stuff, Mercedes! I learn the hard way too.
Example: Years ago I lost $2k on the (apparently very common) CraigsList larceny tactic where the buyer sends a cashier’s check for way too much money, then asks if I could send the excess back. A week later, the bank rejects the cashier’s check, the buyer ghosts you, and you’re out of luck (and money). Yaaaayyyyyyyy
Ouch! Apparently, my parents lost $6k to a Craigslist scam in about 2016 or so. Guy pretending to be a contractor took their $6k for a mild remodeling job. He plopped the cheapest possible vinyl down onto the floor, not even securing it in place or making sure the pieces fit. Then he didn’t do anything else before disappearing with the rest of the money. Cops didn’t really do a whole lot about it. IIRC, he was one of two guys who scammed them during the rehab of that house. My parents learned the hard way not to hire the cheapest contractors from Craigslist.
Let her go after the guy.
It’s not like she has to PAY the lawyer’s fees! A nice date night might cover it!
Sleeping with your lawyer does come with benefits…
As someone who has experienced Wilmington mid-day traffic, I can only assume extracting snapped bolts was the more enjoyable part of the project.
I live in the PNW, so most of my dealing with rusty things have been on vehicles that did not spend their lives here. Given that there are so many rust-free vehicles available locally, that has generally been because I was a cheap bastard. The rustiest vehicles I’ve owned were both Hondas. One was a ‘Passport’ (Super Cub). I got a pair of them (runner and parts vehicle) from Idaho for $500 plus $200 to have the guy drive them out to Seattle for me. The second was a Honda Acty when I was going through a divorce and I decided I needed a vehicle my ex would not agree to in a million years, but I was on a budget. Bought the worst one on the lot. I think it was a lot van in a coastal town, given the rusting from the top down. Came with a full ashtray. But it ran, mostly. Hilarious machine. But, now in Oregon, I couldn’t register it. Broke several bolts working on that one. I’ve never owned a Nissan. At least the bolts weren’t that hard to get to on the Hondas.
In other news, I got a welder for Christmas this year. It was, I think, something like $200. It’s surprisingly capable for the money, especially on 240V power. I was just welding up some 1/8″ tubing and plate last night and the thing didn’t even sweat. A buddy of mine who used to weld for a living suggested the even the cheapest Harbor Freight special will do fine for automotive work. I think those are, somehow, in the year of hell that is 2026, still $100. 3 broken bolts would pay for the thing at those rates.
A long time (10 years?) ago I bought one of the entry-level HF welders when it was on sale for $80. Yep, their cheapest special. 🙂 I had never welded before and wanted something basic.
The most common opinion I remember reading was to avoid using the wire that HF included and instead get a spool of something good from a reputable brand. It may sound odd to recommend good wire in a crap welder but so far it has worked pretty well.
I appreciate this tip very much.
Glad to hear it! Go forth and make sparks 🙂
I’m glad Mercedes at least got something back. Also totally get the kicking oneself. Had a tool I bought on eBay that never arrived, despite tracking saying it had. Was so distraught I accidentally left bad feedback for the wrong thing by mistake, which made me feel more bad when that seller contacted me with “What the hell, man?!”
750 is still a lot of money, and I’d be freaking out a bit too. But I am glad you found your dream bike! Even if it’s a bagger with an exhaust that’d wake the dead. ;3
Also. Screw Rust. Iron Oxide holes killed my Sentra, and I cannot tell you just how many bolts I’ve broken…
Sorry to hear about the lost deposit.
I try to avoid buying things sight-unseen and un-tested, but sometimes a too-good-to-be-true deal pops up that’s legit and worth the risk.
That said, any money I send is either credit card, PayPal or maybe Venmo as long as it qualifies for buyer protection. Seems like the guy who held back the money is just being a dick.
In the scheme of things, the money you spent isn’t worth worrying about. Just go out for a ride on your new bike and enjoy it.
Every simple one hour project is one rusted broken bolt away from from being a few hundred dollars more and 2 days extra days work.
Ran into this last night – Oh, I’ll fix that leaking hose bib. Shut off all water to the house, pull the stem, see the bad rubber flat washer. Put screwdriver on the screw – it falls apart. F****. Cut old washer off with razor blade, try vice grips on screw stub. No dice. Of course it’s a 50 yr old stem not stocked by the local (privately owned and good) hardware store. The good local plumbing supply shop closed 2 hours ago. Stuffed an oversized rubber washer in the hole, cranked down the stem and prayed.
And I get asked why I don’t want to start stuff like this after dinner?
No good deed goes unpunished
Preach.
I keep a stock of toilet parts, flat washers and faucet/shower cartridges in my plumbing box. Murphy’s Law ALWAYS applies.
One year, Thanksgiving morning, a shower cartridge blew out. Thank God it was the hot side. I was able to shut the valve at the water heater only. Now I stock a spare hot and cold valve for that shower, spare seals and seats for the other. I always have a spare kitchen faucet cartridge on hand.
Once bitten, twice shy.
How familiar do those little fatigued aluminum chunks look! That is what happens when you buy and use cheaply made aluminum wheel spacers. Luckily, I wasn’t on the track yet when one failed. There’s a reason they were sold to me so cheaply by the original owner.