Send your comments or questions for Tom and Ray to: Car Talk Plaza, P.O. Box 3500 Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA 02238. Listen to them Saturdays at 10 a.m. on 91.3 FM or 88.5 FM. Visit them on the Internet at www.cartalk.com.
Dear Tom and Ray:
I may be dreaming, hallucinating or even suffering from Dementia. I seem to remember something from my childhood that other people my age do not. When I was but a tadpole, I seem to remember my dad checking the water level in the car battery. The top of the battery was covered with a thick, tarlike substance, into which he would push copper pennies next to each battery terminal. The reasoning behind this was to draw the potential corrosion away from the terminal and toward the penny. Did I dream this, or did people used to do this? Please tell me if I’m demented or not. — Art
RAY: We don’t have enough information to answer your last question, Art. And the fact that you’re writing to us for advice definitely is a strike against you. But you’re not dreaming about the pennies and the batteries.
TOM: It’s based on the theory of sacrificial anodes, in which you “sacrifice” a more reactive metal — copper, in the case of pre-1983 pennies — to protect a second, less reactive metal — the lead battery terminal and connector.
RAY: And in the old days, when batteries were covered with tar on top, you could warm up a penny with a match or a cigarette lighter, and then slide it into the tar half an inch away from the battery terminal. The penny always would corrode first.
TOM: Nowadays, most batteries are sealed in plastic, so the acid — which is what causes the corrosion — rarely escapes the inside of the battery. That makes a sacrificial anode far less necessary. And besides, these days, we all have to save our pennies.
A question of ethics
Dear Tom and Ray:
I have a mechanics’ ethics question for you. I drive a 2009 Nissan Rogue. I love this car. I was getting ready for a road trip, and I realized that there were three minor recalls on the car and that it was time for the 30,000-mile service. So I take the car to the dealership, the guy tells me the service package they offer, and then charges me $500. I tell my wife, who gets upset that I need $500 worth of service on a relatively new car. I call the guy back, and he tells me that this is the “premium” service package, and that they already started so I can’t change it. I ask him why he only offered me the premium service package, and he says that I didn’t ask for any other service packages. Did my dealership’s mechanic take me for a ride, or does he not need to tell me the options? I now know that I can download all my suggested maintenance requirements, broken down by mileage, from the Nissan Web site, and I plan to do this from now on. I guess I feel this is partially my fault for not being an informed consumer, but I also think the mechanic should have explained the “premium” service to me in more detail. What do you think? — Dave
TOM: I think you’re exactly right, Dave. Your mechanic was not entirely honest with you AND you should have been a more informed consumer.
RAY: Your wife also is right. A car with 30,000 miles on it should need almost nothing — certainly not $500 worth of regular maintenance.
TOM: A lot of dealerships make a lot of money by adding extra services to the scheduled maintenance routines. You have the right to decline these extra flushes, inspections and fuzzy-dice rotations. But in order to do that, you need to know what IS required.
RAY: That information is available not only online, but also in the back of your owner’s manual (that’s the rectangular thing wrapped in cellophane in the bottom of your glove box, Dave).
TOM: You also have the right to take your car to some place other than the dealer for its scheduled maintenance, even if it’s still under warranty. Simply present any mechanic you like with the list of required maintenance from the back of your owner’s manual and ask for an estimate. You can compare that price to what your dealer is charging for the same services, and decide from there.
RAY: We also recommend that customers ask whoever does the service to stamp or sign the spot in the back of the manual that indicates that the scheduled maintenance has been performed. You’ll probably never need proof, but if you do have an engine warranty claim someday, it’s good to have that in writing.
TOM: And as far as your dealer is concerned, he was sleazy on two counts. First, he absolutely should have explained to you that there are several levels of service. Once he does that, he can take his best shot at persuading you to opt for the more expensive one. But the choice should be yours. The fact that he didn’t do that lands him squarely on our fecal roster.
RAY: And second, when you called him and asked him to stop the work, he should have said, “I’ll have them switch you to the basic service, and even if they’ve already done some of the work, we’ll only charge you the lower price.” That could have earned your loyalty as a customer for years. But instead, he was more interested in taking in a few extra bucks today.
TOM: But you also bear some responsibility, in this case, for being an uninformed consumer, Dave. Now you know better. So next time, you’ll not only go somewhere else for your service, but you’ll bring with you your Nissan-approved list. And maybe a couple of large friends with baseball bats.
Send your comments or questions for Tom and Ray to: Car Talk Plaza, P.O. Box 3500 Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA 02238. Listen to them Saturdays at 10 a.m. on 91.3 FM or 88.5 FM. Visit them on the Internet at www.cartalk.com.
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