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Spinning My Tires is one man's view of the world of cars. Random thoughts, ideas and comments pop up here, all of them related to owning, driving and restoring cars. I've been doing this car thing as long as I can remember, and have enjoyed a great many car-related experiences, some of which I hope to share with you here. And I always have an opinion one way or another. Enjoy. E-mails are welcomed--if you have thoughts of your own to share, please send them. Additional Spinning My Tires editorials can be found on the Archives page. 4/2/03 Car Guy Karma I know a lot about cars. I mean A LOT. I’m sure many of you do, too. Like me, you probably read several different magazines each month, have owned several different makes, models and years of cars, and have gotten yourself dirty from head to toe repairing them. You just know whether you're a car guy. Once others learn of my experience, they often come to me with questions, problems and requests for advice. Good or bad, I typically have suggestions and answers for them. Co-workers have said to me, “My car’s making this funny metallic rattling noise, but only sometimes and at low speeds. Do you know what it is?” (Catalytic converter heat shield is loose.) They’ve asked, “What kind of tires should I get?” (The best you can afford—with tires you always get what you pay for.) I’ve heard, “What kind of car should I buy?” about a million times. (Drive absolutely everything in your price range, cars, trucks, whatever, and buy the one that makes you smile widest when you turn the key.) Yet another co-worker has asked about the benefits of synthetic oil in his new motorcycle. I’m a big fan of Mobil 1 synthetics and use them in every single one of my cars. I think the added expense is worth the added peace of mind the better oil brings, even if none of my cars get abused. And while I always recommend the synthetic for cars, motorcycles are totally different animals, and I said as much. “Go by what the manual says,” I told him. A cop-out maybe, but also a safe one. I certainly don’t want to be responsible for a problem with the clutch or gearbox, which are also lubricated by the engine oil. You’ve probably also been asked to help out (or worse, volunteered) with a repair. For instance, I think it’s a crime to let friends and family members pay someone to fix their brakes, especially when shops charge hundreds of dollars for a job that takes an hour and about $50 worth of parts. My boss asked me to loan him some tools to do his brakes (he’d been quoted $300+ for new pads and rotors on his Mercury Sable). I’ll probably go help him instead, because that’s what I do. It’s an easy job that takes no time and requires no special tools. I’ve helped stranded motorists because one guy, a long time ago, bailed me out of a tough situation on the side of the road and all he asked for in return was for me to go out and vote. So I spent some karma with him and now I make sure I vote in every election. That fellow, whose name I never learned, was all about Car Guy Karma and he taught me everything I needed to know about it. I think this is the essence of being a car guy. People trust you to have answers that normal folks don’t, and they trust you to give them straight, because you don’t have any investment in the result. I tell people at the gas station all the time to stop pumping the high octane stuff into their Cavaliers—it won’t make the car run better, faster or cleaner, and it won’t “clean out the engine” whatever that means. Save your money, guys. So I figure I’m building up this store of goodwill by helping people with the things I do best. I’m happy to do it and don’t ever expect payment for anything. But I do expect that someday, that karma will come back to me at just the right moment (which it has--repeatedly). When I need a rare part, someone will have it. When I need a hand pulling the engine, somebody will be there. If my car breaks down (HA!), I can get a ride. This happens because I’m not the only car guy. And all us car guys know about this karma thing, whether we consciously identify it or not. And I don’t forget the karma other guys have banked with me. If you’ve helped me in the past, you go to the head of the line when you need a hand. Doug and Nick Seybold have spent a lot of time with me, answered hundreds of questions, and removed my kingpins all without asking for anything in return (and I always offer to pay). They seem genuinely interested in seeing my project come to completion because of their love for the cars, not the money. Still, if there’s ever anything I can do to repay them for their generosity, you’d better bet I’ll be there to do it, no questions asked. That’s how karma works. It’s an honor system between people of a like mind, and the rules are pretty much universally understood. The people who ignore the rules (and you’ve met them) are often shunned and you can smell them a mile away. Hucksters, crooks, scam-artists, whatever you want to call them, they abound in the car hobby. These guys don’t have any karma, and you know it the moment they start talking. They know it and it shows in everything they do. And you can always see that they’re just a little bit ashamed of what they’re doing, even if they don’t act like it. They’ve broken the code of ethics that exist as a part of the natural order of things. They’ve spent their karma but never earned it back. Most of all, however, Car Guy Karma is about having fun with your iron. As soon as it stops being fun, I’ll cash in my store and move on. But don’t bet on that happening any time soon. Kudos to Don Dillard for the inspiration for this editorial. I know exactly what you mean, Don... E-mail me at toolman8@sbcglobal.net This page accessed Thanks, Fidget! |