Tunnel Vision: Even a Cheap Guy Can Afford to Take Care of His Car

By Brendan O'Hallarn Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Car care for me consists of one thing, basically. Turn engine on. Is it running? OK, good. One more day that I don’t need to buy a car.

However, with the miles that I’m racking up driving to and from Old Dominion University Monday through Thursday every week, I’ve started thinking about my vehicle’s overall health. I’ve been forced to ponder that a lot since my engine started smoldering like a campfire during a drive to Newport News on Christmas Eve.

I’ve run into competing imperatives. Not knowing/wanting to figure out how my car works, versus being the cheapest resident of the Historic Triangle.

So I went to visit Charlie Marcotte at American Pride Automotive, to ask for a few simple tips about keeping my car running smoothly.

American Pride provides full service automobile sales and service, and it’s locally owned. And even though, as he says “we’re in the bad news business,” Charlie’s a good guy.

He says the main thing motorists with high mileage vehicles need to do is listen to their vehicle. “You know it better than anyone else. You drive it every day,” he says.

If you hear something amiss, don’t hesitate to mention it the next time you’re at the garage. “Information is king,” Marcotte says.

He understands, especially with older cars, that there are tough decisions all the time about what repairs to proceed with and which ones can be put off. But Marcotte says don’t skimp on oil changes, even if you’re just trying to keep your car on the road.

“I’ll have university professors come in here, really smart people, and I’ll find out they haven’t changed their oil for 35,000 miles,” Marcotte says. “Sure it’s a hassle, but it’s the lifeblood of your engine.”

Beyond that, I asked Marcotte if there was anything I should do to maximize performance with my vehicle, and save a few bucks. He says there is an interesting experiment to try.

“Drive your normal route at 70 or 75 miles per hour in the fast lane, and then drive it at 65, trying to stay tucked behind another vehicle. You’ll be shocked how much better gas mileage you get.

“There’s so much of cost and vehicle life that is determined by driver behavior.”

Finally, Charlie says there’s one thing that all motorists confront with their cars – the unsolicited “help” that friends and co-workers offer.

“Joe will say, ‘Yeah, that happened to my Subaru.’ Mary will talk about a problem her sister had. Carlos will say that his uncle tells him always to do this or that,” Marcotte says.

“That’s why it’s really important to have a relationship with a garage that you can trust. Again, it’s all about information. We can’t help you if you don’t let us know how your car is behaving.”

On the way back from American Pride, I hopped on the Colonial Parkway, because it’s often a way to bypass pedestrians and slow traffic in Colonial Williamsburg.

As it turned out, I jumped on just after a man and woman driving slooooooowly. How do I put this delicately? I likely have a few more years left in me than this couple.

But instead of yelling at them through my windshield, I remembered what Charlie told me – draft. I pulled in behind them and snuggled up so close, the word “LEXUS” was like the top row of an eye chart. I followed them that way all the way down the Parkway, along Route 199 and into Kingsmill.

(Can you believe it? An elderly couple who lives in Kingsmill?)

So that’s my new trick. Instead of getting angry at the motorist who’s slowing me down, I’m going to thank him or her silently, for saving fractions of cents worth of gasoline by sheltering me from the wind.

Brendan’s stuck commuting to Norfolk four days a week, but at least he gets to write about it to provide macabre enjoyment for WYDaily readers. Do you enjoy his foibles? Have any tips? Have you made road cookies that you want to share? Write him at brendan@wydaily.com. Especially if you made road cookies.