Virtual Mechanic

News when deciding on a new vehicle, check if the spare is a full size wheel, or a space saver wheel.
If you are unfortunate enough to get a flat tyre and find out that your spare tyre is a space saving wheel, there are precautions or limitations whilst driving with a space saver wheel.
Most space saver wheels are to be driven at a maximum speed of 80 km.
Most space saver wheels are to be driven at short distances. The life of the space saver tyre is measured in hundreds of kilometres not thousands of kilometres, for this reason your space saver tyre should be checked for wear before placing it into the boot.
Check your owners manual handbook, when using a space saver wheel is it will also required the correct tyre pressure.
Any time the space saver wheel is used this will effect the handling of the vehicle, especially in wet or poor road conditions.
In my opinion a vehicle safety rating should include the spare tyre choice, it’s no good crash testing a vehicle if it’s fitted with a space saver wheel.
A car are designed to transport people in the safest possible way but for some reason the spare room in the boot is more important than the spare wheel itself.
 
“RACV chief engineer Michael Case says nearly 25 percent of all new cars sold are fitted with the space- and weight-saving spares and the organisation is concerned that many people don’t know the tyres’ limitations.”

If a vehicle is involved in an accident proven to be travelling over 80 kms, insurance companies may use this knowledge to there benefit. If you have a choice between a vehicle with a space saver wheel and a vehicle with a full size wheel, three guesses to the correct choice.

Written By Darren Gow-Brown, WWW.Virtualmechanic.com.au

Fixed priced service, DEALER OR INDEPENDENT SERVICE CENTRE ?
Some car manufactures are coming to the party to protect their brand, offering fixed price services.
This may appease the minds of motorists with the view that your dealer is now in competition with third party service centres. Most large corporations want your business at the least possible cost so if they are able to break your habit and get you away from your independent dealer.
Lets analyse this in greater detail, in the hope that you will be able to make an informed decision.
Lets compare two small cars on fixed price servicing
Toyota Yaris, using the TOYOTA SERVICE ADVANTAGE PLAN.
Mitsubishi Colt, using the MITSUBISHI DIAMOND ADVANTAGE CAPPED PRICE
Compare both vehicle using and independent service centre offering capped price servicing

Toyota will service your Yaris for $130  every 10,000 kms but only for the first 6 service intervals, or up to 60,000kms.
I need to understand why a car maker will not offer the capped price services up to 100,000Kms
 
To keep this vehicle in warranty it must be serviced every 6 months even if it stays in your driveway surely this cant be right, or did I misunderstand the fine print.
What does the capped price service include?
As from what I can ascertain, only the following items to be replaced.
Oil.(Every 10,000)
Oil Filter, (Every 10,000)
Air cleaner (Every 40,00)
Sparkplugs (Every 40,000)
Brake Fluid Flush.(Every 40,000)
Fuel filter, including in-tank filter (Every 80,000)
According to the Service schedule the transmission fluid is never changed
Hopefully the dealer will access the engine management system to download any faults logged
The question remains, what is the cost on the following items
Front end alignment
Front disc Pads
Rear Drum Shoes
The cost of Spark plugs
Wiper blades
Valve adjustment what type of adjustment
Engine coolant
– — – — – — – — – — – — – — –
Mitsubishi will service your colt for $195.00 every 15,000 but only provide the capped servicing up to 60,000km
MORE TO COME
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An independent service centre, is offering the following
fixed price servicing, on a 2008 Toyota Yaris
Out of 10 service centres to perform a 10,000Km fixed price service the prices range form $136.00 to $195.00, etc

  Toyota Yaris 
     10,000     20,000   30,000   40,000   60,000    
1 $136.00 $209.00 $136.00 $289.00 $166.00
2 $146.00 $184.00 $146.00 $322.00 $180.00
3 $148.00 $196.00 $148.00 $328.00 $184.00
4 $154.00 $235.00 $154.00 $339.00 $192.00
5 $159.00 $180.00 $159.00 $339.00 $195.00
6 $159.00 $166.00 $159.00 $343.00 $195.00
7 $160.00 $195.00 $160.00 $343.00 $195.00
8 $160.00 $192.00 $160.00 $346.00 $196.00
9 $174.00 $195.00 $174.00 $368.00 $209.00
10 $195.00 $195.00 $195.00 $407.00 $235.00

– — – — – — – — – — – — – — –
An independent service centre, is offering the following
fixed price servicing, on a 2009 Mitsubishi colt
Out of 10 service centres to perform a 15,000Km fixed price service the prices range form $168.00 to $241.00, etc
 Mitsu Colt 
    15,000    30,000   45,000   60,000  
$168.00 $357.00 $198.00 $357.00
$183.00 $403.00 $219.00 $403.00
$186.00 $407.00 $221.00 $407.00
$193.00 $418.00 $228.00 $418.00
$197.00 $418.00 $232.00 $418.00
$197.00 $421.00 $232.00 $421.00
$199.00 $426.00 $236.00 $426.00
$214.00 $456.00 $253.00 $456.00
$217.00 $469.00 $262.00 $469.00
$241.00 $512.00 $288.00 $512.00

To be fair we don’t know what parts are replaced or what additional work is performed, for example the price may include a car wash, drop off the customer, front end alignment etc.
NOT FINSHED AWAITING FOR MORE INFORMATION
Written by Darren Gow-Brown, WWW.Virtualmechanic.com.au

The Mitsu colt is at least a vehicle with the mitsu badge now to me this means a lot as Mitsubishi is a strong brand for many reasons
Sorry Mr. Mitsubishi but the contour design has something to be desired but step into the colt is where you need an open mind to realize the colt has the most comfortable seats for a vehicle in this price range, my client was shopping for a manual but we were given an auto to test drive, wow the Constant variable transmission was something to experience this 1.5 litre engine was giving me enough power to be satisfied. It was a wet day at the time but I never had to fight we the tyres spinning on take off
I was very impressed with the power produced from a 1.5 litre variable cam-timing engine
Basically this means that the ECU or electronic control unit is maximizing fuel and power efficiency in many more ways than just fuel injection.
The Mitsu colt is giving you a lot of value for you money
Note Mitsu is offering buyers fixed price servicing, at 15,000 intervals at a fixed cost of $195.00 per service.
Fixed priced servicing does not include sparkplugs, wiper blades, fan belts, globes, wheel alignment..
So why even offer a product if it does not cover all these hidden extras.
In my opinion the Mitsu Colt is a strong contender to the small car market.

Special Notes
The Mitsu Colt has the most comfortable seats out of all the small cars reviewed
This vehicle has plenty of power due to two factors
The CVT and the VVT however I would like to know if the transmission is reliable over the next 250,000 kms
Written By Darren Gow-Brown, WWW.Virtualmechanic.com.au

Virtualmechanic overall rating 4.0 out of 5.0 
Toyota Yaris 2010
Date or Review
July 2010
PRICE
 $19,788 Drive away (using the online Pricing calculator)
FEATURES
VSC ,ABS, EBD, BA, Safe-T-Cell, EPS
Full Size spare wheel.
Driver and passenger SRS airbags.
Digital speedo.

MODEL
5 Door Hatch

ENGINE OPTIONS
1.3 litre Engine
1.5 litre Engine

IN MY OPINION
The Toyota Yaris ticks most the boxes
The diver seat is height adjustable the rear seats are able to slide forward and backwards, the spare tyre is a full size wheel meaning it is not sacrificed by an emergency wheel to which we will touch on later.
We had the opportunity to road test the 1.3 litre on my opinion if your planning to travel with anymore than 3 people I suggest considering a 1.5 litre engine as the 1.3 was lacking in power with 3 people in the vehicle, let me further explain here. If you are planning to drive the vehicle with one passenger then the 1.3 Yaris is suitable
If you plan to have some weight in the rear and drive around with extra passengers then you may want to consider the 1.5 litre engine.
Digress for one moment whilst shopping for a small vehicle I naturally ask as many questions as I can to be informed about my decision, and yes I’m critical about any level of service, and willing to observe good or poor service with feedback given.
When we were at the Toyota dealership at Frankston it was Joel’s positive and enthusiastic attitude that made it easier the make the decision to buy the Toyota Yarris
In my opinion the reasons why the Toyota Yarris rates 4.0, in the small car value for money are as follows.
Low service interval costs at $130 per fixed priced service every 10,000Kms but only up to 60,000 Kms or 36 months, what ever is first.
Good resale value history
Low engine noise whilst driving from 0 to 60
Adjustable driver seat height
Same size spare wheel, no funny wheel
Appealing exterior design, yes this car you feel ok to park in your driveway when you get home, you don’t need to hide it away as it wont win the ugly car competition
Plenty of room inside the rear if you need to rear passengers
Don’t stop there whilst we were looking at the Yarris the salesmen Joel, used this time extremely well as he added that apart from the fixed price servicing Toyota have a procedure where two mechanics are given the task to perform the service thus reducing the down time of your vehicle at the service center. It gets better it takes just ONE HOUR to service the Yarris this means anyone time poor would almost considering buying a vehicle just because they no longer need to leave their car at the service center all day.
SPECIAL NOTES
Take a close look at the terms and conditions when it comes to servicing.
What lets Toyota down is the BELOW AVERAGE customer service when ringing the head office, I was placed on hold for 28 minutes only to be told someone will return my call…..Oh what a feeling 
Written By Darren Gow-Brown, WWW.Virtualmechanic.com.au

Why do I need to check the spare wheel
The best way to explain the need to check your spare tyre is take you back to my days working for the RACV in roadside service, I never minded changing wheels for anyone at any time. Most females were apologetic about the fact that they called someone to change a flat tyre.
The fact is changing a wheel can be dangerous especially if performing this task on a freeway so when checking your tyres on a regular basis go the extra tyre and check the spare as it will deflate over time and there is only one time when you need it how life is so great if the spare is roadworthy and with the correct tyre pressure.

Getting back to my roadside service days, I remember I was in the city where there was absolutely parking, I found the member break-in down parking in the centre of the road with a flat tyre so he would have been waiting for about 45 minutes for me to arrive knowing that I was going to change his tyre only to find in his boot, a boot full of  books, so after taking all the books out of the boot here we find a flat tyre and I thought well some people need protection from them selves, I felt a bit under pressure at the time due to the fact I was getting paid a total of $6 per job yes that’s right a whole $6 dollars this was because I was contracting to the RACV.

Getting back to the spare wheel, it would not even hurt if you were to utilize the spare with other wheels to prevent to spare from rusting.

Now for those of you to whom are not so fortunate to find a real spare wheel, will be looking at a Orange or red skinny, I call it a funny wheel because it looks funny.
The most critical thing to understand about the funny wheel is that you have a speed limit of around 60 to 80 km limit so your home work this week is open up the boot locate the spare wheel check the type of wheel and CHECK THE PRESSURE
May I add if you are broken down on the freeway if possible get a friend to come over and to park behind you about five to ten metres   with the hazard lights on with the engine running in park, basically do what ever it takes to be safe.

For the record I hated the jobs leading me onto the freeway because it only takes a millisecond of error by an oncoming vehicle to change your life forever for this reason I made contact to Eastlink James Tonkin Manager – Strategy & Marketing, ConnectEast Group (jtonkin@connecteast.com.au ) about producing a short Video for motorist to understand freeway safety when breaking down on the freeway, the e-mail was submitted to Eastlink 30-4-10,  still awaiting a reply.

Written by Darren Gow-Brown, WWW.Virtualmechanic.com.au, in the interests of motor vehicle safety

It’s very easy for me to write about checking your motor vehicles 
engine oil especially between services because I’m the mechanic that gets 
to see the effects of driving a vehicle on low or even no oil showing 
on the dip stick.
Apart from premature wear and tear on the engine, the short term damage 
is overheating due to lack of lubrication oil performs many functions including transferring heat away from the cylinders, it also washes the engine holding acids and silicon oxide in suspension offering a protection of oxidation at higher temperatures.
I think I know why most people don’t check the engine oil between 
services.
Here were some of the reasons given to me when I asked the question.
I didn’t think I needed to check it
That’s what motor mechanics are for right
It’s a new car it doesn’t use any oil
It’s too dirty I’m getting my hands dirty

If I was anything other than a mechanic I would accept most of those 
reasons but I’m not so sorry but you do need to get in the practise of 
checking your engine oil on a weekly basis whether you have new 
vehicle or not.
Of course while your there it won’t kill you to check the washer bottle.
There are many checks to be made under the including the coolant level 
or the water level but I will need explain this some detail as this 
requires special
Attention.
Written by Darren Gow-Brown, in the interest of motor vehicle safety. WWW.virtualmechanic.com.au

Are you a safe driver is your car safe or does your car make you feel safe.
As a sign of getting older I see more on the road, and the part that’s concerns me is the speedy drivers darting down the freeway from lane to lane tailgating everywhere

I can remember my first love, sorry I mean my first car at 18 years old, but I started a lot earlier at 13 years old but lets go to my first 12 months of driving.

At 18 years old I purchased a VW beetle, a red beetle running on 3 out of 4 cylinders this car had a nice smell to it, I was an apprentice motor mechanic at the time and I saw this little beauty just got traded in at the dealership where I was working.

I ask the owner of the ford dealership Mr Perter Durkin if I could buy this car and he was always a kind person and must of saw the excitement in my eye, I remember him saying in front of the service manager why would you be interested in this old bucket its runs on 3 cylinders, I said I can fix that, then Tom Geralt my boss said well its not that simple it’s a VW and what makes you so sure you can fix this problem, I remember it was a gamble, as the VW beetle did suffer from an over heating problem that can result in engine damage, but cocky little apprentice only saw the positive in this bug and took the risk. I purchased the car for $500 I remember it was a good buy at the time and Mr Durkin gave me some degree of favor, with the price.
So I got the little beauty into our workshop and adjust all the valves and then started up the engine, it run as smooth as a fine tuned engine should run. Of course Tom my service manager had to make a comment well young feller this time you were lucky.

This VW had McPherson strut front suspension this made the vehicle poor braking in the wet so anyone that drove a VW with McPherson strut suspension knew to be very careful in the wet or an accident was almost a given.

Getting back to original question about your vehicle and if it makes you feel safe because I would say many accidents occur when the car becomes unpredictable in the wet, because some drivers may not understand the concept of hydroplaning or cohesion, this bring me to my next point before you start to fall asleep.

Have you ever taken your vehicle to a defensive driving schools and therefore understood the limitations of driving in the wet or darting in and out of lanes at dangerous high speeds, don’t misunderstand me here I’m saying take a defensive course to learn how to speed quite the opposite the driving course will give you and understanding of limitations, and I haven’t even started on the tyres and the roadworthiness of the vehicle.

When you are driving your vehicle whether brand new or second hand there is a law of physics in play and as well as road surface conditions are playing a big part when or if you may find the need to brake suddenly.

So how can you understand the behavior of your motor vehicle in the wet
It’s a very quick test; we need to find a street without houses perhaps a new estate.

Travel at 20 Kms per hour in the wet and hit the brakes to understand the behavior of your car, the vehicle pulls up in a straight line this is good if it pulls to one side then we have a problem and will need to see our service centre to ascertain the cause of pulling to one side. If the vehicle will pull up straight then you may try at 40 if you feel comfortable.

At least this will give you some idea of what may occur when braking in the wet.
This has been written in the interests of driver safety
Written by Darren Gow-Brown, the Virtualmechanic.com.au

Attention if you read this first addition I have corrected the structure

This by far is the most  interesting because many people are not involved with the automotive trade and therefore lack understanding and even lack trust to some level due to the fact that not all work on motor vehicles is necessary “that’s right” not all repairs are required but this is limited to the automotive trade.
Let’s explore a small snapshot of our world, here in Australia we have three levels of government managing a total population of 22 million people, but we have approx 1 million people inter related to our Australian government system.
If I want to build a fence I need no less than 3 certificates at a cost of around $1000 now this to me is not right but that’s the system so we develop a lack of trust as we try to hold on to our money as much as possible. We buy a car but we need it serviced and maintained but we a reluctant to pay for this service its something we can’t see the real benefits, its not a nice suit, or a trip to the hair dresses, its something that prevents us from breaking down on the side of the road or even worse its something that prevents an accident due to mechanical failure.

May I add most mechanics in dealerships and service centres 
take enormous pride in there work they come to work ready for a 
challenge, what most people may not be aware of, is the constant change 
of technology and therefore to keep up to date there is a constant 
effort required for night school.
When you take your car to the workshop you are giving your trust and 
faith into the service centre but I pause here because some time ago I 
took my company vehicle into a ford dealership, and it’s wait on some 
line on the floor until the person behind the computer is ready to 
serve you.

Let me say this type of service does nothing to win my confidence 
even if the technician is great at his or her job
Let’s go further most repairs are under a warranty but try getting a 
filling from a dentist and asking for warranty.
I will add more into this subject to encourage motorist when you drop 
your car off have a little faith that mechanics love the challenge to 
keeping your car on the road.
Now if you think your getting ripped off consider another service centre there are some great workshops and sorry to say there are some poor service centres.

I remember a mechanic started his business several doors from my workshop and was very busy, every day more busy than myself but he was “charging his customers about 50 % more and getting away with it” or so he thought, however there is a thing known by all as Karma and so What ever you give out what ever you will receive.

Getting back the dentist is this workmanship covered under warranty, “No”
I need a repair on knee repair so I see an orthopaedic surgeon do you think I get any warranty “No”
The local Government demanding $1000.00 in certificates is this fare “No” but we must pay it
May I conclude And express that if you have found a good mechanic that you feel is servicing your vehicle at a fare cost then let them know your appreciation at the time opportunity perhaps Christmas with a nice bottle of wine and say thankyou for helping me with my car to which I know nothing about but I trust you and its so nice to fine a company in this day and age that keeps me on the road and that prevents me from breaking down on the side of the road.

A Motor Mechanic is an essential item we may not factor in as so important, as we cannot see what is taking place but let me ensure you there are some very fine technicians’ devoted to the automotive trade inspired to do there very best working on hot engines working under pressure working outside of normal operating hours and when they go home they sit back and think well I did my best and repaired an issue that will benefit the customer even tho the maker was not so helpful with all the required information.

This is what makes a motor mechanic come to work every day.

Written by Darren Gow-Brown, Virtualmechanic.com.au