parallel post, mechanically challenged men.
 

everyman in my girlfriends family is hopelessly tool retarded. i just witnessed her brother try to change a battery in a camry. he used a huge adjustable wrench for the job. i watched from the kitchen window and decided to intervene when i saw sparks. so it isnt just the ladies. these men are definately "KEY GOES IN, and GAS GOES in" only when it comes to cars.

dont get me started on their home repairs!

my sister married a man like you describe above. he's got another trait that makes for a dangerous/costly combination. see he's inept and stubborn, wont ask pops or i any advice and wrenches go up in him every time.

my boss and i have taken to calling them "urban men". duraflame logs, full serve gas, jiffy lube, sport utility with a spotless undercarriage, and/or moussed hair. all signs of urban men.

Many people just prefer to either let someone else do it or refuse to learn. It's easier. At least most of the posters at Pelican seem to be interested in learning how to do simple things. I figure no question is stupid as long as it is sincerely asked out of interest. I, on the other hand, have always been interested in the hows and whys. Many years ago we bought a new color tv with three months home service. It crapped out and a tech came over and said "Sooner or later you will think you can fix it and that is what makes me rich, people like that." I thought about it, enrolled in a electronic night school course and have NEVER taken anything to a professional again for repairs. There are so many opportunities for learning there really isn't an excuse. Even if the person does not want to do the repairs themselves, they can at least be knowledgable and reduce the chances of being flimflammed.

moneyguy, the last part (I call it the "they can smell 'em coming" clause) is the most important. case in point, my mother was due for a brake job on her Grand Am about a year ago, and I dutifully told her "o.k. but don't commit to anything until you talk to me first." and she did. she called me saying that it would cost her about $260.00 for the full job. (unfortunately I don't remember with whom) I about flipped and asked why it was so much. she read the estimate to me and it included a replacement of the calipers (!?!) so I called the shop and the person on the phone told me that they replace the calipers as standard procedure. I was incredulous and flabbergasted! just to be sure that I hadn't been hiding under a rock and missed the trend of the automotive industry to switch to disposable calipers or something, I called Pontiac and asked whether there was any reason for this replacement. the guy on the other end of the phone just laughed. I called her back and told her to take the car somewhere else and she promptly did. so we all do our part to keep our loved ones from getting ripped off, but just think about those that get taken and never even know it

ronin, i am blown away by your story.
and k911sc, i like your terminology. i got in an arguement with a female friend about that. i could have used your discription to keep me outta trouble. i chose to call it " the feminizing of american men". i gotta ALOT of crap for that. :)

They're also called "metrosexuals"

Guys that like manicures/pedicures, a day at the spa, etc.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/support/...s/pukeface.gif

Whatever, to each his own.

That's fairly standard procedure at the major Brake Service Outlets..

I know mechanics who have worked at both Midas and one other place.. They first thing they teach these guys is that any customer coming in for a brake job needs "CPR". "CPR" stands for Calipers, Pads, Rotors. This is not an isolated situation, believe me.

Yeah lady, your calipers are frozen and need to be replaced, your rotors are warped, we can turn'em but it might be dangerous, oh, and you need 4 new pads.

THey even pulled this crap on me before i knew better. A young college student with no money, and even knowing that this would mean Ramen noodles for a month for me, they did it anyway. B@stards

Yeah. Shave their legs, wear Spandex. I know the type. ;)

Re: parallel post, mechanically challenged men.
 

I had a friend of mine try to replace a battery in his 86 Jeep CJ7. He used a suitable wrench to replace the battery cables. But, when he put the cables on the battery he could not figure out why one cable would not fit over one of the terminals on the new battery. Most people would step back and say, what am I doing wrong here, this shoud fit easily. But what does he do??? gets a HAMMER out and pounds the cable onto the new battery!!!!! Then the other cable clamp which is now way to big for the other battery terminal had to be bent so that it would make contact with the terminal. Now, before you go and say, well some cars are postitive ground, blah, blah, blah... The cable for the positive terminal was a RED cable, and the terminal on the battery was RED. I asked him if he noticed that there was a red cable, and a red terminal and he said yes but he didn't make the connection (no pun intended). Anyway, he left the battery connected backwards overnight and came out the next morning to various relays in the engine bay clicking spontaneously. Now, if you hook up the battery to the jeep (correctly) it literally starts on its own!

My in-laws are mechanically "challenged". The good thing is that my wife is very impressed whenever I do anything that requires a tool.
I replaced the wiper motor in her Jeep, and she gushed about it for days.
Maybe I really AM amazing. Ya think?

man you people are cracking me up!

dantilla, that is the ultimate silver lining in that situation. LOL

Casey, I'm dying over here. that's just absolutely hilarious!