I have worked for a car dealership for years and we generally got a call or 2 every week from people looking for parts for a different car manufacturer.
“Hi I’m looking for a compressor for a 2018 camry”
“Well, you’ll have to call Toyota for that this is ____.”
In the last few weeks, I have taken calls like this multiple times per day nearly every day. Is the vax making people dumber or more forgetful? Is this just an effect of the continued mental strain of this covid bullshit? Lack of oxygen from masks taking it’s toll? Has anyone else noticed anything along these lines?
Well I think it has more to do with the demographic of those looking for parts.
What I'm saying is that people are looking for parts who never had to do that before. They're just newbies.
Example: My wife's four year old car suddenly started throwing codes and going into limp home mode on her way home from work. I called the dealer they said it would be one month before they could look at it.
I called my favorite independent shop, and they said three weeks. I pressed them and they referred me to another shop, who didn't want to look at it but I insisted. They took the car and kept for a week and then told me they couldn't fix it, only the dealer can.
So I looked up the code, went to the dealer and bought a new throttle body for $92, and installed it myself. Car has worked fine ever since.
I would never have worked on the car myself unless I was forced to. I'm too old to work on cars, I thought. But I was forced to. Wife needs her car.
I was smart enough to go to the right dealership, but maybe a lot people are clueless because they've never had to work on their cars before.
Car guy here. Yes, I think more people are becoming "DIY" and looking for parts themselves. I typically use Rockauto, Ebay, and junkyards, but newbies haven't learned that yet.
You have to be able to identify where the issue is and the exact right part to get on ebay etc. Yes, I expect newbies don't have the confidence. I have been doing this for years and I get the wrong part sometimes.
Oh I do too man. All part of the "fun."
Good theory, I hadn’t considered that.