On Sat, 05 Aug 2006 21:19:42 GMT, Lew Hodgett
wrote:

Frank Boettcher wrote:

Don't know where you live but I've never heard of that anywhere.

If it interests you, start checking around.

I think it is poppycock, but I know it's not true in Boston, Philly,
Houston, Tulsa, Mineapolis, Birmingham, and anywhere else I've ever
lived or have relatives living. Please, you made the claim, tell us
where you are restricted from working on your car. By who, the
government?

Most vehicles take 4 quarts. Cost for those and a filter about 12
bucks on sale. Cost at the quick change places about $25. There are
no corner gas stations that change oil around here.

Even my little Tonka Toy truck uses 6 qts with a filter change.

Tonka toy? Please tell us what vehicle you have or know of that,
without an extended pan, uses six quarts. I'm curious.
Must be a very small vehicle.

Average.

Around here, $15 gets an oil & filter change when they run a sale, but
haven't checked since crude hit $75/bbl.

Where is here. Maybe I need to move there. At that rate, labor and
overhead are free.

Special tools? I maintain four vehicles in my family and the only
tools needed are a plug socket, extension, swivel and a rachet.

You obviously never worked on Volkswagons, especially the diesel ones,
the little buggers damn near require a special tool to pop the hood.

Yes, I have, but not recently.

My four vehicles currently average 140K. I do almost all the work on
them.

It is obviously a labor of love.

No, a matter of wanting it done right and not paying a fortune to have
it done wrong.

However, in the spirit of the original post, my sons do very little,
and I don't know why they never took to it.

They are obviously smart enough to have found what they consider more
productive ways to spend their free time than being a weekend grease
monkey.
They are very smart, however, I hope they will eventually learn that a
little elbow grease will save them a lot of money.


Give them credit.

Everybody adopts what works for them.

Today, I'd rather make sawdust than spend time trying to get the
grease out from my fingernails (even with gloves) after trying to mess
with a vehicle.

I do both.

Lew