Mundane News

[chazt]

The Star Trek spoof was a laugh. Thanks for posting

 

[chazt]

I’ve had an annual prostate exam for 16, soon to be 17 years. When the first proctologist retired, a younger colleague of his became my new doctor. The difference in their bedside manner was fascinating. The older guy was like Dr. McCoy, gruff, quick and harsh. His replacement walked into the room and chatted me up for a few minutes before donning his rubber glove. It was the proctological equivalent of flowers and a movie.

 

[Vacumatic]

I’ve had an annual prostate exam for 16, soon to be 17 years. When the first proctologist retired, a younger colleague of his became my new doctor. The difference in their bedside manner was fascinating. The older guy was like Dr. McCoy, gruff, quick and harsh. His replacement walked into the room and chatted me up for a few minutes before donning his rubber glove. It was the proctological equivalent of flowers and a movie.

It is when they take a run up that I get worried.

I have a friend who is a retired doctor in Texas, he happily goes and has this done every three years for his peace of mind.

For me the issue is all the stuff you have to go through before the exam, the evacuation and the fasting.

 

[p.b]

A relative has an Audi A3, she can barely afford to run it. The window switches on the drivers door have failed, the levers have all gone limp and don't power the windows, this is a known and common fault but means a replacement and access via the removed door card. Audi want £175 to look at it without doing any work. New switch unit is another £75 and two hours labour which I think works out at about £150 an hour.

These guys certainly know how to charge when it is a failure on their part.

I have an Audi. Audi are thieving bastards.

Out of interest- how long do you think a vehicle should operate without failure?

 

[chazt]

Out of interest- how long do you think a vehicle should operate without failure?

Apologies in advance for my 2p...

in my experience, Nissan and Saturn cars with regular maintenance i.e., oil changes, tire inflation/rotation, have been incident free for the duration of the 3-4 year lease, every car for the last ~30 years we’ve been leasing.

In 1984 I bought a new Toyota Tercel 5 speed station wagon. I drove it until 1998 and put on some 219,000 miles. It was perfect for the first 100k miles. Around that time things started to go one by one. Timing chain, radiator, windshield wiper motor, rack and pinion assembly, but I had an excellent mechanic who i trusted completely and he kept that car on the road until I concluded it had become a mobile money pit.

Scattered amongst all those experiences i had the great misfortune of leasing a 1998 Chevy Malibu for 3 years. That p o s broke down on my first drive home from the dealership. The faulty electrical system was always a wonky mess, but it was before the so called lemon laws and I had little recourse.

In the early-mid aughts when my kids were away at school and each needed her own reliable car, i leased them new Nissans in addition to my wife’s leased car. The payments were really stretching us, so I borrowed on permanent loan, my Dad’s Toyota Camry as he’d recently hung up his driver’s license. The Camry was mechanically original, 20 years old and tattered. But it got me to and from work for a good three years while the kids were in school simultaneously.

 

[p.b]

Apologies in advance for my 2p...

in my experience, Nissan and Saturn cars with regular maintenance i.e., oil changes, tire inflation/rotation, have been incident free for the duration of the 3-4 year lease, every car for the last ~30 years we’ve been leasing.

In 1984 I bought a new Toyota Tercel 5 speed station wagon. I drove it until 1998 and put on some 219,000 miles. It was perfect for the first 100k miles. Around that time things started to go one by one. Timing chain, radiator, windshield wiper motor, rack and pinion assembly, but I had an excellent mechanic who i trusted completely and he kept that car on the road until I concluded it had become a mobile money pit.

Scattered amongst all those experiences i had the great misfortune of leasing a 1998 Chevy Malibu for 3 years. That p o s broke down on my first drive home from the dealership. The faulty electrical system was always a wonky mess, but it was before the so called lemon laws and I had little recourse.

In the early-mid aughts when my kids were away at school and each needed her own reliable car, i leased them new Nissans in addition to my wife’s leased car. The payments were really stretching us, so I borrowed on permanent loan, my Dad’s Toyota Camry as he’d recently hung up his driver’s license. The Camry was mechanically original, 20 years old and tattered. But it got me to and from work for a good three years while the kids were in school simultaneously.

Did all the switches work on the Camry when it was 20 years old?
Do you have different expectations for something like and engine / transmission / wheel bearings that are ‘working’ all the time vs switches / lamps / heating system etc. that are turned on and off?