Car talk.
#062
Usually, once a week I stop in downtown Williamson on the corner of Third Avenue and Logan Street and make a picture of the marquee on the old Cinderella Theatre (I wrote about it here last year). As I was walking back to my car (it feels weird to write car instead of truck, but read on), I caught the marquee’s reflection in a puddle which I liked as a one-off picture.
Car, you say?
The week before last, I bought a 2012 Toyota Yaris hatchback with nearly 217,000 miles from a friend who moved across the country. With gas prices continuing to climb and driving a three-quarter ton truck that gets about 13mpg (as opposed to about 34mpg with the Yaris), it was a deal I just couldn’t pass up. I work from home most days of the week, but I commute (an hour and a half away) one day a week. Driving the Toyota to work averages out to a savings of about $30 per week. If current gas prices stay the same, the car will pay for itself in about 16 months. It’s also mentally much easier to fill up an 11-gallon tank than it is a 35-gallon tank, but they’re different vehicles for different purposes.
In the last few years, I’ve found that I really like doing our family’s vehicle maintenance. While I didn’t grow up with shade tree mechanics or tinkerers in my family, YouTube has become an invaluable resource for reference and learning how to solve both simple and complex issues. That’s extended to household maintenance as well. I enjoy working with my hands and being able to fix things myself, learn something new, and save some money (usually) in the process.
After a relatively painless visit to the DMV where I got a new title, registration, and license plate, I did a bit of routine maintenance including changing the oil, oil filter, engine air filter, cabin air filter, cleaning the fog from the headlights, and installing a phone mount. In the last couple of days, I’ve replaced a missing fog light cover, a busted armrest bezel, and rear wiper blade. Today, I’ll replace the spark plugs. I reset the maintenance light, but will likely need to replace the tire pressure sensors to clear the remaining light on the dash. The alignment seems pretty good as do the tires, but they’ll probably need to be replaced later this year.
The only longer term issues I’m still figuring out are the sun-damaged roof (the clear coat and paint are faded) and the fact that the AC doesn’t work. The first is cosmetic, but it may be something I try to work on myself. The latter and more important as we head into warmer weather, could be as simple and inexpensive as a recharge or much more complex and expensive as a new compressor. Until then, it’s windows down.
Some time ago, I saw someone (probably on YouTube) write the date and mileage on their oil filter when they changed the oil and filter. I adopted that and extended it to other maintenance items to keep track of not only when I changed them, but the brand and type of part I used. I do this on a number of family vehicles and it really helps me keep track them.
Thanks for reading and I’ll leave you with one of my favorite car songs. Turn it up.
- Roger
Replacing tire sensors can be expensive. An alternative is finding a shop that can reprogram existing sensors. There was a shop in Williamson but it was destroyed by fire a couple of years ago. Good luck.
I've always kept a notebook in the glove compartment with everything I do on my vehicle(s). Actual written notes always do it for me, haha.