Towing Trauma

Editor

I had my diesel Escort towed today; it had to go to the garage for some injection pump work and I just could not get it to run. Getting your car towed out from three stories underground—a notorious headache for tow operators—turns out to be pretty nerve-wracking for the car’s owner as well. First they send their "small" truck with the teenage driver to drag the car up to street level with the tow strap to where the tow rig can get it. That in itself was a bit of a fiasco. Then you wait another hour for the wrecker. I followed the diesel in my other Escort to Wolfsburg Motorwerks, a VW shop whose awesome staff has for some bizarre reason agreed to take on the injection pump swap and timing on my oddball little diesel.

So, the stuff the car needs done are things that I have neither the expertise nor the specialized tools for. Diesels are damn hard when you’re used to working on gas motors—and I’d had zero experience with them when I picked up my diesel Escort in January. But here’s the thing: I haven’t had any of my cars sent away for in-patient care for probably more than five years. It certainly helped that I used to work at a shop (you definitely get spoiled when you can put your ride up on a lift and have compressed air on hand whenever you want), but between that and just tinkering on them at home either alone or with the help of friends, I just never farm out whole cars anymore. But I do have a few major things coming up that are a real pain to do unless you have your own actual garage space: some messy, fluid-y drivetrain work on the Eagle, for one thing, and custom exhausts on both that and my gas Escort. So it got me wondering—how about you guys? What jobs, if any, do you farm out?

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Posted at 3:11 pm in Escort, Ford, Jen Dunnaway, Life at CarDomain

Comments

Austin
Aug 2, 2008 at 7:44 pm

I just had some custom work done on my hood, and had it repainted. Other than that, nobody else has touched my cars since I was 17.

Cknarf
Aug 2, 2008 at 6:27 am

I did have an issue with Firestone once. I turned to them to have my car aligned properly and they flooded it. FAIL.

TG Williams
Aug 2, 2008 at 5:56 am

Daaaaaang! Your other Escort looks great! the light wasn’t right in your other photos, in that one it’s perfect!

Stewart
Aug 1, 2008 at 11:47 pm

I try not to farm anything out, if I can help it.
.
I was going to have a “professional” detail shop buff and
wax the RoadMonster. Well, I sat there for an entire day with
the car, and they still couldn’t get the hard water spots on the
roof off. So, I bought my own pneumatic orbital buffer and supplies.
It took me seven hours to get the roof perfect. Several more hours on the rest of the car.
.
As far as mechanical issues, I won’t take her in to a shop, unless I can’t do it myself. I’d rather learn how to fix it, than take her to someone who might not be careful with her.
.
The last time I left the RM in the shop overnight, two things were damaged. The hood ornament hit the roof of the shop when they raised the car with the hood open, and I had to replace it, and the driver’s side door got a nasty 1″ dent in the lower panel.
.
I have even learned how to do body work and paint on this car. I had a shop paint the lower front bumper, and it was a terrible job. So, I redid it myself when I deleted my front license plate. It came out great!
.
.
I may not be as experienced or as quick as the “pros”, but I have an advantage over them: I care a lot about the outcome

Jake
Aug 1, 2008 at 9:54 pm

Only thing I’ve ever had done for me is paint and bodywork. Even that is done in-house somewhat. I don’t trust other people to work on my cars, not even my ratty Fiero.

cknarf
Aug 1, 2008 at 6:40 pm

Since im young and inexperienced, I usually have major work down by our ‘Family Mechanic’.

I do anything that requires common sense.

Anonymous
Aug 1, 2008 at 6:11 pm

I do all the work myself. Welding, banging, cutting fabricating, making engine tune ups a pleasure in comparison..I had my exhaust welded by a meineke pro a year ago. Never have done that. I did make my own hangers, and aligned things, some prebent pipes installed..but…there is a specialty chore between stainless and regular piping, he got it done in seconds. I won’t do a complete exhaust again, most likely. The pipe bender alone is worth as much as the outrageous price they bought it for.

Highspeedhijinks
Aug 1, 2008 at 5:14 pm

I hate allignments. I also work at a dealership and have use of the equiptment, but if theres one thing I will not do, its an allignment.
~
Plus techs like to work under the table anyways.

NobiZero
Aug 1, 2008 at 4:55 pm

Since I work at a dealership, and have a fairly understanding boss who will let me use a lift for personal use if there’s one open, the only work I farm out is body work. I have no idea how to do it, and since that’s the first thing people see, I leave that to the pros.