Why are some people so clueless when it comes to cars?

[randomlinh]

Originally posted by: OS

Originally posted by: dullard
1) It is impossible and inefficient to try to know everything. There is no logical reason that everyone needs to know cars. In fact, it is economically better for many people to not know cars. Specialization in narrow fields is better than attempting to have everyone know just a little of everything.

i disagree, it's something you use everyday and if anything, it's more economical to learn the basics since an oversight like this can cause an expensive crash not to mention liability if someone else sues your dumbass.

A person like that also probably never bothered to check tire pressure, so it's likely low, making it doubly so that this is a disaster waiting to happen.

I believe dullard was talking more in generalities.

But yes, in this case.. tire wear is very basic... if your tread is disappearing, go change tires. If you are completely clueless, there's a reason why routine maintenence exists. For something you use on a daily basis (making the broad assumption she did use it daily), you should make a little effort in understanding your tools.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: OS
i disagree, it's something you use everyday and if anything, it's more economical to learn the basics since an oversight like this can cause an expensive crash not to mention liability if someone else sues your dumbass.

A person like that also probably never bothered to check tire pressure, so it's likely low, making it doubly so that this is a disaster waiting to happen.

What is better economically, for a professional making $50+ an hour to spend 10 hours to do a simple car task (net $500 cost in time), or for him/her to pay a car person $100 to do that same task? Same goes with computer viruses. It is cheaper to pay $100 for someone to do it for you quickly in many cases than to take many, many of your own hours to do it. Time isn't infinite.

Yes, I am talking in generalities. Not everyone needs to be an expert on everything. But we can talk specifics too: If the gas station/oil change/dealer/routine car maintainence people were responsible and did their job this person would have been notified of the bald tires by the professionals.

 

[OS]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: OS
i disagree, it's something you use everyday and if anything, it's more economical to learn the basics since an oversight like this can cause an expensive crash not to mention liability if someone else sues your dumbass.

A person like that also probably never bothered to check tire pressure, so it's likely low, making it doubly so that this is a disaster waiting to happen.

What is better economically, for a professional making $50+ an hour to spend 10 hours to do a simple car task (net $500 cost in time), or for him/her to pay a car person $100 to do that same task?

Yes, I am talking in generalities. Not everyone needs to be an expert on everything. But we can talk specifics too: If the gas station/oil change/dealer/routine car maintainence people were responsible and did their job this person would have been notified of the bald tires by the professionals.

That's moot if the person in question doesn't even know it's supposed to be done like in this case. The jiffy lube changing your oil is not responsible for babysitting your tire condition. Certainly not more responsible than yourself.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: OS
i disagree, it's something you use everyday and if anything, it's more economical to learn the basics since an oversight like this can cause an expensive crash not to mention liability if someone else sues your dumbass.

A person like that also probably never bothered to check tire pressure, so it's likely low, making it doubly so that this is a disaster waiting to happen.

What is better economically, for a professional making $50+ an hour to spend 10 hours to do a simple car task (net $500 cost in time), or for him/her to pay a car person $100 to do that same task? Same goes with computer viruses. It is cheaper to pay $100 for someone to do it for you quickly in many cases than to take many, many of your own hours to do it. Time isn't infinite.

Yes, I am talking in generalities. Not everyone needs to be an expert on everything. But we can talk specifics too: If the gas station/oil change/dealer/routine car maintainence people were responsible and did their job this person would have been notified of the bald tires by the professionals.

What makes you think she's having the scheduled maintenance done? 😉

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: OS
That's moot if the person in question doesn't even know it's supposed to be done like in this case. The jiffy lube changing your oil is not responsible for babysitting your tire condition. Certainly not more responsible than yourself.

Jiffy Lube certainly does tell you about your tire condition. That is why we pay them to do a 20+ point car inspection with the oil change. It is their responsibility to fullfill that contract.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: mugs
What makes you think she's having the scheduled maintenance done? 😉

If the dealer failed to convince her to maintain the car, then she may not be maintaining the car. You of course understand my point - but you are trying to come up with extreme examples to poke little holes into it.

If the dealer etc did their job, she would be doing regular scheduled maintenance and there would be no problem. I'm not saying she has not responsibility at all. I'm saying that she can be "clueless when it comes to car" and still have a well maintained car. Don't try to morph that into an argument that she has no responsibilities. I never said that.

 

[OS]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: OS
That's moot if the person in question doesn't even know it's supposed to be done like in this case. The jiffy lube changing your oil is not responsible for babysitting your tire condition. Certainly not more responsible than yourself.

Jiffy Lube certainly does tell you about your tire condition. That is why we pay them to do a 20+ point car inspection with the oil change. It is their responsibility to fullfill that contract.

so what if your lazy ass doesn't get oil changed between 5K-10K miles, which is enough time for tires to go from usable to bald.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: OS
so what if your lazy ass doesn't get oil changed between 5K-10K miles, which is enough time for tires to go from usable to bald.

Read my response to Mugs. Jiffy Lube should have told her that her tires need replacing in 5K-10K miles. But of course she is also responsible to check the tires. But that doesn't mean she needs to be an expert in cars. She can be clueless and still do her responsibilites. Strawman arguments don't work.

 

[OS]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: OS
so what if your lazy ass doesn't get oil changed between 5K-10K miles, which is enough time for tires to go from usable to bald.

Read my response to Mugs. OF course she is responsible to check the tires. But she doesn't need to be an expert in cars. She can be clueless and still do her responsibilites. Strawman arguments don't work.

i think it's more likely than not in this case she might not even be taking her car in for basic maintenance.

This is hardly a strawman, every time it rains in socal, there are a million accidents and I'd be willing to bet that the majority of those cases, worn tires are a contributing factor, people driving around on bald ass tires that they never even bothered to look at.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: OS
I think it's more likely than not in this case she might not even be taking her car in for basic maintenance.

You are probably correct. She is responsible for that and if there is an accident, it is her fault.

You clearly don't understand my argument. Do you know the intimate functioning of your body? Can you perform emergency surgery on others? Many people answer "no" to that. But they can live long healthy lives being clueless about their bodies. All they need to do is to follow a few simple rules and go to regular checkups.

You can be very responsible and still be clueless. <- Please tell me what you disagree with in that statement. Pointing out that some people are not responsible does NOT invalidate that statement. It is a strawman argument that you make if you think I'm arguing that people who are irresponsible are ok.

 

[OS]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: OS
I think it's more likely than not in this case she might not even be taking her car in for basic maintenance.

You are probably correct. She is responsible for that and if there is an accident, it is her fault.

You clearly don't understand my argument. Do you know the intimate functioning of your body? Can you perform emergency surgery on others? Many people answer "no" to that. But they can live long healthy lives being clueless about their bodies. All they need to do is to follow a few simple rules and go to regular checkups.

You can be very responsible and still be clueless. <- Please tell me what you disagree with in that statement.

I don't believe the OP or anyone else here once said the woman needs to be an automotive engineer to drive a car. If anyone is strawmaning, it's you. Only that she's a bit of dumbass.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: mugs
What makes you think she's having the scheduled maintenance done? 😉

If the dealer failed to convince her to maintain the car, then she may not be maintaining the car. You of course understand my point - but you are trying to come up with extreme examples to poke little holes into it.

If the dealer etc did their job, she would be doing regular scheduled maintenance and there would be no problem. I'm not saying she has not responsibility at all. I'm saying that she can be "clueless when it comes to car" and still have a well maintained car. Don't try to morph that into an argument that she has no responsibilities. I never said that.

I understand your point of course, I'm just saying it's completely unapplicable to this situation. She absolutely should have been able to recognize when her tires are getting bald, and she absolutely should have known that is unsafe. If she doesn't know that bald tires make her car unsafe, she should not be on the road. You are stretching this situation to make this anyone's fault but her own to prove your own point, that people don't need to know everything about their cars. That is true, I don't think anyone will disagree with you about that. But this is one of the things they SHOULD know. They should also know that you need to get your oil changed every ~5k miles or whatever the manufacturer recommends. They should also know that you need to check your tire pressure occassionally. They should also know that you need to check your oil level occassionally. These are basic things that every car owner should know and do.

I'm not trying to come up with extreme examples to poke holes in your theory, the fact that her tires were that bald led me to believe that she most likely is NOT having her car properly maintained, or someone would have told her to get new tires.

All I'm saying is, if you're going to spend $50k on a car you ought to know when to recognize it needs maintenance.

 

[Rudee]

The same woman who might be an investment banker could easily think you are clueless for not having a decent investment portfolio? Being on top of investments may not be your thing, just like being on top of tire maintenance may not be hers.

 

[rh71]

The one thing that bugs me the most is when people spend $60k+ on their BMW/Mercedes and they don't even take care of it... the front rims are all black from brake dust. :roll:

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: Rudee
The same woman who might be an investment banker could easily think you are clueless for not having a decent investment portfolio? Being on top of investments may not be your thing, just like being on top of tire maintenance may not be hers.

I'm not cruising down the freeway at 70mph on my investment portfolio though. 😉

 

[axnff]

Originally posted by: OS

Originally posted by: dullard

Originally posted by: OS
That's moot if the person in question doesn't even know it's supposed to be done like in this case. The jiffy lube changing your oil is not responsible for babysitting your tire condition. Certainly not more responsible than yourself.

Jiffy Lube certainly does tell you about your tire condition. That is why we pay them to do a 20+ point car inspection with the oil change. It is their responsibility to fullfill that contract.

so what if your lazy ass doesn't get oil changed between 5K-10K miles, which is enough time for tires to go from usable to bald.

Taking that a step further, the recommended oil change period could very well be 15k - 25k miles for a Mercedes (I know some BMWs have very high recommended intervals). In that amount of time, depending on the tire, you could go through two or more sets of tires before it's next servicing.

Most dealers will send you a letter when they expect you to hit a certain maintenance point. That is the highest level of responsibility they have. They should not have to keep a track of every aftermarket part irresponsible know-nothings bolt to their car and its maintenance regime.

People need to get over this "ignorance is bliss" crap and at least find out basic maintenance procedures for anything they buy. I'll give these people a free tip: RTFM, it has all the maintenance items you'll ever need to know, and you don't have to become a car expert, hobbyist, or even novice to do it. It's just part of owning a car. Kind of like how vacuuming is part of living with carpet - you just do it.

I really wish the constitution had a "bill of responsibility" right after the "bill of rights". Just imagine "You have the right to exercise common sense". Then again, if the majority of the population doesn't have common sense, it's not so common, is it ...?

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: ahurtt

Originally posted by: j00fek
most women are like this, they have someone else do everything for them. so why should they pay attention to the little things.

fixed.

That's women for ya. To them a high performance luxury automobile is no different than the blender or the garage door opener. Push a button and it does what you want it to and you never have to really worry about maintaining it. Putting in gas is like plugging it in and that's about as much as they know.

**Disclaimer** = I know this is going to piss off women but I see it far more often than not. I realize not every woman is like this but they are few and far between. And yes, there are some men, though seemingly more rare, who are just as clueless.

I have to agree with ahurtt on this... He's describing my wife perfectly😉

 

[Patt]

Some people just don't give a sh1t about cars ... like me 🙂 Although I pay a reputable mechanic, and see him frequently, I could care less about how the thing works, so long as it does. Just the same way most people are about computers.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: mugs
I understand your point of course, I'm just saying it's completely unapplicable to this situation.

I am discussing only the thread title "Why are some people so clueless when it comes to cars?" The original post is what is completely unapplicable to this title though.

You are stretching this situation to make this anyone's fault but her own to prove your own point, that people don't need to know everything about their cars.

I said repeatedly that it is her fault if she doesn't maintain it. But that she doesn't need to know the details on how to maintain it, that is why people set up shops to do the work for you. You can be responsible and yet clueless.

They should also know that you need to check your tire pressure occassionally. They should also know that you need to check your oil level occassionally. These are basic things that every car owner should know and do.

Yes, I agree. But that has nothing to do with my point or the thread title.

if you're going to spend $50k on a car you ought to know when to recognize it needs maintenance.

I agree too, but that has nothing to do with my point or the thread title.

 

[BoomerD]

Most people just want to put gas in them and go. Keeping track of oil changes or tire wear never enters their thoughts. There ARE services you can pay to keep track of such things for you, or many good repair shops will take care of it for you once you become a regular. The BMW repair shop I use< (had to farm repairs out when I got hurt a couple of years ago) does a full vehicle inspection every time it's in there, and lets me know what needs done, even the small inconsequential stuff...tire wear and such are routinely measured and noted on the invoice.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: OS
I don't believe the OP or anyone else here once said the woman needs to be an automotive engineer to drive a car. If anyone is strawmaning, it's you. Only that she's a bit of dumbass.

Yes, she is a dumbass. The thread title and many other threads all say that you can't be clueless to be able to drive a car. I'm clueless about many things I use, yet I use them responsibly and pay professionals to maintain them. That is my point. You can be clueless and still be responsible.

 

[thomsbrain]

this is why you see so many people with flat tires on the side of the road. worn tires + plus underinflation + 80 MPH = blown tire.

 

[Rubycon]

Some just have no need for polluting, noisy, inefficient things. 😉

 

[Koing]

A guy said he crashed his M3. I was like wtf? He then preceeds to say it was a 318 😛, I had to correct him he crashed a BMW 3 series and it was most definately not an M3. He was doing 60MPH around a roundabout in the wet...

Koing

 

[randomlinh]

Originally posted by: Koing
A guy said he crashed his M3. I was like wtf? He then preceeds to say it was a 318 😛, I had to correct him he crashed a BMW 3 series and it was most definately not an M3. He was doing 60MPH around a roundabout in the wet...

Koing

You know what I really hate.. people calling the mazda3 an M3 for short. It's damn annoying because the M3 name is already taken.. you can't just slide in. mz3, ok.. i do that all the time.. but m3... irks the hell out of me. /end going OT