# The wife thinks she is a car mechanic !



## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

Some kids stole my daughter car & left it ragged out.
I told my dear wife to get the insurance money & forget the car.
She bought the car back for $200.00 & had the local High school repair it while training kid a trade to keep them off ware fare & make them part of the tax base. I told her she was wasting time & money, she said "If it can not be fixed then I will donate it to the school.
The 1997 Honda Accord four door, they repaired a rim,repaired both side mirror, replace ignition switch, driver side door lock, diver window motor,glue rear view 
mirror back on, repaired front bumper & front driver signal light, tine-up & oil change.
All this cost $390.00, plus the $200.00 is $590.00 out of the $1800.00 from the insurance check.

That was dump luck, come on she great, but she knows nothing about car, no really, she just not mechanical.

I could live this down in a few year, but then she wants to repair the van with
a bad engine, which we sold for scrap.
She bought a friends 2002 Windstar with power everything & leather seats for $700.00, because the engine went out & was replaced, then the transmission went out. The owner(a friend of hers)did not want to put another $2500.00 in the van even with a engine with only 60,000 miles on it.
So My DW bought the van, then had a rebuild transmission put in, flush radiator, changed the oil & replaced the battery for $1450.00.
The friend was so impressed that she take her Lexus to the same shop
for a check up.
Daughter has been driving the Honda for 4 weeks now.
Dw let me drive the 2002 Van to a out of town Funeral the day it came out of the shop & I put 120 miles on it. She has driven it for two weeks now.
Now she thinks she is a mechanic, because I refused to be involved in ether auto repair job.


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## jimLE (Feb 25, 2015)

now,just hold your breath and sit back n wait,if something goes wrong with any of them..


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

jimLE said:


> now,just hold your breath and sit back n wait,if something goes wrong with any of them..


Major things look good.
My plan B is to repair any small stuff & buy a newer car when needed.
I am shocked that the engine & transmission was good on the Honda, they are tough, but so are punks that like to steal things.
The auto shop teacher"They are lazy, looking for easy fun."
"That trashing a engine & transmission is hard work unless you understand how it works & that not how lazy people think."

The people who had the van took great care of their automobiles.
I hope to retire in about 6 years & will buy my last truck before then, if the time line works out as planned.


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

My wife is a mechanical engineer. Okay, my wife thinks she is a mechanical engineer. She insists on telling me why something is broken and how to fix it yet she doesn't know the difference between a muffler bearing and elbow grease.


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## Cotton (Oct 12, 2013)

Anyone want to bet on the number of days before the class steals it again?  (they have had trouble getting "work" into the shop)


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

Cotton said:


> Anyone want to bet on the number of days before the class steals it again?  (they have had trouble getting "work" into the shop)



LOL, thank you I needed that.LOL


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

crabapple ,I would have to compare your wife,s actions to more those of a service advisor, than a mech.

Training school repairs are often much better executed than dealer book time repairs because there is no rush to make a profit and get on to the next job.

repairing a known good vehicle, like the van makes sense over buying another used vehicle, as well as giving your wife a real sense ownership over the finished product. 
be very thankful that she doesn't want the latest gadget filled status symbol


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

Your wife made some smart decisions but you don't seem very happy about it. Why not?


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## Country Living (Dec 15, 2009)

I think she deserves a huge pat-on-the-back. She seems to be pretty astute by taking advantage of the little-known resources at the training school.


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## Marcus (May 13, 2012)

I smile anytime I hear stories like this. The reason is the little town I grew up in used to do the same thing with their police cars because it was so cheap. After a visit or two, the police cars couldn't go faster than 70 which was funny since all the cars the guys in the shop class owned tended to be a bit more sporty. I heard a few rumors about missing passing gears and carb adjustments. I know they kept coming back because they were having some problems and were using too much gas, as in twice as much gas. There for a while they'd be at the shop 2-3 times a week.


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

BillS said:


> Your wife made some smart decisions but you don't seem very happy about it. Why not?


In my experience thing go from bad to worse when you try to repair a automobile someone else has broken.
So I would not get involved with these dead in projects, which as you know turned out great.
So now I have to eat my words with my wife gloating in the back ground.
I am sure ALL married men have been on both sides of that fence.
The dread is tongue & cheek, having a little fun with my wife's victory.
I am glad that I am not paying for a new car for her or my daughter.
But I thought it would be a hoot to post it for my PS family to comment on.
Thank you for your comment.


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