Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2010 07:12:07 -0700
Reply-To: Loren Busch <starwagen@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Loren Busch <starwagen@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: ATF fluid
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTimuSK0ZCHPerJhSiSnA3661_NPDhuj2vZhkgeGX@mail.gmail.com>
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On Mon, Aug 9, 2010 at 8:49 AM, Robert Fisher <garciasghostvw@gmail.com>wrote:
> I read about that from time to time, and I wonder that it isn't more that
> people begin to perceive that their tranny is developing issues, so they
> then change the neglected fluid in an effort to forestall a breakdown that
> was coming anyway and then when it inevitably happens they blame the
> maintenance instead of the neglect.
>
I was gone last week when this thread came up but wanted to add this tidbit.
Many years (40+) I worked for a short time in car sales, both new and used.
At a very good and reputable family owned dealership that provided a lot of
training. In one training session discussing trade in, maintenance and
resale of used cars they presented a writeup from one of the dealer
associations that talked about the "Psychosomatic Car". It dealt with the
high frequency of mechanical failures in used cars shortly after resale to a
new owner (or even on the dealers used car lot). Many factors were
discussed, including abuse by new owners especially with 'muscle' cars, but
the interesting things was a study that had shown that in many cases, where
the previous owner had said that he had traded in his car "Because I just
felt like I wanted to get a different car" there had been subtle, non
specific clues, from the car, that had promoted the previous owner to trade
it in. In these cases the previous owner honestly had no conscious
knowledge that there were any impending problems with the vehicle. But the
conclusion of the study was that the owner, long used to driving that car,
was subconsciously aware that the vehicle was not acting the way it had in
the past. This was in the late '60s and I recall someone joking that "The
car was giving off 'bad vibes'".
BTW, I personally had two such experiences. One was a '62 Valiant, traded
in for a brand new '67 Valiant, and the '62 lost the rear tranny seal while
while sitting on the dealers used car lot. The second was a '66 Spitfire I
sold to a used car lot that had the engine blow less than two weeks after
the new owner bought it. In that case it was probably the new owner, I'd
seen him driving it!
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