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By SUZANNE CHONEY
Copley News Service
Taking your car to a mechanic
often is more traumatic than going
to see a doctor.
“How much will I get taken for
this time?”’ you mumble to yourself
as you leave your car keys in the
hands of the stranger at the service
bay.
An auto industry roundtable held
in Los Angeles addressed that issue
and others relating to car care and
dealing with mechanics. Among
those participating in the session
were representatives from Chrysler,
Firestone Tire and Rubber Co.,
Fram Corp., Motor Service Indus-
tries, which sponsored the meeting.
Roundtable participants offered
the following advice:
— “Dealership mechanics for the
most part are well frained by car
companies and have good equip-
ment to work with,” said Joe Doty,
a spokesman for Allen Test-Prod-
ucts Division, Allen Group Inc. ‘But
there are often communication
problems with dealership mechan-
ics. You have to go through a
service manager who writes up the
work order for the car.” In the
process, he said, the information
you relay to the service manager
may not get to the mechanic.
Deanna Sclar, author of ‘Auto
Repair For Dummies,” who was at
the session, said that consumers
should be assertive and insist on
meeting the mechanic who is doing
the work on their car.
— “You should establish a good
working relationship with your
mechanic early on, when you first
get your car,” said Robert Heinlein,
Firestone vice president for retail
operations.
— Don’t be too quick to tell a
mechanic what you think a problem
is before he has had a chance to
diagnose it, said Maury Kramer,
spokesman for the Automobile Club
of Southern California.
“When you go to a dentist you
ray and charges you for that. But he
makes a diagnosis first. He doesn’t
just go in and pull the tooth. But
that’s the opposite of what people do
when they drive into the service
lane and say, ‘It needs a tuneup.’ ”’
m When consulting a mechanic,
“describe the symptoms your car is
having in very specific terms, such
as when and where and under what
driving conditions it stalls,” said
Roy Maliroy, a representative for
Fram Corp.
— Word of mouth is still the best
way to find a good mechanic. Next
to that, finding mechanics who are
certified by the Independent
National Institute for Automobile
Service Excellence increases your
chances for success, although it is
‘not a panacea,’ said Barry
McNulty, an institute spokesman
who was at the session.
— In most cases, replacing car
parts with rebuilt or remanufac-
tured car parts is cheaper than -
and just as good as - new car parts.
A rebuilt part is an old car part, for
example, a carburetor, that is
removed from the car, tested to find
out what’s wrong, then rebuilt using
new components to replace those
that caused the problem.
Consumers should ask for written
warranties on rebuilt and remanu-
factured parts, said Harry Holzwas-
ser, president of Arrow, which man-
ufactures car parts.
Things you may
The Model T inspired Frederick
Converse to write a symphony,
“Flivver 10 million,” honoring the
“Tin Lizzie.” It first was performed
April 15, 1927, by the Boston Sym-
phony.
-0-
More than 200 government book-
lets, which provide helpful informa-
tion on everything from car mainte-
nance to health and money
management, are listed in the Con-
sumer Information Catalogue.
want to know
Many of the booklets are free. The
most expensive, a three-part set on
car maintenance, costs $7. To
request a free copy of the catalog,
send a postcard to Consumer Infor-
mation Center, Dept. 24, Pueblo, CO
81900
-0-
Why is a retread cheaper than a
new tire? Because the casing, which
is reused, represents 50 percent to
70 percent of the cost of a car or
truck tire.
Mustang
11
|
News.
By JUNE CUTLER
Copley News Service
Remember that 1965 Mustang you
sold for $500 about 10 years ago?
Maybe you should have held onto it,
because early Mustangs nowadays
are bringing 10 times that and
more.
Or how about the Corvair that
There’s a loyal and expanding core
of believers who not only disagree
with Nader, but also are stepping up
and paying more than the cars
originally cost for certain models of
Corvair.
To learn more about this phenom-
enon of ’60s cars changing from
clunkers to collectibles, we talked
with David Brownell, editor of the
Bennington, Vt.-based Hemmings
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Motor News, a monthly interna-
tional shopper for car collectors and
restorers.
Cars like the Corvair and Mus-
tang and “muscle” cars like the
Pontiac GTOs, Plymouth Road Run-
ners and Ford Talladegas are being
avidly collected and restored by the
generation that grew up admiring
and wanting these cars when they
were new, Brownell said.
“It’s the same all the way through
the car-collecting hobby. Each gen-
eration buys and sells and restores
the cars they wanted in their youth,
whether it’s a Packard or a Pan-
tera.”
Besides the pony cars and muscle
cars, are there any other categories
of cars worth collecting from the
’50s and ’60s?
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‘““Yes,”” Brownell said. ‘‘The
sports cars of that time, the Jag-
uars, Alfa-Romeos, the 190-SL
Mercedes, early Porsches,
Triumphs and Austin-Healeys,
already have an enthusiastic follow-
ing, and the prices on these cars are
climbing steadily - dramatically, in
a few cases - but some good buys
remain. The Alfa Giuliettas from
the late ’50s to early ’60s for
instance, are still relatively cheap
and the Triumphs still are good
buys, in my opinion.”
Brownell cautioned, however, that
unless the car has been completely
and correctly restored, the purchase
price might be just the beginning of
your expenditures. Almost every
car will need some mechanical
attention and, if bodywork is
involved, the ante could go up
quickly. Ideally, the best type of car
to buy is one that has been very
well preserved with low mileage
(the little old lady special) or one
that has been restored and has had
a few years’ subsequent use to
break it in. ;
If you decide to restore the car of
your dreams and have the skills to
do the job well, you’ll be embarking
on an occasionally frustrating but
ultimately high satisfying experi-
ence, Brownell said.
“From a classical investment
point of view, not really,” Brownell
said. “If you're jumping in simply
to make money, you'd be better off
putting your dollars in a money
fund or stock or other security
which offers a steady return on your
investment. >’
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