http://cartalk.com/content/columns/ The twice-weekly nationally-syndicated automotive Q&A column from America's funniest car mechanics, Tom and Ray Magliozzi. 2010, Dewey, Cheetham and Howe 2010, Dewey, Cheetham and Howe http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2010/February/01.html Dear Tom and Ray: We had a big snowstorm this week. Not wanting to scrape the ice off my windshield, the night before the storm I looked around for something to put under my wipers to keep the ice off. Unable to come up with anything, I contemplated alternatives. Then it came to me: Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil! I smeared some Filippo Berio on the windshield and waited for the snow. The next morning, the snow slid off the windshield like a greasy zeppole. Great, I thought. When the snow stopped, I noticed a haze on the windshield. I figured it would wash off. Well, I was wrong -- the stuff has adhered to the glass as if it were baked on. I'm still scraping off the hardened oil. Help! -- Tom Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2010/February/01.html 2010-02-09T05:00:00Z http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2010/January/10.html Dear Tom and Ray: I live in interior Alaska, and it gets cold. How cold, you ask? It's been -40 F (that's negative 40) for the past week or so. My husband and I go back and forth as to whether to keep the car's block heater plugged in all the time, or whether to use a timer and run it only some of the time. I've heard that too much heat is bad for the oil. This morning I used the timer, and my car decided it was too cold for the transmission to engage. I was stuck. At -45 F, I don' t have to go to work. At -40 F, I do (administrative policy). I want to use this as leverage to get my husband to let me keep my car plugged in more of the time. What do you think? -- Christie Fri, 05 Feb 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2010/January/10.html 2010-02-05T05:00:00Z http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2010/January/09.html Dear Tom and Ray: I live in New Hampshire, and have a 2002 Saab 9-5 Aero. About 10 weeks ago, after putting on the snow tires, I personally put the little blue "hub covers" with the Saab logo on the center of each wheel. Just for kicks, I put on the covers so they all were facing exactly the same way. The other day, I was walking up to the car and noticed that all the covers are now misaligned. I'm thinking to myself: "How did that happen? Did someone sneak into my garage at night and purposely reposition the hub covers?" This is really baffling me, and I've come up with several possible explanations: (1) Remember the movie "My Cousin Vinny" when Marisa Tomei gives her courtroom explanation of Positraction? I am thinking that maybe there's a similar system in my Saab that's causing this phenomenon. (2) Maybe the front wheels spun unequally on ice. (3) When taking a corner to the left, maybe the left wheel spins less than the right one does. In any case, please provide an explanation for this. I know it doesn't really matter how the hub covers are positioned, but it's driving me nuts. Thanks! -- Phil Tue, 02 Feb 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2010/January/09.html 2010-02-02T05:00:00Z http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2010/January/08.html Dear Tom and Ray: I am a valet at a local country club in Wisconsin. As you well know, it gets very cold here in the winter months, and that leads to my question. As a favor to the members who choose to valet park with me, I like to warm up their cars before they leave. I let the cars run anywhere from two to 15 minutes, depending on how long they take to get ready to leave, get their coats, finish conversations, etc. So my question is: Am I doing any damage to these automobiles? Would they be better off next winter driving away in ice-cold cars? -- John Thu, 28 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2010/January/08.html 2010-01-28T05:00:00Z http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2010/January/07.html Dear Tom and Ray: I've heard you refer to "bulletins" ("maybe there's a bulletin on it") in addressing repair problems. My question is this: If there is, in fact, a bulletin out on a repair, does that mean the dealership cannot (or ought not) charge full price for the repair? My Saturn wagon just had a transmission pressure-control solenoid replaced, to the tune of $800. As I was writing out the check, I noticed a bulletin that the technician had clipped to the bill, and I asked the serviceman if I could see it. He was hesitant, especially when I asked him for a copy of it. Is the bulletin just an aid for the technician to follow, or is it a correction of a defect, and therefore something that should be covered under warranty? -- Bill Tue, 26 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2010/January/07.html 2010-01-26T05:00:00Z http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2010/January/06.html Dear Tom and Ray: I'm living with a bunch of poor, just-out-of-college/sometimes-in-grad-school folks who are planning to share my car. I don't want to sell it. I'd like to come up with a way to let everyone contribute based on how much they use the car and how they use it. How does highway driving compare with city traffic for wear and tear on the car? It obviously has an effect on gas, but what about the engine and other parts? -- Dan Thu, 21 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2010/January/06.html 2010-01-21T05:00:00Z http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2010/January/05.html Dear Tom and Ray: I recently purchased a 2009 Chevy Traverse. My wife, who is a vertically challenged 5 feet 1 inch, likes to sit on a cushion to gain greater visibility. However, when she sits in the front passenger seat with a fabric material cushion, the warning light indicates that her seat's air bag is off. So, currently, in order to ride as safely as possible, she does not use the cushion. Is the air bag really turned off when she sits on the cushion? If it is, please explain to this non-automotive engineer how her sitting on a cushion is compromising the system. -- Calvin Wed, 20 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2010/January/05.html 2010-01-20T05:00:00Z http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2010/January/04.html Dear Tom and Ray: When I was a kid, my siblings and I loved to play with the power windows -- up a little, down a little, up some more, down some more, all the way up. Our elders always told us to cut it out because we'd wear out the switches. Now that I have kids of my own who love to do the same thing, I find it annoying, so I tell them to cut it out because they'll wear out the switches. But it makes me wonder -- can you really wear out power-window switches, or were my elders fibbing, just the way I am? -- John Thu, 14 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2010/January/04.html 2010-01-14T05:00:00Z http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2010/January/03.html Dear Tom and Ray: I am a doctor living in an area that typically can get 6 to 8 inches of snow on the ground at some point in the winter. Snow plows are not always out on the roads when I drive. For this reason, I need a four-wheel-drive vehicle; however, I don't know if SUVs, like the Honda CR-V or BMW X3 or X5, are superior in snow to lower-riding all-wheel-drive cars, like Audis or Subarus. Do I really need to be higher up in an SUV, or could I get through snowdrifts in a sedan? I get concerned about it because I have to be at the hospital no matter what the conditions are outside. This dictates what I drive, even if gas mileage is poor. -- Claire Wed, 13 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2010/January/03.html 2010-01-13T05:00:00Z http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2010/January/02.html Dear Tom and Ray: Can you explain why equivalent cars sold in Europe get much better fuel economy, compared with those sold in the U.S.? As an example, I was looking -- I suppose out of boredom -- at the Honda U.K. Web site. It shows the mileage for the Honda Jazz (which is called the Honda Fit here) at around 50 mpg, just as is, off the showroom floor. It's not a hybrid version, just the regular car! The equivalent base model in the U.S. comes in somewhere in the 30s for mpg. What's up? And yes, I know that an Imperial gallon is slightly bigger than a U.S. gallon. But the 10 percent difference in volume alone cannot explain the discrepancy in mileage. -- Lawrence Thu, 07 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2010/January/02.html 2010-01-07T05:00:00Z http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2010/January/01.html Dear Tom and Ray: I am having a philosophical debate with my father that I hope you can offer some closure on. About two years ago, my 2007 Toyota Matrix lost a hubcap during a 220-mile drive. Immediately, my father told me to go to the dealership to get the hubcap replaced. The next day, I went to the dealership, paid 70-odd bucks and off I went. Within a week, another hubcap fell off. And again, my father was quick to say it NEEDED to be replaced. I made the argument that it was too expensive, and that I didn't mind the look of a missing hubcap. I held my ground for a while, but he conspired against me and got a new one for me during an oil change. My father's argument is that it makes the car look ugly, cheap, poorly cared for and run down (which, consequently, sounds like one of Tom's cars!). I think it's too expensive, and view hubcaps as lacking a functional purpose that would warrant immediate replacement. We could then get into further discussion about cheapskate-ism, but for now I'd just like to know if there is a real need to replace a hubcap quickly, and is there a functional (not aesthetic) purpose of a hubcap? -- Chris Tue, 05 Jan 2010 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2010/January/01.html 2010-01-05T05:00:00Z http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2009/December/13.html Dear Tom and Ray: I have often wondered, when I see a street scene in Havana, how they've managed to keep those '50s vintage cars operating all these years. Of course, we are conditioned to replace a car because of a full ashtray or if a bird defecates on the hood. But still, wouldn't 50-plus-year-old cars be increasingly expensive to maintain? I would think the majority of those cars would be not only mechanically challenged, but very unsound structurally. And how do they obtain replacement parts? -- John Wed, 30 Dec 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2009/December/13.html 2009-12-30T05:00:00Z http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2009/December/12.html Dear Tom and Ray: I just got married, and last week my new husband and I got into our first disagreement in the car! He doesn't put his blinker on when he's stopped, waiting to turn. He waits until he gets INTO the intersection. At that point, he will turn the blinker on for just a moment, until he completes the turn and it automatically clicks off. When I asked him about this, he says that he doesn't want his blinker bulb to burn out prematurely, so he uses it only when it is a safety concern. My questions to you are: (1) How much does a blinker bulb cost; (2) does his little trick truly impact bulb life; and (3) isn't this "improper use of a turn signal"? He drives a 2003 Ford Mustang. I told him that it not only is dangerous not to give other drivers as much notice as possible, but it also is "ticketable." Can you help me win our first married argument? Thank you! -- Mary Wed, 30 Dec 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2009/December/12.html 2009-12-30T05:00:00Z http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2009/December/11.html Dear Tom and Ray: I have a 1997 Plymouth Breeze with 110,000 miles on it. I changed the brake-light bulb in the passenger-side taillight, and now none of the lights in that taillight works. When I turn on my right blinker, the indicator on the dashboard blinks very fast. I think I may have blown a fuse, but I don't know which one to look at. Any suggestions before another kind policeman pulls me over to give me a warning? -- Margi Thu, 24 Dec 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2009/December/11.html 2009-12-24T05:00:00Z http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2009/December/10.html Dear Tom and Ray: So, should you tip your mechanic? Would it be insulting? Would it be appreciated? How do you know how much you should tip if, indeed, you should tip at all? I ask because recently I went to a mechanic I found in The Mechanics Files on your Web site (www.cartalk.com/mechanics). I had two problems. No. 1: I had a nail in my tire (turns out it had not created a leak, but they spent some time searching to be sure). No. 2: My engine was dying at awkward times, and they discovered that a little hose that connects the vacuum sensor had a tear, and replaced it. They didn't charge me a penny! When he told me this over the phone, I was astonished. They get paid a lot for their time, and they could have spent that time earning money by fixing someone else's car. I decided to insist they take some money. But when I got there, it occurred to me that it might seem ungrateful of me, or insulting, so I chickened out and thanked them too many times and left. The next day I brought them a homemade chocolate cake, and thanked them again. But I wonder if I'm ignorant of some code or courtesy that would make a tip appropriate. Please advise! -- Kyleleen Tue, 22 Dec 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2009/December/10.html 2009-12-22T05:00:00Z http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2009/December/09.html Dear Tom and Ray: We had a dead battery and called for a jump-start. The service agent could not jump-start the battery with his cables. He then proceeded to turn another battery over and lay it on top of my battery. Is this a common practice, and is this a safe practice? Could this have caused any damage to the electrical system? He left all the accessories on, and my headlights blew out and the alternator had to be replaced. -- Susan Fri, 18 Dec 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2009/December/09.html 2009-12-18T05:00:00Z http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2009/December/08.html Dear Tom and Ray: My daughter was going to soccer practice in our 2001 Mercury Sable Wagon. When she turned the key, there was an explosion that apparently blew the intake manifold off the engine. Needless to say, it drove a bit rough after that. The mechanic could not offer any speculation as to why this happened. But I really need to be able to discuss this semi-intelligently with my father-in-law, who is a car expert. Otherwise, he'll think I'm not manly. Please help. -- Brian Fri, 18 Dec 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2009/December/08.html 2009-12-18T05:00:00Z http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2009/December/07.html Dear Tom and Ray: We had a dead battery and called for a jump-start. The service agent could not jump-start the battery with his cables. He then proceeded to turn another battery over and lay it on top of my battery. Is this a common practice, and is this a safe practice? Could this have caused any damage to the electrical system? He left all the accessories on, and my headlights blew out and the alternator had to be replaced. -- Susan Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2009/December/07.html 2009-12-17T05:00:00Z http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2009/December/06.html Dear Tom and Ray: My daughter was going to soccer practice in our 2001 Mercury Sable Wagon. When she turned the key, there was an explosion that apparently blew the intake manifold off the engine. Needless to say, it drove a bit rough after that. The mechanic could not offer any speculation as to why this happened. But I really need to be able to discuss this semi-intelligently with my father-in-law, who is a car expert. Otherwise, he'll think I'm not manly. Please help. -- Brian Tue, 15 Dec 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2009/December/06.html 2009-12-15T05:00:00Z http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2009/December/05.html Dear Tom and Ray: I once knew a local minister who completely deflated all his tires twice annually, then reinflated them with fresh air. He claimed the procedure prevents bumpiness and makes the car ride smoother. I think he's crazy, but his claim was just persuasive enough to leave a slight shred of doubt in my mind. So I thought I'd end my sleepless nights spent pondering this scenario by asking the experts. Thanks! -- Cliff Sun, 13 Dec 2009 05:00:00 GMT http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns//Archive/2009/December/05.html 2009-12-13T05:00:00Z