Can't afford it? Then don't drive it!

[ravevolution]

Guy comes in asking for an oil change on his car, a Mercedes (yes this is going somewhere) K no problem.

He then says he wants todo the conventional oil change that we have on special for 20bucks which would be ok if it weren't for the fact that his Mercedes requires a synthetic and oil filter for the car is one of those cartridge types not a typical spin on kind on most cars on the road.

I tell him that and goes on this rant on how he drives soo many miles in the car and doing a synthetic oil change is expensive especially being he has to change the oil practically every 1-2 months, to which my thought was "it's a flippin mercedes!!!" It's gonna be expensive, can't afford it then why the heck ya buy one???

He refuses and I tell them I cannot perform the oil change cause if we do and the vehicle runs into issues cause we put in the not recommended oil in the car we will get into a mess of trouble, he leaves in a huff.


Why are you calling?

Later in the day I answer the phone and the guy asks what type of battery his car takes. . . the reason he wants to know is cause he is at a nearby Wally-mart and there is no one in their auto section to help with that. I'm thinking WTF! Your calling a competing business for help on making a purchase at another competing business??? I played stupid and said my system was down and suggest he go to his car, lift up the hood and find out from there and hung up the phone.

[SarcasticJerk]

Give the Mercedes guy some time. He'll eventually be shopping around for someoene to replace all four of his tires for a hundred bucks. And surely you must carry a twenty dollar air filter for his car?

I'm curious just how many miles he's putting on it every month. Oil change intervals these days tend to be pretty long, and some of the cars monitor your driving to tell you when it thinks you should change it. If he's doing a ton of highway driving, the interval should be 15k+ miles.

[chainedbarista]

that's what i've told my son; cars are expensive and if you can't afford all the things that come with them (insurance, tags, maintenance and gas), don't bother getting one.

just another self important fool faking the funk, without the means (either actually or figuratively) to afford it.

[joe hx]

one thing I noticed working at the auto shop is that Mercedes owners tend not to take care of their cars.

also, aren't the oil filters alone for those things like 30 bucks or more?

[roothorick]

that's what i've told my son; cars are expensive and if you can't afford all the things that come with them (insurance, tags, maintenance and gas), don't bother getting one.

That's not really being fair to people living in areas where public transportation is poor or nonexistent and employers will toss your application if you don't have your own vehicle.

Here in Appleton, the car comes first, THEN the job, unless you get dumb lucky.

[Midorikawa]

That's not really being fair to people living in areas where public transportation is poor or nonexistent and employers will toss your application if you don't have your own vehicle.

Here in Appleton, the car comes first, THEN the job, unless you get dumb lucky.

I think it's more directed at buying a mercedes, when the oil filter alone costs as much as a full tuneup on my 1973 Plymouth when you can't afford it. If you can't afford the car, don't buy it. My car cost me $250. I towed it home, and rebuilt it with my dad through high school. I do all the maintenance myself, partially because I don't trust anyone to work on my baby, partially because I can't afford it.

There's a good reason why I'm not driving a brand new car, when I'd love to garage my Duster and finish rebuilding it. I can't afford the car payments currently.

[Argus]

When I saw that subject, I was reminded of how my mother once got a good deal buying an almost-new car. The first owner sold it back to the dealer after a month when she realized that she couldn't afford the payments.

[Racket_Man]

I'm curious just how many miles he's putting on it every month. Oil change intervals these days tend to be pretty long, and some of the cars monitor your driving to tell you when it thinks you should change it. If he's doing a ton of highway driving, the interval should be 15k+ miles.

not that I have a Mercedes but as a delivery driver I have to get my oil changed about every 6 - 8 weeks (driving approx 350 - 400 miles per week approx 1500 miles a 4 week month with variances of course). with all of the stop and go driving I do it is a good idea to change the oil at around the 3000 mile interval. my car tells me to change my oil at 7500 miles (only have let it go that long twice in 3 years)

[Whiskey]

That's not really being fair to people living in areas where public transportation is poor or nonexistent and employers will toss your application if you don't have your own vehicle.

Here in Appleton, the car comes first, THEN the job, unless you get dumb lucky.

I have semi-decent public transport and a bike so I generally just lie about having a car. My current job asked if "i drove" and I said yes. I do drive, I have a valid DL. When I got hired I asked if I'd be driving a company vehicle or something. I'm never going to need to drive for my job.

[Reyneth]

That's not really being fair to people living in areas where public transportation is poor or nonexistent and employers will toss your application if you don't have your own vehicle.

Here in Appleton, the car comes first, THEN the job, unless you get dumb lucky.

But you better dang well have insurance on it or people from my department may be calling you with a debt you owe from an accident in the 5 or even 6 figures. It's much more expensive to take the risk of *not* having insurance. Trust me.

[MaseMan]

When I saw that subject, I was reminded of how my mother once got a good deal buying an almost-new car. The first owner sold it back to the dealer after a month when she realized that she couldn't afford the payments.

That's how I got my car last year. It was an '09 listed as "used", but only had a little over 6,000 miles on it. The dealer said a young couple had bought it and realized they couldn't afford the payments, so they traded it for a used vehicle. So I saved a few grand on a very nice car that was barely broken in.

[Treasure]

had a friend get a new model year Mustang (few years back so don't remember the year) for the used price, cause a couple had bought it, and had it for about 10 days, then had to trade it for a more "family friendly" car, because they found out she was pregnant. I don't think the car had 75 miles on it.

[roothorick]

But you better dang well have insurance on it or people from my department may be calling you with a debt you owe from an accident in the 5 or even 6 figures. It's much more expensive to take the risk of *not* having insurance. Trust me.

And these people would go "*sigh*, bankruptcy again". Believe me, you wouldn't see a cent of it, because they don't have a cent to their name unless it's illegally acquired.

[depechemodefan]

Later in the day I answer the phone and the guy asks what type of battery his car takes. . . the reason he wants to know is cause he is at a nearby Wally-mart and there is no one in their auto section to help with that.

Ugh, what a tool. At least he didn't call the library.

Come to think of it, we do give people the NADA values of cars. I don't know how many times I've asked "is it an XL/GL/etc" and people say, "it says "executive" or something that isn't listed. *sigh*

[blas]

I don't think the OP is saying don't buy a car in general if you can't afford the maintenance, this story was about a person who bought a luxury vehicle and can't be bothered to pay the more expensive price of owning and upkeeping a luxury vehicle.

Everyone gets into trouble with cars sometimes, they are machines after all, they can fail any time for any reason. But it's one thing to be broke and need a new alternator for your Pontiac Grand Am, and another to buy a Mercedes Benz and refuse to use the proper oil and put the proper tires on it, just to save money.