Car Talk

November 1998

Dear Tom and Ray:

I park every day 50 feet from where Bill Gates parks his Lexus. I enjoy having [redtruck.gif] my beat-up little 1990 Pontiac 6000 parked wheel-to-wheel with those foreign, luxury, millionaire, non-previously-owned vehicles! Lately I've noticed a noxious odor coming through the air vents to intoxicate me. My darling husband of less than a year thinks it's something dripping onto the exhaust manifold. Also, recently, when the weather suddenly turned hot, as I was driving home, I blasted the air conditioner, and a cloud of stuff came out of the vents at me. It was white and looked just like a cloud. It didn't smell like anything. Are these two events related? Buying a new car or foreign car is not an option for me. -- Maryanne

Tom: Not to worry, Maryanne. I don't think you need to buy a new car because of this. You can go right on embarrassing Mr. Gates and his highest-ranking executives in the Microsoft parking lot.

Ray: You have two problems. Your husband's probably right about the first one. An acrid odor coming in through the vents is often due to oil dripping onto some part of the hot exhaust system.

Tom: You want to get that taken care of for two reasons. One, it's probably toxic and may be impairing your mental capacities. In fact, you're probably the one responsible for making my Internet Explorer crash!

Ray: The second reason you want to fix it is because you're losing oil, and your little Pontiac won't last long if you run too low or out of oil.

Tom: The other problem is a meteorological one. You simply created a San Francisco-like weather pattern in your duct vents. You had some hot air in there, and when the cool, dry air came blasting out of the air conditioner, the moisture in the hot air condensed and formed a cloud.

Ray: It didn't smell because it was just water vapor. But if you can get enough hot air in those vents, you might be able to make it rain inside your little Pontiac. Wouldn't that be exciting!

Don't get stuck with a lemon. Be an informed shopper. Read Tom and Ray's guide "How to Buy a Great Used Car: Secrets Only Your Mechanic Knows." To order, send (check or money order) to Ruin, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. You can also order online.

Back to the November 1998 index