DENNIS O’SULLIVAN
ANSWERS TO YOUR CAR QUESTIONS
A woman adept with Bondo questions whether males have any respect for women who can outdo them in car body repairs.
QUESTION
I paid two hundred dollars for an old car that was in an accident. The left side had been damaged and I repaired it myself. I knocked out the dents as best as I could in the left rear door and the left rear fender. I then used about one gallon of body filler to smooth out the dents and the car actually looks pretty good. I now have a good running car for only three hundred dollars plus my labour. My friend, who is a body man, told me that the amount of body filler that I used will cause the car to be heavy on the left side and will cause tracking problems plus tire wear.
I think that I have done a great job at repairing the body of the car and I like the car plus I have not spent a lot of money on it. My boyfriend thinks that he is just jealous that I could do the body repair myself. I told him that I was going to ask you about his comment and he said that you would agree with him.
Do you agree with him that this body filler will affect the weight and tracking of the car?
Thanks, Donna from Simcoe
ANSWER
A gallon of Bondo (body filler) is a lot of filler to put on the side of the car and the Bondo will add some weight but the car will only feel the difference when you are not sitting in the driver’s seat. When travelling on the road, you see multiple cars with only one person in the car and that does not affect the tracking of the car nor does it speed up tire wear.
Some men find it difficult to understand that a woman can do bodywork just as well as they can. The only difference in the body repair done by you and a professional body man is that a body man would not have used that much Bondo.
I am sure that your car does look good but also make sure that your two hundred dollar car is mechanically safe for the road.
QUESTION
I purchased a car from a used car dealer about two weeks ago and the alternator light came on one day while driving. I went back to the used car dealer and they refused to replace the alternator for me. I told them that the alternator, according to the Ministry Of Transportation, is part of the mechanical safety and that they should replace the alternator for me. They told me that it was not part of the mechanical safety and will not do anything for me.
Can you help? Oldo from Brantford
ANSWER
A licensed technician would not certify a vehicle with the alternator light on but the alternator is not part of the mechanical safety.
There is however, another part to your story that you left out. In your letter to me you forgot to tell me the type of car that you purchased so I had someone call the phone number that you included in your letter to me. He spoke to someone at your home who informed him that your car’s alternator started to act up only after you tried to boost her car. This is an important part of your story and, if true, you know that the dealer owes you nothing. If these facts are not correct then please write to me again.
P.S.: I hope I spelled your name properly but your writing was not very clear.
QUESTION
I have a 2009 Toyota Camry V6. I change the transmission oil every 60,000 kms as recommended by Toyota.
I want to know if I need to change the filter in the transmission when doing the oil change. The dealer only does an oil change without changing the filter. They told me that the filter doesn't need to be changed because it's a metal filter at the bottom of the transmission.
I was just wondering if you have had any experience with this kind of transmission.
Take care, Ronaldo
ANSWER
The transmission oil filters, on many of today’s cars, have steel mesh type filters that generally do not need to be changed on transmission oil changes. It would be, however, up to the technician doing the job to determine if the oil condition requires the filter to also be changed while changing the oil.
The Toyota technician doing the transmission oil change made the determination that the filter was not in need of being changed so I would abide by the recommendation of the technician.
Dennis O’Sullivan can be reached by email at: dennis.osullivan@cogeco.ca or by regular mail at Box 10019 Winona, ON, L8E 5R1. Be sure to mention where you reside when writing to Dennis.