May 12th 2006
An oil pan with a drain plug-
What
a concept!!
Boy,
oh boy, do I get PO'd at the German car manufacturers
from time to time.
Seems
as though their well known arrogance sometimes runs
amok.
First
there was BMWs' Bangle Bustle (if you don't like
it, Herr Smith, buy something else, 'cos we don't
care).
Then
we discovered that both VW and Audi have removed the
dipsticks from their automatic transmissions.
If you
want to add some fluid, you can't unless you have the
proper equipment.
The
teutonic logic runs like this:
Very
occasionally, some idiot tries to pour engine oil,
or brake fluid, or even windshield washer fluid into
our transmissions.
Even
those who are semi educated, but not educated enough
to have read the owners manual, try to add ordinary ATF
to these
transmissions,
when a very special fluid is required, because
these transmissions "never" need a fluid change.
But
what, you may ask, happens when a seal lets go and
the fluid starts to drain away?
The
answer in a nutshell is "Our transmissions never leak"
!
But,
Adolf, they DO leak and then the process
of repair and refill becomes a very expensive process
indeed.
Now
comes the Smart car!!
Did
you know that this car does not have an engine oil
drain plug? None, nada.
To change
the oil, you have to pump the old oil out through
the dipstick hole and so here you go, off to the Mercedes
dealer for
a $100
oil change. If you type "Smart car oil changes"
into Google, you'll find European aftermarket suppliers
offering a
replacement
sump (oil pan), for all the Smart cars, which is
happily equipped with a drain plug.
What
arrogant madness is this?
Do you
really want to be forced to either buy an oil pump and
some 1/4" plastic hoses?
Or do
you want to run to the dealer every five minutes,
well, every six months, because the Smart only holds
3 litres
(3/4
of a US gallon) of engine oil.
Audi
in the past, has used the power steering pump and its
fluid to power up the brakes. Using a special $20 a
litre fluid.
This
sort of attitude, "OK we know we sold you a car,
but don't you DARE try to maintain it , or do any maintenance
yourself",
is getting
to be wide spread. It's a wise idea to delve into
some of these aspects of built in extra maintenance
costs before
you
decide to buy a vehicle.
(Volvo's
up to some of these tricks too, try turning off the
maintenance required light without the "help" of the dealer!)
Even
if you have "bumper to bumper" maintenance for the
first three years, eventually you'll be left alone.
Actually,
Mercedes just dropped their all-inclusive, (it's
included in the price of the vehicle, sir) maintenance
scheme, so if you
bought
one on that basis, you've just been royally screwed
over.
Sig
heil, everyone.
