on Auto Mechanics, and Psalm 12

One summer in high school, I took a vocational school class in auto mechanics. It was fun, and one of the most useful courses I have taken at any level -- not because I do much auto repair, but because it has helped me understand how automobiles work, and when the repair shops are speaking truth to me. Or not.

Our family car is a beloved 1996 Honda Civic, which we purchased new and have driven ever since. In 1997, Honda issued an extended warranty on its emission control system, in a settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency. It seems that there was a flaw in the computer, making it more subject to pre-ignition than it ought to be, and failure to pass California emissions tests. At least in my case, this has been controlled easily enough by using higher octane fuel.

Nonetheless, the extended warranty included some work that could be done at any time before the vehicle reached fourteen years from its date of sale, or 140,000 miles: new ignition wiring, distributor cap and rotor, new spark plugs, and an oil change. Having saved the paperwork all these years, I presented myself at the nearest Honda dealer last month, two months shy of the car's fourteenth birthday.

They were not at all pleased to see me. After some hemming and hawing and looking it up on their computer, they admitted that they were obliged to do the work. But they did not want to let me escape for free. "Your CV boots are cracking," they said. "And your brake pads are down to ten percent, maybe less. And your wiper blades all need to be replaced." They helpfully prepared an estimate for the recommended work: over $600.

"Thank you very much," I said. "I'll look into these things" (unspoken but thought: "And I sure won't be coming to you for the work.")

This dealership "got" me once, and I have not forgotten. Years ago, I had the vehicle in for routine maintenance, and the service representative said "You do know that it is time to replace the timing belt, don't you. It really needs to be done. If it breaks, it can destroy the engine." I didn't think it was time, but I trusted them enough to say "If that is in the recommended maintenance schedule, then go ahead." After paying them several hundred dollars for the work, I got home and looked it up in the service manual. The timing belt replacement was not due for another four years.

I replaced the one wiper blade that was bad; the other two are just fine. Yesterday, the weather was finally good enough for me to be outside puttering around, so I got under the car to check the CV boots and brake pads. All are fine.

It is for such as this that auto repair shops get a bad name. It is wrong for them to take advantage of customers by selling them unnecessary repairs. It diminishes the level of trust in the community; every lie does this, and lies by people who ought to know their business perhaps most of all.

And I won't even start on politicians.

"Help me, LORD, for there is no godly one left;
the faithful have vanished from among us.
Everyone speaks falsely with his neighbor;
with a smooth tongue they speak from a double heart."
(Psalm 12:1-2)