Answers to your car questions

QUESTION

My dad told me to ask you for help with a car that I purchased about four months ago. The car runs good and it is the one that I have wanted every since I was able to drive. My dad suggested that I have the oil changed since he did not see an oil sticker on the car. I did that and the garage told me that the tires that were on my car were more than fifty per cent worn and three of them had cracks on the sides. When I approached the dealer, they told me that the car had passed the mechanical inspection and that there was not any mention about the tires being unsafe. I was not expecting to pay seven or eight hundred dollars for tires on a car that I had just purchased four months ago with a mechanical certificate. Can you do anything for me?

PS: My dad used to work for you when you were a General Motor’s Service Manger and he would like to talk to you if you have the time.

Eleanor from Hamilton

ANSWER

I did contact the dealer for you and this is what I found: The salesperson who sold you the car is no longer working at that dealership and I was unable to locate him. I do not know what was said at the time of the sale but according to the service people at the dealership, the car that was sold to you was mounted with four snow tires. Part of the attraction for you to buy the car was that four summer tires came with the car. According to the service people at the dealership, no one had looked at the four summer tires that were in the trunk of your vehicle. That being said, the dealership had an obligation to have inspected the tires to make sure that they were roadworthy. What puzzles me in all of this is that the garage, that recently changed the oil in your car, is the same garage that told you that the tires were more than fifty per cent worn and had sidewall cracks. This was the same garage that installed the summer tires for you three months ago and at that time, did not mention anything negative about the tires. I asked the garage about how the tires were measured and they told me that they just visually looked at the tires and they might have passed them on a mechanical safety if not for the sidewall cracks. The garage also told me that it was not a licensed technician who removed

the snows tires and installed the summer tires three months ago or they would have condemned the tires at that time.

The dealership is well known to your family and they want to keep you, as a valued customer, so here is what I have suggested that they do and they have agreed.

I am at this time going to give you two options:

(1) The dealership will purchase four used tires for you and you will only pay for the installation and the balancing of the tires, which comes to one hundred dollars plus tax.

(2) The second option is that you will only pay fifty per cent of the retail cost of four new tires, which comes to four hundred dollars plus tax, which also includes balancing and installation.

PS: I have recommended to your dad that you take the second option and he has agreed.

QUESTION

My son, (the want-a-be mechanic) has purchased an older GM car that was installed with a six-cylinder engine. He purchased the car “as is”. He now has a V8 engine that was given to him and he wants to install it in this car. I have told him that the frame structure of his car is not suited for a heavy V8 engine but he told me that he has checked it out and the V8 can be installed. What is your opinion?

Dad from Paris

ANSWER

You have not given me much information in order for me to help you prevent your son from installing a V8 engine in a car that came from the factory with a sixcylinder engine. It would have helped if you had given me the age of the car that he purchased “as is”. Let’s say for example, if the car was a midsize or larger car built back in the sixties or seventies then the frame and steering components would most likely accommodate a V8 engine. I would need to know a lot more about the year, make and model of the car before I can give you a definite answer. Since he purchased the car “as is”, he is going to have to get a mechanical certificate to make sure that the car is roadworthy before he can put the ownership of the car in his name. He may have a difficult time getting a licensed technician to certify the car for him. Here is what I recommend that you have him do before he changes the engines: Tell your son to speak to the technician whom he will use to certify the car and ask him or her if they would have a problem certifying the car if he installs a V8 engine. Also have him check with his potential insurance provider to make sure that they will insure the vehicle if he switches the engines.

To my readers: Please indicate the town, city or village that you live in. Be advised that unfortunately not all emails can be answered. Send your questions (including address) by email to: dennis.osullivan665@gmail.com