Looking to move to a cooler climate (farms, cars)

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by NW Crow

It is a matter of experience and taste but I have mostly used non-dealership repair shops because the dealerships tend to charge 25-50% more and I actually have had more problems with them trying to escalate repairs or doing sloppy, ineffective work or not finishing when they said they would. But it depends of the dealer / shop, some good and not in each group.

It used to be the other way around -- dealerships had the best mechanics and lowest prices. Somewhere around 25 years ago, that changed, and now, yeah, I find I'm better to go with a well-recommended independent.

Which is easier if your car is fairly generic and doesn't insist on speaking only to its dealer's diagnostic computer.

[Senah]

That is a fair point, but if you have a modern car, much of the time they are checked out and repaired using the computer system. Non-dealership shops don't usually pay for the computer system and training needed for all types of vehicles. That is the issue I have with my car - our local dealerships can't problem-solve without the right equipment.

It is fine for general stuff like tire rotation, oil changes, broken windshields. But to keep up your warranty and for more complicated things, it really helps to have a dealership locally.

[NW Crow]

I do have a pretty old Subaru. I don't recall having problems with on board computer or need for computer diagnostic system. But I get that it is a bigger deal for newer cars.

[nowhereman427]

Originally Posted by Senah

That is a fair point, but if you have a modern car, much of the time they are checked out and repaired using the computer system. Non-dealership shops don't usually pay for the computer system and training needed for all types of vehicles. That is the issue I have with my car - our local dealerships can't problem-solve without the right equipment.

It is fine for general stuff like tire rotation, oil changes, broken windshields. But to keep up your warranty and for more complicated things, it really helps to have a dealership locally.

Don't want to go back to points, condensor, carburator,

[MTSilvertip]

Originally Posted by nowhereman427

Don't want to go back to points, condensor, carburator,

Why not? Those you can fix out on the road if you have to, and you will see a lot of those older vehicles on the road here. Simple to maintain and repair yourself. I have a 1967 International Scout that I use quite a bit. It's my backup vehicle because it's old and I don't want to wear it out, but it will start in the cold when nothing else will.


Yeah I've got newer vehicles too, but I don't want to buy all the computer diagnostic equipment, so I have to pay someone else to do minor work on my truck.


Because I love the simplicity and dependability of the old Scout, I've invested in rebuilding it, so while it has an original engine and drive train, the wiring and interior have been redone, and I'm going to take it back to metal and repaint as well as those old vehicles were made out of steel instead of plastic so they can rust, which I don't want.


It doesn't make 50 MPG, (around 24 instead), top speed is around 55 MPH, (unless you're going downhill), but the 4 wheel drive posi-track rear end and underdrive low range means it has the traction to climb a tree, narrow wheel base fits on 4 wheeler trails, and it has a good load capacity besides the fact without the back seat, it's big enough to camp in.
It's a dependable and fairly economical way to do whatever I want it to do.


That said, the used car dealer I bought my truck at, Randash in Bozeman, has an excellent service department and superb customer service, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another vehicle there or use their service department on any of my vehicles.


You really have to look around here to make sure the guy you're using as a mechanic is competent as most aren't and won't back their work, which is why I do as much of my own work as I can.

[nowhereman427]

Originally Posted by MTSilvertip

Why not? Those you can fix out on the road if you have to, and you will see a lot of those older vehicles on the road here. Simple to maintain and repair yourself. I have a 1967 International Scout that I use quite a bit. It's my backup vehicle because it's old and I don't want to wear it out, but it will start in the cold when nothing else will.


Yeah I've got newer vehicles too, but I don't want to buy all the computer diagnostic equipment, so I have to pay someone else to do minor work on my truck.


Because I love the simplicity and dependability of the old Scout, I've invested in rebuilding it, so while it has an original engine and drive train, the wiring and interior have been redone, and I'm going to take it back to metal and repaint as well as those old vehicles were made out of steel instead of plastic so they can rust, which I don't want.


It doesn't make 50 MPG, (around 24 instead), top speed is around 55 MPH, (unless you're going downhill), but the 4 wheel drive posi-track rear end and underdrive low range means it has the traction to climb a tree, narrow wheel base fits on 4 wheeler trails, and it has a good load capacity besides the fact without the back seat, it's big enough to camp in.
It's a dependable and fairly economical way to do whatever I want it to do.


That said, the used car dealer I bought my truck at, Randash in Bozeman, has an excellent service department and superb customer service, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another vehicle there or use their service department on any of my vehicles.


You really have to look around here to make sure the guy you're using as a mechanic is competent as most aren't and won't back their work, which is why I do as much of my own work as I can.

I will settle for a 1966 Shelby Mustang GT-350.

[MTSilvertip]

Originally Posted by nowhereman427

I will settle for a 1966 Shelby Mustang GT-350.

Like I told a friend of mine when he bought a corvette stingray, there's no place to carry your elk on one of those

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by Senah

That is a fair point, but if you have a modern car, much of the time they are checked out and repaired using the computer system. Non-dealership shops don't usually pay for the computer system and training needed for all types of vehicles.

Not that they don't want to (charging for diagnostics that don't require human supervision is very lucrative) -- rather that those units are VERY expensive, and a one-man band will never recoup the cost. Especially if it will only speak to one make of car.

And the car may spend all day hooked to the diagnostic unit and STILL you don't know what's wrong with it. My SoCal mechanic griped about this all the time. He always had a row of newish cars hooked up and churning with no real idea what was wrong unless the computer said it was (I wonder how many difficult problems are really bugs in the car's software). Meanwhile I'd come in with my old truck, point at whatever was visibly busted or worn out, and say, "Here, fix this" and that's all the diagnostics it ever needed.

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by MTSilvertip

Why not? Those you can fix out on the road if you have to, and you will see a lot of those older vehicles on the road here. Simple to maintain and repair yourself. I have a 1967 International Scout that I use quite a bit. It's my backup vehicle because it's old and I don't want to wear it out, but it will start in the cold when nothing else will.

This is cheating.

[Reziac]

Originally Posted by NDak15

What source do you have that says there's a cooling trend? I'm not buying that at all.

https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.word...st-8000-years/

Note that on the graph, the top right is current era.

Consider that medieval dairy farms are being uncovered as Greenland ice retreats. What does that tell you?