Goss’ Garage
May 23, 2013
Classic Car Restoration
Who doesn’t dream of restoring a classic car? Better yet, doing it ourselves! But as Pat Goss shows us, parts of that dream should be left to the pros. PAT GOSS: This is our old… More






FYI
May 2, 2013
Insurance Rates
With gas prices on the rise, not to mention registration fees and the price of vehicles themselves, virtually everyone is looking at ways to contain the cost of driving. And our FYI reporter… More








Goss’ Garage
April 25, 2013
A/C Advice
Folks, when it comes to getting your air conditioner in your car repaired, you’re often your own worst enemy. Quick is not the way to do it. Cheap is not the way to do it, because cheap… More

 

Oil Filters

Every bottle of engine oil has its rating and weight clearly marked so consumers always know what they’re getting. But, what about oil filters? Well, they all may look pretty much alike. But as Pat Goss explains: looks can be deceiving. PAT GOSS: Don't save four dollars on… Read More

 

Recently I did a segment on tire rotation. And I got a lot of comments on it. We were dealing with conventional tires, and a lot of you said that my method of rotating the tires that go on the drive wheels from one side of the car to the other, that that was completely wrong. Well, I stand by that because, it’s not my idea; that comes from information supplied by various tire manufacturers. Here’s the diagram in this book from Firestone. So, that’s the way it works.
But, what we didn’t talk about in that segment was tires that were designed like this one; this is a directional tire. We can see that the tread works in one direction only. It actually has an arrow on the sidewall that tells you the direction that that tire has to turn in. Well that means that if we mount this tire so that it goes on the right side of the car, it must always stay on the right side of the car. And that means that you can’t do a proper tire rotation. Now to take that further, if you have to have different size tires on the front and rear, you can’t even swap them from front to rear. And that ultimately means that you may wind up with tires that are very, very noisy long before they’re worn out.
Now we’re seeing a gradual move away from directional tires. This BMW has a new style of tire on it, that we’re seeing more and more of. This is asymmetrical, non-directional. Now, asymmetrical because the tread on the inside is different than the tread on the outside. And it is non-directional because it can go on either side of the car; it can turn it either direction. Now, the way you can tell the difference: you have the directional arrow on the tire that always has to turn in one direction only. Here, we have “outside” stamped into the outside of the tire, and “inside” on the other.
Now on these tires, you can swap them from one side to the other; if all four tires are the same, you can do the modified “X”, where you cross the two tires that go onto the drive wheels. But, if they’re different size front to rear, you simply go right to left, left to right, on the front and then on the rear. It means that these tires can get a lot more miles out of them, and they can stay quiet for a very long time. And if you have a question or comment, drop me a line. Right here, at MotorWeek.

 

 

Vehicle History Reports

by Pat Goss

Buying a used car can be a great way to save money, but it means that you have to do your homework to avoid problems. And here to give us some pointers is Chris Basso from Carfax. Chris, welcome to Goss' Garage.
Chris: Great to be here, Pat.
Goss: Tell me a little bit about what Carfax brings to the table for the car buyer.
Chris: Carfax collects information from over 77 thousand sources, like the Department of Motor Vehicles, a dealership, or even a service location. And all that information for a specific car can be unlocked using the seventeen digit vehicle identification number. If you're buying a used car, start with a Carfax vehicle history report.
Goss: Alright, now we have this report, we're going to see what types of information on it?
Chris: Reported accidents, service information, a possible odometer rollback, all the important information that you want to know, to help you make a smart buying decision.
Goss: Alright now, like this car, which we know was a flood car, it's totaled, that would show up.
Chris: That would show up right at the top of the report in bright red letters. It's a warning that you may not want to purchase this car, or look deeper into it, have a qualified mechanic inspect it, but go through the report, find all the information that's been reported to Carfax, and take it from there to make a smart buying decision.
Goss: Alright, now, another thing that I've noticed on your reports is the open recalls, which I think is very important.
Chris: Open recalls is a major issue these days, last year there were 2.1 million cars that were for sale with an open recall. It's an alarming number that is only getting bigger as more recalls happen. These are safety defects that the manufacturer has identified, but unfortunately people are not taking these cars to get them fixed.
Goss: Yeah, and just by virtue of their name alone, as a “safety defect,” you'd think people would rush off to get them done.
Chris: Absolutely, they can affect the airbags, they can cause fires, they can cause accidents. If you find that the car you own or the car that you want to buy has an open recall, take it to a franchise dealer, they're going to fix it, often times for free.
Goss: Ok. Alright. So this is a real workable tool for to avoid stepping into something that is going to cost you a lot of grief or a lot of money.
Chris: Used cars can be a great value, and for most people they are a really good buy, but unfortunately some used cars have inherent problems. By starting with a Carfax report, and then taking the car to a qualified mechanic, you can find any problems that may exist with that vehicle, and make sure you're putting you and your family in a safe, reliable used car.