Answers to your car questions

QUESTION

I am a great believer in checking the oil in my car every two weeks or just before I take any type of a long trip. My problem today is that the release cable inside the car is broken and I cannot get the hood to open. I have tried to get to the lock itself from under the front of the car but I cannot reach the lock. I took the car to the local body shop and they told me that it would cost about two hundred dollars because they will have to remove the grill to get at the lock. Have you ever run across this type of problem and if so, what do you suggest I do to fix it? I would appreciate any help that you can give me. Betty from Ancaster

ANSWER

Generally, when an in-car hood release cable breaks, it will break right at the release handle itself. If this is the case with your car then all the technician has to do is to peel back the casing of the hood release cable at the handle and with pliers, grab the inner cable and open the hood. They can then replace the cable. You have not told me which type of car that you own so I do not want to overrule the body shop’s diagnosis because they have seen the car and I have not. In saying that however, I have never seen a car with a front hood release where you cannot reach the hood release from under the front of a car, after you have removed the plastic stone guard. Maybe you should get a second opinion.

READER’S COMMENT

Mr. O’Sullivan, I hope you put as much effort into exposing the garages as you do in exposing a mistake or unintentional information left out of a plea for help from your readers. You seem to relish in the story line of your column when you expose a question from your readers when they accidently leave part of the complaint out of the email. That is most likely so that you take their complaint seriously and not because they are trying to hide anything from you. The garages today are rip off artists and you seem to make sure that you never expose them as much as you like to expose someone asking for your help. Shame on you and shame on the Spectator for allowing you to portray your readers as cheaters and liars. Alex from Brantford

MY COMMENT

I am a freelance automotive columnist so the Spectator does not hold any responsibility for what I put in my column. I put some of those complaints into the column because I want people to understand that it is very frustrating for me when I find out that their complaints are unfounded and my time has been wasted. I find that your claim that all garages are rip off artists is a generalization. There are very few, if any, garages that do not want to retain one of their customers. When I find that there is an impasse, it is generally because the customer is unreasonable and has destroyed any possibility of help from the garage or me after they have slandered and/or berated the garage’s employees to the point that the garage is not willing to keep that customer at any cost. Now that you have vented your frustration, I hope that you are now content.

QUESTION

I stored my 1996 Firebird in a supposedly heated garage over the winter and last weekend, when I went to get it out of storage, the car would not start. I had it towed to my garage where they found out that the battery had froze over the winter. I had to replace the battery for one hundred and thirty dollars. I went back to the storage place and presented them with the invoice for the battery and they told me that the garage was heated all winter and that none of the other stored cars had a battery problem. Is this something that you can help me with? Bob from St. Catherine’s

ANSWER

You should check with your garage once again because they told me that they believed that the battery had froze but were not sure. I told them that the storage outlet told me that the place, where you stored your vehicle, was heated all winter long. Your garage then told me “maybe we were wrong, we have been wrong before”. Your garage also told me that your Firebird battery was the original battery, which means that you have gone about seventeen years over the average life span of a battery. I think that that is a record.

QUESTION

Hi Dennis, I need your input about these “humps” that are being installed everywhere on the roads. Sometimes there are four installations in a three-block distance. I have a 2005 Saturn Vue that looks and runs well. I told my mechanic that it has to last as long as I do and I am in my eighties. Because of the age of my car, I always slow down and glide gently over the humps but then I see other cars not reducing speed and flying over them. I even had a car honk at me for slowing down. What are your thoughts when coming to these “humps”? Thank you. Joy from Burlington

ANSWER

Do not worry about what other people do with their cars as long as you take precautions with your vehicle. Slowing down when going over these speed bumps is the proper thing to do and the drivers who are speeding over them must not be aware of the damage being done to their cars’ undercarriage and tires. PS: To my readers: If possible, it would be appreciated if your emails would indicate the town, city or village that you live in. Please be advised that not all emails can be answered. Send your questions (be sure to include your address) by email to:: dennis.osullivan@cogeco.ca