Buying the right map to go on a trip.

Years ago when I was a kid my parents had a stack of maps in the glovebox of our 1967 Buick. They had maps of Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Chicago and vicinity, Ohio and Pennsylvania. I’m not sure why they owned so may maps, it wasn’t like we went anywhere but Milwaukee or the Wagon Wheel in Rockford, and they already knew the way. I used to unfold the maps and spread them out just to think of all the place we could go. It was like a flow chart figuring out what highway to take to what town where we could switch to a different highway and so on and so on. Turns out it was exactly like a flow chart just like the ones we use to diagnose computer problems with cars. The same as starting a trip using a map, we need to find the starting point. In automotive diagnostics that would be considered ‘reading the code.’ when your service engine light, check engine light, or any of those other funny little amber lights pops on I think what some people misunderstand is that the code number doesn’t tell us what is wrong, it tells us what direction to start. From there we have turns, bends and curves just like you following a map to get to your destination. You wouldn’t guess how to get somewhere and hope for the best when traveling and we don’t do that here. Someone that just reads a code and guesses what your problem is the same as someone starting randomly driving in any direction in hopes they will arrive at their final destination, that’s just crazy. As you want to take the correct route to arrive at your destination at the exact spot in a timely manner, we too want to arrive at the exact proper diagnoses of your car in a timely manner as well. Although our diagnostic equipment is getting more technically advanced (and extremely expensive as well) there is no equipment, computer, machine or tool that can just be plugged in and comes up with an instant diagnostic.

     In an earlier post I wrote about the ‘Parts cannon’, people who try to take short cuts are people who shoot those cannons.

Shooting The Parts Cannon Is A Bad Idea

Imagine going to the doctor and saying “Doc, I have diagnosed myself and determined I have Hashimoto's thyroiditis and all I want you to do is give me a prescription for it, no need doing any tests or running any diagnostic procedures.” The doctor would treat you alright…..for a mental disorder because you would have to be crazy to do that. The internet is a wonderful thing, for leading people in the wrong direction. People use it to get a little information about something, choose what they want to believe, convert that to instant knowledge and in a few key strokes become experts on the subject. Unfortunately, I see this occur too often when it comes to some car owners.

The automotive parts industry is projected to sell $148 billion in 2019. That’s $148,000,000,000 and does not include labor. it’s suspected that up to 25% of that will be parts sold based on miss diagnostics. Either Google told the car owner what was wrong or the parts store read the check engine light code and guessed at the cause. That’s $29.6 billion (it looks like this $29,600,000,000). I’m not a big fan of wasting money and I hate to see people throw their money down the drain. The simplest, and easiest way to avoid this waste is to have any problem with your car properly diagnosed first. Diagnostics at my shop is often less than an hour of labor.

“Shooting the parts cannon” is a phrase used when people or bad shops keeping installing parts and hoping for luck. I think it should just be called the money wasting cannon. Be the wise consumer, have any issues with your car properly diagnosed and repaired, don’t shoot the cannon.